Page 24 of When I Fall in Love (De Piaget #4)

J ennifer sat on the front steps and looked out over the courtyard. The weather was very nice for England in June, with a slight breeze and rain no doubt in the forecast for later that afternoon. She smiled to herself. One thing she did not miss was inaccurate weather reports. In medieval England, there wasn’t any worry about dressing for the weather. She suspected that work in the lists went on whether or not it rained.

She looked next to her. Miles sat there, staring off into the distance. Montgomery and John sat on the step below her. For some reason, it was just terribly comforting to have them there around her. And in spite of her better judgment and sense of self-preservation, she wanted it to last. She was very happy in the company of Nicholas’s brothers.

She was even happier in the company of Nicholas himself.

“Well,” she said finally. “What should we do to pass the time?”

Miles smiled as he turned to look at her. “We are a sad lot, aren’t we? Nick rides off and we mope.”

“Pathetic,” she agreed. She reached out and tousled Montgomery’s hair. “What do you think, Montgomery? Should we go mope in another location and play cards? Should we take a walk through the village?”

“A walk,” Montgomery said, standing up. “We’ll protect you, Jennifer.”

“I’m sure you will.” She accepted Montgomery’s help up, then linked arms with him and walked down the stairs and through the courtyard.

He smiled at her shyly. “Nick calls you Jenner. I like that.”

“But you will not call her that,” Miles said sternly. “ ’Tis Nick’s name for her.”

Montgomery scowled at his brother, then turned back to her. “May I call you Jenner?” he asked in a whisper.

“Of course,” she said. “Miles is teasing you.”

Montgomery shivered. “I never know. And I’m not overfond of crossing blades with him, though I am much improved over the past pair of years. I squired with Amanda’s husband, Jake, for a year, you know.”

Jennifer frowned thoughtfully. “Jake,” she mused. “An odd name.”

Montgomery leaned closer to whisper to her. “He’s a faery.”

“Montgomery,” Miles said sharply. “He is not a faery and I will take you back to the lists and remind you of that if you cannot cease with that foolishness.”

Montgomery looked at Jennifer knowingly, but said no more as they walked through the front gates and down to the village. She would have asked him more about it, but quite suddenly he broke away from her.

“Look!” he said, running ahead. “ ’Tis Robin and Anne. And Father and Mother as well!”

Miles took Jennifer’s hand and pulled her off the main road. Jennifer watched as he brushed off a stump, sat down, and made room for her on half of it.

“This will be interesting,” he said dryly.

“Why?” she asked, sitting down next to him.

“Just wait.” He looked at her seriously. “Can I offer one piece of advice before the company arrives?”

“Do I need advice?”

He chewed on his words for a moment or two. “Perhaps not advice. A reminder, if you’d rather.”

“And what would you remind me of?” she asked.

“That you are without peer,” he said simply. “And that Nick loves you.”

She wasn’t sure she should be counting on Miles’s opinion, but she couldn’t deny that there was some comfort in hearing that. “Do you think so?”

“Aye, I do, damn him to hell.”

She laughed softly. “Oh, Miles, you are wonderful. But why did you feel the need to tell me all that?”

“Just watch.” He crossed his legs and clasped his hands around one knee. “I’ll identify the players so you’ll recognize them later. Now, there in the distance we have my eldest brother, Robin, whom you already know. Next to him is his lovely wife, Anne. The two lads squirming atop their father’s horse while his lady wife looks on with horror are his young sons, Phillip and Kendrick.”

Jennifer jerked a bit, startled. “Kendrick? What an interesting name.”

“He’s a brat,” Miles said affectionately, “but I adore him.”

Jennifer watched as Robin and Anne rode up the way. Robin struggled to hold on to his sons and pull his horse up at the same time.

“Miles, why are you sitting on the side of the road?” he asked. “Where’s Nick?”

“Off somewhere,” Miles shrugged. “He didn’t give details, but he promised to come back.”

“He has inducements,” Robin said. He smiled at Jennifer. “I see you’ve survived your time with these ruffians.”

