Just like the deformed man, any one of them might be Eduard’s spy.
Or all of them.
Her fists clenched and her breath rasped painfully. Nay, ’twas too dangerous to speak out. Her own destruction she could bear, but not her children’s. She’d not risk their lives more than she already had by committing another selfish act. She’d do what needed to be done in the right way, at the right time, when there might still be hope of Gray’s help and protection from Eduard.
Silently, she watched her husband spur his heels into his steed’s side and wheel toward the castle. Saw him lead his men away from her in a thundering cloud of dust. He didn’t look back.
Wrapping her arms around her middle, Catherine walked across the Village Square and back to the servants who held her horse for her. With a few words of explanation, she mounted and allowed them to escort her back to the castle by the same trail Gray had taken moments earlier.
Her heart felt heavy, and her head ached. She didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to think any more. Only one thing stood out clear and apart from the confusion and the pain: now more than ever she knew that she needed to tell Gray the truth, but it had to be far away from here. Somewhere secluded, where she could confess without fear of anyone listening and reporting back to Eduard.
She made a clicking sound, urging her mount faster on the trail to the castle. How long did it take to complete a grand assize? A week? Two? A month? Sweet Mother Mary, but she hoped that Gray meant it when he said he’d be back soon. He had to be. Because it appeared that she was going to have to wait until then to unburden herself of all the lies that had grown these past weeks, flourishing into vines that had risen up to strangle her.
So she’d wait.
And pray.
Gray wheeled his stallion to a halt several hours later, calling for his men to make camp. ’Twas not quite dark, but they’d made good time from Ravenslock. It wouldn’t hurt to allow them some extra rest tonight.
While the five knights who’d accompanied him on this mission moved off to gather wood and secure shelter, Alban dismounted with Gray and helped him lead the horses to drink from a nearby stream.
“All right, my friend,” Alban said. “What’s the plan? I know you wouldn’t have interrupted my training of the squires to join you in this unless you had a damn good reason.”
“You’re right. ’Tis of the utmost importance.”
“Something to do with your assignment from the king?”
“Nay. ’Tis a matter of the heart,” Gray answered, cupping some water from the stream. “Myheart.”
Alban scowled at him. “Christ, man, I knew you never wanted to marry, but I can’t believe that you’d allow yourself to get involved with another—”
“My wife is the woman in question.”
A long moment of silence passed before Alban finally broke into a grin. He slapped Gray on the back. “Well, why didn’t you say so? I’d hoped it would all work out. She’s a fine woman and a good match.” His voice faded when he caught Gray’s expression. “There’s more to it, I gather.”
Gray nodded and clenched his jaw, stroking his mount’s nose as the stallion raised his head from the water. “I think Elise is hiding something from me. Something important. It lies like a shadow between us.”
“I’ll be the first to admit your ability to sniff out secrets,” Alban murmured, and Gray knew that his friend was remembering how he’d saved him from his nearly fatal imprisonment so many years ago. “What makes you think your lady is keeping one?”
“Just a feeling, mostly. But I have reason as well. Elise…well, she wasn’t untouched when we consummated our union.” Looking off to the side, he mumbled, “Which was this afternoon.”
“Today?”Alban asked, incredulous. “You waited until today to bed her? Why in hell did you put it off for so long?”
“’Tis involved,” Gray said wryly. “Suffice it to say that my wife was not virgin when I joined with her.”
“You think she’s taken a lover, then?”
“Nay—hell, I don’t know. Not since we’ve wed, at least. I’m not sure about before. But I get the feeling that there may be more to all of this than that.”
“It sounds serious,” Alban said, shaking his head as he loosened the bridle on one of the horses. “What do you plan to do about it?”
Gray reached into his saddlebag and retrieved a purse full of coin. “I want to gather some information about Elise. About her life before we married. Only I suspect ’twill be a few days until I’m able to leave Cheltenham and devote my full attention to it.”
He tossed the purse to Alban. “And that’s where you come in, friend. If you’re willing to help me, then take this. On the morrow when the rest of us continue on to the assize, veer off toward Somerset and start nosing around for me. I’ll meet you there in a few days to see what you’ve found, and to add my own efforts to the task.”
Alban whistled, weighing the purse in his palm. “God’s bones—there’s a small fortune in here.”
“Aye. And we may end up spending every last farthing of it to get to the truth. I want to know all that I can about Elise and her past. But we must work quickly. I need to return to Ravenslock by week’s end.”
