The groom swallowed several times. He clutched his hat until his knuckles turned white.
The earl took a step toward him. “Well? Your answer?”
He cast another glance at Isabel. She ignored him.
“How could I do that? Lady Cavendish is much above my station,” he muttered.
Alicia felt immediately sorry for the servant. She had no doubt that Isabel had duped him in some way in order to sate her wicked desires.
Thomas bared his teeth. “I quite agree. I will ask you once more, and I warn you think on your answer with great care. Did you have carnal knowledge of my late brother’s wife?” He shouted the last words into Launce’s face.
The man twitched, but did not back away. He swallowed again. “I am a servant, my lord. I do what I am bid.”
Alicia saw a vein throbbing at Thomas’s temple.
“And what did this fine lady bid you to do?” he whispered.
Isabel studied the coffered ceiling. Launce looked first at Mary, then at Alicia. He flushed.
“I have no wish to offend the innocent, my lord.”
The groom’s response surprised Thomas. He considered his reply for a moment, then he drew out his dagger.
Launce’s eyes grew wide with fear. He held up his arm to shield his face from the expected blow. Thomas drove the point of his dagger deep into the top of his desk. The weapon quivered upright The earl gave his groom a severe look. “Swear by the cross, here represented by the handle of my knife, that you have never slept with my sister-in-law.”
Launce dropped to his knees. “Your pardon, my lord. I regret everything I have done. Aye, I did take pleasure with the Lady Isabel.”
“Um.” Thomas rubbed his forehead. “And what prompted you to this shameful act?”
The man blinked several times before he answered. “The lady requested my…services.”
“How often? When did you first make bold with her?”
Isabel sucked in her breath through her teeth. She coiled in the large chair as if ready to spring at her accuser.
The man stared down at the floor. “Since this past May Day, my lord,” he mumbled.
Thomas gripped him by the collar. “While my brother still lived?”
Alicia barely heard Launce’s response.
“A…aye, my lord.”
Thomas grew very red in the face. He glared at Isabel. “Then any child you carry is indeed a bastard by this stable boy,” he thundered.
The groom gave Isabel a look of surprise. “Babe? Nay, my lord. The lady is not breeding, so far as I know. That is why she lies with me—to get her with child.”
“Ah-h-h,” Thomas drew out the word.
Isabel suddenly spat, “The varlet lies! He threatened me. He held his knife to my throat. Tell my brother-in-law the whole truth, Launce. Tell him how you forced yourself upon me.”
The servant broke into a sweat, like a rabbit cornered by a fox.
Thomas arched an eyebrow. He studied the man’s belt, then asked softly, “Where is your knife, Launce?”
“In the stables, my lord. I have spent the day mending one of the saddle girths.”
Isabel glared at the groom. “So you say, Launce, but this morning your knife was at my throat!”
Mary shook her head. “Nay, I saw no knife in his hand. Nor did Isabel appear frightened. I watched them kiss most lovingly on the stairs.”
Launce slumped his shoulders. “Such sights are not for a young girl’s eyes, Lady Mary,” he muttered.
“Such sights are not for anyone’s eyes,” Thomas snarled. “What promise did the Lady Isabel give to entice you to lie with her? Did she admire your manly parts? Did she lust for your touch? Or did she offer to pay you?” he roared.
“I was taken by force!” Isabel shouted. “This churl should be flogged, then hanged for daring to touch me.”
Launce looked at his master squarely in the eye. “She came to me on May Day. I was befuddled with new wine. She kissed me in the stables, and stroked my—” He glanced at the child, then continued. “‘Tis God’s own truth. She promised me the position as her chamberlain when she became the Countess of—”
“Liar!” Isabel shrieked. Blue veins stood out on her neck.
“Thornbury,” Thomas finished. “My…wife. The one who would give birth to the Cavendish heir. And the child would look like a member of my family, would he not, Launce? You are tall, well made and have hair the same color as my own. Was that her plan?”
Isabel jumped to her feet. “How can you believe this villain? He would say anything to save his precious neck.”