“Quite well, my lord,” Jennifer said.

Robin nodded toward his wife. “This is my Anne. Anne, this is Mistress Jennifer McKinnon. I might have told you about her already.”

Anne smiled warmly. “You did indeed, husband. Mistress Jennifer, when we have time I would be pleased to hear of your adventures. It sounds as if you have had several.”

Jennifer got to her feet and started to curtsey, but Anne shook her head with a laugh.

“Don’t you dare,” she said. “Here. I’ll come down and we’ll embrace, as we should.” She slid off her horse toward the ground.

Miles hurried around her horse and put his arm around her waist. Jennifer watched as he waited until Anne nodded before he helped her walk over to where Jennifer stood.

“Will you sit?” he asked.

“I beg you, nay,” Anne said, with feeling. “My leg pains me enough as it is.” She gave Jennifer a quick hug. “I hear you made our Nicky laugh.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Jennifer protested, “though I imagine Miles can’t say the same.”

Anne looked at him narrowly. “Aye, I heard about that as well. Reprehensible, Miles, truly.”

“And yet Nick loves me still,” Miles said placidly. He put one arm around Anne’s shoulders and the other around Jennifer’s. “Now, I have two exquisite ladies to admire. My day has just vastly improved.” He looked up at Robin. “I’ll see Anne back, brother, if you care to go on ahead.”

Robin looked at Anne. “Does that suit?”

“I’ll be fine,” she said with a smile.

“Then I’ll take the lads,” Robin said, urging his horse forward with his knees. “Lest they be trampled in the swarm coming along behind us. And I won’t lose either of them,” he added with a look thrown Anne’s way. “I promise.”

Anne only smiled and waved.

Miles looked at her. “Are you certain you don’t want to sit? I’ll vacate my spot on the stump so you and Jennifer can take your ease.”

“Perhaps that would be welcome,” Anne said. “I daresay I would prefer to sit upon something that doesn’t move.” She let Miles help her down. “Jennifer, come and sit with me. We may as well be comfortable as we watch the procession.”

Jennifer sat next to Anne. “Who’s coming?”

“Robin’s parents and his grandmother,” Anne said.

“And my grandmother’s collection of eligible maidens, no doubt,” Miles added. “Is that right, Anne, my love?”

“Aye,” Anne said, sounding less than enthusiastic about the last.

“Eligible maidens?” Jennifer repeated. “For you, Milès?”

Anne looked at her and bit her lip. “For Nicky, I fear.”

“Oh,” Jennifer said.

Well, that was going to make things interesting.

“Remember what I told you, Jennifer,” Miles said in a low voice.

“What did you tell her?” Anne asked. “Or is it private?”

“I told her that Nick loves her madly.”

Anne looked up at him. “Then I’m happy for him. And does she love him?”

“She tolerates him,” Miles said confidently. “I’m convinced she secretly prefers me and isn’t quite sure how to tell him.”

Anne slapped him smartly on the backside. “You’re terrible.”

“As is, no doubt, the collection of misses coming our way. Who did Grandmère bring this time?”

Jennifer listened to the guest list and felt a little sick. She wasn’t a coward and she never ran, but there was something about facing an entire family of medieval nobility, along with their selection of potential brides for their son, that made her just a little queasy.

Especially since she loved the son they were trying to marry off.

She realized with a start that she did love him. Against her better judgment, against the little voice that told her she was crazy, against all rational reasoning.

She hoped he was hurrying.

Then she didn’t have any more time for thinking because the parade was right there in front of her. There were horses and wagons and more people than Jennifer thought she could identify in a week.

But as she looked closer, she saw that her first impression wasn’t exactly accurate. Nicholas’s family wasn’t hard to pick out. She saw an older, extremely handsome man who she was certain had to be Nicholas’s father, Rhys. Next to him rode an equally stunning, dark-haired woman who had to have been Rhys’s wife, Gwennelyn. Behind her rode a younger version of Gwennelyn. Isabelle? Jennifer sent her a particularly warm thought, especially since she’d been sleeping in her bed for almost a week.

