She thrust her confusion over her night with Guy to the back of her mind. She had to focus. There was too much at stake. She smoothed her hands down her dress, lifted the heavy latch and entered the Great Hall.
She glanced around. All appeared as it should be. The trestle tables were set out, the fire was roaring and the maids were busy. All the men-at-arms were outside in the courtyard, except her steward who was waiting for her, concern etched on his face. At least, she thought, their visitors eclipsed any thoughts he had on his mistress’s bed sport.
“My lady! The King’s men are nearly here.”
“Be calm, Sir Richard. ’Tis what we’ve been waiting for these past months. As soon as the coin has been given to them, we can leave for the North.” She walked towards the open doors and looked out at the busy bailey and beyond to the gate where a line of riders were approaching. “But remember to make no mention of our plans. The King mustn’t know.”
Together they made their way across the frozen ground of the bailey toward the gatehouse. Her breath was made visible by the sharp air, and the bright sunshine summoned streams of cloud from the rain-slicked roofs of the outbuildings that stood within the bailey.
She narrowed her eyes as she tried to make out the design of the approaching pennants. It was one she didn’t recognize. “I wonder who he has sent.”
Her steward stepped up beside her. “Whoever it is, he does not look like a messenger. The King has sent someone of standing.”
A frisson of fear travelled down her body. Stalwart guards were needed to protect such quantity of coin, but not such high-ranking men as the pennant, armour and horses indicated.
“They must have camped on the heath overnight to have arrived so early,” Sir Richard continued. “Strange that they should have waited half a day before coming here.”
Angelique looked from her steward, letting his words sink in, before turning back to the approaching band of men. The bright sun was low behind them as they moved east to west across the causeway, making it impossible to decipher their features. But… she had a strange feeling, a feeling that only increased as the group of men and horses drew up before her. The man at the front, his eyes fixed on her. It was Sir Guy.
She felt sick to her stomach. She clenched her hands, willing herself not to show weakness as he stopped before her. “Sir Guy. This is a surprise.”
He dismounted and passed his horse to his man. “I’ve no doubt.” He approached her and she extended her hand, which he took and kissed. She let her hand drop, but refused to let her gaze waver from his.
“So you are the King’s man, here to collect my silver?”
His eyes, too, held distance. They made her heart break. “That is correct.”
“Then you are welcome. Come inside to my chamber and we can conclude the business. You will not be stopping, I take it?” Her voice held a challenge only he would be able to understand.
He smiled, but the curve of his lips held no warmth. “That, my lady, will depend. Business first.”
She swept into the Great Hall and then into her private chamber behind the Hall, where she conducted her business. She turned to her steward. “Leave us.”
“But, my lady—”
“Just for a few moments and then we will dine.”
She waited until the door closed before she turned to Guy who was standing with his back to the fire.
“You tricked me.”
“That was not my intention.” His voice and gaze were haughty. She couldn’t believe it was the same man. “I may have failed to tell you a few facts, but there was no trickery involved.”
“You said you were here to see me, when in fact you were here to take my money back to the King.”
“No lies. I came to see you and I also came for the money.”
She frowned and unlocked the chest within which lay the money. “It’s all there, ready for the King.”
His eyes, a cool grey-brown in the morning light, narrowed but never strayed from hers. He shook his head. “It’s not destined for the King.”
“What? Sir, you talk in riddles.”
“The King has granted me this silver. He has proved very grateful for my services over the years. He wishes to repay the few friends he has left.”
“My silver is payment for my freedom. I don’t care who receives it so long as I am free.”
“The King has proved so generous, in fact, that he has granted me, you.”
A deathly hush hung between them both. Neither moved. Angelique broke the stillness as she brought her hand to her throat and rubbed her chest in a futile effort to stem the panic that was beginning to fill her.
“I have paid for my freedom.” Her words emerged like empty husks—tokens, without effect.
“No one is free in this world, Angel.”
“I would have been if it weren’t for you. I despise you Guy. That you should stoop to such depths to trap me. So it is my lands the King has promised you. It is my body the King has given you. It is my silver that will be yours.”
She tried to walk away but he grabbed her arm and held her firm.
“Let me go.”
“No. Not until you hear me out. I tried to tell you earlier, but you would not listen.” She struggled under his touch but he did not lessen his grip. “You were always mine, all along. The King agreed to a match as recompense for my services. You were never going to be free. The King was determined to marry you off, the more so for your determination not to be married. But I wanted you, to want me.”
The fire in his eyes suddenly lessened, but the heat felt more intense, as his grip tightened around her hand.
“I wanted to make you see how good we could be together. But you won’t let yourself will you? You are so stubborn, so focused on what you want, that you don’t see the reality of what is around you. Nine years ago you wanted to give up everything for me. Now? You insist on running from the inevitable because of what I stand for. For the love of God, trust in something other than your own misguided notions.”
