“Aye,” Elizabeth answered. “A warm bed will be most welcome, after two days of sleeping in tents.”
She was aware of Henry gesturing for Raynor to follow them. Henry chuckled huskily. “I would wager your lord husband will be glad of a warm bed, as well.”
Hot color stained Elizabeth’s cheeks as she strained to hear Raynor’s reply. But if he made one, it was too low for her to catch.
She made a show of listening to little Henry as he pattered on in his baby language. Distracted as she was, Elizabeth understood no more than two words in ten. It gave her something to attend to besides Raynor, whom she was completely aware of as he followed them into the great hall.
Aileen went to the end of the hall, where a fire burned in the large hearth, and spoke to a woman who was turning a roasting pig on a spit over its heat. She nodded and rose. Then Aileen came back to Elizabeth.
Leaving the men to their talk, Aileen led Elizabeth to the same room she had stayed in in the past. It was a comfortable chamber and contained an X-shaped chair, a table and a high, wide bed.
“Your bath is being brought,” the golden-haired woman said, taking her chattering son.
Elizabeth sighed, sinking down on the side of the bed as Aileen seated herself on the chair. “It will be good to be clean again.” She reached up and pulled her sheer wimple from her head, her hair tumbling down in a tangle of ebony. Without thinking, she began to tick off a list of things that needed doing. “I will need my companion, Olwyn. She is with the wagons outside the gate. She will know to bring clean garments for me. Raynor has no squire with him, so she might ask his man for a change of clothing for him. Also, I doubt that you need worry about housing Raynor’s men. No doubt he will want them to stay with the wagons. But he may want his knight, Bronic, to sleep in the keep. They are more friends than lord and vassal. I trust you will find accommodations for Olwyn, as well.” She paused as Aileen began to laugh.
Accustomed to Elizabeth’s managing ways, Aileen took no offense. She knew there was no ill in the younger woman, she simply liked to have things run smoothly. “Of course. I will see to it. Is there aught else?”
Elizabeth grinned at the other woman. “Nay, not that I can think of at this moment, but if anything does occur to me, I will certainly let you know.”
Aileen laughed again, as she was meant to. Then she grew noticeably more serious. “Now tell me of your marriage.” It was obvious that she was unable to contain her curiosity a moment longer.
Elizabeth looked down at the gray stone floor, suddenly feeling awkward. “I...” she began hesitantly, then straightened her shoulders, unwilling to let her uncertainty about the marriage show. “There is really very little to tell. We met when he came to court.”
“Why did you not write and tell us of the wedding?”
Elizabeth’s reply was airy. “As Raynor said, there was really not time to write. It all happened so quickly.”
There was some degree of censure in Aileen’s next question. “Why not wait, at least long enough to send word to us? We do love you very much.”
Standing, Elizabeth moved about the room restlessly. She had not meant to hurt them. Nor did she wish to lie, but neither could she bring herself to talk about the circumstances surrounding her marriage to Raynor.
Not with Aileen, whose relationship with Henry was nigh on perfect. Elizabeth did know that they had had problems. But Aileen and Henry had been in love. Raynor did not love her—nor she him.
Telling Aileen everything would not improve her situation.
Smiling with what she hoped was enthusiasm, Elizabeth said, “Stephen was the one who insisted on the marriage taking place so quickly. You see, Raynor must needs return to Warwicke, and Stephen felt we should definitely be married before he left.”
That much was the truth.
Elizabeth turned away. “That is really all there is to tell. I have nothing to say beyond that.” She knew Aileen, knew she was a very private person herself, and hoped that would be explanation enough to prevent her from prying further.
At that moment, the door opened and two serfs came in, bearing a large wooden tub.
Aileen stood, her eyes telling Elizabeth that she understood and would prod her no more. “I will go now and see that the meal is coming along. I wish you had sent word ahead that you were coming. I would have prepared something special.”
“There is no need.” Elizabeth smiled with relief and genuine warmth on seeing that there would be no more questions. She was fond of her sister-by-marriage, and glad she had found Henry. “I am happy to be here with you. That is special enough.”
Seeming slightly embarrassed by the other woman’s overt show of affection, Aileen flushed. Elizabeth knew some of the circumstances behind Aileen’s reserve, and had nothing but sympathy for her. Not until Henry came into her life had she been able to conquer her fear of giving and receiving love.
But it was still difficult for her to show her feelings at times, and Elizabeth understood this. So she took no offense when Aileen changed the subject.
“I will have Lord Warwicke’s belongings sent here, as well. Surely he, too, would benefit from a hot bath and a change of clothes.
Elizabeth’s eyes rounded with horror. Raynor’s belongings in her room? She opened her mouth to say it was not possible, then shut it again. She had led both her brother and his wife to believe her marriage was a desired one. She could not refuse to share a room with her husband of three days.