Launce dropped his hands to his sides. “You speak the truth, my lord, in all particulars.”
Isabel opened her mouth, but Thomas denied her the chance to speak. “Save your tongue, madam. You will need it when you arrive at your father’s house.”
“Never!” she shrieked.
The earl continued as if he had not heard her. “I will write to him this evening and tell him that you are coming. He will receive my message by the time you and your baggage have cleared my lands.”
Isabel fell back onto the chair. “You cannot do this to me.”
He gave her a cold smile. “I can, and I will. At last, I can wash my hands of you with a clear conscience. Furthermore, you will get nothing from William’s estate. Once again, you will be your father’s burden. If he asks you why, be sure to tell him the truth.” He loomed over her. “Be thankful that I will not denounce you in public, nor take you to court to be tried for adultery and fornication. The circuit judge is a just man, but harsh. He does not take kindly to wayward women—especially ones who were unfaithful to their living husbands.”
Isabel paled. “But, Thomas—”
He turned his back on her. “I do not wish to have any further conversation with you. Take yourself back to the Earl of Bedford, with my compliments—or without them. I care not. You are to be gone within two days—after my wedding. Now, leave us.”
Isabel looked as if she might attack her brother-in-law. She rose slowly out of her seat. With a great show of smoothing her skirts, she walked to the door with her nose in the air. As she passed Launce, she hissed. “I wish to speak with you in my chambers.”
He shook his head. “Nay, my lady. I will have nothing more to do with you.”
“Fool!” she snarled. She grabbed at the latch, flung open the door so that it slammed against the library’s wall, then sailed out.
Thomas’s shoulders visibly sagged. Alicia, who had not moved from her spot on the hearth, wished she could do something to soothe the headache she knew he must be suffering.
“Methinks you have had enough amusement for one afternoon, Mary,” he told his sister. “An hour or two of French lessons would do you no harm.”
She made a face behind his back, then flashed a grin at Alicia. “Very well, if it pleases you, Tom, but after supper, will you play a game of chess with me?”
He kissed her on the forehead. “We shall see, poppet.”
The girl left the room more quietly than Isabel. Thomas studied the dejected Launce for a few minutes. Alicia made a move to retire and leave the men alone, but Thomas shook his head, then pointed to his chair. Giving Georgie one last rub, she slipped back into her original place.
Thomas crossed to his desk, and opened his writing case. “You realize that I must send you away from Wolf Hall, Launce?”
Squashing his cap in his large hands, he nodded.
The earl took out a piece of paper, his bottle of ink and a quill pen. “You are not entirely to blame in this matter,” he remarked as he dipped his pen, and began to write. “Still, you should have known the penalty of the law for debauching your lord’s wife.”
“Aye.” The man trembled. “As God is my witness, I am most heartily sorry for what I have done. What will happen to me?”
Thomas scribbled across the sheet. “I am writing to a friend of my father’s, Sir William Jefferson, who lives near Coventry. 1 am recommending you to h
im as a stable groom. I will tell him that I have too many servants at the moment, and cannot keep you in food or livery.” He glanced up from his writing. “One look at your proportions, and Sir William will understand my predicament.”
Launce sagged at his master’s generous mercy. “Bless you, my lord! Thank you, sir! Upon my soul, I swear that I will never disgrace myself again.”
Pausing midletter, Thomas regarded him. “Do not be overhasty in making such a vow, Launce. Temptation comes in too many pretty disguises.”
Staring at the letter on the desk, Alicia clutched the arm of the chair. Though she could not read his upside-down words, she recognized the bold, looping handwriting. Touching the little bundle of torn scraps still hidden in her sleeve, she wondered at the possibility that Thomas could have composed her letters. Her reason rebelled. The earl was not a poet. Andrew must have counterfeited his master’s hand. The squire’s perfidy loomed larger in her eyes.
Thomas folded the letter, melted red sealing wax over the candle’s flame, then applied it to the fold—exactly like the missives Alicia had received. Then he pressed his signet ring into the hot wax. After he blew on the seal, he handed it to Launce.
