“In the few weeks Velvet and I have gotten to know one another, I believed we had become friends. I realize now that I have miscalculated.”
“Hell, man, you should have let me arrange the wedding and be done with it. Velvet would have settled down once she realized she had no other choice. She is a stubborn chit, but not a stupid one,” Robin said.
“Nay, she’s not stupid, but you would have miscalculated if you had tried to force the marriage now, and I would be the fellow who had to live with the consequences, Robin.”
“What will you do then, Alex?”
Alex chuckled, and it was a deep, rich sound of pure mirth. “I think, Robin, my friend, the time has come to give Mistress Velvet de Marisco a lesson in tactics. I love her, Rob, and I believe she is beginning to love me. But I shall teach her a lesson that will have her begging for our marriage within a very short time, I promise you.”
“In that case,” Robin said with a slow grin as he poured them out generous goblets of golden wine, “I think we should drink a toast to your wedding, Alex. When do you think I can anticipate the festivities?”
“I imagine I can bring your sister to heel by midautumn,” came his confident reply. “Although I forced my sister and her weak-kneed spouse fromDun Broc, I want to get back before Bella takes it into her head to move back again.”
Neither Alex nor Robin, of course, took into account that if Alex Gordon was stubborn, Velvet de Marisco was even more stubborn. Returning to court and her duties as a Maid of Honor, she threw herself into the social life that surrounded the queen with surprising vigor. The hitherto shy maiden that Velvet had been disappeared, and in her place emerged an amusing and beautiful young woman with a distinct penchant for fun. It was she who suddenly became the instigator of the games and the practical jokes that the youth of the court delighted in so much. If the women at court were no friendlier than they had originally been, the gentlemen were most assuredly delighted.
At first Alex and Robin watched Velvet with tolerant amusement, but as the weeks went by they became less enchanted with her behavior. It was not that there was any real gossip about Velvet, for she was no fool, and if she was flirtatious, she was still careful of her reputation. Her coterie of gentlemen, however, did not include either her brother or her betrothed, which made it difficult for either of them to know exactly what she was doing. Everything they learned was by hearsay, and both were becoming increasingly nervous. Robin and Angel paid a hurried visit to Devon, then returned to find Velvet becoming more unbridled as each day passed.
“I thought you had a plan to control my sister,” Robin complained to Alex one evening after they had spent a good hour watching Velvet and her friends play a particularly wild game of hide-and-seek. There had been much shrieking, open tickling, and even a quick kiss observed as the Earl of Essex cornered Velvet, who quickly escaped him, throwing her brother and his friend an arch look as she did so.
“I do,” Alex said somewhat smugly, “but I wanted to give her time to amuse herself first. Now, however,Ishall makeherjealous.”
“Jealous?”Robin was incredulous.
“Aye, Rob. Jealous! I am going to suddenly find myself enamored of a lovely lady of this court. One, of course, of experience who cannot possibly accept any serious addresses on my part, but one who will flirt with verve.”
“Oh, Alex,” Angel cautioned, “I do not think that very wise. In the short time I have known Velvet, I have learned one thing. She never does the obvious. You will only make her angrier, I fear.”
“Now, sweetheart,” Robin soothed his lovely wife, “Alex is right, I am certain. Velvet may be angry at us now, but she is basically an innocent. Let her believe that her betrothed husband, whom I know she must care for, is interested in another woman, and she’ll come around quickly enough.”
Angel shook her head worriedly. Men were sometimes very dense when it came to understanding women, and yet they were supposed to be the superior sex. She sighed deeply. Velvet was not going to come running like a chastised puppy if Alex annoyed her further. She would instead seek to retaliate. If, however, Velvet knew what Alex was planning … Angel brightened. That was it! She would tell her sister-in-law and, thus warned, Velvet would not react so violently.
Velvet, however, to Angel’s dismay, chuckled wickedly when she learned what her betrothed was planning. “So he seeks to make me jealous? Ha! Until now, all I have done is amuse myself.NowI shall endeavor to make him jealous instead while ignoring his little amour. Do you know whom he has singled out, Angel?”
Angel hesitated, then said, “Lady de Boult.”
Velvet whooped with glee. “That drab!”
“She’s very beautiful,” ventured Angel.
“ ’Tis also said she’s entertained every cock at court at one time or another,” was Velvet’s quick reply.
Angel laughed. “Shame on you, Velvet de Marisco! A maiden should not know such things even if they are true!”
“You did!” Velvet countered. “Besides, I’ll have far better taste, I assure you, inmychoice of a lover.”
Angel’s eyes widened, and her voice was shocked. “You don’t really mean to take a lover, Velvet, do you?”
“Nay!” Velvet quickly reassured her best friend. “Alex, however, shall never be certain of it until after our marriage! ’Tis payment enough for his perfidy, I think.”
“You love him!” Angel accused.
“Perhaps, though he’s scarce given me the chance.”
“Nor you he,” Angel reminded Velvet.
“Nay,” Velvet agreed. “In the beginning it was my fault, but I was so fearful of being forced into a marriage without my parents. Alex, however, must shoulder part of the blame now, for he and Robin should have told me from the start who he was, and then quickly reassured me that he would be willing to wait. We are both, it appears, quite stubborn.”
“If you are wise enough to know that, then stop this foolishness before it goes any further, Velvet. Say to Alex what you have said to me and let us end the enmity now,” begged Angel.
