Page 17 of The Knight Who Loved Me (Secrets and Vows #3)

17

W hen Isabel entered her bedchamber that night, she found Annie sitting in a chair before the fire, holding a small baby.

“Oh, my lady, please forgive me for bringing my little girl. My aunt is ill and my husband is helping his parents and?—”

Isabel remained by the door, looking cautiously at the baby’s flailing arms and legs. “I didn’t know you were married, Annie.”

“Oh yes, milady, for a few years now. My husband works with the hunting dogs. This is our little girl, Mary.”

Feeling foolish and awkward, Isabel nodded. Other women would probably ask to hold the baby, but all she could manage was a step nearer to look.

Mary’s little head was covered in dark hair, as wispy as feathers on a gosling. Isabel had never bothered to notice babies before. There weren’t that many in the tiltyard. They looked like such fragile little things. She knew she was too clumsy to ever hold one.

“You go on, Annie. I don’t need you this night.”

“Nonsense, my lady! You’ve been sleeping out of doors.”

“Not an unusual occurrence.”

“I’ve already filled the tub. And your hair needs a good brushing.”

Annie stood up and lay the baby on the bed. The little blanket covering its legs moved spasmodically, as if there were bugs crawling under there.

Isabel bathed, then submitted with gritted teeth as Annie tugged the brush through her snarls. The baby babbled to itself in a mysterious language. Isabel glanced at the bed frequently. Wouldn’t Mary roll off?

Finally Annie was finished. Isabel sighed with relief as Annie picked up her baby to leave.

“Oh, no, my lady!” Annie cried. “Mary is damp, and I fear—oh, ’tis all my fault.”

“That she wet herself? Don’t babies normally do that?” Isabel stepped closer.

“Yes, my lady, but the coverlets and blanket beneath her are wet too! What will his lordship say? Oh, I must hurry and bring clean linens.” She set the baby down on the bed, threw open the door and ran.

“Wait!” Isabel called. “You forgot?—”

But it was too late. She was alone. With a baby.

Annie seemed to take forever. Isabel paced, then hovered over the laughing infant, then paced again. A wonderful idea began to take form in her mind.

Annie came running in, barely able to see around the blankets and coverlets stacked high. Mary began to wail.

Isabel took the blankets and set them on a chest. “I’ll do this, Annie. Mary needs you. Go on to bed.”

“But my lady, I can’t?—”

“I am not helpless.”

Annie picked up the baby, but still she hesitated. Isabel calmly began stripping the bed. When she heard Annie leave, she threw the wet blankets back on, and tried to make it up the way she’d seen Annie do it. She stepped back and admired her effort. Bolton would never know until it was too late.

~oOo~

When James returned to Bolton Castle late in the evening, Galway was waiting for him with news of Castle Mansfield. It was the last thing James wanted to talk about, but he knew he couldn’t escape. And Isabel had already gone up to bed.

James led Galway to two cushioned chairs before the hearth. All around them were snores and sleepy grumbles and deep breathing, but they were effectively alone.

Galway hesitated, and James allowed him the time to collect his thoughts. Finally, his captain sighed.

“A few months ago, Lady Isabel disappeared without telling her people where she went, milord. She left only the steward in charge, and he wielded little power.”

“Had all law broken down?”

Galway shook his head. “Surprisingly, no. They have a strong loyalty to her, and have decided she needed to grieve for her father. The stories I’ve listened to these past few days…” He broke off. “She seems to be a legend amongst her soldiers. They actually boast that they can’t beat her.”

“How was the news of our marriage taken?” he asked.

“The steward was relieved,” Galway said. “I think he knew he could never control Lady Isabel. But milord, the condition of Mansfield Castle is primitive, with barely any luxury ye’d expect of an earl. No wonder Lady Isabel is a great heiress. The wealth must be hoarded in coffers or plate, for little was spent on upkeep. Fields lie fallow. Whole villages are deserted or broken down. I could barely stand to be in the great hall for the stench of what’s rotting in the rushes. And the food—” Galway shuddered. “No wonder the poor girl was starving—oh, begging yer pardon, milord, the Lady Isabel, that is.”

James absently waved away any offense. “And the soldiers?”

“Well trained. I think that’s mostly because of the Boltons, milord,” Galway said with a rueful grin. “There was a constant threat of impending war.”

“Impending war? By me?”

“The steward claims it were more under yer father, but apparently Lady Isabel also believed you were ruthless and despicable.” The captain reddened and looked away.

James gritted his teeth. “Had she no woman’s guidance?”

“Her mother died when she was very young, and when he had no sons, her father made sure she would carry on the feud. Apparently she only ate or slept in the castle, and lived to train with the men. They’re fond of her.”

“Is there anything else?”

“Only that I feel Mansfield lands need a visit by you, milord.”

“My thoughts exactly, Galway. Tomorrow prepare for a week’s journey or more. Bring extra food to distribute either along the way, or at Mansfield itself. It sounds like it might be easiest to bribe my way into their favor by appealing to their stomachs.”

~oOo~

James found his wife rolled in a blanket before the fire, back turned towards him, breathing deeply as if asleep.

“Isabel?”

She didn’t stir.

He cursed the need for her, which grew daily. How much longer could he wait before he demanded what was his by marriage?

Yet, she had been misused by her father. He tried to imagine his sister, Margery, without the love and coddling she so took for granted. Isabel had never known even one moment of tenderness. She’d only been taught hate and revenge.

Yet when she embarrassed him, he felt a burning anger. When he was alone with her, his desire waged war on his body. Yet would she ever be more a woman than a soldier?

Suddenly James paused and sniffed the air. There was an unusual odor, and it wasn’t coming from the chamberpot. He moved slowly around the room, and then stopped next to his bed in dawning consternation. He leaned forward, inhaled again, and grimaced.

