“My lady,” he said, “my lord? Do either of you have any cause or reason why you may not be joined in matrimony?”
Now it was everyone else’s turn to hold their breaths as the question focused on Kathalin. Tears were still trickling from her eyes, less now, but she did nothing more than reach up and flick them away. She kept her mouth shut to the question because she knew that it would do no good for her to speak up. I am in love with another man! No one would care about that. She would be considered disrespectful and, in turn, make Alexander look like a fool. Gates had asked her to be good to him.
She didn’t want to disobey Gates.
So she said nothing, sickened that no one would speak up for the travesty going on. If the priest sensed that there was an entire hall full of unspoken protests, he didn’t let on. He simply opened the liturgy book in his hand and lifted his arm, open palm out, to the bridal couple.
“Let us pray,” he said.
“Wait!”
The cry came from the back of the hall, near the door, and everyone turned sharply to see a swaddled figure standing there. Kathalin, Elreda, and Jasper recognized the person immediately.
“Rosamund!” Jasper gasped, leaving Gates’ side to go to his wife. “What in God’s good name are you doing here?”
Rosamund held up a hand to Jasper, forbidding him to come any closer to her. She was soaking wet and the veil around her face was clinging to her skin, transparently, making her sunken face fairly visible. She appeared feeble and twisted, but the bright blue eyes were strong. They were fixed on Jasper.
“I had to come, Jasper,” she said quietly. “I… had to.”
Jasper looked at her, perplexed, but also increasingly horrified. He could see his wife’s face quite plainly through the wet fabric and, having not seen it for years, was stunned at what he was seeing.
“Why?” he asked again, disgust for her appearance marking his features. “You made no mention of wanting to attend this wedding.”
Rosamund nodded. “I know,” she said. “But I had to. I fear I must stop it.”
Jasper’s eyes widened. “What’s this you say?” he said, shocked. “You intend to stop it?”
Rosamund nodded and her gaze moved to Kathalin, standing over near the hearth. Her gaze softened. “Jasper, it was wrong of us to do this to Kathalin,” she said. “We have gone our entire lives wronging the child because she was born a girl. Do you recall how disappointed you were? You had wanted another son, like Roget, but when Kathalin was born, you refused to look at her for an entire month. When she was an infant, you did not even want her around. I told her that we sent her to St. Milburga’s because I did not want her to contract my disease but that was not entirely the truth. The reality is that you did not want her here. It is the reason behind sending her away more than my disease was.”
Jasper was turning red in the face. “Must we discuss this now?” he said through clenched teeth. “This entire room of people does not need to hear our business, Rosamund.”
Rosamund looked at her husband, her veil lifting when she sighed with exasperation. “They already know our business,” she said. “They know that you want to wed Kathalin to Alex to form an alliance with the House of de Lohr. They know that you have denied Gates’ suit for Kathalin even though both Gates and Alex begged you to reconsider. Think, Henry; think back to the days when I was young and beautiful, and you were madly in love with me. Are you so old and hard that you cannot remember those days of glory? I can. I remembered them today when Elreda reminded me of such things. I remember when I was beautiful and you loved me still. I remember the joy of those days. It took a while for me to recall them, but I do now. I supposed I had shut them out, but this afternoon, I remembered. It all came back to me.”
Jasper wasn’t sure what to say or how to react. He was feeling increasingly embarrassed by the appearance of his wife, who was not only contradicting his wishes for this marriage but also showing her diseased face.
“Go back to your chamber, Rosamund,” he said. “You are not well. Your mind is not well.”
Rosamund chuckled ironically. “My mind is perfectly sane,” she said, shuffling away from Jasper and heading in the direction of the people gathered at the hearth. She looked at Elreda, who was blinking back tears.
