The second he hinted at. Sleazy though most of Sanctuary was, he knew places
within it where a man and a woman could enjoy themselves, comfortably, privately
– his apartment, for instance. She smiled her negation. Her family belonged to
the old aristocracy ofRanke, not the newly rich, and she had been raised in its
austere tradition. Albeit her father had fallen on evil times and she had been
forced to take service, she kept her pride, and proudly would she yield her
maidenhead to her bridegroom. Thus far she had answered Cappen’s ardent
declarations with the admission that she liked him and enjoyed his company and
wished he would change the subject. (Buxom Lady Rosanda seemed as if she might
be more approachable, but there he was careful to maintain a cheerful
correctness.) He did believe she was getting beyond simple enjoyment, for her
patrician reserve seemed less each time they saw each other. Yet she could not
altogether have forgotten that he was merely the bastard of a minor nobleman in
a remote country, himself disinherited and a footloose minstrel.
His third objection he dared say forth. While the hinterland was comparatively
safe, Molin Torchholder would be furious did he learn that a woman of his
household had gone escorted by a single armed man, and he no professional
fighter. Molin would probably have been justified, too. Danlis smiled again and
said, ‘I could ask a guardsman off duty to come along. But you have interesting
friends, Cappen. Perhaps a warrior is among them?’
As a matter of fact, he knew any number, but doubted she would care to meet them