Cast Love Aside

by Speer, Flora

  He pulled the door open just as Alice arrived, with William close behind her.

  “I expect to see both of you in the solar, for the evening meal,” Magnus said in a tone that clearly warned Lilianne not to try to leave the castle before then.

  * * * * *

  “Dare I ask what you and Magnus were doing?” Alice surveyed the rumpled coverlet before she looked at Lilianne's hot face.

  “Quarreling,” Lilianne responded. She dragged the cloak off her shoulders and tossed it onto the bed to cover the place where, just a few minutes earlier, Magnus had shown her a glimpse of heaven. While restraining himself, she recalled bitterly. He was indeed a clever man. He knew how to play upon a bereft woman's conflicting emotions. His maneuver had worked, too. For a short time she had forgotten her brother. Renewed guilt stabbed at her. She turned away from the bed.

  “Tell me about your meeting with Count Erland,” Alice said. “Then tell me about Magnus. The two are connected, are they not?”

  “Gilbert is dead.” She tried to make the statement unemotional, but she could not fool her friend.

  “Oh, my dear! I‘m so sorry.”

  Alice hurried forward to hold her and wipe away the tears that began anew, though Lilianne tried her best to stop them. When her voice was under control again, she recounted all that had occurred while Alice was riding with William. She omitted only the brief, passionate interlude with Magnus.

  “I do not for a moment believe Magnus's grudging agreement to consider allowing me to accompany him to Manoir Sainte Inge,” she concluded the story.

  In fact, she suspected him of knowing all along that she would try to leave Richton. Now, in a calmer mood, she was forced to admit his objections about the risk of trusting Captain Piers too far, and about the possibility of violence by the men-at-arms at the manor, were all well reasoned. A woman traveling alone was not safe. Therefore, she required a dependable escort. So she raised the subject again, during the evening meal.

  Alice had returned so flushed and happy after her ride with William that Lilianne wondered just how serious a chaperone Braedon had proven to be. William and Alice sat together at the linen-covered table looking for all the world like lovers who had recently plighted their troth. Recalling Magnus's remarks about Royce's intent to promote William to a position of responsibility at Wortham Castle once the present mission was successfully accomplished, and certain William would not abandon his companions in that mission, Lilianne experienced a pang of remorse over her own plans.

  Telling herself that her duty to Gilbert took precedence over all else, she drew a deep breath and stated her intention to sail for France as soon as possible.

  “Knowing how poor Gilbert died, you cannot want to return to that dreadful place,” Alice exclaimed.

  “I don't want to return,” Lilianne told her, “but I must. Could you leave your brother unburied? Oh, dear, I shouldn't have said that. Forgive me, please.”

  “It's quite all right,” Alice responded, reaching across the table to place a hand over Lilianne's. “After the way my brother treated me, I don't much care what happens to him. Anyway, he has priests and a wife to pray for his soul, so he doesn't need my prayers. Your circumstances are different. You love Gilbert and what you propose to do for him is only common decency. Very well, then. After my first voyage across the Narrow Sea, I am loathe to set foot upon a ship for a second time, but I will travel with you, out of friendship.”

  Alice had gone pale as she spoke, with a slight green tinge around her lips, as if she was about to be seasick at the very thought of putting out to sea. Lilianne hastened to reassure her.

  “My dear, I don't expect you to come with me. I'd never ask it of you.”

  “I should hope not,” William said, assuming a proprietary air. “Alice will stay here, with Sir John to watch over her. I know John from Wortham Castle and he’s an honest man. Lilianne, if you had any sense, you'd stay behind, too, and keep safe, as a gently bred lady ought to do.”

  “Would you let your brother lie unburied?” Lilianne asked him.

  “I don't have a brother,” William answered. “If I did, I trust I'd have wits enough to see when a proposed action is hopelessly dangerous. Manoir Sainte Inge is not a safe place for a female.”

