Page 27 of A Lover for Lady Jane (The Welsh Rebels #5)

Could Griffin lie? Yes. Unless he spoke to Jane, who would more than likely refuse to discuss something so private with him, Christopher had no proof anything untoward had happened.

Was it a good idea to lie though? No. Griffin lifted his head.

He might feel better for admitting the truth that was crushing him.

Besides, he sensed that his new friend might understand.

“Yes. We were forced to take refuge in a barn after being caught in a storm one night. She was cold, so we lay side by side, and one thing led to another. When I tried to push her away, she told me that she wanted me to…well, be the first man to take her in her arms and I didn’t find the strength to do as I should have. I know it was not?—”

“Say no more.” A gleam passed in the Englishman’s blue eye.

Compassion? Had he experienced the same thing with his little wife?

Had she been the one initiating the seduction?

It would not surprise Griffin. He’d had the chance to see that Sian was a fiery little thing, even more impetuous than Jane.

“If that is what happened, I can only sympathize. These Hunter girls are determined not to be thwarted when they want something. And if that something is a night in a man’s arms, then the poor bastard doesn’t stand a chance.

Never has surrender felt sweeter, though. ”

Exactly. Sweeter than honey. If you forgot the guilt racking through you afterward, of course…

“I don’t know what to do.” He ran a hand through his hair.

Christopher didn’t seem to share his dismay.

“I’m not sure there’s anything to do. These things have a way of resolving themselves all on their own.

” Did they? Just how many farmers’ sons who had bedded a lord’s daughter did the man know that he could be so confident?

His and Jane’s situation was unusual to say the least, and he could not see how it could end in a satisfactory manner.

“Trust me, the less you meddle, the better.”

Griffin had no idea whether to be reassured or not, but what choice did he have? “If you say so.”

“I do. Now, come. Lord Sheridan should be ready to see you.”

“Who do I thank for the rescue of my daughter?”

The look on Lord Sheridan’s face was clearly not meant to be intimidating but Griffin felt his blood slow down all the same.

Tall and broad-shouldered, with raven black hair and piercing green eyes, Jane’s father was a formidable man who had evidently handed down his coloring and innate elegance to her.

The resemblance between the two of them did not help Griffin to hold on to his composure.

Nevertheless, he straightened his spine, doing his best to appear undaunted.

“I’m Griffin ap Madoc. I come from a village on the coast, west of Castell Esgyrn.

My father was a Welsh farmer and my mother an English maid at the employ of a lord from Nottinghamshire come to settle here after the conquest in ’82.

” He suspected that Connor Hunter, who was English himself and married to a Welsh woman, would not hold his origins against him.

Indeed, the green eyes betrayed no disapproval, which did ease his discomfort somewhat.

“But please, there is no need to thank me for doing what any man would have done in my place.”

Lord Sheridan exchanged a look with his wife, who was standing on the dais with him. She nodded, as if to indicate they were thinking the same thing.

“There is every need to thank you. And I’m not sure I agree with you.

Not every man would have done what you did, the majority would only have thought to obey orders, either through fear of retribution or hope of dubious reward.

It takes a man of honor to stand up and do what’s right, despite the danger.

” Lord Sheridan spoke with certainty, and perhaps he was right.

None of Geraint’s men had seen anything wrong in the abducting and the using of Jane as hostage.

“Now tell me, why did you decide to betray your friends, and risk your life for my daughter, a woman you’d never met before? ”

Even though he understood why people would assume Geraint had been his friend, Griffin could not help a burst of outrage at the notion. His spine stiffened further.

“Begging your pardon, my lord, but none of those men were my friends. They came to my village last month asking for someone who could speak English. As I had already made my mind to leave, I volunteered for the task, imagining they wanted some papers translated or something similar. I only discovered their intent when they brought me in front of Lady Jane so that I could relay their threats to her.” Remembering his shock at seeing what was required of him, he clenched his jaw.

“I was horrified, and decided I would do what I could to help her. I would have done the same for any woman, regardless of whether I knew her or not.”

Lord Sheridan nodded. He didn’t seem to doubt his words, at least.

“So, you spirited her away as soon as you were able?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, the opportunity didn’t present itself immediately, and the men kept her captive for almost five days.

I wish I had acted sooner but she was under close guard, as you can imagine.

One night, I took my chance.” Griffin thought it best to keep to himself the conversation he’d overheard between Cynan and Tomos.

It would only add to Jane’s parents’ distress.

Besides, they seemed to have guessed what the vile men had had in store for their beautiful hostage.

The miracle was that Cynan had not pounced on her sooner.

“I will add that the Lady Jane was a model of bravery throughout the ordeal. You can be proud of her. She never showed her fear and tricked the men into thinking she couldn’t understand them, thereby gaining precious information for you. ”

“Indeed. She’s already told me all I need to know to find and punish those bastards. My men are as we speak scouring the woods to capture the ones lying in ambush. Others will be sent to England as soon as we know where to look for the rest of the gang.”

