‘Are you going to sleep in your clothing, Fayth?’
His question clearly startled her at first, then she shook her head. ‘Nay. I was but waiting to learn where I would sleep before removing any of it.’
Giles took the chance and walked over to her. ‘May I?’ he asked as he touched her veil, a nuisance he wished removed as soon as possible.
At her nod, he lifted the circlet holding the veil in place and then unwound the length of it from around her neck and let her braided hair tumble free. He took the end of the braid, untied the leather strip and loosened the tightly woven braid until it curled around her shoulders and face.
‘Does that not become uncomfortable? I would think it would retain heat and bring on a sweating.’
‘Fashion has little to do with making sense, Giles.’
Thinking on some of the clothing and accoutrements he’d seen at William’s court and other noble houses in Normandy and Brittany, he did not doubt it. Before he thought on it, he reached over and took the comb from the table and began running it through her hair. His hands itched to touch it so, and he finally had the opportunity. She sat beneath his hands, eyes closed, her breathing low and even, and he wondered if she’d fallen asleep.
‘You are better than Emma at this,’ she said. ‘She pulls too much when there are knots or snags.’
They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes and he decided to broach another subject with her. He’d brought his sharpening stone and sword with him and so he placed the comb down and took the sword and the stone and sat in the corner, leaning against the wall.
‘I had thought to knock this wall down and open up both chambers to our use. What think you?’ he asked while sliding the stone along one edge of the blade.
‘To what use would you put it?’ she asked, standing then and gazing around the chamber as though judging it.
‘Nothing more than to give us more room in our chambers. It becomes crowded with only two of us in it and I would like my armour here as well. I thought a dressing area in one corner, with our trunks. A small sitting area here and the bed just there.’ He pointed to the places he considered best and she turned to them as though imagining how it would look.
Her hair floated around her as she did, the length of it nearly reaching the floor as she moved to and fro. Giles put the sword on his lap and the stone next to him and watched her. His hands itched to wrap themselves in it, and he would once he claimed her as wife. For now, he took a deep breath and released it and focused back on his true task.
‘I think it is a waste to do more than that here, lady. But I have plans to build a new keep on a hill near the fork in the river.’
‘I confess that I’ve been hearing bits of this from your men. Why did you choose there?’ she asked. He stood before answering her.
‘That hill is suitable for the Norman style of motte-and-bailey tower keep. Using the hill, I avoid the work of building the motte first. Have you climbed the hill of which I speak?’ She nodded. ‘The view of the surrounding lands is clear and you can see for miles. A much better defensive position than this one.’
‘And to what use will this keep be put?’
‘Does it upset you to know you will move from the place where you were born?’
‘’Tis a woman’s lot in life to leave her parents and cleave to her husband, so it comes as no surprise to me. But do you plan to level this one?’
‘There is much I have not decided yet. Much depends on how quickly the trouble subsides and how we come through this winter. And,’ he said, reaching over and handing her the cup, ‘how many coins I have left after we buy what we must for the winter.’ He urged her, ‘Drink this. Seek your rest.’
When his wife did not take it, he placed it in her hands and backed away. ‘I do not want to face Emma’s wrath for not having followed her instructions. If you have any pity on me, you will do as she said.’
The smell of the brew was so strong he could almost taste it as she drank it down. He shuddered as he watched and waited until she’d finished to take the cup. Without asking her permission, he lifted the tunic over her head and then turned her to untie the laces at her back.
Somehow this comfortable banter and time of ease between them felt right. He’d never spent much time in a lady’s bedchambers. Those ladies who would allow him entrance wanted him done and gone quickly. And the women who were like him, of the lower ranks or amongst the servants of the households he’d served, usually did not have a bedchamber to use.
Against a wall, under a wagon, in the stables or barn, even in the kitchen and laundry room of one lord’s house, wherever there was a moment of privacy and a willing woman, he’d used it to seek pleasure. Never had he allowed himself to dream of a time when he would share a chamber with a lady as his wife.
She slipped the dress off her shoulders and stepped from it, leaving only her shift on. Before she could climb into bed, he took her in his arms and kissed her as he’d wanted to do since he arrived home last night.
Home?
The thought made him smile, but when his lips touched hers all thoughts of laughter fled his mind, replaced with the desire for her that always simmered within him, just below the surface of his control.
Giles ran his fingers up into her hair, holding her close that way and kissed her mouth over and over. Then he eased back and released her. ‘I would hold you,’ he whispered.
When she nodded, he stripped off his clothing and placed his weapons down in seconds, following her into the bed. He lay on his side and opened his arms to her and she moved into them. In but a few minutes, the posset did its work and she slept.
Home.