“You were correct, Elreda,” she said. “I am not the Rosamund you knew. You said that you would pray that I found my happiness again but the truth is that my happiness is gone. I had my chance. But Kathalin has never had that chance. Do you know that she begged me to allow her some happiness? She begged me to allow her to marry Gates and I refused her, much as Jasper did, but it was not right that we did that. Kathalin has known absolutely no affection from her parents her entire life. She has lived within the cold walls of St. Milburga’s, never knowing a mother’s love or a father’s affection. Jasper and I did that to her. We were about to do it to her again by wedding her to Alex. But I find that I simply condemn her to the rest of her life in misery.”
Kathalin, who had thus far been standing in stunned silence, began to realize what her mother was saying. She stepped away from Alexander, moving towards her mother.
“Rosamund, what is your meaning?” she asked, suspicion and shock in her tone. “Did you truly come to stop this wedding? Or did you simply come to clear your conscience for the way you and father have treated me all of these years?”
Rosamund looked at her daughter. The bright eyes crinkled at the corners as the twisted lips smiled beneath the veil. “She looks like me, does she not?”
The question was directed at Elreda, who nodded. “She does, indeed.”
Rosamund studied Kathalin’s face for a moment. “I think she is much more beautiful than I ever was,” she said to Elreda. Then, she focused on her daughter. “Kathalin, I must ask your forgiveness. For the years of neglect, for a loveless existence, I must ask your forgiveness. Although I still believe a marriage to Alex is a smart move, and would make a strong alliance, to force you into it not only makes your life miserable but also ruins Alex’s life as well as Gates. And Gates… your father loves him like a son. It is true that his past is not as we would like it to be, but a true man would show his repentance by making a good and true husband to you for the rest of your life. Gates?”
Gates heard his name called and he straightened. Up until this point, he was much like everyone else in the hall, listening to Rosamund in stunned silence. In truth, he could hardly believe what he was hearing. He could hardly dare to hope, but when he heard her call his name, he answered without hesitation.
“My lady?”
“Come here.”
Gates did as he was told. He moved past the priest, past Jasper, and went to stand next to the tiny woman in the wet clothing.
“Aye, my lady?”
Rosamund looked up at him with eyes shaped very much like Kathalin’s. “Tell me that I am not making a mistake, Gates,” she said. “Tell me that if I permit you to marry my daughter that you will make a fine and true husband for her for the rest of your days. Swear to me that your loyalty will be to her and only to her.”
Gates didn’t hesitate; he dropped to a knee in front of Rosamund in a gesture of fealty and service. It was a fluid, gallant gesture not lost on anyone in that room. It was a show of complete submission.
Of truth.
“With everything I am, I swear it to you,” he said steadily. “With all that I am, I would endeavor to make as fine and true a husband as has ever lived. I would love her, and only her, until my death, and even beyond if God would allow it.”
Rosamond looked at the knight, now nearly eye-level with her, and she could read his sincerity like a book. Reaching out, she put a damp, swaddled hand on his head.
“You love her, do you not?”
Gates had been in control until she had asked that question. Then, his control left him and his eyes grew moist. He swallowed the lump in his throat.
“With every fiber of my being, I do, my lady,” he said hoarsely.
Rosamund smiled; the gesture could be seen through the damp veil. “I believe you,” she said. “I am sure Alex would not protest if he switches places with you in this ceremony. Go and stand next to my daughter, Gates de Wolfe.”
Astonished, Gates rose to his feet, looking at Alexander, who was gazing back at him with equal shock. But Alexander quickly moved away, clearing the way for Gates to take his place, as Kathalin stood there with her mouth open. She was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t even speak. But standing back behind the group as Rosamund gave orders, Jasper let out a grunt.
“Rosamund!” he demanded. “What in God’s name are you doing? Have you gone mad?”
Rosamund turned to him. “I have not,” she said. “I have come to my senses and I am doing what we should have done in the first place. To the devil with our fears of Gates’ reputation and the shame on Kathalin; the truth is that you are the only one who would be shamed by such a thing, and frankly, it does not matter to me if you feel shame or not. I would feel more shame knowing that, once again, we made our daughter miserable. She loves this man and he loves her, and that is the only thing that matters. Let them have their love, Jasper. Now, shut your pie hole. I have come to witness a wedding and I will not hear your voice again.”
