Page 20 of A Lover for Lady Jane (The Welsh Rebels #5)

Chapter Ten

“ G oodbye, young man.”

“Goodbye and thank you again for offering us shelter.”

Old Enid waved Griffin’s thanks away. “’Twas no bother. Besides, I really was the one who benefited from your visit. Now both my doors are sturdy enough to withstand an assault from the blasted English should they dare to venture in this valley.”

Yes, the doors had been repaired, but Griffin wasn’t so sure the kind woman had been the only one benefiting from their halt in the village.

By allowing them to sleep in the barn, she had given him what he had never thought to have—an opportunity to hold Jane in his arms and make her his away from prying eyes.

The incredible pleasure he had derived from this possession meant that his guilt was not as great as it should have been.

He did feel guilty but, as much as his reason agreed it should not have happened, his body and his heart simply could not regret that night with Jane.

The memory of it would sustain him until he was too old to remember his own name.

“I’m glad to have been of help,” he said earnestly.

The woman cupped his cheek and sighed. “Dear God, but you do remind me of my Alfie. He was just as strong and handsome as you, you know, only he had brown eyes, not blue. I hope for your wife’s sake that you are blessed with the same manly appetites as he was.

” She winked at Jane, who went the color of the flaming sky behind her. “And the same skill.”

“I…the?—”

“Yes, well, we had better be going,” he said, cutting through her embarrassed reply.

Mercifully, the woman didn’t add anything else. With one last nod in their direction, she walked back to her cottage.

Jane’s cheeks were still flushed when he turned to her, and he found himself hoping she was not trying to decide whether his performance had been as praiseworthy as almighty Alfie’s had been.

He’d thought to leave her satisfied but one could never be certain…

Deciding it was better not to worry about it, he busied himself with the tightening of Eryr’s girth.

It was time to go. They had lost a whole day already and he meant to take her to the safety of Castell Esgyrn as soon as possible.

He hoisted himself into the saddle then led the horse to an overturned pig’s trough that would serve as a mounting block for Jane.

At the thought of riding with her settled in front of him, his body gave a jolt.

It had been hard before, it would now be torture, because he knew exactly what delights could be found in her silken, womanly depths.

Oh, well, served him right for daring to pluck a fruit he had no right to touch.

Every punishment he got would be well deserved and might bring some sense back into him.

“ F’Arglwyddes, ” he said, offering his hand.

Jane didn’t know whether to be amused or annoyed.

Only the day before, she had forbidden Griffin to call her “my lady,” and here he was, doing exactly that, but in Welsh.

There was no point protesting. If she voiced her disagreement, he would argue that she had not forbidden him to use the Welsh way of address.

Besides, he might well be using it simply because he was waiting to hoist her up on his stallion and so looked like a knight attending to his ladylove.

Her heart started to beat hard at the image she was creating in her mind. If only… Well, if he was going to call her his lady, she could call him her lord.

“ Diolch, F’Arglwydd .”

With a smile, she accepted his hand and settled herself in front of him, in her usual place. A moment later, they were off.

“How long before we arrive at Castell Esgyrn do you think?” Griffin asked once the village had disappeared into the distance.

“It’s not that far. Another two days, perhaps.”

She suddenly wished it would take weeks.

This was the adventure of her life, and she didn’t want it to end.

With the danger of discovery gone, all that was left was the pleasure of Griffin’s company.

Besides, what did she have to go back to?

Nothing. No one. Now that her sister was living with her beloved husband, Jane feared her life would seem unsatisfying.

With her parents who were happy with one another and in love, she would feel more alone than ever.

“Do you know why the castle is called Bones Castle?” Griffin asked. “It seems an odd choice of name.”

She nodded, for this was a story she had heard all her life.

“When the foundations for the castle were dug more than a century ago, two skeletons were found lying in a shallow ditch. No one knows who they were or why they ended up there, instead of being given a proper burial. Everyone has tried to come up with an explanation since, as you can imagine. My sister, Gwenllian, is adamant they were slaves escaping their dangerous master in the Roman times. When they were caught, they were summarily executed. My father, less dramatically, thinks they are two unfortunate souls who were robbed on the road and left to rot by their attackers. The servants are not above whispering stories about witches, arguing that there was something odd about the skeletons. According to them, they both had six fingers.”