Rhys reined in his horse. His wife and daughter stopped with him. He smiled affectionately at Anne, scowled at Miles, then looked at Jennifer with cautious interest. Miles stepped forward and kissed his mother’s hand.

“Mother,” he said with a nod. “Father. Allow me to introduce Lady Jennifer McKinnon. She is Nick’s guest.”

Jennifer rose immediately and this time she did curtsey. “My lord,” she said. “My lady.”

“Miles,” Rhys said with a frown, “why on earth do you have her sitting down there in that dust?”

“We came for a walk and did not expect you,” Miles said.

“Where is Nicholas?”

“Off somewhere,” Miles said with a shrug. “He’ll be back tonight.”

Rhys lifted his eyebrow as he looked at his wife. “Very well. A good day to you then, Lady Jennifer. I’ll greet you properly at the hall.”

Miles smiled and waved to his mother and sister. Jennifer waited until they rode past before she looked at him.

“I’m not a lady,” she pointed out. “Why did you do that?”

He looked at her with tranquil eyes. “Because regardless of whether you are or not at the moment, you will be if Nick has his way. It is best that you are treated as Nick would wish to have you treated while he is away and I am in charge of your care.”

She smiled faintly. “Thank you.”

“It’s not entirely altruistic,” Miles admitted with a smile. “I fear my brother’s wrath if I fail him.” He winked at her, then turned back to the road. “Ah, now it comes. Just remember, Lady Jennifer, that Nick loves you. Madly. Ah, Grandmère,” he called, striding out into the road and taking the bridle rein of the lead horse. “What an unexpected pleasure.”

Jennifer looked at the woman who hopped off that horse with agility and realized, with a shock, that she had to have been pushing seventy.

“Grandmère, might I introduce you to Lady Jennifer McKinnon,” Miles said smoothly, taking his grandmother’s hand and drawing it through his arm. “She is a guest here at the hall. Lady Jennifer, this is my grandmother, Joanna of Segrave.”

Jennifer found herself facing a thorough, but not unfriendly assessment by the lady of Segrave. She looked a great deal like Miles’s mother and her eyes showed that she was sharp as a tack. There would be no bamboozling this woman.

“Are you Miles’s guest?” Joanna asked briskly.

“No, my lady,” Jennifer said, with a curtsey.

“She is acquainted with me,” Anne said, getting to her feet with difficulty. She put her arm through Jennifer’s. “And Nicholas as well, isn’t that so?”

“Sure,” Jennifer said faintly.

“Hmmm,” Joanna said, looking Jennifer over from head to toe. “Very pretty.” She paused. “I like red hair. It means you have spirit and no small bit of temper. Is that so?”

“I’m afraid it is, my lady,” Jennifer said, with another curtsey.

“Well, then perhaps if you know my grandson, you can persuade him to take a bride very soon.” She gestured over her shoulder. “I brought yet another collection of eligible misses. We have very high-ranking women here, so he’d best find one of them to his liking. Montgomery!”

Montgomery shot to his feet as if he’d been singed with a hot poker. “Aye, Grandmère?”

“Walk me up to the keep, lad. I’m weary of riding.”

“Of course, Grandmère.” Montgomery offered her his arm and escorted her away.

Jennifer looked at Anne. “You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it.”

“It was my pleasure. And don’t fear her. She’s brisk on the surface, but under it all she’s quite a lovely woman,” Anne said with a smile. “She convinced Robin to stop dithering and actually woo me. I owe her a great deal.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have spoken up for me,” Jennifer said.

Anne shook her head. “I am acquainted with you. Now. ‘Tis enough.” She looked back down the road. “ ’Tis too late to escape at present. Perhaps we should stand and keep our faces out of their dust.” She paused. “They won’t be kind. I imagine they’ll mark all our flaws for a discussion later.”

Jennifer looked at Anne, then down at the hem of her dress. “I can’t see that you have any flaws,” she said easily. “And as for me, I’ll stand here happily knowing that Nicholas sewed the hem on this dress himself because I had nothing else to wear. I don’t give a damn what they think.”

