She couldn’t bear to put back on her ruined gown, so after drying herself with one of the linen cloths in Alex’s trunk, she donned her chemise and borrowed a plaid she’d found in the same trunk to wrap around her shoulders. Then she sat and waited.

What was taking him so long? She grew increasingly worried as the minutes passed. What if Phillip wasn’t dead? What if he and Alex had gotten into a fight and Alex had been hurt? Or what if Alex had been caught trying to clean up her mess, and someone thought it was he who had killed Phillip? She shouldn’t have asked him to cover for her. She couldn’t let him take the blame even if she had to tell everyone the truth.

The door opened, and she jumped from the seat she’d taken on the edge of the bed. One look at Alex’s face was enough to ease her panic. He looked grim, but he wasn’t hurt.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Your blade did not kill him.” She didn’t have time to figure out whether she was disappointed or not, before he added, “But mine did.”

In short, concise, soldierly fashion, he explained how he’d found Phillip leaving the room—her blade had struck him in the hip, not the deadly groin area—and they’d fought. How Alex had beaten him to within an inch of his foul life, but had given him a chance to leave while still breathing. Phillip, however, hadn’t taken the gift. He’d attempted to throw his dagger into Alex’s back. He wasn’t quick enough, however, and instead Alex’s blade found him.

It was Phillip’s misfortune that his cowardly act had come against the most skilled man with a dagger on either side of the border. Although Phillip wouldn’t have known that—and she wasn’t supposed to either, for that matter.

“I debated tossing him down the garderobe where he belongs,” Alex finished. “But decided there would be fewer questions about his disappearance if I informed Pembroke, Sir Hugh, and King Edward of the truth.” Anticipating her reaction, he said quickly, “Most of it anyway. I left out your part, telling them merely that Gifford and I had a disagreement, that it had led to a fight, and that he’d attempted to end it with a dagger in my back.”