The voices were growing angrier. After the harrowing flight of the past few days, compounded by the early pregnancy,Emberley’s emotions weren’t as strong as they normally were. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing Gart to punishment. It was too much to take and she suddenly broke down into great heaving sobs.
“Gart,” she was sobbing so hard that Emilie could hardly understand her. “Please… I want Gart. Do… do not let them send him away.”
Concerned, Emilie went to the woman to comfort her but Emberley collapsed on the floor in a fit of panic and tears. She was sobbing loudly and Emilie knelt down, hugging her gently.
“He is only downstairs, my lady,” she said soothingly. “He will not leave this house, I swear it. He will….”
“Please,” Emberley grabbed one of Emilie’s hands and squeezed hard. “Please… I want Gart.Please.”
Stricken with sorrow and sympathy, Emilie clutched Emberley’s hand. “I will bring him to you,” she assured her softly. “Please do not cry. I will bring him right away.”
Emberley was far gone with tears and panic. As Emilie fled the room, she could hear the angry male voices even from the staircase, descending to the dark first floor and heading towards the solar. The voices grew louder, mostly David’s and Christopher’s, and she knocked loudly on the heavy chamber door. The voices instantly quieted and, after a long moment, the door creaked opened and David’s face appeared.
He was not pleased as he focused on his wife. “What is it?”
Emilie was not pleased in return at his gruff greeting. She gave a shove, pushing the door open, something out of character for the normally docile woman. Her frowning gaze was on her husband.
“I hope you are satisfied,” she said in a low tone. “Your shouting, angry voices have been heard all over the house and have greatly upset Lady Emberley.”
David sighed heavily, running a hand through his blond hair. “We did not….”
Emilie cut him off with a sharp wave of her hand, something under normal circumstances she would have never done. But her dander was up and she was bolder than usual. Her eyes found Gart, standing over near the lancet windows. She waved him towards the door.
“Gart,” she said softly, firmly. “Go upstairs to Lady Emberley. She is hysterical and has asked for you.”
With a look of great concern, Gart pushed himself off the wall and walked towards Emilie. “Is she all right?”
Emilie waved him through the door. “She is exhausted and upset. Go and comfort her.” As Gart passed a questioning glance at David, Emilie put up a hand as if to block their view of one another. “Enough of this– Gart, do as I say and go to your lady. David, you and Christopher will continue this conversation at another time when you will not upset the entire house and hold. You are loud and rude with your shouting and I will no longer stand for it. You have upset everyone, including me.”
It was as much as a stand as Emilie had ever taken. Surprised, David looked at his normally sedate wife before casting his brother a shocked glance. In no mood to tangle with his lovely bride, David put up his hands in surrender.
“As you say, sweetling,” he backed down. “I am sorry if we upset you, I truly am.”
Christopher, too, was rather shocked at Emilie’s demanding behavior. He would have expected it from his own wife, a spitfire of a beauty he was madly in love with, but Emilie had always been exceedingly submissive and sweet. She was as passive as a woman could be. Realizing they must have indeed been overbearing and loud, he, too, supplicated.
“I am sorry, Emilie,” he said softly. “We did not mean to upset everyone.”
Emilie was righteously upset, her brow furrowed at both her husband and brother-in-law. She pointed a finger at Christopher.
“She heard you,” she told him. “She heard you speaking of arresting Gart. How could you say such a thing?”
Christopher sighed heavily, looking at his brother for assistance. David should be the one to deal with his angry wife because he was better suited for it. Christopher was more geared towards his own wife, a woman who would take a swing at him if she was so inclined. David saw his brother’s imploring expression and took the hint.
“He is not going to arrest Gart,” he assured her. “Chris simply does not know the situation as you and I do. He does not know what Gart has been through with the lady. I was attempting to explain it to him.”
Emilie looked at her brother-in-law. “With all of the yelling you have been doing, have you bothered to stop and listen to what David and Gart have been trying to tell you?” she asked. “Gart is in love with a woman whose husband has beaten her mercilessly since they were married. You know Gart Forbes and you know what kind of man he is. He is strong and virtuous, not given to whims of passion. I have known him for four years and I have never caught wind of the man paying inappropriate attention to a woman. He is not the kind. He is trying to save that woman from hell and all you can do is speak of punishing him because of it. What kind of man are you that you would say such a thing?”
Christopher quickly found himself on the defensive. He held up a calming hand to his lovely sister-in-law. “Emilie, I am not trying to be cruel, but the fact of the matter is that the lady is married and Gart….”
Emilie cut him off strongly. “The fact of the matter is that Gart is trying to do what a truly virtuous man would do. Heis trying to save the woman he loves from the clutches of a beast.” Now she was beginning to tear up, overcome with the sorrow and strife of Gart’s story. “What if Dustin was married to a man who beat her mercilessly? Would you walk away from the woman and consign her to her fate or would you try and do something to help her? Put your wife in Lady Emberley’s position and speak to me again of punishing a man who would save her.”
Christopher didn’t have an easy answer to that. Inevitably, he thought of his beautiful wife, the Lady Dustin de Lohr, in the clutches of a monster and he could see the situation from Gart’s point of view. He sighed once again, looking to his brother and seeing that the man was clearly on his wife’s side. As much as he hated to admit it, Emilie made some sense. He knew Gart and knew what kind of man he was. He was the kind of man that most knights aspire to be. Perhaps this wasn’t simply a matter of lusting after another man’s wife.
Perhaps things weren’t so clear-cut after all.
*
Gart took thestairs two at a time racing to the chamber above the solar where Emberley was. He could hear her weeping as soon as he neared the door. Bolting into the room, he found her collapsed in front of the hearth. He went to her, falling swiftly to his knees.
