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arrived.”
    “God have mercy, Mina!” Joscelin looked incredibly upset. “What happened?”
    “Be at ease—it was not as horrible as it might have been. Only moments after the footpads cornered us, two knights appeared and rescued us. God was watching out for me at that moment.” Though then God played the trick of making the knight an arrogant man who set her teeth on edge. But she didn’t mention that to Joscelin, nor the fact that she saw the very same knight again in the king’s court.
    “In any case,” she continued, “the footpads would have been disappointed even if they’d completed their theft. I must look far richer than I am.”
    “Do you need money?” Joscelin asked. “I have a little saved.”
    “Oh, I couldn’t take your money!”
    “Mina, you need it more than I do,” Joscelin argued. “I can work as a clerk, and I can always avail myself of the church’s generosity.”
    Mina looked down, feeling unworthy. “It would help,” she admitted. “I feel so ashamed, though, to ask it of you.”
    “You have not asked, I have offered.” Joscelin patted her arm. “I’ll fetch it now.”
    He left and returned a few moments later. He pressed a small leather pouch into her hands. “Not much, just a bit of silver I’ve saved. It should defray the expense of this trip, at least.”
    “You are far too good to me.”
    “What is family for?” he asked. Then he added, “Never go round these streets alone, and not even with Giles after dark. The sooner you’re back safe behind the walls of Trumwell, the happier I’ll be. You must not risk yourself, a gentle lady like you!”
    She laughed, wondering if Joscelin had any idea of how much she’d had to put aside the role of a “gentle lady” in order to run the estate in her father’s absence.
    However, she promised to be careful. “And as I said, I intend to return home at the first possible moment. London is not for me!”
    “You have discovered a truth about the world, dear cos,” Joscelin said, with a sad little chuckle. “Wherever people gather, there is much tendency toward vice and evil.”
    “Just a few moments at the court showed me that,” she said. “I was lost among those who lived for politics and personal gain.”
    He reached for her hand. “Be not forlorn. There is also much potential for good here, even among the worldly court of the king. Those knights you mentioned, for instance. They did their duty to protect an innocent, and they did not even know you.”
    “That’s true. You never lose hope, do you?” She smiled at her cousin, reminded of the arrogant, blue-eyed knight. He
had
rushed in to save a stranger, after all, and he did escort her to safety afterwards. Perhaps she was judging him too harshly.
    “Lose hope? Never,” Joscelin vowed. “I know how powerful hope is.”
    “I will try to remember,” she said. “Will you pray for me?”
    “Every day,” he promised. “And you must keep me informed, whether the news is good or ill.”
    “I don’t like to distract you—”
    He made a face. “Blood is not a distraction. It is who we are.”
    Domina kissed her cousin goodbye and left. She and Constance made their way back to the inn, a man-at-arms following close behind. One thing was certain…Mina would not let her guard down again.

Chapter 4

    Luc watched as the intriguing Domina de Warewic left the audience chamber, her back stiff and straight beneath that incredibly thick braid of red hair. The lady’s attendant followed her like a shadow.
    After that, there were a few more exchanges with other postulants, none of which Luc heard. His mind was still locked on Domina. Why had she not announced her title the previous evening? Was she hiding something? Was her business in London simply an audience with the king, or did she have another reason to be in town? Why was she in the streets at such a late hour?
    Luc came out of his daze when the king’s voice rang out, declaring an end to the audience of the