Anne blinked, then she smiled. “I think I will find you much to my liking.”

“I think I’ll feel the same way. But why do you worry? You’re Robin of Artane’s wife. I imagine they all envy you.”

“Anne is the fairest flower in Artane’s garden, as Robin continually tells her,” Miles said, coming to stand between them. “Unfortunately, the ladies we’re about to see would sooner trample beautiful flowers than admire them.”

“No doubt,” Anne said with a snort.

Jennifer found herself unaccountably nervous, though she supposed there was no need.

Well, no need except for the fact that she was going to be looking at women that Nicholas’s grandmother expected him to marry.

She took a deep breath, determined to watch with disinterest as the company passed, but it only took the sight of the first potential bride to make her realize that she was way out of her league. These were medieval noblewomen and they were a different breed of gal entirely.

She wasn’t sure if pretty described any of them. There were six, by her count, and all of them were beautiful. One, the last one with the most expensive-looking trappings, was simply stunning. But she couldn’t have said she would have felt comfortable talking to any of them. That was probably just as well because apart from the most disinterested of glances, they didn’t bother with her.

They didn’t bother with Anne, either, and that made her mad. She looked at Miles after the last one had left them, literally, in the.dust.

“Charming,” she said. “Do you know any of them?”

“I’ve met all of them at court at one time or another. They are very high-ranking women. Their power alone makes them attractive.”

“Are you attracted to them?” Anne asked.

“Nay,” Miles said, “but I have two wits to rub together and can imagine how miserable life with them would be, in spite of their gold.”

“Do we have to go in?”

“Unfortunately,” Miles said grimly. He offered an arm to her and to Anne. “Get up, John,” he threw over his shoulder. “You must come as well.”

“Saints preserve me,” John groaned as he rolled to his feet. “I’m for the stables. I’ll be safer there.”

Jennifer was ready to join him, but Miles wouldn’t hear of it. She wasn’t particularly vain, but she would have given quite a bit for her fairy-tale dress and glass slippers. As it was, entering Artane’s great hall with a dress that was two different colors, no matter the man who had sewn it, was just not making her list of delightful experiences.

Apparently, lunch was being served. Robin walked across the hall to them.

“Anne, sit with me,” he said shortly. “Miles, you’ll keep Jennifer with you and sit next to Isabelle. Jennifer, I’ve already told my grandmother that you’re to remain in Isabelle’s bed. I fear, however, that my grandmother may be joining you there.”

“All right,” Jennifer said with only a small gulp.

Miles kept her arm linked with his. “I’ll introduce you to Isabelle. She’s my twin and rather old for a gel to be not wed. She refuses until she finds a lad she loves. She had one once, but changed her mind, so perhaps she didn’t love him after all.”

Jennifer let him distract her until they were seated. She made nice with Isabelle and didn’t look up. Well, that wasn’t precisely true. She did look up a time or two. Each time, she found herself being studied by a different one of Lady Joanna’s eligible maidens. She supposed that came from sitting between Miles and Isabelle. She couldn’t be dismissed as a servant and she supposed she was enough of an unknown quantity to warrant speculation.

She found herself longing, quite intensely, for that recent stretch of days when she’d just had the boys for company.

The afternoon crawled on unendingly. Jennifer would have given her right arm to have disappeared, but Miles wouldn’t let her. He sat next to her and made polite conversation with whomever approached.

The sun did set eventually. Nicholas’s minstrels were joined by players that apparently Lady Joanna had brought along. Jennifer enjoyed the music, but not much else. Isabelle had pleaded a headache early on and had gone upstairs. The little twins were nowhere to be seen. The only thing that saved her was that Miles was guarding her as ferociously as she could have wished for.

“Is it time to leave yet?” she murmured.

“Not until Grandmère goes. She told me you’re to be sharing Isabelle’s bed with her.” He lifted one eyebrow. “That’s quite an honor, you know. I think even Isabelle’s being reduced to a pallet on the floor.”

