“Did you bathe FitzTudor too?” he asked her.
“That bairn had his own man he brought with him from the south. I wanted naught to do with them. He was more perfumed than washed. They kept much to themselves once they saw the lay of the land,” Elsbeth said with a chuckle.
“And how did they determine the lay of the land?”
Andrew asked as she scrubbed his neck and shoulders.
“FitzTudor snuck up to her chamber one evening and tried to force himself upon her. She hit him over the head with an earthenware pitcher. He fell to the floor dazed, and then she called to Beiste, who dragged the boy from her chamber by his velvet-shod foot.” Elsbeth cackled as she remembered the incident. “After that he gave her a wide berth, he did. She’s a virgin, which is what you’ve been getting at with all your questions, my lord. You treat her gently.”
“Have you explained to her what is involved in a man and woman’s coupling?” he asked the older woman.
“Not my place, my lord,” Elsbeth said. “She has no mother, and so it is you as her husband who must guide her along love’s path. Have you done the bits I cannot mention? If you have then you’re done, my lord. I’ll leave you to dry yourself. That door”—she pointed to a small portal—“leads into my mistress’s bedchamber.”
She curtsied to him. “Good night, my lord.”
He remained in the tub, enjoying the heat from the water, until he realized it was beginning to cool. So young FitzTudor had attempted to have her and been soundly rebuffed. Well, he couldn’t blame the lad. Adair was a toothsome morsel. She said she was a virgin. Her servant said she was a virgin. He sighed.A virgin.How in hell did one approach a virgin? And especially one as matter-of-fact as his new wife. He had not expected to bed her for at least several days, during which he had planned to woo her with kisses and caresses that would grow bolder with time until she was curious enough, and ready enough, to be breached. But when she had left thehall after whispering to him they had a duty to perform, he had been astonished. Aye, making a new heir for Stanton was important, but he wanted a bed partner who would enjoy being with him.
Andrew suddenly realized he was growing cold, and so he arose and stepped from the tub. Reaching out, he drew the drying cloth from its rack and toweled his body and hair free of water. He looked about and could see no garment to wear. Shaking his head, he reached for the door handle and opened the door into his wife’s bedchamber. He stepped into the room, pulling the door shut behind him. There was a fire in the hearth, and draperies drawn over the windows. He drew the curtains back that enclosed the large oaken bedstead and saw her sitting straight up, pillows behind her, awaiting him. Her eyes widened at the sight of his naked body, but she said nothing. He could see she was without clothing as well, for her shoulders and arms were bare as she clutched the coverlet against her breasts.
“We don’t have to do this tonight,” he said quietly.
She was afraid. He could see it in her dark violet eyes.
He did not want her afraid.
“Aye, we do,” she whispered. “Your grandsire will demand to see the bloody sheet on the morrow. If we do not have one to display he will assume I was not a virgin. And if you tell him you did not breach me, he will call you coward before everyone in the hall. I will not let him shame us before our Stanton folk, Andrew. It would erode our authority. Get into bed, my lord, before you catch the ague.” She threw back the coverlet.
He climbed in next to her, drawing the coverlet back over them. “Give me your hand,” he said to her, and she slipped a hand into his. “I am sorry to say you are correct, Adair. There is a bit of the bully in my grandsire.
Your strength tonight won his grudging respect. And your understanding of our situation is well thought out.
If my grandsire had not come this day we might have had the time we needed to really become acquainted.
But we do not. However, let me suggest something to you. Let us cuddle together until you feel brave enough for us to couple. We have until the dawn to do what must be done. We need not do it immediately, Adair.”
He slid down beneath the coverlet, drawing her with him. His strong arms wrapped about her. “There. Isn’t that better, wife?” His lips brushed her forehead, and the scent of gillyflowers arose from her dark hair. “I never expected to wed,” he told her. “I had nothing to offer a wife.” The feel of her young, supple body against his was intoxicating. Andrew struggled to maintain a semblance of self-control. He could not allow his lustful body to overcome his common sense. This girl was the wife to whom he would be married for all his days.
“From what I have just now observed, my lord, you have more than enough to offer a wife,” Adair said with a naughty giggle. She had looked well at him as he had come to her bed. He was the first naked adult man she had ever seen. She did not need a great deal of experience to know he was well made, and he was.
Andrew chuckled. “I couldn’t tell how hard you were looking in the dim light.”
“The light was bright enough for me to observe your attributes, my lord,” she told him. “I have naught to compare them with, but I suspect they are considered more than satisfactory by the ladies you have honored.
I believe I am safe in saying that I am the only virgin in this bed tonight.” Her cheeks felt hot with her bold words.
“Aye, you are the only virgin here,” he agreed. “I lost my virginity when I was fourteen, and I have since known several women. But I am not careless with my affections. Are you always so candid in your speech, Adair? I have never known a woman to be so open with her thoughts.”
“Lady Margaret always advised me to be more careful in my discourse. She said those who did not know me might think me bold—or worse, wanton. But I have always said what I am thinking. I was never any good at the games they play at court,” Adair noted. “I am too honest, I suppose.” His body was firm, and there was a comfort being enclosed in his arms. She felt safe for the first time since she had been a child. And his skin was smooth and smelled good. She wondered what Elsbeth had put in his bathwater. She would have to remember to ask her.
“Why did you stay so long then at court?” he asked her, unthinking.
“My lord, I was only six when Lancastrians slaughtered my family. I had no one else to go to but the king. My sire has great charm, as you must surely have heard. Most who enter into his presence are enchanted by him. His manners are flawless, and his memory for faces and names is incredible. He can make strangers feel welcome and mere acquaintances as if they are close friends. And he comprehends his duty as king of this realm.
“But I could not really like him or the queen. Both are totally self-involved. The king indulges himself shamelessly with women and rich living. The queen’s only interests lie in advancing the members of her family. They bred their children like a litter of puppies, and afterward ignore them, believing their duty done. Were it not for Lady Margaret Beaufort we children would have been lost. It was she who provided us with a structured life. She who taught us our manners, our faith, and our morals. She saw that we were educated as befitting our station as the king’s children. And never once did she mistreat me or differentiate between me and my half siblings. She is a good woman, Andrew.”
“Yet you ran away from court,” he said. “Why?”
“I have always felt my duty was to the king, but my second duty was to Stanton. I did not want to be treated like a possession to be disposed of by the king. And that is how he treated me. I tried to reason with him, but he would not listen. The Lancasters wanted a king’s daughter for one of their own, and I am the king’s daughter.
