Matthew grinned. “Hardly. I am simply trying to protect Wellesbourne and de Russe men from any unnecessary fighting, within the walls of Wellesbourne no less. As well planned as we might attempt such a thing, it could still veer out of control. I do not want to risk my men or my castle if we can reach a peaceable end instead.”
De Russe grunted, possibly in agreement. “If it comes to a battle, I shall personally take delight in dispatching the leader; what was his name?”
“Strode. But we should not be too hasty about killing him. I personally would like to find out what else he knows.”
“As always, the Peacemaker.”
“If there is a peaceful solution to the end, I will take it.”
“As you wish.”
Alixandrea had been sitting quietly, listening to all that was said. She was trying to be as detached as possible, knowing that Strode and Jezebel had been in some sort of plot against her andMatthew, but the fact remained that she had known these people for many years. She had trusted them without question and her affections were still attached.
She must have sighed and not realized it, for Matthew suddenly spoke to her. “Did you have something to say, my lady?” he asked.
She looked up from where she had been fidgeting with her hands in her lap, only to see that everyone was looking at her. She shook her head. Then, she nodded. “I know what Sir John heard and I know what you explained to me, and I further was witness to Jezebel’s actions in the gallery, but I must say that I am having a difficult time understanding that my servants would plot against me.”
“It is not against you,” Matthew said quietly. “It is against me and against Wellesbourne.”
“Even so, I cannot truly believe they would do this,” she said, more insistently. “I want so badly to talk to Strode to have him explain what John heard. Perhaps it wasn’t what he thought at all. Perhaps there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this.”
“Then send for him.”
De Russe’s voice was a growl. They all looked at him. When he noticed their attention, he recollected his wine cup and poured himself another drink. “Send for the man. Let us question him here, in front of everyone, and make sense out of this.”
Matthew’s gaze lingered on Gaston a moment before casting a nod in John’s direction. “Go tell Strode that my lady wishes to speak to him. He’s probably out in the stables with the lame horse.”
John quit the solar. Alixandrea sat there, looking at the faces in the room, wondering if some of them did not distrust her,too. The situation looked so suspicious that she could not blame them.
“What doyouknow about this, my lady?”
Gaston must have been reading her mind. She gazed steadily at him, strangely no longer afraid of him.
“Only what Matthew has told me, my lord,” she said. “My servants have been loyal and dedicated to me, never indicative of something dark and sinister behind them. Perhaps that is why I am having such a difficult time grasping this.”
“So you knew nothing about your uncle’s shift in loyalties?”
“Politics has never been of interest to me. But to answer your question, I knew nothing. Perhaps because I am not the suspicious type, but upon reflection, there are things that I now question.”
“Like what?”
“His unexplained trips,” she searched her memory carefully. “Visitors in and out of Whitewell at strange hours, people I did not know. He would simply tell me they were travelers, but when they stayed at Whitewell, I never saw them and they always seemed to leave in the dead of night. I suppose if I was the mistrustful kind, those things would lead me to believe that my uncle was up to something.”
Gaston gazed at her a moment longer as if his mere attention would force her into confessing. Out of respect for Matthew, however, he would not push the subject. It was obvious that Wellesbourne was smitten with her. Perhaps he would believe whatever she told him, but not de Russe. He was different. He had never trusted women and had never gotten along with them, so feminine wiles did not work with him.
Alixandrea met his gaze until he looked away to refill his cup. He did not believe her; that much was clear. She would have been deeply insulted had she not had the prudence to realize that these men’s lives depended upon whom they could trustand whom they could not. These men in the room were closer to the king than most, the core of Richard’s defenses against Henry Tudor. And she had brought the rebellion right into their midst.
Before she could wallow in guilt, John reappeared with Strode. The young manservant from Whitewell appeared unruffled as he entered the solar, even after he saw all of the knights in the room. He focused curiously on Alixandrea.
“My lady,” he said. “You have sent for me?”
Before she could answer, Matthew put a hand on her shoulder to silence her and to indicate that he would do the talking. He took a step forward, placing himself between the lady and the servant. It was a protective gesture, one not missed by de Russe.
“Tell me of your orders from Terrington,” Matthew said with a hint of hazard in his tone. “I understand that he instructed you to do something once the lady and I were married.”
Strode’s blue eyes flickered. His gaze moved between Alixandrea and Matthew. “My orders were to deliver the lady to Wellesbourne, my lord.”
“And then what?”
