“I have always looked out for him, ifthatis what you mean. He is orphaned.”
He looked down at the boy then, while she stared at him. Her uneasiness grew, even though Ranulf revealed nothing of his thoughts in his expression. She should not have risked this. She should have hidden the boy from him, rather than bring Aylmer to his attention. What if Ranulf did send him away? What could she do?
And poor Aylmer was terrified. He would not look up. She could see his thin limbs trembling. What had been galloping toward panic reared in fury. How did Ranulf dare to put the boy through this with his silence?
Reina drew her foot back with every intention of kicking her husband, when he spoke to Aylmer, and in what was a gentle tone for him. “So you like my cat, do you?”
“Aye, my lord.” A mere whisper.
“See that you do not overfeed her.”
It took a moment for Aylmer to realize he had the permission he wanted, and he looked up in surprise, which quickly turned to a wide grin. “Aye, my lord!”
It took Reina another moment to put her foot back on the floor. The swine, to keep them in suspense like that. Guilt. He really was wallowing in it. And as long as he was atoning, she might as well go for blood.
“Do you take Lady Ella to the kitchen now, Aylmer. Lord Ranulf has had her out with him all day, so she is like to be quite hungry.” She waited until the boy had carefully picked up the cat and limped away before facing her husband again. “As long—”
“You should have warned me ere you brought him forward, lady.”
She tensed defensively. “Why? Because you do not want a cripple tending your precious cat?”
“Because ’twas Lanzo’s job, and he will not like being usurped by a kitchen lackey.”
“Aylmer is no lackey. His parents were freeholders. When they died, no one would take the boy in or even help him. They treated him as if his lameness were a disease they might get from too close association. He was weak and sickly, and twice I nearly lost him to minor illnesses that would barely have affected a stronger child. He is small and defenseless, yet he has his pride. He will not accept charity, but works for his keep. And if he is special to me, ’tis because he has no one else.”
“Who else does he need with a general in his corner?”
She ignored that. “While we are still on the subject of your cat—”
“Are we? I thought the subject was the boy.”
“The boy is my concern. The cat is yours, particularly where she is to sleep. I do not like waking up with her nose in my face, as I did this morn. She should never have been allowed upstairs.”
“She goes where I go, sleeps where I sleep. It has always been so.”
“That was well and good when you slept in tents, my lord, but a bedchamber is no place for animals.”
“And here I thought you had me in that class. Or do you mean to kick me out of the chamber, too?”
“As if you would go if I did,” she snorted.
“Nay, I would not. And neither does Lady Ella go.”
“Then we needs discuss it more.”
“The subject is closed, Reina,” he said, his tone warning that he meant it. “Now do you order me a bath. If you would like to join me, come along. Otherwise, I will see you at the evening meal.”
She had to grit her teeth to keep from calling him back as he walked away. She was supposed to have hereveryrequest agreed to, not the least of them denied. But she had to allow that two out of three was not bad. Only if he thought he had just atoned for his infidelity, he had best think again.
Chapter Thirty
“You will feel better do you talk about it.”
Reina did not answer, keeping her eyes closed as Theodric pulled the comb gently through her hair. She wished he were not so perceptive to her moods. She had said naught to him about her husband’s visit to Red Alma, nor did she intend to. He would hear about it soon enough once the gossip reached the castlefolk, but hopefully he would not relate that to the upset he sensed in her now. Confession might be good for the soul, but humiliation was not.
She felt like pacing, not sitting calmly on a stool. This nightly ritual was usually so soothing. Theo had the magic touch when it came to easing her tension. But her agitation was mounting, not decreasing, as it grew closer to the time Ranulf might appear.
“Did you get your legs spread again betwixt here and the village?”