“I’m grateful,” Jennifer said faintly. “I’d be even more grateful if she’d go get in that bed. Her stamina is frightening.”

He flashed her a quick smile, then resumed his grim and rather forbidding expression. “Aye, so say we all.”

“Where is Nicholas, do you think? He said he would be back tonight.”

“I wouldn’t worry. Perhaps he was unexpectedly delayed.”

“Hmmm.”

Finally, Joanna yawned. Jennifer almost cheered. She waited until Joanna had made for the stairs before she followed with Miles. Joanna stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned.

“Come out from behind him, gel.”

Jennifer took a deep breath and stepped out from behind Miles. “Aye, my lady?

Joanna looked her over again from head to toe, then took her by the arm. “I understand you’re sharing the bed with me.”

“A pleasure, my lady,” Jennifer said, shooting Miles a look of mild panic.

“He can’t save you, gel,” Joanna said sharply. “I won’t eat you for supper, you know. I’ve already had mine and now I’m ready for sleep’. Do your feet run to cold?”

“Um, I don’t think so, my lady.”

“Good. Now, you realize Anne confessed to me that you are here as my Nicky’s guest and not hers.”

“Did she?” Jennifer wondered if Joanna used thumbscrews or just a really piercing gaze.

Joanna took her by the hand and pulled her up the stairs. She only let go when they started down the passageway. “Why doesn’t your hem match? And stop looking at Miles for a rescue. He can’t help you anymore.”

Jennifer took one last look at him. He shrugged helplessly. She took a deep breath and turned to face Nicholas’s grandmother.

“The truth is I became cut off from my family. Nicholas added the hem on this dress because it was too short.”

“Did he indeed,” Joanna said, sounding quite a bit more interested. “A chivalrous lad, my Nicky.”

“Aye, my lady, he is.”

“He’s my favorite grandson, you know. I’ve never denied it.”

“Understandable, my lady.”

“And you, gel?” Joanna said. “What do you think of him?”

Jennifer gave her the honest truth. “He’s perfect, my lady.”

“Harrumph.” Joanna walked again, then stopped in front of Isabelle’s bedroom. “Is your father a lord?”

Jennifer took a deep breath. “Nay, my lady.”

“Your mother a titled woman?”

“Nay, my lady.”

“Hmmm. But my Nicky likes you.”

“So he says.”

“Has he kissed you?”

Jennifer gaped at the old woman. “Ah . . .”

“An impertinent question,” Joanna said. “Quite right. Well, I’ll watch him with you and see. I’ve brought all these other gels along, you know, so I’ll want him to give them a fair look.” She paused and looked at Jennifer again. “I like your hair. And your frankness, truth be told. ’Tisn’t often to find an honest gel these days.”

“Thank you, my lady,” Jennifer said.

Joanna made a few more harrumphing noises. “To bed, Jennifer McKinnon. We’ve a long day tomorrow. I assume you can dance?”

“Just barely, my lady.”

“Well, I’ll polish you a bit, then. You’d best not have cold feet in bed, though, or I’ll renege.”

“Of course, my lady.” She opened the door and made Joanna a curtsey. “After you, my lady.”

“I should think so,” Joanna said, but she patted Jennifer’s cheek as she sailed by.

Jennifer looked back down the hallway to find Miles standing there. He made her a very low bow, then waved.

“I’ll ride off and look for him if he isn’t back by morning,” he said quietly.

“Thank you.”

“Jennifer McKinnon, come inside and shut the door. The draft will do me in, gel!”

She closed the door and took a deep, steadying breath. She’d survived the day. But what would happen when Nicholas returned and found Artane overrun by potential brides?

She supposed she might not know because she probably wouldn’t see him.

“To bed, gel,” Joanna ordered imperiously. “We’ve a full day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Jennifer closed her eyes briefly, then pasted a polite smile on her face and turned to face her future.

She hoped Nicholas would hurry.

She hoped she would have a reason to want him to.