He snorted. “Trust people to try and see evil where there is none. What is your explanation then?”

Hers was rather silly, and the last thing she wanted to share with him. Nevertheless, she didn’t think of lying. Blushing, she gave her answer. “I’ve always thought they were two lovers who couldn’t be together and decided to die together rather than be separated.”

He barked a laugh. “So very dramatic. Two ill-fated lovers, kept apart by their families perhaps?”

No. Rather, she had imagined that their respective situations in life would have precluded an alliance between them.

In fact, now that she thought of it, she had thought of a few possible situations not unlike that of hers and Griffin.

A lady having fallen for her brother’s squire, a rich noble widow in love with her groom and refusing to remarry anyone else, the daughter of a local lord carrying the child of a poor villager.

“I was only seven when I arrived in Wales, remember,” she defended. “And such an explanation is not so implausible. There are many things that can keep two lovers apart.”

Griffin stilled, as the laughter died in his throat. “Yes. I do know that.”

Jane’s heart fell. What had possessed her to say such a thing? “I-I didn’t mean?—”

“No, I know. But you’re right all the same. There are too many obstacles to overcome for some lovers. They are destined never to be happy together, no matter what they feel for one another.”

Well, if that didn’t tell her that she’d been right and he did regret their tryst in the hay, nothing would.

Why oh why did the first man she took an interest in have to be someone who thought her too far above himself?

She couldn’t help where she was born, any more than he could.

That didn’t mean they could not be together.

If life with her parents had taught her one thing, it was that love was the most important thing a person could have and was worth fighting for.

She stared on the road ahead, doing her best to keep her tears at bay. No point in making the moment worse than it already was. For the first time since she and Griffin had started to share a horse, they traveled in silence.

As the sky started to deepen from pale blue to a more intense purple, Jane realized they had almost reached the lake where she had learned to swim—and where once her uncle Matthew had almost died. Already? It seemed that not talking allowed them to travel at a faster pace.

“Let’s head toward the village on the other side of the woods,” she decided, trying not to dwell on the fact that their time together was coming to an end faster than she would have liked. “Old Myfanwy will be only too happy give us shelter for the night.”

“Old Myfanwy?”

“One of my father’s tenants. We are not far from Castell Esgyrn now, and she knows me. She will want to help.”

“Is she anything like old Enid?” Griffin asked. “I’ll admit I’ve grown wary of stick wielding old women who pass comments on my looks or skill in bed.”

Jane let out a tinkling laugh, relieved to see him restored to his usual mischievous self.

She had feared everything was irremediably spoiled between them.

Reassured, she decided to tease him. “Worry not. Despite her age she walks just as well as you and me. And I’d be surprised if she found you handsome. ”

“Now, what is that supposed to mean?” He sounded mightily piqued, as if she’d just said she found him ugly. But surely, he knew she was jesting…surely he’d realized by now how much she found him to her tastes? “Is it because of the beard?”

“No.” The beard did not detract from his beauty in any way, quite the contrary. “It’s only that she’s always been more interested in the female form, shall we say.”

“I see.” She turned in time to see Griffin arch a brow. “Well then, ’tis a good thing you’re wearing your normal clothes rather than old Enid’s dress, because she might well have expired from desire upon seeing you otherwise. Do you expect to have to fend off her advances?”

“Silly. She’s old enough to be my grandmother!”

“No impediment as I see it. A grandmother still has eyes, does she not?” His gaze heated up and Jane’s insides responded in kind. “In any case, I’m glad we’ll be able to spend the evening in the company of a nice, harmless old woman.”

“Erm… I wouldn’t call her harmless exactly.” The way he arched his brow again made her explain. “She has an unusually strong intuition and the gift of the sight. More often than not, she gives us odd predictions which always prove true in the end. You’ve been warned.”