“But he is not like to ever forgive you for what you just implied, lady.”
Again she shrugged. “If he is too stupid to realize he was goaded into making the right decision, for his own benefit, mind you, then that is his problem.”
“’Tis more like to be your problem,” Searle said softly from behind her.
Eric was quick to agree. “Are you certain you want him, lady?”
“Ask me instead if I want Rothwell, whom you were all so eager to give me to.”
She left the three flushed faces behind and went to find a horse for herself.
Chapter Fourteen
Ranulf was well aware he had been goaded into marrying the lady, and he would do it for the sole purpose of making her regret manipulating him in such a way. But this was no time to let anger get in the way of his reason. She was prepared to make contract with him, and whether he liked it or not, he knew it was necessary, was in fact considered to be the most important aspect of any marriage. She was also too shrewd for him not to pay close attention when she dictated the terms to the young monk who had been lent to them as scribe.
They had been allowed the use of a small room for the discussion, with Walter and Searle there as witnesses for Ranulf, and the monk for her. Ranulf would have preferred talking over the terms with her privately first, but she had insisted that it would not take long, and that he should find everything agreeable to him, as she was offering him the same as she would have Lord John de Lascelles—he finally had the name! Whether this was so or not remained to be seen, but if it was not, he was less likely to argue with her in front of the monk, which she was surely counting on.
Ranulf had not realized until after they had spoken to Father Geoffrey, and he had agreed to marry them, that Walter’s little plot could very well have backfired in their faces. The lady could have sought sanctuary with the bishop, the very reason Ranulf had not wanted to bring her to the abbey to pass the night. He had to wonder why she did not, for the notion must have crossed her mind. She could not trulywantto marry him, not with her low opinion of him that she had made abundantly clear. Yet in no way had she appeared reluctant before Father Geoffrey. And she had been naught but calmly controlled ever since they arrived at the abbey.
“Before we get to the terms, ’tis your right to know what you are getting, Sir Ranulf.”
He snorted upon hearing she was back to addressing him in a courteous manner, and she heard him, giving him a smile meant to annoy him before continuing. “Because my father is dead and I am his only heir, I do not come to you with a mere dowry, but with my full inheritance. Besides Clydon Castle with its large farm and mill, there are two other keeps, Brent Tower and Roth Hill, not quite as large, but not small either. There are also two other farms near Roth Hill, and three fortified manor houses with hamlets closer to Shefford.”
Ranulf was impressed, but it was Walter who thought to ask, “Which do you want as your dower property?”
“I thought I made it clear I do not come with a dowry, but with everything my father owned. So being, I wish to keep half my inheritance should aught happen to Sir Ranulf ere there are any children of this union. If there is a child to then inherit, I would request only Clydon for my own, for the duration of my life, to go to the child on my death. If I die before Sir Ranulf, then of course everything remains his, for I have no other family to fight over it.”
“Does that sound reasonable to you, Ranulf?” Walter asked his friend.
It was more than reasonable, since she was in effect giving him everything for the duration of his own life. But not trusting her, he knew there had to be a catch. He just could not see it.
Instead of answering Walter, he said to her, “You say you want only half of your inheritance back should I die. Who, then, gets the other half?”
She looked at him as if he were daft. “’Tis usual for the husband’s family to fight over the property should he die. Ofttimes they try to keep it all, though Lord Guy would prevent that in this case. But Lord John’s family would have expected half, as would Lord Richard’s family, had he answered my summons first. So I was willing to give half to form either alliance. As I said before, I offer you the same terms. You need but match them, pledging half you possess to me, the amount to be given only should you die. But I thought we agreed to wait on discussing the terms.”
“You were not finished?” Ranulf frowned.
She shook her head. “What I have mentioned are the demesne lands, held only by me. Though I should mention now that two other fiefs have returned to me due to those vassals dying, one without heirs and one with a baby daughter now in wardship to me. Actually three vassals died with my father on Crusade, though the third had three sons, the oldest of whom has already sworn to me for the manor he holds now.”
Ranulf ignored Walter’s groaning. Neither of them had thought she was this well landed. “How many vassals did your father take with him?”
“Four,” she replied. “William de Bruce remains with Lord Guy, as do our household knights, though we have lost two of them as well, as I already told you when you met their widows. Sir William’s son has already sworn to me for his father, who holds a manor and a toll bridge of me.”
Ranulf was almost afraid to ask, “Is that all?”
Again she shook her head. “I have three other vassals who did not join my father. Sir John holds a farm and four hundred acres near Bedford. Sir Guiot, a farm and mill worth three knights’ service. And Lord Simon, whose daughter Elaine you met, holds Forth-wick Keep, a mill, and two rich manors.”
Walter was groaning louder. Ranulf was not sure what he thought now. Clydon did not just equal his father’s estate, it surpassed it.
For want of something better to say, for he was frankly overwhelmed, he asked, “And how many knights’ service does Lord Simon owe you?”
“Twelve knights for the forty days if I need them, but if ’tis the income you are interested in, that equates to two hundred and forty marks a year.”
“And the others?”
“Fifteen and a half knights’ service.”
Ranulf calculated quickly and then said suspiciously, “But that is only five hundred fifty in income, my lady. From where comes all the rest you claimed? Surely not all from your demesne lands.”
