“Aye,” someone else laughed. “Young Chatworth seems to have done quite well without the belated bridegroom.”
Sir Thomas put his hand on Stephen’s shoulder and guided him toward a room off the hall. “Come in here, my boy. We need time to talk.”
It was a large room, paneled in oak carved in the linen-fold pattern. Against one wall was a row of books above a long trestle table. Completing the sparse furnishings were four chairs set before a large fireplace, where low flames burned cheerfully.
“What is this about Chatworth?” Stephen asked immediately.
“Sit down first. You look exhausted. Would you like some food? Wine?”
Stephen tossed a cushion out of a walnut chair and sat down gratefully. He took the wine Sir Thomas offered. “I’m sorry I’m late. My sister-in-law fell and lost the baby she carried. She nearly died. I’m afraid I didn’t notice the date and only realized it after I was already three days late. I rode as hard as I could to get here.” He picked a piece of caked dirt from his neck and threw it into the fireplace.
Sir Thomas nodded. “That’s obvious from the look of you. If someone hadn’t told me you approached bearing a banner of the Montgomery leopards, I’d never have recognized you. Is that cut above your eye as bad as it looks?”
Absently, Stephen felt the place. “It’s mostly dried blood. I was traveling too fast for it to run down my face,” he joked.
Sir Thomas laughed and sat down. “It’s good to see you. How are your brothers?”
“Gavin married Robert Revedoune’s daughter.”
“Revedoune? There’s money in that match.”
Stephen smiled and thought that the last thing Gavin cared about was his wife’s money. “Raine is still talking about his absurd ideas about the treatment of serfs.”
“And Miles?”
Stephen finished the wine in his cup. “Miles presented us with another of his bastard children last week. That makes three, or four, I lost count. If he were a stallion, we’d be rich.”
Sir Thomas laughed and refilled both metal goblets.
Stephen looked up at the older man as he lifted his drink again. Sir Thomas had been a friend of his father’s, an honorary uncle who brought the boys gifts from his many trips abroad, had been at Stephen’s christening twenty-six years ago. “Now that we’re through with that,” Stephen said slowly, “perhaps you’ll tell me what you’re hiding.”
Sir Thomas chuckled, a soft sound deep within his throat. “You know me too well. It’s nothing really, an unpleasantness, nothing serious. Roger Chatworth has spent a great deal of time with your bride, ’tis all.”
Standing up slowly, Stephen walked toward the fireplace. Bits of mud fell from his clothes as he moved. Sir Thomas could not know what the name Chatworth meant to Stephen. Alice Valence had been his brother’s mistress for years. Repeatedly, Gavin had asked her to marry him. She refused, preferring to marry the rich Edmund Chatworth. Soon after her marriage, Edmund was murdered and Alice reappeared in Gavin’s life. She was a treacherous woman, and she had climbed into bed with a drunken, sleepy Gavin, then arranged for Judith to see them together. In her agony Judith fell down the stairs and lost her child and nearly lost her own life.
Roger Chatworth was Alice’s brother-in-law, and even the mention of the name made Stephen grit his teeth.
“There must be more to this,” Stephen said finally.
“Bronwyn hinted last evening that perhaps she’d be more pleased with Roger for a husband than one who is so…discourteous.”
Stephen smiled and went back to the chair. “And how does Roger take all this?”
“He seems amenable. He rides with her each morning, escorts her to supper in the evening, spends time in the garden with her.”
Stephen drank the last of the wine and began to relax. “It’s well known that the Chatworths are a greedy bunch, but I didn’t know to what degree. He must be very hungry to endure the woman’s company.”
“Endure?” Sir Thomas asked, surprised.
“There’s no need to be dishonest with me. I heard how she fought like a man when she was surrounded, and worse how even her own father considered her enough of a man to name her his successor. I almost feel sorry for Roger. It would serve him right if I let him have the hideous woman.”
Sir Thomas stood with his mouth agape, then slowly his eyes began to twinkle. “Hideous, is she?” he chuckled.
“What else could she be? Don’t forget I’ve spent some time in Scotland. A wilder, more savage group of people I’ve never run across. But what could I say to King Henry? He thought he was rewarding me. If I stepped aside and let Roger have her he’d forever be in my debt. Then I could marry some sweet, pretty little woman who wouldn’t try to borrow my armor. Yes,” he smiled, “that’s just what I think I’ll do.”
“I agree with you,” Sir Thomas said firmly. “Bronwyn is truly a hideous woman. I’m sure Roger is only interested in her land. But just so you can tell King Henry you were fair, why don’t you meet her? I’m sure she’ll take one look at you, filthy as you are, and refuse to marry you.”
“Yes.” Stephen grinned, his white teeth only making him seem dirtier by contrast. “Then tomorrow both the woman and I can tell Roger of our decision. Then I can go home. Yes, Sir Thomas, it’s a splendid idea.”
