s threaten her people. By this one man's death she could
guarantee that.

With all the strength her anger gave her, she straightened her arms,
pushing him away. Her right arm free, she thrust her open palm against
his jaw, forcing his head back.

"Let me go!" And again it was the powerful voice of Sophia Karaiannides.

"God's blood!" His eyes were wide, and there was amazement in them, no
longer anger. He released her so suddenly she fell back, hard, against
the floor of the forest.

Immediately he reached for her, but his hands were gentle once more,
helping her to sit up.

He knelt before her. "Please forgive me." He sounded on the verge of
tears. "Please. I lost command of myself."

Standing up, she brushed pine needles from the back of her skirt and her
shawl. He moved to help her, and she pulled away.

"Sophia, I have never loved any woman as much as I love you."

"Nonsense. Simon, you have far to ride."

He moved around so that he was facing her, his usually pale face
flushed, his chest heaving.

"Marry me, Sophia."

If he had struck her, she could not have been more astonished. But she
quickly recovered herself. He thought he could have his way with her by
offering marriage.

"Simon, I am not a woman whose legs can be parted by a promise of
marriage." The note she heard in her voice distressed her. She was being
too much her true, worldly self with him. If he were not deaf to
everything but his own passion, he would hear it, and he would suspect
that she was not what she seemed to be.

She reminded herself: _I must seem to be awed that this great nobleman
speaks to me of marriage._

"You put it crudely," he said, his eyes narrowed with warmth. "To shock
me, I suppose. But you defend your honor, and you speak plainly. I speak
plainly too--I love you."

The sight of him standing there gazing at her with such yearning in his
eyes was too painful. She kept thinking of herself telling David what
she had learned today. She kept seeing this tall, handsome man lying
dead in a ditch. She had to get away from him.

"The morning is well along," she said. "You had better get started if
you want to cover much distance by nightfall. Where do you plan to spend
this night?" She despised herself because she had asked the question to
make it easier for David to trail him.

He frowned at her. "Sophia, I must have your answer. I mean what I say.
I love you. I want to marry you."

Holy Virgin, would the fellow