The log in the fireplace cracked and collapsed into a heap of orange coals.
“Masterfully done, my lord,” came the soft hiss of congratulation.
“You move like a cat, Seger,” Jasper Keane said, never turning. “I never know when you are there, but discretion, my friend, is called for in this matter. I do not want the heiress running to her royal cousins, lest I lose this plum.”
“I would not harm your lordship,” Seger replied. “Even I, ignorant wretch that I am, understand the delicacy of the situation. The keep folk love their ladies. It would never do for them to think you were hurting them.”
“Cleverly said, Seger,” Sir Jasper told his man, “but one day, I think, that clever tongue of yours will be your downfall.”
“Until that time I but live to serve your lordship,” Seger answered, and Sir Jasper Keane laughed at his boldness. “I have, in anticipation of your lordship’s direction, already seduced the lady Rowena’s personal serving maid, who lives in terror that her mistress discover her loose ways. You need not fear any indiscretion on her part, my lord,” the captain finished with a toothy grin.
“There is no one like you, Seger,” said his master admiringly.
“No, my lord,” came the agreeable reply.
Blessed Mary!How her conscience assailed her, but what else could she do, Rowena thought as she went through the familiar routine of her day. She was only a woman. A helpless woman. Dickon and Anne were so far away, and outside the keep a blizzard was raging, and she simply didn’t know what else she could do. It wasn’t as if she were a virgin. She well knew what it was to have a man impale her on his lance. Henry might have been many years her senior, but he had always been a vigorous lover, and she had enjoyed his attentions.Too much!Did the church not teach that the sole reason for the coupling of a man and a woman was for the procreation of good Christian children? Nothing was said about pleasure, but it was pleasurable, and she had missed it.
Henry, of course, had been the only man she had ever known. Were men different in their lovemaking? She felt an anticipatory thrill of excitement race down her spine, and she bit her lip with her vexation. She was betraying her own child! What kind of a wretched creature was she that she could look forward to breaking faith with her own daughter? He was so handsome, yet as attracted as she was to him, she would have never allowed him her bed but for their conversation this morning. He had not said it aloud, but she had well understood his meaning. He had intended ravishing Arabella even before their marriage was celebrated, in order to satisfy his manly desires.
Pray God and His blessed Mother that she could please Sir Jasper Keane, that she could sate his lusts. How else could she protect her child? Surely God would forgive her? She would not, however, confess her indiscretion to dear Father Anselm until Arabella was happily wed. How could he understand the position in which she found herself? He would counsel her to seek grace in prayer, and he would lecture Sir Jasper sternly; but Sir Jasper would not listen, Rowena knew. He would force Arabella to his bed, and it could kill her child to have her innocence breached so soon. No. She would bear this burden silently and alone. Was it not, after all, a woman’s lot to bend like the flowers of the field before a wind?
Lona had waited until Sir Jasper and Lady Rowena had departed, and then hurried back into Arabella’s bedchamber. “Ahh, ‘Bella,” she sighed gustily, “you are so fortunate! He is the most handsome of men. I shall probably be matched with old Rad’s sniveling grandson, the bag of bones with the long, pointed nose that always drips.”
“He is beautiful to look upon, I will grant you,” Arabella said, pulling her friend down to sit once more upon the bed. “Yet there is something…”
“What, you goose? Sir Jasper is perfect, although I will allow that I do not like his captain, Seger,” Lona said.
“You only say that because Sir Jasper might have given Seger your father’s position,” Arabella returned.
“Nay,” Lona said, her dark brown braids shaking vigorously, her blue eyes serious. “Seger almost slithers like a snake, and I have seen him with my aunt Elsbeth on several occasions. They were kissing, and once I saw his hand up her skirt, yet in the hall he ignores her. It is as if he does not even know her.”
“Perhaps I should speak to my mother,” Arabella considered aloud. “After all, your aunt does serve her. Mayhap I will speak to Sir Jasper, for Seger is his man.”
“I do not think it would be wise, ‘Bella. Perhaps it was nothing more than a quick kiss and a cuddle. Lads and lasses are apt to do such things. Then, too, Sir Jasper might think we feared Seger, which would not reflect well upon my father. My aunt is grown, and if she were having difficulties, she would go to your mother, I am certain, but she will thank neither of us if we interfere and tell tales on her. I should not have spoken to you at all.”
“Oh, Lona, we are friends, and have been since our infancy,” Arabella reassured the other girl.
“But you will wed Sir Jasper in two years, ‘Bella, and then you will be the Lady of Greyfaire Keep. You will change, but I will not. I will always be Lona, one of FitzWalter’s lasses.”
“You will be Lona, the Lady Arabella’s personal maidservant, you goose! You will have every bit as much stature as your mother and father, and you do not have to wed with old Rad’s bony grandson if you do not wish it. As my personal servant and my friend, you will have your pick of the handsomest lads around. I promise you!” Arabella said generously.
“As long as I don’t have to wed with spindleshanks,” giggled Lona. Then she grew serious again. “Am I really to be your maid, ‘Bella?”
“Aye, if I say it,” Arabella said, “and I do.”
“And you really do like Sir Jasper, don’t you?” Lona asked.
“My cousin, the queen, says that beauty does not always mean goodness in a person,” Arabella said slowly. “I have heard whispers that Sir Jasper is a man for the ladies. They say he cuts quite a swath on both sides of the border.”
Lena’s blue eyes grew round. “Who told you such a thing?” she demanded indignantly.
“Is it true?”
“I would not know, ‘Bella.”
“But you have heard the rumors too, have you not, Lona?”
“The old women will gossip, ‘Bella, and they best like to gossip about a handsome man or a pretty woman. Have not most of the men on both sides of the border poached in forbidden waters?”