But what on God’s earth was her husband going to say?
* * *
Elizabeth sat nervously beside her husband at the high table.
Aileen had insisted they take her and Henry’s usual places, in honor of their recent marriage.
Raynor hadn’t even looked at her. He sat eating little, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. The only evidence that he was aware of her at all was the fact that he had set the choicest pieces of meat on her plate.
She picked at these with her eating knife.
Raynor had not come to their room before the meal. He and Henry had gone off somewhere about the demesne. They had returned just before the meal, both of them with wet hair, acting as though they had known each other for years.
Elizabeth could only assume Henry had taken her husband swimming.
Raynor was acutely aware of Elizabeth beside him. She wore her lovely hair loose, and the glossy mass of curls had been brushed and draped over her shoulder to fall unbound to her lap.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the way she toyed with her food. A sigh escaped her as she wriggled beside him, and he wondered at her restlessness.
Mayhap pretending their marriage was a normal one was pressing upon her, as well. He felt guilty for allowing her brother to believe all was well between them.
Though he had just met him, Raynor sensed that Henry was a man of honor and forthrightness.
When they had first arrived and Elizabeth had sent him that beseeching look, he could not have denied the appeal to save his own soul. He did not know why she wished to keep the true circumstances of the relationship a secret from her brother and his family, but he could not betray her.
Raynor refused to allow himself to wonder why he would feel any sense of loyalty to the woman who had ruined his life on a whim. He simply tried to convince himself it would be easier to go along with her than to explain everything to these strangers.
Though in the past he had never been one to spare himself trouble by way of telling a falsehood.
Thinking to take his mind from his troubles with Elizabeth, Raynor turned to Henry, who was seated on his other side, engaged in a conversation with his wife.
Henry sounded none too pleased as he said, “The child will be born at Claymoore, Aileen. Our four months at Landview will be well over by then.”
Raynor could hear the irritation in her voice when his wife answered, “But Henry was born at Claymoore, and I would have the next one birthed here, in my own keep. It is not too much to ask that one of them
be born here.”
He looked to Henry with surprise. Would the baron of Clayburn, who had a reputation for fierceness and arrogance, allow his wife to rule him? And what did she mean by her own keep? A woman’s property became her husband’s on their marriage.
Though Aileen continued with calm reason, Raynor could not help thinking he would allow no woman to tell him where his child would be born. It was only right that the offspring of a baron should be born at his own seat, should he desire it.
But as the conversation between the two continued, Raynor could see that Henry was weakening in his stance. Raynor was dismayed.
Never would he allow a woman to dictate to him. Aileen’s attitude only served to further prove that no woman was to be trusted. Since their arrival Raynor had seen the baron treat his wife with nothing but affection and deference. Obviously Henry Clayburn had shown his wife too much regard and honor. And what did that good dame do, but use his devotion against him?
It was just as with his father and mother. She had used his all-too-obvious affection to bind and manipulate her husband.
Raynor would not accept such treatment from Elizabeth. She must not have reason to think she could use her obvious beauty and intelligence to control him. She would never be allowed to meddle in his affairs as Aileen did Henry’s.
As if noticing that his guest was unduly interested in his conversation with his wife, Henry turned to Raynor with a dark frown.
Seeing her brother’s ill humor, Elizabeth sought to interrupt. She, too, had overheard the argument between Henry and Aileen. Knowing them as she did, she was not the least bit concerned. Both of them were strong individuals and well liked having their own way. But that never stopped them from settling things in the end.
Yet, though they loved each other beyond reason, Aileen and Henry’s relationship was a somewhat volatile one. And when he was arguing with his wife, Henry was more likely to be confrontational with others. It was just in his nature and not of much concern to those who knew him well.
Raynor did not know him well.
Elizabeth bit her lip. The evening was not going as it should. She should not have brought Raynor to Landview when things between them were so strained. She did not feel close enough to Raynor to try to explain the situation to him, and there was no reason to believe he would listen even if she tried.
“Henry,” she said with a smile, trying to distract him instead.
Her brother looked at her, but continued to scowl.
“Henry,” she repeated, the smile still fixed on her red lips. “Why don’t you tell us what it was like in France?”
At his surprised expression, Elizabeth almost laughed aloud. In the past she had shown a marked disinterest in what he had done during the war. Her newfound curiosity concerning the subject must indeed have startled him.
It also seemed to have made him realize he was discussing something that might best be considered in private.
Henry turned to Raynor, obviously thinking she had asked for her husband’s benefit. “Did you serve with the king’s army in France?”