Jasper, mouth agape in outrage, started to reply but thought better of it. Rosamund might have been diseased and decrepit, but at the moment, she was the most powerful thing in that room and he wasn’t about to tangle with her. She might become angry and wipe some of her disease on him while he was sleeping. Or, so he thought.
In any case, he kept his mouth shut because, truth be told, he knew he was in for a lifetime of utter aggravation if he didn’t comply. And the truth was that he had been put in his place in front of a room full of people who now knew the truth about him and his attitude towards his daughter. There was nothing more he could say, so, at the risk of embarrassing himself completely, he simply shut his mouth.
Rosamund, as always, knew best.
Reluctantly, Jasper resumed his place near Elreda and Henry, who actually seemed relieved that their son wouldn’t have to marry a woman who was in love with another man. It seemed that they, too, had second thoughts about the marriage contract and Rosamund’s well-timed appearance had solved their dilemma. In fact, Elreda seemed quite thrilled by it, dabbing at her eyes as Gates took his place next to Kathalin and gazed down at the woman with enough love in his expression to fill the great hall of Hyssington and then some.
They all saw it. It was the look of a love that would finally be realized.
Kathalin latched on to Gates and refused to let go, holding the man tightly as if afraid she was living a dream, afraid he might fade away were she to relinquish her grip. For certainly, a moment like this could only be in a dream, a wisp of a thought so pure, so beautiful, that it was as if angels had spun it upon their looms of life. As the priest began to intone the mass, Kathalin reached over and pulled Rosamund to stand with her, clutching the woman with one hand and Gates with the other.
Rosamund, normally too weak to stand for any length of time, found the will to stand tall at her only daughter’s wedding. Finally, Rosamund realized that she had, once again, found her happiness in the glowing expression of Kathalin’s face.
She’d found her heart again.
A dream, Kathalin thought as she stood between her mother and Gates. Surely such things as this only happen in dreams, when happiness is so complete that there is nothing left to wish for or hope for. I never thought I was destined for much happiness in life, but it would seem that I have been wrong. This must be what young women dream of when they imagine a perfect life. Now, I know. Finally, I know.
A glance to Gates as the priest finished the marriage mass saw the man with tears in his eyes. When their gazes met, Kathalin smiled knowingly at him.
Finally, he knows, too.
The days of the Dark Destroyer and his roguish ways had finally come to an end.
EPILOGUE
The small chamber was warm and the fire was low, white-hot, casting a golden glow into the room that spilled over the walls and bed. The Tender of the Keep had stoked the fire in the small chamber across from Rosamund’s bower, the chamber that Kathalin had been sleeping in because Henry and Elreda occupied the larger bower on the floor below.
But Henry and Elreda were not in their room. They were still in the hall, having gone through the four bottles of fine Spanish wine that Henry had brought with them and more besides. Moreover, Rosamund was still in the hall, and she and Elreda had moved to their own private corner to discuss days past as the men gathered and drank. It was embarrassing for Alexander, actually, because his father and mother could hold more liquor than he could. After the wedding feast following the most unconventional wedding, Alexander decided he’d had enough and begged off to retire for the night.
Gates had gone with him simply to make sure he made it back to his chamber in one piece, but Kathalin followed because she, too, was genuinely exhausted, and both men ended up escorting Kathalin to the keep. Gates told his bride he would return to her shortly and as Kathalin went inside, Gates and Alexander walked arm in arm across the bailey towards Hyssington’s enormous gatehouse.
The rain had eased up at that point, falling in a soft mist, as Alexander wept on Gates about the beauty of the marriage and how very happy he was for his friend. He also revealed that he was quite relieved. He was terrified that he wasn’t ready yet to become a husband and terrified that he would fail Gates where it came to Kathalin. Gates assured Alexander that he was, indeed, a fine friend, the very best, and he swore that he would repay his kindness someday. Alexander became emotional and slobbery after that, and Gates tried to avoid the man’s alcohol-saturated hugs to the head.
