“Nay, m’lady, not the hour,” came the reply.
“I awoke early,” Rowena said, “and so I decided not to await you. There is no harm done, Elsbeth. Is anyone else up and in the hall, girl?”
“Sir Jasper and his man, Seger,” Elsbeth said, avoiding her mistress’s gaze, but Rowena did not notice, for she was hoping her own guilt did not show upon her face.
“I must first go to see how my daughter does,” she said almost to herself, and hurried from the chamber.
Arabella was, of course, fine, rarely being ill and having little toleration for the state. She was already up, and Lona was helping her to braid her own hair.
“I want Lona for my servant, Mama,” she said by way of a greeting. Her light green eyes challenged her mother to refuse.
“I think that would be an excellent idea,” Rowena agreed. “I am certain that Rosamund can spare one of her daughters from the laundry, and I must agree you will need someone other than old Nurse Ora to look after your needs. After all, you are to be married in two years, but Ora, I know, persists in treating you like a child. We shall retire her to her cottage until you have your own children for her to look after. Lona can learn from her aunt Elsbeth what she must know to care for a lady properly.”
“Ohh, thank you, m’lady Rowena!” Lona cried, delighted, and even Arabella smiled, pleased with her victory.
In late April there came word that little Prince Edward had died at Middleham on the ninth day of the month. Rowena longed to go to her cousin Anne and comfort her, but Jasper Keane would not allow it. His sly innuendos regarding Arabella’s fate should she leave him for even a short time frightened as well as angered her, for she knew he was once again prowling the borders like a tomcat.
“Then let Arabella go, my lord, for I cannot bear the thought of my cousin, the queen, believing we do not care.”
He considered her request and then, to her surprise, acquiesced. “Aye, let the king see our sympathy and loyalties are with him in his time of sorrow. Besides,” he grinned, pinching one of her nipples fondly, “you are far more entertaining these days than my little bride-to-be. While she is gone we shall ride the hills together and visit some of my pretty little friends. We shall have a ménage a trois, my pet. I enjoy being entertained by two women at a time. Once Arabella and I are wed and I have broken her to my bridle, you will join us in our bedsport, Rowena. Will you not enjoy that, or will it make you jealous to share my favors?”
“My lord!You forget yourself! I will never partake in such a vile debauchery,” she cried, shocked.
He laughed. “Ah Row, sweet Row. You will do precisely as you are told, because if you do not, I have the means by which to make you suffer as you have never suffered before.” He tipped her face to his and kissed her lightly. “You know that in your heart, my pet, do you not?”
And she did. She had known almost from the first night that this was a terrible and dangerous man. She knew, but she was also aware that the king was not knowledgeable of Sir Jasper Keane’s dark soul. Richard was a noble and decent man with a good heart, but she could not go to him and expose Jasper Keane, for to reveal the true nature of Sir Jasper was to reveal her own shame.
“Arabella must start tomorrow,” she said quietly, pretending not to have been frightened by his implied threats.
“I shall arrange a suitable escort, my pet,” he replied, knowing she feared him now and would do whatever she had to in order to protect her child. For now it contented him to leave the child alone, although of late he had noticed her little breasts beginning to bud quite prettily beneath her bodice. A tasty dish was best savored over time, he thought.
Arabella was gone several weeks, most of her time spent traveling back and forth between Greyfaire and her royal cousins. The queen, she reported upon her return, was inconsolable at the loss of her only child.
“Ahh, Mama,” she said. “It would break your heart. Poor cousin Anne weeps constantly. Neddie’s death has fair destroyed her.”
“But was she glad to see you, Arabella?” demanded Sir Jasper. “I hope your presence was not an additional pain to her, lest she think ill of us all.”
“Nay, my lord,” Arabella said a trifle stiffly. “My cousin, the queen, was happy for the company. She said I reminded her of better times and took away some of her sadness.”
“I am glad for that,” Rowena said softly, “but what of the king? He must be as devastated by little Edward’s death as is poor Anne.”
“He is, Mama,” Arabella replied. “Sometimes he does not even hear what is being said to him. His heart and the queen’s have been broken, especially as the physicians say cousin Anne can have no more children. There are some who say the queen will die of her sorrow.”
“Then the king can take a younger, more fertile wife,” remarked Sir Jasper.
Arabella rounded on him.“My lord!Where is your heart, or is it true as I have heard, that you have none?”
Jasper Keane was momentarily stunned by her words, which were both sharp and knowing. He stared at the girl, seeing her as he had not seen her before. True, she was Row’s daughter, but her outburst made it more than clear she was more her father’s daughter. Henry Grey, a man who had doted upon his sweet and helpless wife, was also a man with a famous temper. Arabella had obviously inherited that temper.
“What, poppet?” he said in a bantering tone, for Sir Jasper had decided not to be angry with her. He rather liked this new and fiery disposition she was showing. Row’s meekness was pleasant, but it was also dull. “Have you been listening to gossip, Arabella? I would have thought better of you,” he mocked.
“In gossip there is always some grain of truth,” she answered him tartly, “but we are not speaking of my behavior, sir. We speak of yours. My cousin, the queen, suffers greatly her loss. Neddie was her only surviving child, and she birthed him at great risk to herself. Perhaps you did not know that, for men are not interested in such things, I am told. She has striven over the years to make him strong and healthy, which is why he lived at Middleham, away from the court, the crush of crowds and possible contagion. If, my lord, you can have no sympathy for the pain she is feeling now, and the greater pain the king feels, at least have the decency to be silent, lest your words be repeated and heard by your enemies, who would use them against you. Since you are to be my husband and the lord of Greyfaire Keep, such indiscretion on your part endangers not only you, but me and mine as well,” Arabella concluded furiously.
“You and yours?”he said softly, his irritation rising just slightly.
“Aye, my lord. Greyfaire is mine, and you become its true lordonlywhen you become my husband,” Arabella reminded him.
“Arabella!You must be more biddable,” Lady Rowena wailed nervously. “Must she not be more biddable, Father Anselm?” The despairing mother turned to the keep’s priest, who also sat with them at the highboard.