  “Neither do I have a brother, at least, not one I'm aware of.” Braedon spoke in a wry tone. “Nor, so far as I know, do I have a sister, but if I did, I hope she'd love me as you love Gilbert. William is right to say a return to Manoir Sainte Inge will be dangerous. So, if you’ll allow me, I'll go with you and I'll help all I can. You are going to need armed protection, you know.”

  “Thank you.” Lilianne smiled at him in gratitude.

  “Lilianne and I have already discussed this matter and she knows my feelings on the subject,” Magnus said, adding in a stern voice, “William is correct to say Manoir Sainte Inge is no place for a woman, and neither is the hasty journey I intend to make.”

  “You cannot prevent me from going.” Lilianne could feel her cheeks warming in irritation. “I know you mean well, Magnus, but I have made my decision and I will hold to it.”

  “Since Braedon has volunteered, he and I will make the trip together,” Magnus said.

  “I volunteered to go with Lilianne,” Braedon pointed out in a soft voice.

  “Lilianne and Alice will remain here at Richton,” Magnus continued as if Braedon hadn't spoken. “This discussion is over.”

  “You will have to make me a prisoner to keep me here,” Lilianne declared.

  “That can be arranged. I have sworn to protect you,” Magnus said, “even against your will.”

  “I am a French noblewoman and you are only an English knight. You have no right to order me about, or to stop me from leaving. Nor has anyone else at Richton, now that Royce has left. I outrank all of you.”

  “She has you there, Magnus,” Braedon observed, chuckling.

  “I have coins and jewelry enough to pay my way to France,” Lilianne continued.

  “I can take them from you,” Magnus threatened, looking at her belt.

  “I now carry them concealed on my person,” she said, noting his frown when he realized her purse was gone. “Will you strip me naked to find them?”

  Alice gasped in shock. William looked embarrassed. Braedon hooted with laughter. Magnus just glared at her. Lilianne saw the rising color in his face and judged she had taunted him far enough. Into the silence of the next challenge that she forbore to hurl at him, Braedon spoke and what he said made her glad she had held her tongue.

  “Argue the night away if you wish,” Braedon told Magnus. “When you’ve finished, consider that the sketch of Manoir Sainte Inge provided to Royce by Norbard was so inaccurate it was all but useless. In light of what we have learned about Norbard, I think we can agree he falsified the layout of the manor. We cannot depend upon any information that comes from Norbard.”

  “Having once been at the manor, we will be able to find our way through it more easily the second time,” Magnus stated.

  “Remember, I grew up at the manor and I know those buildings inside and out,” Lilianne said, seizing on the lead that Braedon had provided for her. “When the sentries at the gate wakened early after sleeping off the drugged wine you gave them, you were trapped inside the walls. You could have chosen any awakening man-at-arms and threatened him with death if he didn't reveal another way out of there, and he couldn't have helped you, because they didn't know about the tunnel to the beach.

  “You will need me again, because I can find the door leading to the tower room,” she went on when Magnus looked as if he was going to raise objections to her claims. “I also know where Erland has hidden the key to the door. If only I had known what I know now, when last I was in Erland's private room, perhaps I could have saved Gilbert.”

  “You couldn't have known,” Magnus said quietly. “Erland tricked you. I told you this afternoon, Lilianne, the blame for Gilbert's death lies with Erland, not with you.”

&
nbsp; “I know every passageway and hidden staircase built into Manoir Sainte Inge,” Lilianne said, pressing her case harder because she sensed Magnus's sympathy. “When I was a little girl, I played wherever I wanted. I guided you out of the manor once. I can do so again if the need arises, and I'll do so by a different route if necessary. You need me with you, Magnus. I wish you would forget your manly pride and admit it.”

  “She's right,” Braedon said. “Lilianne's knowledge of the manor can save us a lot of valuable time and possibly save our lives, too.”

  “Be quiet,” Magnus ordered, not bothering to look at him.

  “As for pride,” Lilianne continued, fixing Magnus with a determined gaze, “I have a fair amount of pride, myself; enough pride to demand vengeance for my brother's death. I've been thinking about vengeance ever since you left me this afternoon.”

