Richard paled at this news. Reina glanced quickly at Ranulf to see he was not surprised. Hugh had obviously already told him he had a sister, and he was not in the least displeased. Well, it did not matter to him one way or the other, did it? But to Richard it did, and where an estate the size of Lyonsford was concerned, it no doubt mattered a great deal.
But Hugh was not finished. “The terms wrested from me at your birth, Richard, were unreasonable and never meant to fully apply. That my wife remained barren for so long mayhap has led you to anticipate more from me, but that is not to be. I gave you Warhurst. You needs be satisfied with that.”
“Why? Because ’tis more than a bastard should expect? You forget who my grandfather was!”
“Nay, I do not forget,” Hugh said coldly, finally giving reign to his displeasure with this son. “’Twas my father who gave a damn, not I.”
Richard could not deal with all of this at once. A sister was not real to him. A baby, and babies died. Ranulf was real, however; there, watching him make a fool of himself, which he could not seem to help.
“And what do you give tohim, father?” Richard sneered, glaring furiously at Ranulf.
He paled again, however, when Ranulf stood up to accept the unspoken challenge. Reina stood up, too, to step between them. There would be no fighting in her hall if she could help it. But ’twas Hugh who defused the sudden tension.
“Not that it is any of your concern, Richard, but what I give to him was given long ago, when he reached his tenth year, so ’tis no longer a part of Lyonsford. The transaction was approved by the king, the property to be turned over to Ranulf when he reached twenty years and five. ’Tis no town like Warhurst, merely a small keep, but I know for a certainty he will be well satisfied.”
“Will be?” Richard laughed derisively, obviously seeing some humor in this. “You waited this long to even tell him?”
Reina could have kicked the young lord. SweetJesú, had she really thought to many him, this greedy, vindictive, whining boy-man? More and more she was beginning to give credence to the prisoner’s tale.
She said in a whispered aside to Ranulf, who stood behind her, “He told you of Elisabeth. Did he give you warning of this, too?” He did not answer, forcing her to turn enough to see him. His expression was answer enough. “So he did not,” she hissed.
Once more Reina could not help feeling an unreasonable anger toward his father. Richard had been gifted with Warhurst when he was only eighteen, to do with as he would, but Ranulf had been given an even smaller property, and not told of it at all. And he still could not have it, not until he was twenty years and five. Not that he needed it now, but what kind of reasoning was that, to make him wait? He could have made use of it before, could have won a wife with it, started a family…and she would not have met him.Jesú, what was she getting angry about? Hugh’s reasoning, whatever it was, had worked toherbenefit, if not to Ranulf’s.
Still, Ranulf was to have had no more surprises here. She had been lax in letting the talk get away from her control. Hugh too noticed Ranulf’s adverse reaction and came closer, so close that Reina was near pressed between them. Not that they should notice her way down there. Sometimes a lack of height was a very real disadvantage, which she had never felt so keenly as just then.
“You hold it against me?” Hugh asked Ranulf carefully. “I was told that you might when I made the decision, but I had my reasons. I did not want you to be satisfied with your lot and strive no further to improve it. You were so like me, Ranulf. I wanted to see how you would fare on your own first.” And then he grinned, that pride Reina had earlier detected in him there for Ranulf to see now. “I would say you have done right nicely. Farring Cross has become insignificant.”
“Farring Cross!” Ranulf began with a gasp, but ended in a burst of laughter.
Hugh also laughed, and Reina could not for the life of her figure why until he added, “De Millers had the devil’s own time trying to keep you from learning he was only the steward there. ’Twas rather disconcerting for him that you were trying to purchase your own property. He thought surely you would kill him when he was forced to again raise his price to keep you from buying it, but I would not let him tell you the truth.”
Reina squeezed out from between them to shake her head at the irony. Richard did not understand what they found so funny, however.
“You tried to purchase this Farring Cross?” he asked his brother.
“Aye.”
“It must be richer than our father implied, then.”
“Not richer, just in excellent condition and suitable to my needs at the time,” Ranulf said placidly, but suddenly his demeanor changed, as did his voice, which turned mocking. “Unlike you, I did not desire an estate of the extent and magnitude of, let us say—Clydon?”
Reina noted Richard’s distinct unease at this insinuation. She wanted to applaud her husband, but first she would see what further reaction could be wrested from Richard.
“Oh, you poor man,” Reina said to Ranulf. “How unfortunate you should be encumbered with such an estate after all.”
“What estate?” Richard was quick to demand.
“You see, Lord Hugh,” Reina chided gently, “you should have introduced them as I suggested; then Richard would already know that his brother is Lord of Clydon.” And to Richard, whose face was swiftly crimsoning with fury: “We were wed less than a sennight ago.”
“But he is a bastard!” Richard exploded. “How could you marry a bastard?”
There it was, more clear than if he had come right out and admitted the truth. He had assumed she would not have him becausehewas a bastard, and so had decided to take her by force. But Ranulf’s fortunate arrival had ruined his plans. She wondered if Richard had thought to try again, mayhap today even, and that was really why he was here. Some pretext to get her to leave Clydon with him, and he would have had her. Too bad he had not thought of that first. Nay, not too bad—thank God.
“I do not see what the circumstances of Ranulf’s birth have to do with it,” Reina said calmly enough, though her eyes had become frigid. “Verily, did that matter, I would not have considered you for my husband first.”
“What?” he fairly shrieked.
“’Tis true, Richard. I sent you numerous letters, both to Warhurst and to Lyonsford. Had you come to Clydon as I requested, you might have agreed to my proposal, and I would be wed to you now instead of your brother. But I was pressed for time, you see, and needed a husband right quickly. I knew not where you were and could not wait indefinitely to hear from you. So when I met Ranulf last week and found that he would suit me as well, I put my proposal to him.”
