“So Clydon will love him, but what about you?”
Reina looked away. “Once he set his mind to do it, he made sure it could not be undone. Whether I regret my decision remains to be seen.”
“How was it?” Theo grinned now.
She knew what he referred to, and gave him a glare for daring to ask. “None of your business.”
“Come on, Reina,” he wheedled, his grin widening. “Tell me what I missed.”
“If you must know, ’twas rough and quick.”
“Oh, now Iamjealous.” He sighed.
“Lackwit,” she snorted derisively. “It takes me longer to piss, so you cannot tell me you like itthatquick. Now stop teasing me or you will find your ears boxed.”
Reina had wanted to wear her best for this important conference with Simon and John, but Theo pointed out she would need her best for the wedding, so she settled on her second best, a crimson velvet bliaut with loose bell-shaped sleeves that were shorter in the front to reveal the closely fitted long sleeves of her undertunic, a bright yellow chemise, revealed also beneath the deep V of the bliaut’s neckline and at the sides where the gown was left open up to her thighs. Her girdle was golden links that hooked just below her waist to hang down to her knees.
And for this occasion, Theo talked her into wearing her hair plaited over her shoulders, the braids wrapped tightly with yellow ribbon, the short white headdress covering little. Reina felt the braids made her look younger, which she did not want just now, but Theo disagreed, swearing she had never looked lovelier. Vanity won out, something she did not succumb to often. Theo made sure she realized it, claiming that since her vassals knew her well and would not be affected one way or the other by how she looked, she was in truth dressing only for her new husband, which was natural and as it should be.
Whether Reina agreed with that or not, she could not deny she seemed somehow prettier than usual. Her costly glass mirror, which gave a much clearer image than polished steel, said so; Theo said so; and who was she to argue with the adage that a husband well pleased with his wife’s appearance was a man easier to deal with. It was worth finding out if it was true, for Ranulf Fitz Hugh was no doubtdispleasedthat it was taking her so long to return to him.
She found him deep in a discussion of crop rotation with Simon and John, a subject he seemed to find fascinating. So much for his displeasure at her long absence. He obviously was no longer worried about letting her out of his sight, and she was of a mind not to make her presence known at all, to retreat back the way she had come. There were other things that needed doing, and she was a fool to attach so much importance to one man’s anxieties, be they natural or not.
But before she could slip away, John noticed her and greeted her, and she put on a smile as the other two men then turned to her. That she could see no reaction to her appearance at all from her husband deflated her even more, though she was too adept at concealing her feelings to show it.
“Do not let me interrupt your conversation, gentlemen. I only stopped to let you know I have not forgotten you. There are a few more things I should see to ere I join you.”
Ranulf opened his mouth to protest her leaving again, but Simon beat him to it. “My lady, please. You know I am a patient man most times, but not when my curiosity has been aroused. Do you tell us what has happened to change your mind about young de Lascelles.”
She looked at Ranulf with wide-eyed innocence. “You did not tell them? Fie on you, sir. Did you think they would doubt you?” After getting in those licks that he could not possibly answer, she felt vindicated in her disappointment that he had not even noticed her improved appearance and turned back to address her vassals with an explanation. “My acquaintance with Sir Ranulf may be of short duration, but sufficient to conclude that he is the man best suited to Clydon and myself.”
“He wants to wed you?” John Radford asked without much surprise.
“He has agreed to wed me,” Reina clarified. “Actually, it took some convincing to get him to see the benefits to himself. He was reluctant because he comes landless, though he has the means to buy a fine estate does it please him to do so. That he is sworn to no other lord is what makes him ideally suited to Clydon.”
“So this was your idea?”
Her expression gave truth to the lie. “Aye, mine. After considering all aspects, and finding naught that you might object to, I went ahead and offered Sir Ranulf contract, which he approved.Isthere any reason you might be reluctant to accept him as your liege lord when you know him to be the man I have chosen?”
Put that way, and in that particular tone, if there were any objections, they would not be voiced now. She had quick assurances from both men that Sir Ranulf was acceptable to them.
“Think you my other vassals will feel the same?” she put to Simon.
“I do not see why not. They are as aware as we of the urgency in getting you wed quickly—to a man your father would have approved of.”
“Good, because I have already sent messengers off to summon them and Sir Henry. The wedding will take place as soon as all are gathered. And yes, Simon, my father would have found much to admire and respect in Sir Ranulf. You knew him well, and know he valued honesty, honor, strength, and ability, above all things. Sir Ranulf’s strength and ability cannot be in doubt, and I have had firsthand experience of his honesty and honor. My father would have been well pleased.”
That more than anything settled their minds to the matter, and the rest of the evening went by smoothly, especially since she invited Sir Walter to the lord’s table again, which seemed to put Ranulf at ease and made for lively conversation. The man really was never at a loss for words.
But there was a moment after supper when Simon managed to corner her with his one remaining concern. “Are you certain, my lady? You have not let that pretty face of his sway you in your judgment?”
She had to laugh at this. “Come now, Simon, you know me better than that. Would I let a man’s looks come before what was best for Clydon? I do not delude myself that ’tis me Sir Ranulf covets. He succumbed to the same inducements John or Richard would have succumbed to had I put the offer to them instead. Love and infatuation have no place in forming alliances, and neither influenced me in choosing Ranulf over anyone else. He is strong, able—”
“Strong? The man is a giant, my lady, if you have not noticed.”
She chuckled at his expression of awe. “Aye, he is that. You should have seen how quickly he sent de Rochefort’s men fleeing for their lives, killing half of them ere they could escape. He will do you well do you need him, Simon. You need have no unease on that score. But more important, he will be available do you need him, not off seeing to other estates that have naught to do with Clydon.”
Simon was well satisfied after that, but then Reina had her last difficulty of the day to face, the sleeping arrangements. Left alone with Ranulf at last, she could no longer avoid it. She had to put him in the lord’s chamber, since Simon always had the west tower chamber when he was at Clydon, and he had already gone off to retire there. The lord’s chamber was now appropriate for Ranulf. She just would not be sharing it with him yet.