“Misguided? How dare you stand there and talk to me so? You know nothing about me and what I’ve suffered, and you never will after tricking me into bed with you. No. There will be no marriage, especially to someone like you.” As soon as the words of anger escaped her, she regretted them as she saw their effect on his face.
He stepped away and bowed. “Then there is nothing more to be said.”
She reached out to him, unable to stop herself. He flung down her hand and strode towards the door. “Where are you going?” She stepped towards him as if to follow but stopped when he turned back to her, arrested by the despair in his eyes.
“You want me gone. I will go.”
She shook her head, not wanting him to go now, despite everything.
“But you and your men must be tired.”
He hesitated then. “If you are willing to give my men rest for a few days it would be welcome.”
She nodded. “Of course. And you?”
“I will leave. I have business in Norwich and then I’ll return for my men and won’t trouble you ever again.”
“I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t leave now, not after…”
“Not after what? After you’ve told me you want nothing more to do with me?”
“I don’t believe you’ll leave just because of that.” Her body trembled, but she continued to meet his anguished gaze, clamping her mouth together in an effort to control her treacherous body that wanted only to follow him. “You’ve too much too lose.”
He glanced at the silver still in the chest but made no move to take it. “You understand nothing, do you? Yes, I could claim all that you have. The King has not only given me you, but your lands and the last payment you were to have made him. I have everything, Angel. But it was you that I wanted. But it is you that you won’t give me.” He walked away empty-handed and opened the door, but kept his back to her. “My men will be staying to eat and rest. I will not.”
“Guy!” The cry ca
me out of her body as if she’d been slammed by a body blow.
He hesitated, his hand still on the door and then turned slowly to her. “Angel?”
So many contradictory thoughts—fear, lust, distrust, back to fear—flooded her brain that, although she opened her mouth to speak, no words were forthcoming. She shook her head.
He turned and slammed closed the heavy oak door, filling the silence left by her unspoken words.
Chapter 10
“Sir Guy has sent word he is returning this morning from Norwich, to join the rest of his men, before departing for France.” She ignored her steward’s raised brow and rose from her accounts and paced to the window.
She barely registered the sweeping views across the marshes to the upland heath, still white under a veil of frost. Since he’d left, three days earlier, her thoughts had been filled with him—nothing but him.
“Good.” She turned and paced back to the table, alternately flexing and fisting her hands as she walked.
“So am I to understand that the voyage north is to be delayed again?” Daily he asked her when they would be sailing for the north, and daily she’d delayed it.
“Yes. We are going nowhere today. Make sure we provide a good dinner for him and proper accommodation. Make sure he is comfortable. Make sure…”
“Yes my lady?”
How could she tell him to make sure he stayed this time?
She waved her hand in dismissal and sat down at her papers. But the neat figures swirled before her eyes and all she saw was his face. She closed her eyes but the intensity of her feelings increased as the reality around her faded, giving way to the memory of being alone with him, of the heat of their connection, and the stony, empty loss she’d felt ever since he’d left her.
She rarely cried since the first beatings she’d received at the hands of her husband. Then, she’d realized that feelings were not going to protect her, they would make her more vulnerable. Now, she blinked and rubbed her eyes free of the unwelcome tears, but still they came and she gave up as her tears splashed onto the pages of accounts, smearing the ink. Nothing mattered—not her money, not her freedom—compared to her love for Guy.
Suddenly she heard the thunder of hooves across the bridge. Heart pounding, she brushed away her tears and descended to the hall and out to the bailey. But instead of Guy, tall and imposing, filling the space with his presence, she was shocked to see the Bishop of Norwich being helped stiffly from his horse.
“My Lord Bishop! I bid you welcome.”
“My lady. I trust you are well. And where is Sir Guy?” The bishop looked over her shoulder as if expecting him to appear at any second.
Angelique contained her confusion beneath the mask she’d habitually worn before her husband. In her experience it never served any purpose to show men her thoughts. “Sir Guy is not here at present.”
“But he is due back today? I have only today to bless the marriage, as the King has requested.”
“I believe Sir Guy will be here today but the marriage—”
“Needs to be performed as soon as possible. I have a boat leaving Blakeney Haven on the tide later today.”
Before Angelique could remonstrate further, Sir Guy and his squire came cantering through the gate. He rode into the square of packed earth sending chickens and children flying. He swung off his horse and approached them, his face lowered and serious.
“Apologies for keeping you waiting, my Lord Bishop. But I have only just heard that the King sent you here.”
“You are in particular favour, Sir Guy. The King asked me to come personally and bless your union.”
“No!” Angelique’s voice sounded louder than she’d intended. It would not pay to alienate the bishop. “My Lord Bishop, I simply mean the bans have not yet been posted.”
“A recent legality for which the King has given dispensation.” He turned to Guy. “No need to worry about the bans, Sir Guy. Let us proceed with the business of marriage and then I can be on my way.”
Only then did Sir Guy turn to her, although his words were aimed elsewhere. “Bishop, if you’d excuse Lady Gresham and myself for a few moments.”
