“Can I tear you away from your new friends for a moment?” he asked, taking her elbow and helping her to stand. “I have a long day ahead of me so let us say our farewells now.”
Devereux gazed up at him, forcing a smile. Tears stung her eyes but she fought them; she didn’t want his last memory of her to be of hysterics. She wrapped both hands around his enormousarm, laying her cheek on his mailed bicep as they walked to the front door. As they passed the elaborate solar, she could see Lucy and Frances inside the chamber, seated on one of the many luxurious chairs before a blazing hearth. She waved at them but only Lucy waved back. Frances seemed her usual dour self. Proceeding to the massive oak-door entry, they were met with pale gray fog as Davyss opened the door.
“Will you send word to me?” Devereux asked him softly.
He nodded. “If I can,” he replied, moving to take both of her hands in his massive gloved ones. “It should take us several days to reach Lewes and, after that, I have no way of knowing when or if I will be able to send a missive to you. But I promise I will try.”
She smiled bravely, her heart breaking but refusing to show it. She had never faced this kind of separation before and was unsure how to deal with it; Davyss was going to war, something she detested yet something she was bound to by marriage. Never had she imagined she would be facing this situation; seeing off someone who had come to mean the world to her. It was possible he would never return. But more tears would not magically stop him from going so she was determined to be brave. She squeezed his hands, standing on tip-toe to kiss him on the cheek.
“I shall miss you,” she whispered. “Please take care of yourself. Try to stay away from flying arrows and sharp blades.”
He smiled in return. “I will do my best,” he replied softly, his gaze moving over her lovely face. “I have much to live for.”
He leaned down to kiss her cheek but that wasn’t good enough. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him and lifting her off the ground. Devereux wrapped her arms around his neck, her feet dangling a foot off the floor.
“I love you,” he whispered in her ear.
“And I love you,” she breathed.
Davyss gave her a good squeeze and set her to her feet. By this time, Lady Katharine had walked up beside them. Davyss bent down and kissed his mother again.
“I will send word to you when I can also,” he told her. “Take good care of my wife.”
Lady Katharine waved him off. “You needn’t worry. I have a feeling she can take care of herself.”
“That may be, but there is no longer just her to consider. We must consider your grandson as well.”
Lady Katharine’s eyes widened but that was as far as she went in displaying emotion. “What are you saying, Davyss?”
His eyes glimmered warmly as he took Devereux’s hand, kissing it sweetly one last time. “It means that we have granted your request. You will meet your grandson in the winter.”
“Do you know this for certain?”
“Fairly certain.”
Katharine’s gaze turned to Devereux, who only had eyes for her husband. She could see the radiant look on her face in spite of the paleness. She remembered that look, once, years ago when Grayson was still alive. Katharine had that look, too, when she was pregnant with Davyss. A faint smile creased the old, wrinkled lips.
“Excellent,” is all she would say.
Davyss knew his mother had much more to say about it but, being a rather austere lady, she would not become emotional in public. He winked at his mother, kissed his wife’s hand again, and trudged off into the early morning fog. Devereux stood in the open doorway, listening to her husband’s voice as he barked commands. It filled her with comfort and pride. She continued to stand there, listening to him, as the army eventually moved off in the fog.
Even when the last man was gone, she continued to stand there, listening to the army move in the distance but unableto see them through the mist. When the sound vanished completely and all seemed eerily still, she realized that Katharine was standing next to her.
She turned to the old lady with a timid smile. “I would hazard to say that you have spent many a moment such as this, watching your menfolk go off to war.”
Katharine nodded faintly. “Many a moment, indeed,” she said quietly. “My father, my brother, my husband and my sons. It never becomes any easier.”
Devereux’s smile faded. “I have never had to do this before.”
“It will not be the last time.”
Devereux’s gaze lingered on the old woman before returning her attention to the open door and the fog. She stood there, gazing out into it as if hoping to see Davyss suddenly returning. Her heart hurt for so many reasons that she could not isolate just one; all she knew was that it ached fiercely. She turned back to Katharine.
“May I speak, my lady?” she asked.
Katharine lifted a thin eyebrow. “Of course. You do need permission to speak to me.”
Devereux gave her a lop-sided smile, somewhat humbled, and continued. “When you and I first met, it was not under the best of circumstances,” she said. “I… I suppose I simply wanted to apologize for the harshness between us on that day. I was not on my best behavior.”