Fortunately, he was saved by Stephan and Tobias, who were on guard duty and saw the pair coming across the bailey. They came out to help Gates with Alexander but before Alexander was taken away by his grinning friends, he hugged Gates tightly and kissed the man loudly on the cheek, congratulating him on his marriage. Then he turned to Stephan and began weeping all over the man, reciting the story of Lady Rosamund’s change of heart. Stephan and Tobias were naturally stunned to hear of such a thing, as the news hadn’t made it out of the great hall until that moment, but their shock soon turned to joy on Gates’ behalf.
After accepting their congratulations, Gates watched with a smirk on his face as Stephan and Tobias dragged Alexander off to put him to bed. A truer and more noble friend had never lived, for certainly, he owed everything to Alexander. As of tonight, he felt like the most fortunate man in all of England.
Perhaps his sins didn’t find him out, after all.
Perhaps he had been forgiven.
But thoughts of his selfless friend and sins of the past were quickly pushed aside as Gates turned towards the keep, his mind moving to the night ahead, a night he never imagined to experience. His thoughts were full of the evening and what had transpired, no longer reeling from the shock of it but settling into the reality of what had happened. He was a married man now with the most beautiful bride he could ever imagine. He never thought he’d be happy to realize he was married, but he was. He was thrilled.
Lost in thought, he had entered the keep without even realizing it, now on the third floor outside of Kathalin’s bower. Knocking softly on the door, it was almost immediately opened and Kathalin stood there in the warm glow of the firelight, smiling at him. Glowing, delicious firelight was all over the room, inviting him in.
“I half-expected you to spend time with your knights, drinking away your wedding night,” Kathalin said. “There is a good deal to celebrate tonight.”
Gates nodded as he entered the chamber and she shut the door behind him, bolting it. “That is true,” he said. “But any celebrating I do will be with you and not a gang of smelly men that I have spent far too much time with already.”
Kathalin laughed softly, gazing at him in the dim light. After a moment, her smile faded
. “I thought I would be facing Alex at this moment,” she said softly. “Is this real? Is it really you?”
“It is.”
“I can still hardly believe it. It does not seem possible.”
Gates smiled faintly. “Nay, it does not,” he said. “I still expect to wake up tomorrow and discover it has all been a dream. I think it would kill me if that happened. I could not bear it.”
Kathalin shook her head. “Nor I,” she whispered. “I do not know what changed my mother’s mind, but I will not question it. Something gave her a change of heart and I thank God for it. He must have heard my prayers.”
“And mine.”
She cocked her head. “Did you really pray, Gates?” she asked. “I did not know you were the praying kind. You have never seemed like one.”
He shrugged. “Mayhap it wasn’t praying so much as it was my heart screaming with pain,” he said quietly. “Even God could feel it.”
“Then God was merciful.”
“He was.”
Kathalin smiled in return and Gates reached out, taking her into his arms and slanting his mouth hungrily over hers. It seemed that he couldn’t stand it any longer. He had to touch her, taste her, and claim her for his own. On this night of nights, they’d been given an unexpected gift and Gates would not wait to take what was rightfully his. For the first time in his life, he would take what legally belonged to him. The mere thought of Kathalin as his wife was the most powerful aphrodisiac he’d ever experienced.
“Lady Kathalin de Wolfe,” he murmured against her mouth. “My wife.”
Kathalin’s arms were around his neck, instinctively pulling him closer to her, her body pressed against his, knowing that on this night, he would claim her for his own just as she would claim him. Fleetingly, she thought of the women that Gates had taken in his time, faceless females with whom he’d had his way, but the thought, in fact, was only fleeting. After this night, she knew there would never be another. It would be her, and only her, in his bed for the rest of their lives.
Dark Destroyer Page 37
