It hit him like a thunderbolt. Jesus and all the saints protect him. Linnet was with child.Hischild. A swell of joy and wonder rose up in his chest, almost lifting him from the ground.
“This changes everything,” he said, because it did. “You see that, don’t you?”
He never thought he would be a man who would keep his wife under lock and key, but he would do what he must to keep her safe until the child was born. Surely she would settle down once she had a babe in her arms?
“Aye, it changes all,” Linnet said, wringing her hands. “The difficulties are boundless.”
She took a step toward him. Her soft blue eyes were full of worry.
“A child should not be cause for despair, but of hope,” he said.
Her fine-boned shoulders relaxed a bit, and she graced him with a tentative smile that lanced open all his wounds.
“That is what the queen says,” she said. “But how did you guess the reason I came to you?”
“You told the queen about the child before telling me?” This hurt more than he could admit to himself.
She furrowed her brows and examined him. A moment later, her eyes flew open wide.
And they both knew the mistake he had made. It was not Linnet who was with child, but the queen.
Jamie rubbed his temples, trying to roll back all the thoughts and plans that had suddenly formed in his head.
“Could you be with child?” he asked, because he needed to know.
She bit her lip and shook her head. His chest tightened as he thought of the children he would never have with her. He looked away; he could almost hear that door close forever.
“Your future wife would not have been pleased with such a surprise,” she said in a tight voice.
His wife? God help him, he had forgotten all about Agnes. He never could think of another woman when Linnet was near.
“A man takes care of his children,” he said, his anger with himself making his voice hard. “Lady Agnes would accept that. As an obedient wife, she would respect my judgment.”
“Hmm.” The sound she made conveyed disagreement, which he chose to ignore.
“You were right to come to me,” he said, trying desperately to focus on the problem she had brought to him. “ ’Tis no simple matter to find a place where Queen Katherine can have the child without anyone discovering her secret.”
“Hertford is among the properties the Council granted the queen for her own use,” Linnet said. “She says it is out of the way and too small to accommodate many visitors. She could be left alone there.”
He nodded. “That might do. An even more difficult task will be finding someone trustworthy to raise the child.”
“The queen will not give up this child,” Linnet said. “She and Owen intend to marry.”
“God’s beard!” Jamie ran his hands through his hair. “That Owen has bollocks, I’ll say that for him. I pray we don’t see him drawn and quartered before the babe is christened.”
“ ’Tis the queen who surprises me,” Linnet said in a soft voice. “She believes that if she has children with someone as lowly as Owen, she will be allowed to keep them.”
“ ’Tis an awful risk for her to marry without the Council’s permission,” he said. “But now that there is to be a child, one can hardly blame them.”
“Her confessor has agreed to marry them in secret at Hertford. She wants you to be a witness to their marriage.” Linnet dropped her gaze to the dirt floor. “It is dangerous, but one day they may need someone to attest to it whose word will be trusted.”
Dangerous, indeed. He could be accused of treason.
“I have business in Northumberland that cannot be delayed,” he said. “But I will come directly to Hertford as soon as it is concluded. It should take me no more than a week.”
She startled him by touching his arm. It was just a light touch, but it sent a rush of hot lust through him.
“Pray, do not wed Agnes Stafford,” she said, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “There is no lack of women who could love you. Yet, you seem bent on marrying the one who cannot.”
