By Love Unveiled

by Deborah Martin

  Garett turned his eyes from Marianne to Mr. Tibbett. “As you know, I’ve taken an interest in Lydgate from the time I returned to Falkham House and reclaimed my inheritance. After all, my tenants come to your town for their goods, their amusements… their ale.”

  One of the men laughed nervously.

  “I believe I’ve been careful to look to your needs as well,” he went on. “But now it is I who need your help.”

  “How’s that, my lord?” asked the mayor, his hands now nearly frenzied in their nervous movements.

  “You all know Mina,” Garett said, gesturing toward her. “You may not… ah… recognize her without her mask, but you know her all the same. From what I understand, she’s taken care of many of you and your children.”

  Murmurs of assent filled the room.

  “Although she’s a gypsy, I realize she’s been a great help to this town. But it has come to my attention, gentlemen, that she isn’t what she appears to be. She has admitted to me that she has noble blood, something you may not have realized.”

  Marianne saw the look of alarm in the men’s faces. Quickly she asked, “Must you proclaim my bastardy to the world, my lord? I fail to see how that suits your purpose.”

  The men at first seemed confused by her statement but then quickly realized what she must have told Garett. Some of them relaxed.

  Garett shot her such a quelling glance that she caught her breath. “In any case, her past isn’t typical of a gypsy. Recently, it’s also come to my attention that she has connections to my uncle.” His gaze left her to sweep the men in the room. “You all know that my uncle stole my lands when I was in exile. But you may not realize that since I’ve returned, he’s also sent men to burn my fields and even to kill me.”

  Angry mutters could be heard throughout the room, and Marianne’s pulse quickened. Their anger wasn’t for her, but it alarmed her to realize that Garett knew just how to manipulate the council members to gain their sympathies.

  “So you see why I must be cautious in my dealings with strangers, particularly ones who know my uncle well,” Garett continued. “That’s why I’ve come to you. I know you’ve trusted Mina to cure your ailments, and I don’t doubt your trust is warranted. But I also know she’s hiding something. I must wonder what it is and why she won’t tell me how she knows my uncle.”

  Mr. Tibbett darted a glance at Mina, his face suddenly ashen. “My lord, I’m sure her connection to Sir Pitney is of little consequence. As for what she is hiding… well, if I may be so bold, gypsies are often reticent about their pasts. They… they lead rather sordid lives, after all.”

  Garett eyed him skeptically. “How then can all of you so trust one of them? Don’t you question her motives in healing your ills? Haven’t you wondered why she takes no coin for it?”

  Marianne groaned. All her stupid mistakes were coming back to haunt her.

  The mayor leaned forward. “Ah, but she does take our coin, my lord.” Then he hesitated, as if uncertain whether he’d said the right thing. “I mean, ’tis worth it to give her a bit of gold for all the good she does.”

  Garett’s eyes sought hers, cold and gleaming. “ ’Tis only my coin you refuse, then?”

  She swallowed but didn’t answer.

  “My lord, I do not think you should worry for us,” Mr. Tibbett put in hastily. “We’ve dealt with gypsies before. Some are undoubtedly scoundrels, but we will vouch for Mina and her aunt’s trustworthiness. They’ve never harmed any of us.”

  Garett’s stormy gaze shifted to include the entire council. “Tell me this, then. Why did she lie about the reason for her mask?”

  The mayor settled back in his chair. “Who knows? Women are funny about such matters. Perhaps she’s shy.”

  Despite her fear, Marianne bit back a smile. Trust to Lydgate’s eccentric mayor to come up with such an absurd reason.

  Another man spoke up. “Mayhap she didn’t want us to think she was a whor—a disreputable woman. Mayhap she feared we’d take her for one if she… she displayed her attractions openly. You understand.” The man flashed Marianne a sheepish look, as if to say it was the best excuse he could come up with at the moment. She gave him a quick smile.

  Garett caught it and clenched his fists at his sides. “You all seem eager to overlook Mina’s odd habits. But you’ve still not sufficiently explained her connection to my uncle.”

