The wine tart to her tongue, she did as he bade her until he appeared satisfied and lifted the goblet to drink what remained himself.
“Do you need calming, too?” Julianna hadn’t meant her query to tease him, but his somber expression relaxed for a moment as he smiled wryly and gave a low laugh…only to grow serious again.
“Aye, you gave me a scare, but I’ve no one tae blame but myself. Forgive me, Juli.”
He had said her name so tenderly, which undeniably warmed her as much as the wine, but still she stared up at him in confusion.
“Forgive?”
He nodded and sighed heavily. “I should have given you more time tae decide if you wished tae marry me—och, but the thing is done. I only wanted tae protect you. There seemed no other course…”
Another flood of warmth surged through Julianna, his remorse touching her more deeply than she could have imagined.
For so formidable a man to speak with such sincerity made her feel foolish for the crushing apprehension that had overwhelmed her in the chapel, Julianna remembering now the stricken look on Roger’s face.
She remembered, too, the priest waiting for her answer to the sacred vows…and how she had thought in desperation of fleeing until Roger stroking her fingers so gently had caused her to murmur her consent.
Her breath caught, her heart racing, the witnesses’ faces begun to spin around her—
“Enough, lass, we dinna have tae speak of it now,” Roger said to soothe her, clearly sensing she was reliving her panic.
Dear God, what must the king have thought to see her faint dead away? The other witnesses? Julianna struggled again to sit up, wanting desperately to explain to Roger what had come over her…
“I-I’m so sorry, too. I never meant to alarm you—but everything happened so fast. Your offer to marry me and everyone staring at us in the great hall a-and those women taking me away to bathe and dress me. They were kind enough but I heard them whispering that I was English and you were Scots, we would never be happy—”
“Idle chatter, nothing more,” Roger broke in, propping the pillow behind her so she could sit more comfortably. “Ease yourself, please—”
“But what if it’s true?” Her face flushing with agitation, Julianna couldn’t seem to stop herself. “What of your family? What will they think of me? There’s been so much hatred between our countries, so much death and sorrow. My parents, my brother…”
Dropping her head back against the pillow, she closed her eyes as haunting memories of that night assailed her—only to open them to find Roger staring at her with an expression she could not read. He looked strangely troubled and yet the strong line of his jaw had tightened.
“You’re Lady Douglas now, there’s no going back from it,” he said in a voice not half so gentle anymore, his eyes pitch-dark in the dancing light from the fireplace. “We are wed before God and man and we’ll face together whatever comes. Now, did those gossipy women think tae feed you? Mayhap hunger is more at the heart of your distress than anything else—och, did you hear that din?”
Julianna gasped at the loud rumbling from her stomach, the mere mention of food making her glance at the tray on the table. She was certain that when she’d awakened she had caught a whiff of fresh-baked bread…or had she only imagined it?
Another low laugh from Roger made her laugh softly, too, something she had done so rarely since finding him in the forest. It felt good to feel a lighter mood between them, she couldn’t deny it, her cheeks growing warm again at how he stared at her as if startled to see her smiling.
He seemed reluctant suddenly to leave her side, but still he went to the tray and flung aside the white cloth, Julianna staring herself now at his strapping height and powerful breadth of shoulder that seemed to dwarf their room.
“Hmm, roasted chicken and turnips flecked with rosemary—”
“Rosemary?” she echoed, unable not to tease him. “You know herbs?”
He didn’t respond, but filled a plate and brought it to her to place it with a small flourish in her lap, his gaze holding a glimmer of teasing, too.
“I know something about a lot of things, my lady…but now you must eat and silence your grumbling stomach. I’ll bring you more wine.”
Julianna had already eaten half a chicken leg by the time he returned with his own heaping plate and a brimming goblet, which made her glance up at him sheepishly.
He merely shrugged and handed her the goblet, and she took a long drink, though mayhap it would have been better if it was water and not wine for how warm it made her feel.
He took the goblet from her to set upon the floor and then pulled up a chair to sit beside the bed, Roger appearing as hungry as she as they ate in companionable silence.
It reminded her of when they had stood near their horse and eaten the oakcakes she had picked up from the ground and brushed off with her fingers right before…
“What is it, Juli?”
Her hand had stilled with a buttered chunk of bread halfway to her mouth, her appetite suddenly fled though in truth, she’d already had her fill.
