Christopher looked at him. “Are you telling me he has set his mind to ending this marriage?”
As Peter shrugged, Alexander spoke softly. “I think the fact that he left his new wife behind speaks for itself,” he said. “He is making a statement.”
“Aye, he is. I would like to make one as well.”
It wasn’t Christopher or even Peter who answered. It was Elle, standing in the open tent flap. The three knights turned to her with various levels of surprise before Christopher began to move in her direction.
“Lady Leominster,” he said, addressing her by her rightful title. “Please come in. Would you like some wine?”
Elle stepped timidly into the tent, nodding briefly to Christopher as he moved quickly to procure her a drink. She was dressed in terribly oversized clothing—a heavy tunic and hose that were far too large for her. Gone was the blue dress that Christopher had lent her. She looked quite odd, to be truthful, but she also seemed so terribly nervous in their presence. Given they were talking about her, she’d probably heard most of it—and most of the discussion on a husband who evidently didn’t want her.
It made for a difficult situation.
“Since you sent one of your sons to spy on me, I thought I’d better come straight to you,” Elle said to Christopher as he handed her the wine. “My lord, I would be grateful if you would allow me to speak with you.”
Christopher grunted with some chagrin over the spying comment. “I sent Myles to watch over you to make sure you did not come into any trouble,” he said. “You are in an encampment full of English.”
“I realize that.”
“May I ask what became of my wife’s dress?”
She looked down at herself, realizing how foolish she must have looked. “Sir Curtis told me to take it off,” she said. “I did as he asked.”
Christopher frowned. “Why did he tell you to take it off?”
She cleared her throat softly. “That is what I wish to speak with you about,” Elle said. When Peter and Alexander moved to excuse themselves, she stopped them. “Nay, do not go. Please. I have been speaking to Lord Hereford since yesterday, and I have only had his point of view conveyed to me. I know you are Curtis’ brothers. I should like to speak to you about him, too, so that I have all the facts and not simply Lord Hereford’s version of them.”
Peter and Alexander looked at each other, shrugged, and silently agreed. Peter even went over to collect a chair for the lady.
“Would you like to sit, my lady?” he asked.
Elle did. For once, she didn’t fight the English on anything they wanted to give her, convey, or do for her. She was at her lowest point and had no more false pride to display. Peter put the chair next to the brazier, and she sat, cup in hand,facing three men who pulled up chairs to sit with her and not simply stand over her. After a moment, she looked around as if searching for something.
“It has occurred to me that Melusine is not here,” she said. “Where is my cousin?”
“I sent her to bed with a guard,” Christopher said. “Sherry’s sons are watching over her. They will be kind to her, so you needn’t worry.”
“Sherry,” she repeated. “Who is that?”
“Me,” Alexander said. “My name is Alexander de Sherrington. I married Hereford’s eldest daughter, Christin.”
Elle’s gaze lingered on the man with the black eyes and dark, trim beard. “You are the assassin.”
“That was long ago, my lady,” Alexander said quietly.
Elle shook her head. “I did not mean that the way it sounded,” she said. “I simply meant that Sir Curtis told me about you and how Hereford did not want you for his daughter. He was explaining how sometimes, people marry those who others consider unsuitable, but he went on to praise you, as his brother. In fact, he has explained to me quite a bit about his family.”
“As he should,” Alexander said. “You are now part of the family, too.”
Elle took a deep breath, averting her gaze uncomfortably. “That is where you are wrong,” she said. “Mayhap I am by marriage, but that is what I wished to speak of. You see, I have ruined everything, and I do not know how to fix it. I do not know how to… I am not sure how to put it into words that you will understand. I came here to speak to you because… because I do not know what else to do.”
They weren’t unsympathetic. “Start from the beginning, my lady,” Christopher said quietly. “What has happened that Curt should leave you on your wedding night?”
Elle was deeply embarrassed, but she had also called this meeting, so it wasn’t as if she could not tell the truth. A truth that had been twisting itself up in her mind until she could hardly make sense of it. Finally, she grunted in frustration.
“My entire life has been defined by loyalty to the Welsh and self-rule,” she said. “But it has also been defined by neglect and apathy. My father was old when I was born, and I was quite young when he died. I spent my early years with my grandmother, a cousin to Llywelyn, but I am certain you already know that. She was the only person who showed me concern or even affection, limited as it was. She was rigidly dedicated to her cousin and told me that I should be, too. When she died, I returned to Tywyl Castle and my father and brother, but they were strangers. The only people who showed me any measure of attention were the servants and my father’s men. I realize that is not how most young women grow up, but that was my life. It was my life up until yesterday.”
“Go on, my lady,” Christopher said softly.
