Beverly kept her eyes to the front, trying to ignore Lord Jack but the man wouldn't, or couldn't stop talking.
"Tell me, dear sweet Aubrey, what has brought you here to so brightly enlighten us with your presence?"
Aubrey, riding a smaller horse, more fitting to her height, nodded at him in acknowledgement. "You have a way with words, Lord Marlowe."
"Please, call me Jack," he insisted.
"Very well, Jack. Tell me, do you compliment all the ladies with this silvered tongue of yours?"
"Only when the voice enraptures the heart like a warm summer's day," he responded.
"Oh, please," said Beverly, "enough of this drivel. Shouldn't you be riding with Prince Alric, Jack?"
"It wounds my heart to know that I have upset you, Dame Beverly. I shall vacate this position immediately." He spurred on
