“Who is it?” she asked as she drew near the door.
“Lady Katharine,” came a voice from the other side. “May I enter?”
Devereux well remembered her last conversation with the woman but there was no way she could avoid her. She bade her enter.
“Aye,” she replied.
The door opened and the frail old woman stepped through. On the landing outside, Devereux could see at least two soldiers guarding the door. They shut the panel as the old woman moved into the room. Devereux stood several feet away, gazing steadily at her, waiting for the lashing that was undoubtedly to come.
But a lashing was not immediately forthcoming. Lady Katharine faced her new daughter, inspecting the woman in the firelight; she was clad in the heavy white woolen shift with the belled sleeves and gold tassels hanging from the cuffs. The shift was more of a heavy surcoat than an actual shift, with a stiff collar around the neck and a plunging neckline with gold embroidery around it. It was, in truth, an exquisite garment, made more exquisite by Devereux’s beauty. Lady Katharine sighed with satisfaction.
“My husband brought me that coat all the way from Rome,” she indicated the off-white garment. “It never looked so good on me.”
Off-guard with the compliment, Devereux looked down at herself as if confused by the woman’s observations. After Davysshad left and she had pulled herself together, she had dressed in the warm garment simply because the room was cold. She had then pulled her silky hair into a single thick braid, tied at the end with a golden scarf. She had no idea how angelic and radiant she looked.
“This belongs to you?” she smoothed her hands over the feather-soft wool. “Your son gave it to me as a gift. I was unaware that it was yours.”
The old woman waved her hand. “I told him to give to it to you. It was made for you.”
Devereux didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t feeling particularly amiable towards any member of the de Winter family at the moment but she would not forget her manners. She indicated the chair to Lady Katharine.
“Would you sit, my lady?” she said.
Lady Katharine made her way to the chair and sat heavily. Her gaze moved over the room, the fire, the over-stuffed mattress before finally coming to rest on Devereux again. Her dark eyes were piercing as she appraised her and it was a struggle for Devereux not to back away. She met the woman’s gaze steadily.
“How may I be of service, my lady?” Devereux asked.
Lady Katharine’s attention remained steady. “I understand you and my son experienced some conflict this afternoon. I am here to see if I can assist.”
Devereux’s brow furrowed slightly. “Did he send you?”
The old woman shifted slightly. “He did.”
Devereux’s silver eyes regarded the woman a moment. She was careful in her reply. “Lady Katharine, surely you realize that this marriage is not palatable for your son or for me,” she said. “Why, exactly, did he send you?”
“To see if I could ease your anger towards him.”
Devereux pondered that a moment; so he feared that she was angry with him? Odd, he didn’t seem the type. He seemed more like the kind who didn’t care what anyone thought. Still, she was deeply confused and deeply hurt by the events of the afternoon. She turned away from the woman and moved towards the hearth, feeling the soft heat on her skin.
“What I feel is not anger, my lady,” she said. “He is my husband. He had every right to take what belonged to him. For this, I cannot fault him.”
“But you are upset.”
She suddenly looked at the woman, sharply. “I want to go home,” she hissed. “I was abducted from my home by four monstrous knights, married to a sword and forced into submission by my husband in a brutal act of consummation. Today I have endured more than any woman can be expected to reasonably endure. As I told you earlier today, I do not want to marry your son but it is done. Now I am his wife whether or not I want to be. He has consummated the marriage and we have done our duty. Now allow me to go home in peace while my husband returns to London and the intrigue that infects it. I want no part of it. I simply want to go home.”
Her last words were spoken on the verge of tears and Lady Katharine watched her turn away. The old woman had to admit that the lady had had a rough day. She did indeed feel pity for her.
“I am sorry that you have had such a difficult time,” she replied evenly. “But you were not innocent in all of this. You fought like a banshee which is why the knights were forced to take steps to restrain you. I have seen Sir Nikolas’ black eye and Sir Philip’s bruised nose. I did not imagine those injuries, perpetrated by you.”
“I was defending myself.”
“Against what?”
“Against men determined to abduct me.”
“They were not determined to abduct you. They had come to take you to your husband and you started the battle. The abduction was a direct result of your violent behavior.”
She looked at Lady Katharine angrily. “Do you condone their behavior, then?”