“God’s teeth,” he said, wondering what could have happened in his bed while he was gone. “I can’t believe Annie would let this—” He strode to the door and threw it open so that it crashed into the wall.

Just before he bellowed the maid’s name, he heard, “Stop!”

James turned around to see Isabel sitting up next to the hearth, her hair sleep-tossed, her shirt transparent in the firelight. Every thought fled his mind as he stared at her like he’d never seen a woman before.

“Do not call for Annie,” Isabel said. “I promised I would change the bed and I just—forgot. I was very tired.”

James tried to collect himself, to ignore his lower body’s desperation. “How in God’s name did my bed get wet?”

“Annie’s baby—and you can’t blame the baby. I think they all do this.”

“You think—” He wanted to gape at her. “Don’t you know a thing about babies?”

She stiffened, and he could suddenly see the defensiveness she tried to hide. He ignored it.

“Don’t you know that it has probably seeped through to the mattress by now?”

“I’ll sleep there.” She stood up and went to the bed, tossing the clean blankets to him.

“We’ll both sleep in front of the fire.”

“We will not,” she insisted.

She was being ridiculous, but he no longer cared. “Then enjoy your night.” He settled down before the fire.

She would give in and change her mind. He just had to be patient. As she threw soiled blankets onto the floor, the odor of urine wafted over him. Damn the woman.

She didn’t approach the fire, and at last he fell asleep.

As he dressed in the morning, James regarded his wife sleeping on the bare mattress. She lay spread-eagled, a peaceful expression on her face as if she’d slept well. He rolled his eyes, remembering his own restless movements of half the night.

It was all swept from his mind as he looked at the shadows between her bare thighs. If he stood at the end of the bed, and angled his head just right, he could probably see?—

A knock sounded at the door, and he found himself stepping back as if he didn’t have a right to look at his wife however he wanted to.

He opened the door for Annie, said a pleasant, “Good morning,” and walked out into the corridor.

~oOo~

After breaking her fast, Isabel stood on the battlements, high above the land. The wind blew hard, and a sudden gust made her grip the curtain wall to keep from being blown to the inner ward.

“Isabel!”

She turned and saw Bolton himself leaving the corner tower and coming toward her. He ducked his head against the wind, then braced his big body behind hers and held onto the wall on either side of her torso.

She said, “I am perfectly capable of?—”

“Be quiet. You are a fool to be out here in such weather.”

She remained silent as the wind buffeted them. Bolton was solid as the curtain wall itself, but she refused to let him support her weight.

“I am traveling to Mansfield on the morrow,” he said.

She tensed, staring intently at his large, clean hands, so near to her own.

“I am going to see for myself what you brought to this marriage.”

“And if it’s not enough, you’ll set me free?”

His laugh was grim. “I’m sorry to say ’tis not that easy.”

Bolton hadn’t said that she was going. Did she really want to? Did she want to see with fresh understanding what her father had allowed to become of his lands, his people? Yet the more she saw of Bolton Castle, the more she realized she now had the money to help her peasants.

There was an uneasy silence, and when he spoke, his voice was close to her ear. “Aren’t you going to ask to travel with me?”

His breathing bathed the side of her neck, and she gripped the wall tightly. “Not if I have to beg.”

“No fear of that. I don’t trust you enough to leave you here alone.”

She didn’t blame him. She was rather pleased with her recent performances—except for the night by the fire, when she had forgotten her purposes and pushed him away. He obviously had forgotten nothing.

She ducked beneath his arm and started to walk away.

“Isabel.”

She slowly turned and looked at him.

Bolton’s dark hair was tousled by the wind, his cloak swirled about his body. He stared at her with a penetrating gaze.

“ ’Tis only a matter of time,” he said softly.

She remained still. “Until what?”

“Until I take what is mine.”

~oOo~

Isabel spent the day watching the preparations for the journey, but having nothing to do herself. Everywhere she went, from the kitchens to the armory, people loaded carts and followed orders. She felt useless as they ignored her.

She found William at the stables. Even he could spare her no time as he examined the horses for the journey. In frustration, she picked up the shovel he’d been using to muck out the stalls and finished the job he’d begun.

In an hour, she was filthy and perspiring, her boots caked in straw and manure. Just as she leaned against a stall to rest, she heard the horn announce visitors at the gatehouse. She watched the line of carts and knights enter the inner ward. A litter was lowered, and a cloaked woman emerged from behind the curtains. A handsome man of her party took her hands and kissed them. Another noblewoman rode a fine horse of her own, and she too dismounted to stand beside the couple.

The noble party caught sight of Isabel, and their blatant stares let her know this would infuriate Bolton. It would be a good day. She wiped her hands on a rag, and walked over to greet them.

The well-dressed man wore a cocky grin as she approached, and his eyes moved down her body with a familiarity Isabel found distasteful. The petite woman who clutched his arm gazed at her in shocked horror, her face blanched white. The second woman, the one who’d ridden in on her own, wore a baffled smile that slowly faded.

“I am Isabel Markham, countess of Bolton Castle. Who are you?”

The man’s eyebrows rose and he chuckled as he patted the shaking woman’s hand. “I am Sir Avery Cabot, and this is my wife, Lady Cabot. I am an old friend of your…husband. We are in need of a night’s lodging as we travel north.”

But Isabel was already looking beyond him, to the woman who had yet to speak. “And you?” she asked.

She heard gasps from the other women of the party, who’d begun to flutter around Lady Cabot like empty-headed birds. She ignored them.

“I am Margery Welles,” the woman said. “I had heard rumors of my brother marrying and…I guess they’re true.”