Raynor shook his head, chewing slowly, then swallowing. “Nay, I was but fourteen when my father died, and I was called home to take over our lands. Though I do feel I have contributed to that effort in knight’s fees and gold. More’s the pity, as it leaves me less protection from others who might want to do harm to my own lands and people.”
Elizabeth looked at him in surprise. This she had not known. Then she realized that there was much about Raynor she did not know. She had just assumed that he must have been in France, as most of the men she knew had been. Stephen had not, but he served the king as messenger here in England.
She looked at her husband with interest. Mayhap Henry could get him to speak more of himself.
She also wondered what Henry would reply to his remarks. All knew him as a staunch supporter and friend to King Edward. There had been implied criticism of the war in what Raynor said. Not many would have the courage to speak thus before King Edward’s own friend.
Leaning forward, she listened with avid attention.
Henry looked to Raynor with something like suspicion in his golden eyes. “King Edward rules by right. Do you think to question your responsibilities to him and the realm? Are your own interests of more import than those of the kingdom?”
Raynor became very still. He laid down his knife, folding his hands before him as he met Henry’s gaze. “I, too, love my king and England. I but believe he should see to our own country first and worry about holdings on the Continent last. Our people have been bled dry in supporting this war to institute Edward as king of France. No man would give more than I to protect king or kingdom in the event of an attack upon our shores. I but state my opinion of what has thus far been a wasted effort to gain land in France.”
For a long moment, Henry said nothing. Then he nodded. “I see your point, though I will beg to disagree. As I see it, Edward must show strength in order to make the French understand that they cannot push him further. If he had simply accepted France’s invasion of Aquitaine, we might now have them to fight on our own shore.”
As the two men continued to talk of the matter, Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. The two seemed to have agreed to disagree. The only possible solution to the problem. And after all, did they but realize it, their views were really not so opposed. Both of them loved their king and their country.
And as she thought about this, Elizabeth knew a growing respect for her husband. He had been brave to state his opinion so openly before Henry, knowing how he felt about the king. Besides, she tended to agree with her husband.
She interrupted the two men to say so. “Raynor is right. Declaring himself king of France has done Edward little good thus far. In fact, it has been to the country’s detriment. There are problems with the Welsh and Scots along our borders that he must needs attend to.”
She blushed as Raynor turned to study her thoughtfully. He seemed surprised and pleased by her support of his beliefs, though he said nothing of it.
As she watched him, his eyes took on a hint of uncertainty and his gaze moved over her face with unconscious vulnerability.
Suddenly it was hard for her to breath past the rising heat in her chest, and she was unable to break the contact of their eyes.
Raynor, too, seemed in the grip of some overwhelming emotion, for he reached out and placed his hand over hers on the table. A shaft of sweet sensation rose up the inside of her wrist, and she found herself leaning toward him.
A husky laugh interrupted her thoughts.
It was Henry, and he spoke with amusement. “Methinks, Aileen, that we’d best see these newlyweds to bed soon.”
Flushing, Elizabeth jerked her hand back, leaning away from Raynor. How could she have given so much of herself away? It seemed he had only to touch her and she lost all thought of what she was about. Even now her heartbeat had not slowed to its usual pace.
Elizabeth looked at Raynor and saw by the taut set of his jaw that he was angry. She felt a jab of irritation in the pit of her stomach. It seemed he was forever perturbed and blaming her for what was between them.
It was her fault no more than his. Elizabeth might not feel so much guilt over the way she reacted to him if Raynor stopped fighting it. Why could he not even try to become friends with her?
Even as the thought entered her mind, Elizabeth knew she wanted so much more. What she felt toward Raynor had little to do with friendship and much to do with the mysteries that drew a woman to a man.
She recalled the way he had looked at her a moment ago, his eyes soft and unguarded. That one moment when he lowered his defenses, however briefly, had been more intense than any communication she had ever experienced.
Despite the bawdy remark Henry had made at dinner, it was sometime after Elizabeth left before Raynor sought his bed.
Aileen had directed him to the chamber just off the far end of the hall. As he opened the door, he sighed. Mayhap it would be good to
lay his head upon a real bed instead of the hard ground this night. He’d had little sleep over the past few days.
But the thought was overshadowed by the knowledge that his lack of sleep had had little to do with sleeping on the ground. He was not unused to hardship.
It was thoughts of Elizabeth that haunted his nights.
Immediately he knew the room wasn’t empty.
A fire had been lit in the hearth, and it cast a warm, rosy glow on the chamber and its occupant.
Elizabeth sat on a chair before the hearth. On hearing Raynor enter, she stood, turning slowly to face him. She was dressed in a long, filmy garment of white, and her black hair hung in a mass of curls about her. Raynor swallowed. It was a sight to fair take his breath away, but he gained immediate control of his reactions.
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