“See that Master Konrad gives you enough provisions for your journey.”
The groom rose shakily to his feet, then again touched his fingers to his forehead. “Many thanks, my lord. God’s blessing be upon you—and your new lady. I am much obliged to you.”
Thomas massaged his temples. “Stay out of tower rooms and haylofts, Launce. Get yourself a good wife—and be faithful to her.”
He nodded. After blessing his master several more times, he backed out of the library, and disappeared. Thomas sighed, then hunkered down to stroke Vixen. Seeing that he had forgotten her, Alicia got up quietly, and eased toward the door.
Thomas did not look up from Vixen’s face. “How now, Mistress? I have not yet done with you.”
She froze. “Do you mean me, my lord?”
He stood, then stretched his arms over his head. Alicia could not help marveling at his physical power that seemed to fill the chamber.
“Aye, Alicia. Please return to your chair. We have much to discuss before our wedding day.” He closed the library door.
Quelling a sudden stab of panic, she perched herself on the edge of her seat. “Aye, my lord?” she asked. She wondered which man was going to speak: the stammering dullard who had hidden himself in the forest or the lord of the castle who had ordered Isabel out of Wolf Hall.
Thomas paced up and down before the fireplace for some minutes. Once or twice he rubbed his fingers on his temples. He needed to lie down with a cool compress of witch hazel, Alicia thought. Perhaps he would allow her to banish his pain.
“You have a headache?” she finally asked.
He waved his hand as if swatting flies. “A trifle. I am subject to them when I am distressed. ‘Twill go in time.”
“I have a recipe for voidee. ‘Tis a soothing drink of spiced wine. I could prepare it for you this minute.” She started to rise again.
He held up his hand. “Nay, my head will wait. My questions will not.”
Alicia sank back into the chair. Her mouth went dry. “What questions, Sir Thomas?” she asked in a low voice.
He stared at her as if he tried to look into her very soul. His eyes appeared to turn bluer.
“Tell me the truth, Mistress Alicia Broom. Exactly who are you?”
Chapter Ten
Hovering outside the library door, Isabel stiffened. Thomas’s unusual question and the tone of his voice sparked her interest.
After her degrading dismissal, she had waited for Launce to emerge from the scene of her downfall. When the knave saw her, he turned on his heel, and hurried out to the courtyard without a second glance. Isabel ground her teeth at his craven retreat. How differently he had acted only this morning. Then he could not get enough of the charms that she had bestowed upon him so lavishly.
Quelling her rising panic, she decided to throw herself upon Thomas’s mercy. She could not return to her father’s house, and once again be lost amid that flock of sisters. If necessary, she would barter her dower lands for the privilege of remaining at Wolf Hall. As for Mistress Broomstick, Isabel would find a means to disgrace her in the simple earl’s naive eyes.
Thomas had not shut the door securely. It swung open a crack when Isabel touched it. Glancing up and down the corridor to make sure that her eavesdropping would not be observed, she peeked through the opening under the hinge.
She saw Alicia sitting in the chair as if she already owned the castle and all its chattel. The sight of her rival made her seethe with renewed anger at her own humiliation. She prayed that none of those idiot dogs would betray her presence.
Inside the library, Alicia blushed at Thomas’s question. She licked her lips. Isabel pressed closer against the wall to hear the wench’s answer.
“I am amazed, Sir Thomas, and know not what to say.” Her face clouded with uneasiness.
He drew closer to her. “You are not the daughter of a goldsmith from York, are you?” he pressed her.
The sudden vibrancy of his voice caught Isabel off guard.
Alicia gave a little nervous laugh. “Are you a soothsayer, my lord?”
He took a seal-encrusted document out of his strongbox, and held it up in front of her face. “This is a copy of our betrothal contract. I reread it, and found some very interesting wording that I had missed the first time.”
Alicia smoothed out her skirts. “Oh? Which words in particular interested you?”
