He understood now. Truth be told, he was a little fearful that perhaps she was having second thoughts about the marriage and he was pleased to see that wasn’t the case.
He was quite thankful, actually.
“It is right that you should grieve for your father and brother,” he said. “I expect you to. I shall make sure that both of them are buried next to your mother, properly. As for the rest of it… sometimes terrible things happen unexpectedly. But sometimes joyful things do. This happened to be a joyful and unexpected event, and if it makes you happy, I do not think anyone would begrudge you that, Emelisse. You have a right to be happy, especially when so much of your recent life has been so terrible.”
She pondered that before resuming drying off her neck. “I do believe you are correct,” she said. “Idohave right to be happy. So do you. Are you happy, Cai?”
He nodded, flashing those big teeth. “Surprisingly so.”
Her smile vanished. “You are surprised that I could make you happy?”
He started laughing. “Clearly, I do not say the right things to you,” he said. “I tried to tell you once that you smelled good and ended up suggesting that you stank otherwise. And now, I tell you that I am surprisingly happy, but not in the sense that you have taken it. Surprisingly as in I never believed I could feel like this.”
A smile played on her lips as she set the drying cloth down. “Feel like what?”
He lifted his big shoulders as if he had no idea how to describe it. “Joy,” he said. “Such joy. I have a beautiful wife, one I am utterly enamored with, and I could not be happier about it.”
She studied his face as he spoke. “You said it again.”
“Said what?”
“That I am beautiful.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that? Christ, Woman, you are exquisite.”
Her cheeks mottled a faint shade of pink as she turned away, heading back to the satchel that Lady de Wrenville’s maids had packed for her.
“I’ve heard it from men I did not believe,” she said. “My father is supposed to say those things to me, and men who want to court me say it only to get into my good graces.”
His eyes narrowed. “Who has courted you in the past? Tell me now and I will find him and burn his house to the ground.”
She started laughing. “That is not necessary, I assure you,” she said. “I chased them all away. I suppose I knew there was someone much better in my future and he would find me when the time was right.”
Caius dipped his head as if to thank her. “And he did,” he said. “A seasoned knight who is the only one worthy of you.”
She looked at him rather dreamily. “But I am concerned that I am not worthy ofyou.”
He made a face at her, one suggesting she was speaking nonsense. “Emelisse, you are theonlyone worthy of the title Lady d’Avignon,” he said. “I have seen you at your worst and you were strong. I will see you at your best and you will be stronger still. Whether or not you know it, you are a remarkable woman, and to express my esteem for you, I have something.”
“What?”
He pulled out the ring that William had given him. She gasped in delight as he slid it easily onto her finger. She held it up in the weak light, inspecting it carefully.
“Itisbeautiful,” she said.
“Does it fit well?”
“It fits very well.” She brought her hand down, looking at him. “You cannot know how much it means to me. How muchyoumean to me, Cai. Thank you for this token. I shall honor it always.”
He took her hand, kissing the ring, all the while looking into her eyes. She seemed truly happy, jubilant in fact, and that only made him smile. What he saw in her eyes was exactly what he was feeling inside.
Joy.
He eventually released her hand so that she could dress, watching her pull a garment over her head that he hadn’t seen before, one of two Lady de Wrenville had loaned her. It was wool, undyed, so it was slightly off-color white, but the moment she smoothed it down her body, he could see how beautifully it fit her. She had an astonishingly lovely figure with a narrow waist and generous hips, and the fabric draped over her beautifully. He continued to watch as she cinched up the ties on the side of the dress, conforming it to her figure even more, before digging into the satchel again and pulling forth a comb.
Caius went to don his own clothing but, all the while, he watched Emelisse as she finished dressing. Her beautiful blonde hair became a single braid, draped over one shoulder, and she pulled on the leather boots that Lady de Wrenville had loaned her. By the time Caius had his mail and Richmond tunic on, she had packed the green traveling dress, and everything else, back into the borrowed satchel.
As Caius strapped on his sword he watched his lovely wife as she wandered to the window and open the shutters to admit a new day.