  Mr. Tibbett drew himself up. “My lord, you mustn’t be concerned on that account. Sir Pitney is our enemy if he is yours. I have no doubt whatsoever that Mina stands with us in this.”

  “Of course I do,” she staunchly declared. “I detest Sir Pitney.”

  “Why?” Garett leaned down to plant his fists on the table. “Tell me, gentlemen, why should she care? She’s a gypsy. She has no reason to side with me against my uncle. She owns no lands nor owes me any loyalty. So why would my uncle be Mina’s enemy? What has he done to her to make her hate him?”

  The men looked nonplussed. The silence in the room was oppressive.

  “I told you already,” Marianne said hastily. “He knew enough about my father’s relationship to my mother to ruin him.”

  “Time for you to be silent, Mina,” Garett commanded without looking at her. He didn’t have to. His harsh expression would silence anyone.

  He let his gaze rest on every man at the table, each of whom looked more uncomfortable by the moment.

  “When did Mina first come to Lydgate?” he asked, the shift in his questioning temporarily unsettling them all.

  As the men glanced at each other uncertainly, Mina bit back the impulse to answer for them. Please, God, let them be wise in this and not say anything that contradicts what I told him.

  After a long silence, the mayor answered, “I-I really don’t remember, my lord. One day we just… realized she lived nearby, that’s all.”

  Garett’s expression would have frozen a hot bath. He turned to Mr. Tibbett. “Is that your answer, too, Mr. Bones?”

  Mr. Tibbett turned several shades of red. He was clearly torn between his allegiance to Garett and his loyalty to Mina. After hesitating a moment, he dropped his eyes to the table and nodded.

  Garett’s gaze was chilling. “Did any of you know her father?” he went on relentlessly. “How about her mother?”

  An uneasy quiet reigned. That only enraged Garett further.

  “You, my Lord Mayor,” he said pointedly. The mayor shifted in his seat. “Have you nothing to tell me about Mina’s true identity that will assure me she’s to be trusted?”

  The mayor looked as if he was going to faint at any moment. “My lord,” he practically squeaked, “she once threatened to thrash your uncle.”

  Marianne had a hysterical urge to laugh. She’d almost forgotten the taunt she’d thrown Sir Pitney’s way the day he’d come to her father with his final offer, after having sought to destroy her parents’ reputations.

  Garett wasn’t amused, however. He slammed one fist on the table. “Have you any idea whom you’re dealing with, gentlemen?”

  Their cringes gave him his answer.

  “Damn it to hell, what hold has she over all of you? How can this one girl make you risk so much to protect her?”

  Marianne’s stomach sank at his words. Oh, Lord, what had she brought upon them all?

  Mr. Tibbett rose with a solemn expression. “My lord, we wouldn’t have you angry with us. Do we fear you? Indeed we do. We know our town wouldn’t survive without your tenants, our tradesmen couldn’t thrive without your patronage, and even our church would founder without your charity.”

  He glanced at Marianne, and his expression softened. “But we trust you to be just, as your father was before you. Mina has done you no harm—”

  “Yet,” Garett interjected.

  Mr. Tibbett swallowed. “Nor will she ever. I would stake my life and reputation on that. She fears all noblemen these days and thus believes she has good reason to fear you. But surely you cannot fault her for her caution, nor find in it signs of de
ceit.”

  Garett’s gaze shot to Marianne. “Only the guilty have anything to fear.”

  “Or the unjustly accused,” Mr. Tibbett said. “In any case, she has proven herself worthy of our trust. Would you have us repay her kindness by betraying her secrets?”

  When Garett turned his black frown on Mr. Tibbett, Marianne could bear it no longer. “My lord, I’m the only one who should bear the brunt of your anger. If you think me a criminal, then charge me with a crime and hand me over to the constable. If I’m to be imprisoned, at least let it be by a true jailor.”

  At that, Garett let out a low curse. “You know I don’t want you imprisoned. But I’d welcome your trust. Clearly you’re hiding from someone or something. I don’t care who or what it is, even if it’s my uncle. I can’t protect you if I don’t know what I’m protecting you from. And I can’t trust you if you won’t trust me. So why not tell me the truth and make it easier on all of us?”

