"You will then have won or lost the Countess."
He shook his head dubiously.
"How will that decide the matter?" he asked.
She smiled. "Because only stupidity can lose."
He looked at her curiously and in silence, a quicker beat at his pulse and she read his thoughts.
"Oh, I am betraying no confidences," she said. "Your lady gives none—save possibly to the Duchess. But I have been of the Household with Beatrix for two years and———"
"And … what?" he inflected.
"You can guess the rest—if you are not stupid," she said, turning away.
But he stayed her. "My barge is at the landing. Shall we follow … the others?" he suggested.
She hesitated—then, catching up a cloak and scarf that lay on a couch, she nodded acquiescence.