“What you do not seem to understand is that Catherine takes pride in her strength,” Eleanor said. “It is important to her that you value that in her as well.”
“Are you suggesting I let her ride alone—pregnant as she is—all over the countryside at her whim?”
His mother sighed deeply to let him know he was trying her patience. “What I am saying is that you mustn’t cosset her. If you do, she will find a way to defy you. Or worse, she will comply and become a different woman from the one you love. Either way, you will make her unhappy.”
William thought back to when he arrived to take the castle. Catherine was magnificent that day, bold as brass, coming out alone on the drawbridge to meet them.
“I admired her courage from the start,” he said.
“Then you must let her know that,” his mother said. “A woman enjoys having her looks and charm appreciated, but she wants to be loved for what is best in her, for what she values in herself.
“Go to her now,” she said, patting his knee. “She loves you, so it should not take much to set things aright.”
For the first time since he was a very small boy, William kissed his mother’s cheek. Long after he had gone, Eleanor gazed into the fire, her fingers stroking the place where her son’s lips had touched her.
William searched their rooms, but Catherine was nowhere to be found. With his mother’s warning that Catherine would defy him ringing in his ears, he looked about her bedchamber more carefully. There was no sign of hurried packing. No open chest with gowns hanging over the side, as when she had run off to the abbey. Praise God.
What a fool he was. She must be up in Jamie’s chamber. He turned to go, then turned back. Everything was in its place….
Her riding boots were missing.
He grabbed his cloak and ran down the stairs two at a time. As he raced across the bailey, his breath came out in white puffs in the cold night air. How long had it been since she left the hall? He prayed it was not time enough for her to escape.
As he slipped through the stable door, he saw the glow of a lamp in the far corner. He was not too late.
When he saw her hooded shadow, the memory of their first meeting at Monmouth swept over him. As he thought of the straightforward and determined girl he found in the stable that night, it struck him with sudden clarity that his mother was right.
He was a wiser man back then. Though he was young and she a stranger to him, he had understood her intuitively. That night, they managed to find a compromise between her determination to do what she felt she must and his equal resolve to keep her safe.
It gave him hope they could do so again.
Taking care not to make a sound, he crossed the stable. When he stood just behind her, he said, “I see you still have not learned to saddle a horse in the dark.”
She let out a short scream and whirled around to face him.
After a long moment, she cocked an eyebrow and said, “I suppose I should be grateful you did not knock me to the ground this time.”
“Just as I am grateful you do not have a blade aimed at my heart.” Tilting his head, he added, “Though I suspect you wish you did.”
“I pray you do not drive me to it.” Her tone made William hope she had left her blade behind.
Without another word, she turned to take her horse’s bridle from its hook.
He clasped his hand over hers. In a quiet voice, he said, “Let me do that for you.”
She looked at him sharply. But as she examined him, her expression softened. “You will go with me?”
“I shall go with you, or you shall not go,” he said. “Just as before.”
His heart felt tight in his chest when she responded with the first genuine smile she had bestowed on him in much too long.
The men at the gate were not able to cover their surprise when he ordered them to open it. Telling himself it was safe enough, he stifled the impulse to grab her reins and turn around. God’s beard, even rebels had more sense than to be out on a night as cold as this.
She led the way around the castle to the path by the river. He was relieved to see that, in deference to her pregnancy, she kept her horse at a walk. Despite the fact that she had him out riding at midnight on a December night, he must try to remember she was usually a sensible woman.
They dismounted and walked up the bank overlooking the dark river. The moon and stars were bright in the night sky. William wrapped his cloak around them both and held her close against him.
“Are you warm enough?” he asked.