  Oh, how much she wanted to. How nice it would be to trust him. Yet she couldn’t. He was still the king’s man. Would he protect her from the king? Would he protect her aunt and the people of Lydgate as well?

  She dropped her gaze. She couldn’t rely on him. It was too risky. “My lord, I’ve nothing more to say.”

  An ominous silence filled the room. Garett finally bit out, “Gentlemen, if I might have a word alone with Mina?”

  There was a furious scraping of chair legs as the men hurried to leave the room. Mr. Tibbett paused near her, but at the stony glare Garett shot him, he clearly thought better of trying to speak to her and left.

  For several moments after the room emptied, Garett simply stood in silence at the opposite end of the table. Her heart hammered to the beat of her fear, making her want nothing more than to flee. When at last she ventured a glance at Garett, he was staring at her as if she were some exotic creature in the marketplace.

  “I’m impressed.” The bitter irony underlying his words cut her. “I thought I was the only one, but now I see you’ve bewitched an entire town. How do you manage it?”

  She could only stare at his harsh face.

  His gaze flicked over her as he rested his hip on the table. “My mother once told me that the mark of a true noble lay in his ability to command the loyalty and respect of those beneath him.” He paused. “If I hadn’t met your gypsy aunt and seen with my own eyes the wagon you live in, I’d swear you were as much a lady as I am a lord.”

  “They are simply grateful for my doctoring.”

  “Nay. They care deeply for you. What’s more, you care deeply enough for them to trust them with your life. Tell me, sweetling, why can you entrust your secrets to Lydgate’s fool of a mayor and not to me?”

  Was that really hurt she heard in his voice? “He earned my trust, my lord. They all did.”

  He rose and came toward her. She backed away, but he caught her around the waist.

  As he cupped her chin, his eyes bored into hers. “What must I do then to earn your trust, my gypsy princess?”

  His unmistakably wounded gaze disturbed her deeply, tempting her to tell him all, even when she mustn’t. “You could set me free.”

  Disappointment clouded his features. He seemed to struggle with himself before his expression grew shuttered. “Ask of me anything but that. I can’t set you free, even to gain your trust.”

  His flat tone sparked her anger. “Why not? You heard the council. I’m no friend of Sir Pitney’s. You’ve no reason to keep me, no reason to suspect me so. I have done no wrong!”

  He stared at her, frighteningly implacable. “Then why won’t you tell me the truth about your past?”

  He had her there. As long as she could give him no proof of her true character, she couldn’t escape him if he chose not to release her. She pushed herself away from him, the acrid taste of defeat choking her.

  “William!” Garett shouted, his eyes following her every movement.

  The door opened and William thrust his head in the room. “M’lord?”

  “Take her back to Falkham House,” Garett growled.

  She stood frozen, her heart sinking as she heard the words that sealed her doom.

  “Won’t you be coming with us?” William asked.

  “Not yet,” Garett bit out, flashing Marianne a bitter glance. “I still have a few people to talk to in Lydgate.”

  If he’d hoped to frighten her by that veiled threat, he didn’t succeed, for the one thing she’d learned from the council meeting was that no one in Lydgate would betray her. She moved mechanically toward the door.

  Then he stepped forward to stop her. “I warn you now. I’ll learn the truth if I have to question every man and woman in Lydgate. So it does you no good to fight me. It just prolongs your torment.”

  “I’m afraid I have no choice. I can’t say more than I’ve said. Thus I’ll learn to endure the torment and to hope that in time you come to your senses.”

  Firmly she removed his hand from her arm. Then, without a backward glance, she accompanied William from the room.

  * * *

  Will stole a glance at the little gypsy. She sat her horse like a fine queen, but the sorrow in her face told him that her meeting with his master and the council hadn’t gone well at all.

  What a shame that he couldn’t do more to help her. But what? Mina was as closemouthed as her fetching aunt. Without knowing their secrets, he couldn’t advise them of how best to deal with his master.

  The secrets didn’t bother Will as they did the earl. Will wasn’t bedeviled by the past like his master. He didn’t care what life Tamara had led before. All he knew was he wanted to swing her up in his arms and kiss her every time he saw her. What was it the bloody woman did to him, anyway? After all, she was older than he. A man of his youth could have a number of women. Why go to a hostile wench with a good five years on him?