The bishop grumbled under his breath, but waved his hand in agreement as her steward escorted him into the Great Hall with the promise of refreshment.
Guy approached her, coming too close, his eyes fierce and challenging. She’d never seen him this way. Not when they last met, nor when they were young. This was a different man. This was the powerful man whom the King wished to keep loyal, not the man who’d made love to her. This was the ruthless man who’d appeared on the same day as the Bishop, to complete his plans after all.
“Your solar, my lady?”
“Certes,” she jumped, almost forgetting his request for a private audience. She could barely think, barely breathe, as he followed her into the solar.
Once inside, he closed the door and leaned back against it. His eyes, underscored with dark shadows, were fierce. She swallowed. There was something about this imposing stranger that threatened to rob her of her words. “So—” she cleared her throat “—you’re here to marry me, after all?”
“What do you think?”
“I think it’s common knowledge with your men and within my castle that we’ve lain together. That I obviously consented; the door was not barred… We are married in their eyes already.”
“So reasoned, so cold, by Christ!” He slammed his fist on to the table. “And that is the only reason you’d marry me? Because you think I would betray you with the knowledge of our love-making?”
“I…” She couldn’t speak. Her feelings took over, drowning the words that she’d formed in her mind.
“Because you cannot trust me?”
“I have trusted before and been let down.”
“That was your father. That was your husband. That was not me.”
“You tricked me, Guy. You bedded me under false pretences.”
“Only because I wanted you to want me without duress. Only because I live in a world where things are forced. I did not want to force you. We are not all the same. Am I really so bad that you cannot trust me, Angel?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know any more.” Tears threatened. “I only have myself.”
“Face it. You don’t want anyone else.” Still she said nothing. With each long moment she saw his face fall into a grim line. “Come, we mustn’t waste the Bishop’s time any longer.”
He stood to one side waiting for her to pass. She hesitated when she was level with him but his eyes were hard as they looked down on her: hard, and his thoughts and feelings well hidden. She’d lost him. She walked down into the Hall, knowing that unless she took control she’d lose something far more precious than she’d ever held—an opportunity for a happiness she hadn’t known to exist.
“I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time, my Lord Bishop.” Guy’s powerful voice filled the hall.
The Bishop’s bushy eyebrows beetled with annoyance as he chewed on a piece of meat. “’Tis not what I’ve heard.” The Bishop looked from Guy to Angelique and then back to Guy. “I’ve heard you’ve lain together and that my blessing was a mere formality.”
“Then you’ve heard wrong.”
Angelique felt a dagger twist in her heart at his denial.
“The King will not be pleased.”
“I will tell him of the change of plan myself.”
“And the scutage payment? He was expecting payment in lieu of your fighting services.”
This was news to Angelique and she looked fearfully at Guy, knowing he didn’t have the sort of money the King sought, knowing that he was sickened with war.
“He will receive my services.”
The Bishop’s disapproving frown settled upon Angelique. “It seems, my lady, that you will be left in peace once more. I will go directly.”
She cleared her throat that had thickened at the thought of Guy risking his life and limb in the constant battles in which the King engaged in F
rance. She’d seen evidence in the scars on his body. She knew that his bravery would always ensure he was first in line. She knew that if he left she might never see him again.
“No. Please, finish your meal. You have ridden far. But excuse me for just one moment, I need to fetch something.”
She walked quickly across the hall and entered her private chamber where she unlocked the chest with fumbling fingers. She plucked out one of the bags of silver and locked the chest. She weighed it in her hand. The silver had been meant to buy her freedom. And she would use it as such, still.
Guy’s eyes were upon her as she re-entered the Hall. But she turned, instead, to the bishop.
“My Lord Bishop, this is but one bag of silver of many. Take them in payment for the scutage.”
The Bishop frowned and took the bag from her outstretched hand. “How much in total?”
When she told him, an avaricious smile broke out on his face, as he no doubt calculated how much he could pocket himself in the transaction. “Yes, I’m sure this will be most acceptable to the King.”
“No, my Lord.” Guy’s voice was powerful, brimming with anger. “It is not Lady Angelique’s scutage to pay.”
“Yes, it is.” Angelique turned to Guy, while her words were aimed at the Bishop. “A wife’s wealth belongs to her husband. We are already married in the eyes of the Lord.”
“What is it that you’re saying?” the Bishop asked.
“We have slept together more than once. I agreed to the marriage contract and I hope Sir Guy does too. I wish you to bless the marriage.”
Within two steps Guy was by her side, his eyes searching her face, his whisper, for her ears only. “Why are you doing this? For me? To save me from war, is that it?”
She shook her head. “No,” she whispered back. “I do it for me.”
Oblivious to the surprised smile of the Bishop and her steward, Guy briefly caressed her cheek. She closed her eyes at the intensity of feeling his touch aroused, and parted her lips in a soft gasp. Her eyes were still closed when his lips pressed against hers. He pulled away too quickly. “Tell me why.”
Awakening His Lady: Novella (Norfolk Knights Book 3) Page 5