  “Have you?” Magnus said, returning her hard look.

  “It has occurred to me that there are several interesting ways in which I can punish Erland for what he has done. First, by utterly destroying his spying operations and making it impossible for him to continue his work. Second, by taking all of his secret documents and handing them over to the English and, lastly, by rescuing Desmond of Ashendown, so the French cannot use him against the English. I believe all of that will make King Louis disown his master agent. Humiliation will be Erland’s ultimate punishment, a punishment far more subtle and devastating than blood vengeance. For the rest of his life, he will live with the knowledge of who caused his downfall, and why.”

  “Are you willing to betray your king in order to achieve vengeance against your uncle?” Magnus demanded.

  “I have never sworn an oath of fealty to King Louis,” she said. “If he were to require such an oath of me now, I would refuse to swear myself to a man who encouraged Erland in his spying, and who cynically rewarded Erland for murdering my father and brother. My father did owe fealty to King Louis, who ought to have protected him and did not, and ought to have protected Gilbert as the under-aged son of one of his sworn nobles, and did not do that, either.”

  “All kings are duplicitous,” Magnus said. “They must be so, to survive. In recent years King Louis has had trouble with rebellious nobles. Perhaps he thought he'd buy Erland's loyalty by granting him honors and paying him well for his work as a spy.”

  “When Louis hired Erland, he hired a murderer,” she retorted sharply. “Do not attempt to convince me that Louis was ignorant of Erland's actions.”

  “If you are thinking of offering your allegiance to King Henry, don't expect to find a purer king in him. That’s not meant as a criticism of Henry; it's just the way kings function.”

  “I want nothing to do with kings,” she said, meeting his eyes squarely. “What I do want is a measure of justice for my brother's death. Once I have achieved it, I will depart from France and never return.”

  They sat staring at each other as if no one else were present. Lilianne knew her future was uncertain at best. If she survived her visit to Manoir Sainte Inge and returned to England, the most she could hope for was a lowly position in some noblewoman's train, as a companion or a lady of the wardrobe, a place just a step or two above a servant. Perhaps Royce would recommend her to one of the many great ladies he must know. She didn’t like to think of asking anything of him, but she would swallow her pride and do so, for the only other possibility open to her was life in a convent, and that would most certainly not suit her. She had heard too many tales from Alice about the way girls who entered convents without dowries were treated.

  She told herself that no matter what happened in the years to come, she could face her lowered circumstances knowing she had done the right thing by her brother and her father. She would take great satisfaction in knowing Erland's spying career was finished, in part because of her. She would even be grateful to Royce and King Henry if their diplomatic maneuvers helped to bring about Erland's downfall.

  And she would never stop loving Magnus. Never. Reason told her they could not be together, but lack of a worldly position couldn't destroy what she felt for him. Only that afternoon he had sworn to serve and protect her, which must mean he cared about her.

  She smiled at him, and saw how his harsh features softened as his lips curved in immediate response. He heaved a long sigh that told her she had succeeded in convincing him.

  “I have no right to deny you the justice you seek,” Magnus said, “though it will most likely have to be a private justice, without subjecting Erland to a public trial. Kings have their own ways of dealing with such confidential matters, and you may not care for King Henry's final decision on Erland.”

  “I’ve told you, I care naught for kings. Let us do this thing, Magnus, and have it finished before Royce returns. From what I've seen of him, I think he won’t be angry with you if you have valuable information to hand over to him. I’m sure we will discover something of value in Erland's chamber.”

  “Then, you may come with us,” Magnus said. “You and Braedon and I will sail with Captain Piers.”

  “I refuse to be left behind,” William announced suddenly. “Royce assigned me to the original mission and I won't desert my companions until it’s finished.”

  “Oh, William, no!” Alice cried.

  “I must go,” William told her, “or I will be dishonored for allowing the others to sail into danger without me.”