  But her lips were no less pleasurable for it… when he could get her to still her barbed tongue. Even her bold manner didn’t bother him. He’d die before telling her, but he enjoyed their squabbles. He liked finding ways to stun her into silence so he could snatch a moment’s sweetness from her.

  He sighed. This time he’d have to work hard to get back in her good graces. When she saw how unhappy the earl had made her niece—

  Will glanced again at Mina. Poor girl. The master had been a mite harsh on her, and all because he wouldn’t be practical like Will and admit he just wanted the lass in his bed. The earl ought to have bedded her the moment he’d laid eyes on her and put to rest all his doubts. Why, anybody could see she wasn’t a criminal.

  As Will watched her, tears escaped from beneath her lashes, and he felt it like a punch in the gut. “Don’t cry now, miss. ’Twill be all right in time.”

  “He’ll never let me go,” she said mournfully.

  About that she was probably right. The master’s heart was entwined with hers, though he wouldn’t admit it.

  “What shall I do, Will? I can’t bear this much longer without going mad.”

  “Don’t say that. What would your aunt say if she heard you talking such foolery?”

  Mina stared down at the reins. “What will she say when she hears about today?”

  Will started to retort, but something in the faraway gaze of her eyes arrested him. She appeared to ponder some idea. Suddenly, she straightened in the saddle and her face brightened. “Will, would you do me a great favor?”

  “If I can,” he replied, watching the play of emotions on her face with keen interest.

  “Would you let me visit Aunt Tamara before we go on to Falkham House?”

  He should have known she’d want something like that. He couldn’t blame her, for she deserved some matronly comforting right now.

  Still… “Come now, miss, you shouldn’t ask it of me. I doubt the master would want it.”

  “But he needn’t know,” she persisted. “We could just stay a little while. Please, Will. I need to… to talk to her.”

  The break in her voice made him
feel awful. He shifted nervously in the saddle and looked ahead to Falkham House, a short distance away. He well understood her unhappiness. And the earl had already been allowing her to visit Tamara as long as Will or the guard accompanied her. How was this any different?

  He stole a glance at her, and pity welled up within him. The girl was so small and weary. Her cheeks were streaked with tears. What would Tamara say if she found out he’d denied her beloved niece such a simple request?

  And why deny her? What could it hurt?

  “All right,” he muttered, “but let’s be quick about it. I don’t want the master coming back to find us gone.”

  She glanced away. “That would be wretched, wouldn’t it?” She spurred her horse down the road and into the forest, and he followed her. In a short time they pulled up outside the gypsy wagon.

  “Come in with me,” she told him brightly as she strode up the steps. “I know you want to see her, too.”

  He shrugged, but his steps quickened as he followed her into the wagon. Once inside, they found Tamara sitting on her pallet, working with her needle. She looked up as they entered, and her face lit with pleasure as she saw her niece. Then she caught sight of Will, and her eyes gleamed with a different emotion.

  His heart caught in his throat.

  “I talked him into bringing me for a visit.” Mina took a seat on a nearby stool, then gestured companionably to the other, so Will sat down as well.

  Tamara’s gaze shifted to Mina, and her face darkened. “Has anything happened, poppet?”

  “A great deal. But before I tell you, I’d like some tea.” She smiled at Will. “I’m sure our guest would like some, too.”

  Will returned the smile. “Actually I wouldn’t mind a bit of something to warm me.” He flashed Tamara a wicked grin.

  Tamara scowled at him, then stood and planted her hands on her hips. “The tea can come later. What happened?”

  Will watched as Mina stared steadily at her aunt. “Please, Aunt Tamara,” she said in an oddly strained voice. “I can’t talk when I’m parched. Make us some of your cinnamon tea. I do so love it. It’s been a long while since I had any.”

  “My cinnamon tea?” Tamara said, a perplexed expression on her face. Suddenly, her face cleared. She flashed Will a searching look. “Ah, yes, my tea. All right then, if you insist on having tea first, that’s what we’ll do.”