A True and Perfect Knight by Rue Allyn Page B

arms. She had not realized how cold she was. She looked into his brown eyes and saw compassion there. It nearly undid her. “Please, find my son.”
    “He will be found with all possible speed.”
    Haven looked up as Rebecca returned. He took the cup from her and placed it in the widow’s hands, then he stood.
    “Nurse, who was last to see Thomas?”
    “I do not know, sir. I left the child with his aunt and stepped into the woods for a moment of privacy.” Marie looked accusingly at Rebecca.
    The girl trembled slightly, but she held her arms folded before her. A mulish pout decorated her mouth.
    Haven pierced her with a glance. She dropped her arms. “When did you last see him, mistress?”
    “A few moments after Marie departed.”
    “How long ago was that?”
    “I am not certain. I know you and Lady Genvieve had not yet left the clearing together.”
    Haven thought back, estimating the amount of time that had passed since his encounter with the widow, and found himself appalled. “You left a child unattended that long?”
    “Marie said she would return quickly. I waited. When Watley came by, I told Thomas to wait right here, since I wished private speech with Watley.”
    “I see.” Haven spoke in his most forbidding tone. No doubt the desired speech with his squire was nothing more than a flirtation.
    “Nurse, how long were you gone?”
    “Not long at all, sir. Yet when I returned, neither Thomas nor Rebecca was here.”
    “Did you go looking for them?”
    “I searched the entire area. Until I found Mistress Rebecca dallying with your squire.”
    Haven made a mental note to lecture his squire on his proper place and the dangers of girlish flirtations. “Is that when you discovered that Thomas was gone?”
    “Not quite, sir. First I boxed that squire’s ears, begging your pardon. Then I gave Mistress Rebecca a sorely needed lesson about young men. Only when Mistress Rebecca tried to excuse her behavior did I realize that she had no more idea of Thomas’s whereabouts than I.”
    At that moment Soames arrived. “You asked for me, sir?”
    “Aye, Soames. Thomas is missing.”
    The man paled and shot a quick glance toward the river and the suspected location of the unidentified men who had been traveling a similar course to their own. “How…?”
    “We do not know,” Haven cut in. “He may have followed a rabbit too deeply into the wood.” Haven shared Soames’s concern about the armed men from across the river, but he did not want to add abduction to the widow’s worries.
    “What are your orders?”
    “We’ll stay the night here. Even if we find Thomas quickly, his mother will want to spend some time with him before we have to travel again. Choose three men to remain with the widow as guards and to set up camp. I want everyone else searching for that boy. We start at the river’s edge and sweep the area forward past this clearing to one league.”
    “Aye, sir.”
    “Send one man upstream and one man down. Tell them to search both banks for any sign of Thomas, but not to leave the riverside except to return here. I will take the reports of all men when we return to the clearing. Any questions?”
    “Nay, sir.”
    “Then assemble the men. I will follow.”
    Soames left, and Haven turned his attention to the widow. She no longer trembled, but she was pale and tense.
    “Madame, I promise you, I will not rest until I have Thomas safe.”
    “Thank you.”
    The barely audible whisper squeezed his heart. She showed remarkable courage. He had expected her to demand that she accompany them in the search. Instead, she accepted his orders. With extraordinary calm, the widow placed her son’s life in the hands of a man she claimed not to trust with her own.
    “Marie, keep your mistress well. Thomas will need her when he returns.”
    “Aye, sir.”
    Haven left swiftly. If he lingered, he feared he might gather the widow into his arms.

Chapter Eight
    Haven studied the faces of Soames and the rest of