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He lifted an eyebrow. “You are not the sort who would be a nurse to children and wipe their dirty noses,” he said. “A woman like you… you should be the lady of the finest house in England. You are educated and talented. Why would you waste yourself as a nursemaid?”

She lowered her gaze. “Because a woman like me does not marry a fine man, Sir Magnus,” she said. “That would be most frowned upon.”

He shook his head in bewilderment. “You should be the most sought-after bride in England with your beauty and education,” he said. “It is a travesty that you are not. I do not understand how your father could not see this for himself. Did he truly use you as barter?”

That was the wine talking, loosening his tongue, and he was sorry as soon as he said it. He held up a hand to apologize, but she shook her head.

“I do not mind the question,” she said. “Since you have tried your best to assist me, mayhap you should know whom, exactly, you are trying to help. You should know how unworthy I am of your gesture. May I explain?”

He nodded, somewhat hesitantly. “If you wish to, then I would be very interested to hear.”

She went back to combing her nearly dry hair; the liquid fire of the strands glistened in the light of the hearth. When she spoke, it was pensively.

“My parents were from fine Cornwall families,” she said quietly. “My mother was a d’Vant, of St. Austell Castle. My father’s family practically owns all of Penzance. It was a much-anticipated marriage, joining two great families. Unfortunately, it was a disaster.”

“How so?” he asked.

Delaina took on a distant look, remembering the history that was part of her fabric. It had brought her to this point in her own life.

“My mother was in love with another man when my parents were betrothed,” she said. “My father refused to release her from the betrothal.”

“Was the betrothal longstanding?”

“Aye,” Delaina said. “They had been betrothed as children and grew up knowing one another, knowing they would be wed, but there was no love between them. They did not even like each other. My mother loved someone else she very much wished to marry, but my father wanted the d’Vant dowry.

They’re very rich, you know. He married my mother, took the money and consummated the marriage, and sent her back to her family. I was born exactly nine months later.”

“Did your birth bring your parents back together?”

She shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “My mother died in childbirth. I lived with my mother’s parents, the d’Vants, and enjoyed a wonderful childhood.

When I was old enough, I went to foster at Okehampton Castle.

All the while, my father simply stayed away.

He served the Earl of Somersby, as a knight, but I never saw him.

I never even heard from him until one day when he simply showed up at Okehampton. He came to take me away.”

“Away where?”

She sighed faintly, regretfully. “I had just become a woman,” she said.

“He took me to the earl’s castle of Midthorpe.

I did not know why until we got there and then he told me—I was to marry the earl’s son.

I spent a couple of days speaking to the young man, who was barely my age, and he was a nice boy.

I liked him. But his widowed father, the earl, decided he would rather have me for himself, so a wedding was set. ”

Magnus’ brow furrowed slightly. “Somersby is dead,” he said. “I do not remember when, but I do remember hearing he had died.”

She nodded. “He did,” she said. “He killed himself.”

Magnus’ features registered surprise and disgust. “I see,” he said. “Did you end up marrying him?”

Delaina shook her head. “This is where everything becomes quite complicated,” she said.

“My father was a gambler, you see. I learned that he owed Somersby a good deal of money. In fact, my father died in a fight whilst gambling in Exeter. Before Somersby could marry me, he was forced to surrender me to King Edward because he owed the man a good deal of taxes he did not have the funds to pay. As it turned out, Somersby liked to gamble as well, and he used money meant for the king. That is how I ended up with Longshanks.”

Magnus was listening intently. “You are correct,” he said. “Your situation is very complicated.”

“It is.”

“And it seems that there was much gambling going on at Okehampton.”

She nodded. “I suppose there’s not much to do in the wilds of Devon,” she said. “But in answer to your question, I never married Somersby. But I became his mistress.”

Magnus knew what that meant. That sweet, beautiful woman had become a whore to a widower. When she should have married a fine knight or a noble lord, she was relegated to the concubine of a selfish old man.

Jaw twitching faintly, he shook his head in sorrow. “You did not deserve that,” he said. “I am sorry he did that to you.”

