“They say,” the earl said, “that King Richard might have fled but he would not. He fought with incredible bravery, cutting down the Tudor standard bearer, William Brandon, and sending the Red Dragon pendant into the dust before he himself was killed.” Tavis Stewart did not relate to his young wife of how Richard’s body had been stripped of its armor and dishonored by his enemies. It was an act unworthy of telling.
“It is most kind of you to bring me this news, my lord,” Arabella told him. She had not seen him since their wedding day in June, for Lady Fleming, true to her word, had whisked her new daughter-in-law away from Dunmor Castle. She had spent a long and pleasant summer at Glen Ailean, but until now Tavis Stewart had not been able to find an excuse to visit his bride, and was too proud to simply come, hat in hand, to settle their differences.
“I fear for my mother and for Greyfaire, my lord,” she told him. “What if the new king should hold my mother’s blood against her?”
“I thought perhaps that ye might worry about her, Arabella, and so I sent a man across the border to learn how Lady Rowena is getting on,” the earl told his wife. “Sir Jasper quickly consolidated his own position in regard to Greyfaire by sending his pledge of fealty to King Henry before King Richard’s defeat. There were others more powerful—neighbors of yours, I am told—who also did the same. Sir Jasper excused himself from battle by claiming he was keeping the border safe for England. As to yer mother, she is great wi’ a bairn, due, they say, before year’s end.” Tavis Stewart had considered lying to Arabella, but he knew that such lies were eventually found out.
“But they were only wed in June,” Arabella exclaimed, and then she paled. “Ohhhh!” she whispered as the realization of his words dawned upon her. Then looking up at him, she burst into tears, the knowledge of how great a betrayal bad been perpetrated upon her totally complete.
The earl took his wife into his arms and comforted her, saying, “Dinna weep, lassie, for I canna bear a woman’s tears. Ye know it.”
“I’m not a woman,” Arabella sobbed, her tears soaking through his silk shirt.
Tavis Stewart closed his eyes for a moment, his big hand smoothing Arabella’s beautiful hair. Nay, he thought, she wasn’t a woman yet, nor likely to be soon unless he could make his peace wi’ her. He hadn’t had a woman since the day of their marriage, for he somehow knew that Arabella Grey—ArabellaStewart,he corrected himself mentally with a small grin—would not tolerate infidelity on his part, even if their marriage hadn’t been consummated as of yet. “There, lassie,” he said, “I know it hurts ye, but yer mother was probably lonely, and Sir Jasper has some fame as a seducer of hapless women. At least the bairn will hae a name now, which it should not have, had ye wed wi’ that wicked devil. Think of yer poor mother’s shame, and if she hae any kind of a conscience, she feels guilty even so.”
“I am not angry at my mother,” Arabella told him. “I fear for her, my lord, for it is obvious to me now that Sir Jasper is both cruel and evil.”
“Yer mother will be safe wi’ him, lassie,” the earl told her, although he himself was not certain of his words. “He did nae hae to wed wi’ her to steal Greyfaire from ye, but he did. She is to bear his child, and I am told Sir Jasper does nae have any children of his own. All men want children, lass, and so I believe he will treat the mother of his child wi’ great care.” He liked the feel of her against his chest, Tavis thought, as he held Arabella in an easy embrace.
Arabella found herself loath to pull away from the comfort of his arms. “Do you have children, my lord?” she asked him.
“Aye,” he said honestly, and her head shot up, the green eyes half curious, half shocked. “I am a grown man, lassie, and I enjoy women,” he admitted honestly. “There are several bairns attributed to me, and I hae seen no reason to deny them, since Stewarts tend to hae a certain look about them. I hae had no woman to my bed, however, since the day we were wed, ArabellaStewart,though my needs hae not lessened over these past few months.”
“I do not know you, my lord,” she said low. “I…I…cannot.”
“I am a patient man, ArabellaStewart,but ye will nae leam to know me if ye remain here at Glen Ailean wi’ my mother,” he said, his dark eyes twinkling. “What’s done is done. Can we nae make a new beginning, my wee English spitfire?”