  “What if you are injured?” Alice cried. “Oh, why don't I have a stronger stomach, so I can go, too? But I fear my weakness would delay you or put you into greater danger.”

  “Only promise you will be here, waiting for me,” William said, taking her trembling hands in his. “I swear, I will return to you and never leave you again.”

  “I'll be here,” Alice whispered. “I'll wait forever if I must.”

  Magnus cleared his throat loudly, the sound drawing Lilianne's fascinated attention away from the lovers to more practical concerns.

  “First thing tomorrow,” Magnus said, “Braedon is to ride to Hythe and discover when Captain Piers is expected back in port. As I understand the situation from Sir John, the moment he was put ashore, the Daisy returned to Calais to retrieve the sailors who were left behind when he demanded the ship sail for England without delay.

  “While we await the captain's return,” Magnus continued, “we will put together a plan for getting into and out of the manor with our lives intact.”

  Chapter 11

  Braedon returned to Richton at noon, having left the castle soon after midnight in order to take advantage of the long midsummer hours of daylight.

  “Captain Piers is expected tomorrow” he reported to Magnus, who was in the bailey when he dismounted. “I ordered the man-at-arms you sent with me to stay in Hythe until the Daisy arrives, and warn Captain Piers that we need to use the ship as soon as possible.”

  “Good,” Magnus responded. “If all goes well, we will have time to sail to France and come back to Richton before Royce finishes conferring with King Henry.”

  He broke off to gaze across the bailey to where Lilianne, Alice, and William were leaving the stable, having just returned from a ride together. Lilianne’s hair was pulling out of its tight braid into soft curls and her cheeks were flushed with bright color. At a casual glance she looked to be the image of healthy young womanhood, but Magnus's heart twisted to see the shadows under her violet eyes. He was sure she hadn't slept at all since learning of her brother's death.

  He wondered if she had passed the previous night huddled on her side of the bed she shared with Alice, crying out her grief in silence so as not to disturb her friend. It would be like Lilianne to keep her tears to herself. She raised sad eyes to meet his gaze when he and Braedon joined the others and they all began to walk toward the keep.

  “Lady Lilianne, have you been William's chaperone in my absence?” Braedon asked playfully.

  “I gave him no opportunity to misbehave,” she responded, venturing a wistful smile at him. “What did you learn in Hythe?
”

  “We will most likely sail for France the day after tomorrow,” Braedon told her.

  “Oh, dear,” Alice cried, grasping William's arm more tightly.

  Lilianne glanced at her friend, then slipped one hand through Braedon's arm and the other into Magnus's elbow, drawing them away from Alice and William.

  “While I was riding,” she said to Magnus, “I had an idea that I hope you will approve.”

  “What idea?” Magnus asked, going along with her attempt to allow the lovers to speak privately about Alice’s fears.

  “William has mentioned that he knows an inn outside Calais where the owner keeps horses for the use of King Henry's agents.”

  “He shouldn’t have told you that,” Magnus said.

  “Of course, he should. Magnus, you must not be so stubborn. I can be of great help to you, if only you will let me.”

  “You would help me best by staying here at Richton, where I won't have to worry about your safety.” Realizing he sounded as stubborn as Lilianne claimed he was and knowing she considered their argument about her participation settled, Magnus said no more.

  “Will you listen to my plan and to the reasoning behind it?” Lilianne said.

  “What is your plan?” Braedon asked when Magnus remained silent.

  “I suggest we order Captain Piers to set us ashore near the inn.” Lilianne looked at Magnus as if she expected him to raise an objection.

  “And?” Braedon prompted her when Magnus still didn't speak.

  “We will take advantage of those waiting horses and ride them from the inn to Manoir Sainte Inge.”

  “And then what?” Magnus demanded, unable to keep quiet any longer, even if he did sound stubborn. He was afraid he was beginning to see where Lilianne's clever scheme was leading, and he didn't like it at all. The brave and foolish girl walking beside him with a hand tucked into his elbow was bent upon putting herself into serious danger for the sake of a dead boy.