She forced a smile, mostly because she’d never heard anyone apologize to her for what life had brought her.

“You needn’t be troubled,” she said. “I’ve long learned not to be.

At first, I was devastated, of course. The moment he took my innocence, I knew I would never be suitable for a decent man, and that was difficult for me.

I have always hoped for a husband and children, for a fine marriage, like any girl.

But Somersby ruined that for me. And then I went to Edward. ”

Magnus was feeling increasingly sorry for her. “How long ago was this?”

“It was the year before he married Margaret of France,” she said.

“He took me in trade for the taxes Somersby owed him, but he never paid much attention to me. I did not become his mistress. He simply added me to the group of women he’d collected.

The Seven Jewels of London, we were called. Have you heard of us?”

Magnus nodded. “You are the Ruby.”

“I am,” she said, her gaze riveted to him for a moment. “Then you’ve heard of the Jewels.”

“Most men in London have, at least men who know anything about politics and the king.”

She accepted that answer. “Do you know why he collected us?” she said.

“Why he sent us to be trained in the most exclusive brothel in London? Why we learned to please a man but also why we learned to speak different languages, play instruments, sing, massage a man’s cares away, and run his household? ”

Magnus slowly shook his head. “I do not,” he said. “Why?”

She looked at him as if the answer was obvious.

“Because we were the most valuable prizes he had,” she said.

“To reward an ally or to lure an enemy, we commanded the highest price. Longshanks presented his Jewels to men he wanted to impress, men with whom he wanted an allegiance, or men he wanted to control. The Diamond went to Humphrey de Bohun when the man was set to turn against the king. The Pearl went to Roger Bigod, much to the distress of his wife, but Bigod kept the Pearl in spite of her protests. And me… I went to the Earl of Bristol, Henry de Dunstanville. Edward needed his harbor and his ships for his war with Scotland. He wanted de Dunstanville’s loyalty badly. ”

Everything she said was making a great deal of sense.

Politics reached into every dark corner of the nobility of England and into private houses, private lives.

Magnus remembered being surprised she had been used for actual barter, but he didn’t know why he was.

He’d seen it before, just not with so fine and educated a woman.

“So you went with Bristol,” he said. “How did he treat you?”

She snorted. “Like a mare,” she said. “I was kept in a chamber morning, noon, and night so that he always knew where I was and could come to me when he chose to. I was expected to be ready for him, always. I was bathed regularly, oiled, massaged, fed the finest food, and given the most beautiful clothing, and all I had to do was be ready for him when he came to call.”

Somehow, knowing the life of a courtesan and actually hearing about it were two different things. Magnus was a man of the world; he knew how these things worked. But looking at Delaina and hearing what she had been subject to was making him sick to his stomach.

“I am sorry,” he said, not knowing what more to say. “That is no life for you.”

“Nay, it wasn’t,” she agreed, her manner bordering on agitation.

“Bristol is a younger man, you know. He’s virile.

He would come to me twice a day at times, always demanding that I pleasure him.

He didn’t seem to want more, but he used me quite a bit.

There were days when I prayed for death.

I did not want to have to see him one more time, not one more bloody time.

If I did not pleasure him fast enough or well enough, he wasn’t beyond slapping me.

Then he would become angry because my face swelled. ”

Magnus closed his eyes to ward off the horrors of a man who would show such brutality to such a lovely creature. “The man is a bastard,” he muttered. “A bastard who must prove his manliness by striking a woman. That is no man at all.”

Delaina shrugged weakly. “Fortunately, he grew tired of me quickly when his wife returned from her trip to France,” she said.

“He gave me to his friend, Lord Falmouth, who locked me in a chamber and kept me surrounded by silks and luxury. He was afraid to let me out, afraid to join me. I was locked in that chamber, alone, for months until Lord Daventry came to visit. He and Falmouth are old friends. Lord Daventry took one look at me and tried to purchase me. When that did not work, he got Falmouth drunk and won me in a game of chance. And that is how I came to Lord Daventry, who was a genuinely kind man.”