She rolled her eyes, knowing there was no way out of his question. “The day after yours. The twenty-first day of June.”
He raised his eyebrows in feigned outrage. “And you thought not to tell me? How dare you.”
“Honestly, I had not thought about it,” she said truthfully. “With so much going on, I’d almost forgotten.”
“She shall be twenty-seven,” Skye announced, turning to her husband. “She does not look it, does she?”
Gaston kissed her hand. “She’s ageless. And what is it you would like for your birthday gift?”
She shrugged. “I have everything I could possibly want. Except….”
Her voice trailed off and he knew what she was going to say,except an annulment and a proper marriage.
He squeezed her hand. “I know. How would you like to see Dane?”
Her face brightened. “Oh, Gaston, I’d love it! When can we go?”
“When we leave for London,” he was pleased to see that she was so happy. “We shall travel due north to Oxford Castle. It shouldn’t take any more than a day.”
Her cheeks were flushed with excitement. “I have not seen Dane in so long. I am sure he’s grown a mile,” her smile faded a bit. “Do you think… could we bring the girls?”
“I do not think it would be a good idea,” he said gently.
“They are too small to travel, angel. Moreover, I would not want them to go to London and I would not trust anyone to return them to Deverill but me, and I cannot take the additional time.”
She nodded in reluctant agreement, understanding his reasoning. But then it occurred to her that she would be separated from her girls for the duration in London, and that thought did not sit well with her at all. “We cannot take Adeliza and Arica to London? We must leave them behind?”
He nodded. “Sorry, love. No one knows of them but Henry and a few others, and it would not be a good thing to have them there.”
Her light mood was spoiled and she could feel tears stinging her eyes. She tried to drown her sorrow in a large gulp of wine, but it did not help. She took a couple of bites from her tart, but her mood did not improve. Instead, it sank lower. Hastily, she excused herself from the table.
He knew she was upset and followed her from the great hall. He caught up with her in the corridor outside and silently put his arm around her waist as they continued to walk down the hall.
The night was warm and he took her to the battlements looking north, facing Warminster and the Vale of White Horse. There were few soldiers on that portion of the wall and he stroked her hair as she gazed out over the moonlit land.
“I am sorry you cannot take the babes,” he said softly.
She shrugged. “I will miss them. How long do you think we will be in London?”
“As long as it takes,” he leaned on the ledge next to her, resting on his elbows as she was. They looked at each other a moment until she looked away sadly. He continued to look at her.
“I told de Tormo we would meet after sup. We should go and find him.”
“No need,” de Tormo came out of the shadows, strolling across the battlement. “I thought we could talk out here, enjoying the evening.”
The priest rested against the ledge, gazing up at the moon. Remington caught a whiff of his odor and edged closer to Gaston, who put his arm around her.
“You know of the basics, de Tormo, so I will not repeat them,” Gaston said, to the point. “Little has changed since you left London, except for a particular meeting Henry and I had with Bourchier and the papal legate. Apparently, the council was leaning toward a rejection of the plea and I felt I had to resort to desperate measures. I told them that Stoneley worshipped the devil, and they are now eager to hear testimony from the both of you supporting my allegation.”
De Tormo nodded calmly. “I am prepared. Did you go into any specifics?”
“No. I was vague, mentioning the pentagram and the skin-covered books but naught else.”
The priest nodded again. “I see. As I will only be able to testify to those as well,” he looked at Remington. “It would seem the details would have to come from you, Remi, as his wife.”
Gaston stiffened and Remington put out a hand to calm him. De Tormo had inadvertently referred to her as Guy’s wife, whichshe was, but Gaston did not like to hear the term used in that context. He did not like to be reminded of it.
“What details?” she asked.