Griffin could not help a grim smile of satisfaction at the idea of what was in store for Geraint. The man would be questioned and made to reveal where Cynan and the rest of the men had gone. Sheridan Manor, in all probability, in case Jane had decided to go back there first.

“You know who is behind the abduction then?”

The green eyes hardened. “Yes. I had heard that Gruffydd ap Hywel had a son, but I had not expected him to be as foolish as to try to pick up the fight. His father is long dead, killed for daring to abduct Sian, who was only a child at the time, and causing my wife untold distress.” Griffin noticed that Lord Sheridan didn’t mention the fact that the old rebel had tortured and almost killed him, just for being English.

It seemed that, in his mind, this was a minor offense compared to what his wife and daughter had endured.

“Rest assured that none of the men involved in this affair will get away with what they did. I cannot afford to be lenient and place my family in any danger. They will have to face the consequences of their actions.”

“You’re right.” Though in the end the men had not really hurt Jane, Griffin felt no compassion for them.

They had abducted an innocent lady in order to pressure her father into handing himself over so he could be killed for a crime he had not committed.

Two of the men had even planned to rape her together.

The others would either have watched and cheered or joined in. None of them deserved any mercy.

“And now it is my turn to thank you.” Lady Sheridan, a beautiful woman with hair of gold in which a few silver strands were dancing, stepped down from the dais.

Her husband followed, and suddenly they were both standing in front of him.

“Because we all know your bravery saved not only my daughter but also my husband. Connor would have had no other choice but to surrender himself to the rebels had they been able to state their demands with Jane as their hostage. He would not have left her in their possession a heartbeat longer than necessary. And then Hywel and his men would have killed him, just like Gruffydd tried to do all those years ago. And I… I would not have survived the loss.”

When her eyes filled with tears, Lord Sheridan drew her to his side with an arm around the waist and murmured soothing words in her ear. The love between them was so obvious, so beautiful to watch, and in that moment, Griffin did feel some pride at having spared the family so much grief.

“Please. As I said, I only did what I thought was right.”

Lord Sheridan cleared his throat but kept his wife against him. “Spoken like a true man. I’m not surprised Jane spoke so highly of you.”

The pride Griffin had felt bloomed into gratitude.

Jane had praised him? He had not dared hope as much, because he truly felt he had done the only thing he could have done.

But she had told her parents, two powerful nobles, that he was a worthy man.

What was more, she seemed to have kept their dalliance, for want of a better word, secret.

Could it be that he would not face her father’s wrath for touching a woman he had no right to?

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or be honest and confess everything.

“You will sleep here tonight and be our guest for as long as you wish,” Lord Sheridan spoke before he could reach a decision. “Jane has already told me I should under no pretext let you leave the castle until she’s had the chance to thank you for what you did.”

“There is no need. She has already thanked me a dozen times.” In more ways than one.

“I do not doubt it. Still, she clearly intends to do so at least once more so you will indulge us.”

Griffin agreed, relieved he would not be parted from Jane just yet.

He didn’t, however, get to see her before going to bed. As he was leaving the hall, Lady Sheridan had informed him that her daughter had gone to bathe and change. He’d nodded, hoping he would get to see her sometime in the afternoon.

It was not to be. Shortly after, Geraint and five men were brought to Castell Esgyrn under heavy guard.

Lord Sheridan requested his presence to translate his words to the rebels, as his own knowledge of the Welsh language was not as good as Griffin’s and he wanted him to identify which of the men had taken part in the actual abduction.

The three villagers who had been recruited to lie in ambush in the woods, youths who had been lied to about the true purpose of the expedition, were sent away with a warning never to involve themselves in such dealings ever again.

Geraint was questioned until he had revealed where they could find Hywel and what had happened to Cynan and the others.

As Griffin had suspected, they had ridden back to Sheridan Manor in case Jane decided to flee back there.

They still thought her with child, and at odds with her father, so it did make sense she would have run to her lover instead of her family.

After the long and painful interrogation, Geraint and his two friends were led to the dungeon until Lord Sheridan decided what to do with them.

By the time it was all over, it was late and the women, they were told, had already retired to bed, which meant he would have to wait until the morning to see Jane.

After days in her constant company, her absence was painful.

Refusing Lord Sheridan’s offer of a drink, Griffin made his way to the bedchamber he had been allocated and found himself staring at the white-washed ceiling in disbelief.

The whole day had been a whirlwind. Still, he was not tired and even lying in the most comfortable bed he’d ever lain on in his life did not help him fall asleep.

He would have gladly swapped the down mattress for a barn full of hay if it meant lying next to Jane.

He was plagued by thoughts of her writhing under him, moaning her pleasure into his mouth, welcoming him inside her heat.

Dear God, this had to stop. But how? And what would he do once he finally left Castell Esgyrn?

He didn’t want to return to the village where nothing but painful memories awaited him and he didn’t have anywhere else to go, no one he wanted to be with. Or at least, no one he could be with.

Because, yes, there was someone he wanted to be with. Someone who was even now sleeping a few doors from him, more unattainable than ever.