“That the so-called goldsmith, Sir Edward Brampton, was not only a gentleman, but he is also your guardian—not your father, as I had believed.”
Biting her lip, the tall girl looked away. “A fascinating point, Sir Thomas.”
He rattled the paper at her. “Furthermore—”
She shot him a quick glance. “There is more? I had not noticed.”
He chuckled without humor. “I am surprised, Alicia. Mayhap a hundred gold sovereigns is nothing out of the ordinary to the daughter of a goldsmith. I assure you, ‘tis an unusually large sum to dower a poor maid to the lackwit third son of an earl—a peer who happened to live far away from the intrigues of court. Methinks there is more to you than meets the eye, eh?”
In the corridor, Isabel pressed her hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp of shock. The Cavendish family was wealthy in properties, cattle, sheep and rents, but never had she seen even a quarter of that sum in cash since the day William had brought her to Wolf Hall as his bride.
Avoiding his penetrating gaze, Alicia knotted her fingers together.
Aha! Isabel thought. This wanton is from a family of brigands, and the dowry was stolen from noble folk. She smiled to herself. Thomas will have to turn Alicia over to the high sheriff—his honor would demand it Then he would need Isabel to keep his house in good running order.
The broomstick cleared her throat. “I knew this moment of reckoning would come, though I did not think ‘twould be so soon.” She sighed. “There is also a second part of the dowry.”
He scanned the paper in his hand, and furrowed his brow. “Aye, you are correct, mistress. It says that the second portion will be given to the earl on your wedding day.” He ran his fingers through his sun-spun hair. “In other words to me, your…your husband.” His voice grew weaker on the last word.
Alicia raised her chin with a cool stare in his direction. “I was told to ask you to display your family’s portrait of King Edward IV. Do you know of such a painting?”
Thomas stiffened. “Aye, what of it?”
“‘Twill prove the tale I must relate to you.”
Isabel barely breathed.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “We once had such a portrait of the late king,” he answered slowly. “It hung in a place of honor in the great hall. I remember it as a child. My father and John fought for his youngest brother, King Richard, when Henry Tudor invaded England in 1485. Even William we
nt as squire to my father. After the debacle on Bosworth Field, the painting…disappeared.”
“Oh!” Her eyes clouded.
He cleared his throat. “My family have always been staunch supporters of the House of York. Since the Tudor took the throne of England, my father thought it prudent to hide all appearances of our loyalty to the Plantagenet family.”
Outside the library door, Isabel mulled over this dangerous episode of Cavendish family history. William had never spoken political matters to her, and, until now, she had cared very little who sat on England’s throne. She realized that Thomas’s words bordered on treason. The very idea made her heart pound with a mixture of fear and excitement.
Alicia’s eyes gleamed with expectation. “Do you know where it is?”
Isabel tensed, prepared to leap away from the door in case Thomas came out Instead, he moved to the hidden portion of the room, out of her line of sight She heard a low, rumbling noise. Intense astonishment colored Alicia’s expression.
“There are a number of hiding places in Wolf Hall,” he said from the unseen corner of the chamber. “I still do not know all of them. My father did not think it necessary to reveal the family secrets to his third son.” He paused while he moved around a few heavysounding things. “He thought I had a great poverty of wit.”
“Parents do make mistakes,” Alicia remarked with a tight smile. She craned her neck to see what he was doing.
“Aye, they do indeed,” he agreed.
Isabel cursed under her breath. She would love to know what was hidden inside the library’s secret room. She made a mental note to investigate the chamber later tonight when the rest of the household was abed.
He reappeared holding a large painting. The front of it faced Alicia. Though Isabel could not see the image on the canvas, she found the girl’s reaction more than intriguing.
Putting her hand to her mouth, Alicia turned a shade paler. “Is that truly King Edward IV?” Her voice held an awed tone.
Thomas nodded. “Aye, ‘tis a fair likeness, I am told. There is the painting—what is your tale?” He propped the portrait against the side of the fireplace.
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