“Why should I?” he sneered, reaching me at last. “If I want a whore upon my lap, then I shall have one. Who are you to tell me I can’t, when you are no better?”
I gasped at the accusation, feeling the beginnings of tears prick my eyes. I did my best to fight them, but I knew it would be a losing battle, just as this one was with Wallace. He was drunk and nothing I said or did would make him recall himself. “I bid you good night,” I whispered thickly before turning on my heel.
I would have run, but for the hand that seized my arm, grasping tightly at my flesh. “You shall take your leave when I say and not a moment before,” he shouted, his face reddening.
Despite all the countless lessons I’d had on courtly bearing, I was losing myself to his drunken rage. “Please, Wallace—”
“Please!” he snapped, shaking me. “Please?! You are not worthy of my attention,” he decreed, snarling. “Get out of my sight before I whip the flesh off your body, inch by inch.” He tossed me to the floor then, in front of everyone, as though I was nothing more than a dog to be discarded at will.
A sob lodged in my throat, but I fought it back. He gave me a vicious, mean smile and then turned his back on me, walking back to the table where every courtier—and Anne Clover, of course—sat with gaping mouths and stunned expressions. Never once did he look back.
My ladies swarmed around me at once each one offering assistance, but I batted them away impatiently, standing to my feet and fleeing the room withas much dignity as I could muster. I did not let the tears come until I was safe inside my chambers and my ladies had been instructed to see that no one disturbed me.
I never could have imagined enduring such abuse as my own husband had just put me through. I hadn’t thought it possible, and yet, it had happened. When the first tears streaked my cheeks they were laced with sorrow and regret, but the ones that followed were hot and full of righteous anger. By the time my tears cleared, I knew just what I had to do. I would ride for home, for Hohenzollern. Upon learning what had happened, my cousin Susanna, the princess, would surely find room for me.
Wallace would be lucky if I ever returned to him, which I would only do if he got down on his hands and knees and crawled like a beggar. The thought filled me with no joy—I did not wish to return to him at all, under any circumstances, though I knew that if he asked, I must. Never again would I let him command me.Never.
I had bid my ladies to return to the hall and take their meal. A few had protested, but I knew it was for nothing but show. I was certain each was eager to be away from me. They must decide what way the duke’s favor was turning, and if they could benefit from it in some way. And if nothing more, they would hear the gossip and be plagued with questions after my health. They would relish it, to be sure. There wasn’t one in my train who cared more for me than she did her own future.
Once upon a time, I would have thought myself lucky to know who I was, to know that I was royal born and would never have to act so, but now I wasn’t so sure. I never would have thought that a husband could treat his wife so cruelly, either. And yet…
I shook the thoughts from my head as I saddled my horse. She’d been a wedding present from the duke, and he’d told me with pride in his voice that he’d named her Fortune, for that was what he’d found when I’d agreed to be his wife. From the moment I set eyes on her, so beautiful with her snow-white coat and so strong, I’d fallen in love. I would have left her for the memories she carried, but I feared that she would fall at the wrath of his hands once he discovered I was gone.
“We’re going home,” I whispered as I took a moment to stroke her neck. “Get us there quickly, Fortune.”
She was an obedient mare, and well trained. She took to the road and even though there was hardly any moonlight to see by, I trusted her to get me where I wanted to be. My mother would know how this should be handled, and I was certain that Susanna would give her leave for me to stay at the castle for a time while I worked this out.
That I would have to go back to Wallace was a certainty, one that made me feel faint. I could hardly get his face out of my mind. It had been nearly purple in his rage as he’d spat those horrible, hateful words:Get out of my sightbefore I whip the flesh from your body. I had no trouble believing that he meant every word and that he would take pleasure in carrying out his threat. Though I knew I had been nothing but the most devoted, dutiful wife I could be, it mattered not. Wallace ruled our household, and my wellbeing would depend upon his mood.
Yes, I knew that I would have to return. My mother would insist that I forgive him, which as a lady, a royal duchess, I would—but only after he dismissed Anne Clover from court and promised me his unfailing fidelity.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I was surprised when Fortune stopped and I realized that we’d made it safely to Hohenzollern. “Good girl,” I praised her, patting her flank before I gently guided the reins toward the stable. I would see her safely in the stable before I went to Susanna. She would be surprised to see me, to be sure. I had only made it back home once since my marriage to the duke, and she’d known I was coming. But there was nothing to do for it now; I was here already and everything would soon be explained.
At first, the stable seemed empty. I shouldn’t have been surprised—it was time for the evening meal, after all—yet, I was annoyed. Now that I’d dismounted, I realized how hungry and tired I was. I wanted nothing more than to see my horse cared for so that I could seek solace with my mother, and perhaps partake in a bit of supper myself. A movement out of the corner of my eye had me turning my head and when I saw a figure crouching down low, watching me, my irritation grew.
“Are you the stable boy?” I demanded, my voice harsher than I normally would have used, but justified given the circumstances.
“Ah…”
“Whatever are you doing on the floor?” I snapped. “Get up, then. There’s work to be done.” I held out the reins, arching a brow when he stood, dusted off his trousers, yet made no move to take them. “Well? What are you waiting for?”
“Forgive me, princess, I don’t mean to—”
“Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” I exclaimed, with an unladylike snort of laughter. “You must be new.”
“What gave me away, my lady?”
“I am not the princess. Any servant worth his salt would know that.” Not that he could be blamed entirely for the slipup. We both had the same thick, dark raven hair. Though mine often spilled in curls down my back, it was held up in pins at the moment. We were of a similar height and build—both with small waists and narrow hips, though Susanna’s chest was more endowed than my own. We also shared smooth skin as white as milk and full, rosebud mouths. Still, for all those shared qualities, no one could deny that Susanna had the bearing of a princess, which added to her beauty in a way that I would never know.
“Forgive me, my lady. And whom do I have the honor of addressing?”
I tilted my head to the side, examining him. My first thought was that he did not speak very much like a servant. Nonetheless, I opened my mouth to answer him when it occurred to me that perhaps it would be better if I did not. If he didn’t know who I was, then perhaps he would not remember seeing me at all when my lord husband began asking questions. Smiling to myself, pleased with my own cleverness, I dismissed his question with a wave of my hand. “Never you mind. Go about your business and leave me to mine.” I’d barely spoken when I felt him move behind me. A sudden chill ran down my spine, and heeding my instincts, I spun around to find him right behind me.
“I would very much like to,” he said in a quiet, steady way that would have been comforting but for his unnatural closeness. “But I’m afraid you’re my business now.”
“I beg your pardon?” I huffed the question, even as my heart began to pick up speed. “Do you forget yourself, sir? Do you forget that you address alady, one far above your station?”
He did not smile, but a twitching around his lips told me that he would have liked to. “You high-breds are all the same, aren’t you? Always concerned with your own importance. There is more to the world than you know, princess.”