Arabella sighed deeply. She was beginning to really like this big man who was her husband. She realized now that she had never liked Sir Jasper Keane. She had never felt anything for Sir Jasper. He was the king’s choice for her husband, and she had simply accepted it blindly with the certainty of youth that she would live happily ever after. Still, the thought of riding off back to Dunmor with the earl was a little frightening. She drew a deep breath and said, “I would welcome a new beginning, my lord, but I would also prefer remaining here with your mother until we know each other a bit better. Would you really mind that, sir? Dunmor is not far, though one might think it so, this being the first time I have seen you since our marriage,” she finished with a little twinkle in her own eyes.
He chuckled, delighted by her small scold. “Can it be that ye hae missed me, lassie?”
“Oh, aye, my lord, I have indeed missed you, and I have missed being hauled all over the borders upside down on your fine horse, and having my clothing destroyed, and living in a cramped and chilly tower as well,” Arabella told him mischievously.
The earl burst into good-natured laughter. “Lassie, ye’ll nae be easy on me, will ye?”
Arabella considered, and then said more seriously, “I shall always speak the truth to ye, my lord.”
“My name is Tavis, lassie, and it would please me to hae ye call me my name.”
“Tavis James Michael,” she answered him. “James for your father, your mother says, and Michael because she liked the name and could not decide between the two. Your grandfather settled the matter by having you baptized Tavis James Michael, Lady Margery says,” Arabella told him. She pulled away from him now, suddenly shy.
He caught her hand and pulled her back. They had been standing in his stepfather’s library, and now the earl drew Arabella over to the large windows and, opening them up, stepped over the sill, lifting her out with him. “Walk wi’ me in my mother’s garden,” he said. “The day is fair and yet warm. What else has my mother told ye of me?”
“That you were a proud boy, even as you are a proud man,” Arabella said. “That sometimes you are thoughtless, but never with malice, she says, for you have a kind heart. You are hard on your enemies, but you can also be forgiving. You are loyal to your family and to your friends, and good to your people. Lady Margery says you are a fine soldier as well.”
“My mother, it seems, has said a great deal about me,” he noted.
“Your mother would have us mend our differences, Tavis,” Arabella chuckled once again. “She is eager for grandchildren.”
“I can but imagine our bairns,” he said softly, stopping to draw her into the circle of his arms once again. “Hot-tempered little lads, and tiny spitfire wenches wi’ their mother’s pale gold hair. Lassie, I must kiss ye,” he finished in a rush, and tipping her face up, he met her surprised lips with his.
“Ohhhh,” she whispered, tasting the texture of his mouth and deciding she liked it. Arabella’s arms slipped up about his neck, clinging to him as the pressure from his lips increased upon hers.
Sweet, sweet! She tasted so sweet, he thought, unexpectedly and sharply aware of the new fullness in her breasts as she pressed herself against him. Then without warning her lips opened beneath his, and he was unable to prevent his tongue from insinuating itself into her mouth to find hers. She shuddered with that first contact, her arms tightening even more about his neck in her budding passion.
Arabella did not really understand what was happening to her, but it all seemed quite natural nonetheless. Hazily she remembered back to the first time he had kissed her, and recalled that she had also found herself bereft of reason then too. Did kissing a man always produce such a delicious, if disconcerting effect? When she opened her mouth in an attempt to breathe, and his tongue caressed hers, the result was riveting, to say the least. Emotions she had never before felt, and certainly did not understand, overwhelmed her, forcing her to cling more tightly to his neck.
It had to stop.In a moment he was going to lay her down upon the slope of the garden and take everything she was so unwittingly and innocently offering him. Not that it would not be pleasant for them both, for he would see it was, but what if she felt regret afterward? Her curiosity and inexperience urged her onward to a fate she didn’t even know existed. His experience warned him against accepting her offer. He wanted her totally at peace within her own self that the time was propitious for their union. With a sigh, Tavis Stewart broke off their embrace, aching at the hurt in her eyes. “Lassie, lassie,” he murmured, caressing her upturned face with a gentle finger, “I am tempted to ask ye for more, but I willna. Nae yet, though ye would tempt a saint, ArabellaStewart.”
