She translated Frau Lena’s instructions to the stranger as he lay still on the bed. He may have looked tranquil, lying still and unmoving, but it was plain by the intense, rebellious gleam in his eyes that he was anything but.
“You must rest, because that is the only way you can fully recover and get your strength back. You must eat what Frau Lena gives you, because it will keep you from getting sick, and you must not be pacing around the room, raving like a madman.” She surprised herself by remembering the English word “raving.”
“If I do rave like a madman,” he said, sitting up and balling his hands into fists, “it is because there is a murderer out there, probably in this very castle, who is free to kill again. He is evil, and if I do not — ”
“Please. Frau Lena says you must lie still and not excite yourself. You will bring on another fever.” Margaretha pushed gently on his shoulder, trying to get him to lie back down. “This is not good for you.”
A muscle in his jaw flexed, as though he was clenching his teeth. But he lay back and closed his eyes. “I am not so weak I can’t speak. Won’t anyone listen to me?” He lifted his hands to his face, rubbing his eyes, scraping his hands down his stubbly cheeks and chin.
“Sei still.” What was that English phrase she’d used before to try to comfort him? “Hush now. Everything will be well. Why don’t you tell me what you want to tell Duke Wilhelm? I can write it down for you and give it to him myself.”
“No, it is too dangerous to write it down.” A growling sound came from his throat.
“Then just tell me. Why don’t you start with your name?”
“You don’t understand.” He covered his face with his hands again. His voice was muffled as he said, “I probably shouldn’t tell even Duke Wilhelm, but I have no choice. We should find out what he plans to do, why he’s here. You could all be in danger.”
“Who? Why who is here?”
He lay still and quiet, and she thought perhaps he had fallen asleep. He finally let his hands fall away and looked at her. “I want you to teach me to speak some German.”
So he wanted to change the subject. He was so adamant. “I shall try. But it would be helpful if you would tell me your name.”
“Very well. I will tell you my given name if you will promise not to tell it to anyone.”
“Oh.” She hesitated before saying, “I do tend to talk a lot, but when it is important to keep something a secret, I certainly will not babble on about it. My brothers tease me about talking too much, and I do sometimes say things before I think.”
“Is there anyone else in Hagenheim who speaks English?” He fixed her with those dark blue eyes.
“Oh. Well, no, no one who speaks it as well as I. My younger sisters studied it, but they do not like languages as much as I do. My brothers say it is because I like to talk so much, but little brothers always tease their sisters, my father says. It’s the way of siblings, and they were jealous when they often heard me speaking English with my tutor. Even my tutor said my English was very good for someone who had never been to England. But languages are so interesting, and I like to know the origins of words.”
He was staring at her with narrowed eyes. She was annoying him.
She cleared her throat. “I promise not to say anything you don’t want me to say, and if you only tell me your given name, I don’t see how that could put anyone in danger, especially if it is a common name.”
“That is the problem. It is not a common name here. Perhaps you could call me . . . Otto.”
“Oh, no. That name doesn’t suit you. You don’t look at all like an Otto. You are much too tall and handsome to be an Otto.”
“Then you pick a name for me.” His voice sounded tired, or perhaps frustrated. At least he had ceased glaring at her.
“Very well. It shall be as you wish. I shall call you . . .” What an odd thing — to name an adult. “Gawain.”
“Gawain?” His upper lip curled on one side while one brow went up.
“Yes. With your thick, wavy, dark hair and blue eyes, you look like a Gawain.” Very handsome, like a knight. Her heart skipped a little as she pictured him in her father’s armor.
He sighed. “Very well. I am Gawain.”
Colin’s head was spinning, partly from sitting up too abruptly a few moments before, and partly from his maddening inability to convey to Lady Margaretha the danger they were all in. He couldn’t expect her to understand. She was a sheltered, wealthy duke’s daughter. What could she know of intrigues and murders and people who were not as they seemed? But the fact that she was the only person who could communicate with him, and he with her, made her the most valuable person in the world to him.
And, he had to admit, he liked looking at her, even if her aimless chatter did give him a headache.