Liora smiled faintly at him, reaching down to pull her bodice up to a modest level, noting the tear was only in the seam at her shoulder. “You did not take any liberties that I did not allow you to take,” she whispered. “In case you’ve not yet realized it, I rather lost myself, too.”
He smiled timidly. “Truly?”
“Truly.”
“Then… then you are feeling the same thing I am?”
“What are you feeling?”
His gaze glittered at her in the darkness. “Things that men speak of but seldom experience,” he said. “Attraction and passion towards a woman that blinds him to all else. A pull towards her that is difficult to describe, knowing you’d do anything in the world for her and do it gladly. Hoping for a glimpse of her smile, the sound of her voice, and realizing that it is food for your soul. Those things.”
She reached up, gently stroking his face. “Then it is the same thing,” she said. “It is remarkable that we should have such feelings after having known each other a short time.”
“That tells me this is far more than an infatuation, Liora,” he murmured. “Sometimes, two people are just meant to be together. There’s no logic or reason to it, but it happens. It is meant to happen. What we feel… it is real.”
She pulled his mouth down to hers, kissing him tenderly. “It is very real,” she whispered. “But we cannot ignore the truth of our situation. Tell me what the rabbi said.”
It was a statement that dampened the mood, but it was the entire reason he’d come. He sat up, pulling her up alongside him. He could see hay sticking out of her hair in the dim light and he began picking it out.
“I spoke to Rabbi Judah,” he said, plucking hay from the top of her head. “I rather like him. He was quite surprising.”
Liora smiled at him as she shook out her hair. “I knew him when he was much younger,” she said. “We have grown up together, Judah and I. His father is a rabbi, too.”
“Like father, like son.”
“Exactly,” she said, picking chaff from the bodice of her dress now. “What did he tell you?”
Peter took the last visible piece of hay from her hair. “I am sure it is no great shock,” he said. “The gist of the situation is that my church will not recognize a marriage if you do not convert and your church will not recognize a marriage if I do not convert. We must be all Christian or all Jewish for our marriage to be valid. For us to have any chance of survival.”
She finished brushing herself off and looked at him. “Nay, it is no great shock to hear that,” she said. “I suppose I knew that from the start.”
He put his arms on his bent-up knees, brushing at his boots. “So I sit here with you, speaking on marriage and brushing at my boots simply for something to do with my hands,” he said. “All I want to do right now is pull you back into my arms. I feel strangely alone right now even though you are sitting right next to me.”
Liora looked at him in the weak light, reaching up to brush some hay from his right shoulder. “That is a sudden change in subject.”
“Nay, it is not. When speaking of you as the subject, it is never strange where my mind is.”
She smiled at him, reaching out to take one of his big, scarred hands. She held it tightly. “We have only known each other for a few days,” she reminded him softly. “If any of my friends had told me that they were mad about a man after only knowing him for a few days, I would tell her that she was daft and lock her up for her own protection. But here I am, sitting with you, speaking of marriage after only a few days. In truth, in our culture, betrothals are often made between people who do not know one another. They will meet only two or three times at most before their families are celebrating a betrothal.”
“That can happen in my religion, as well,” he said. “Marriages are not made with love in mind, but money or property, or both. I’ve known men to wed women they’ve never even met once.”
“It does happen,” she agreed. “So, you see, it is not really strange at all that we are speaking of this so quickly. At least, not in my experience.”
His gaze grew intense. “You do want to marry me, don’t you?” he said softly. “I am not pressing my suit when you are uncertain, am I?”
She shook her head. “I knew the moment I first spoke to you that you were someone special,” she said. “Tonight, my father gave Gideon permission to marry me and all I could think of was you.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “What does that mean for us then?”
“I will not marry Gideon.”
“Will you marry me?”
She squeezed his hand. “I very much want to,” she whispered. “Peter, I know nothing of your life. I do not know your family, your friends, the way you conduct yourself, but I have seen you with Asa and how gentle and kind you are with him. Even though I know little else about you, the way you behave with my brother tells me everything I need to know. You are a man of patience, of a good family, of good character. You look at me and my world is happy and bright. I want the chance to know you better, to see what a fine man you are, but we have a definite problem.”
He lifted her hand, kissing it sweetly. “We do,” he said. “More than you know. I spoke with my father today about you and told him what Rabbi Judah said.”
She moved a little closer to him. “Then you told him?”
Peter nodded. “My father and I are close,” he said. “There isn’t anything I do not talk over with him, including this.”
“And what did he say?”
Peter pulled her closer, into the curve of his torso. He simply couldn’t keep his arms away from her. “He feels I am being impulsive and reckless,” he said. “Even if you were not a Jewish lass, he would still think the same thing. But because our religions do not mingle, he is quite… skeptical.”
“What does that mean?”
Peter sighed faintly, his chin on the top of her head. “You must understand that my father has no issue with Jews,” he said. “He spent years in The Levant and his relationship with the Jews was an amicable one, so do not think he takes issue with your religion.”
“Then what?”
“He is honest and practical,” he said. “He asked me who had the most to lose in a situation like this – me or you. If I convert to Judaism to marry you, then I lose everything. I lose my title, my knighthood, any position of power I might have. He wants me to understand that it would cost me dearly.”
She sat up and looked at him. “How could you even consider such a thing?”
He frowned. “Look at the reward, Liora,” he said, cupping her cheek. “You. You would be the reward. That is how I can consider it.”
She gazed at him in the darkness. “You would consider giving up everything for a woman you do not know?”
“I am coming to know her and I like her.”
Slowly, she shook her head. “Then nothing Rabbi Judah said discouraged you?”
“Does it discourage you?”
Liora wasn’t sure how to answer. So very much was at stake. She pulled away from him and stood up.
“Your father is right,” she said. “If you think to convert, it will cost you everything. And there is no guarantee my father will even allow us to marry, although he always does what I want him to do. If I want to marry you, it would be with misgivings that he would let me because you are not a born Jew. You would be a convert. My father is trying to marry me to Gideon because he comes from a very old, very prestigious family. That means something to my father, as I am sure a fine wife from a good family would mean something to yours.”
Peter stood up because she was, brushing the hay off his breeches. “That is what every parent hopes for his child,” he said. “And since you bring it up, there is something else you should know. I am my father’s bastard, the result between him and the daughter of an earl. He never married her and when she died, I came to live with him and his wife. I will not inherit the earldom, which I suppose gives me a little more freedom to marry whom I choose.”
>
Liora didn’t seem particularly concerned with the fact that his parents had not been married. “Mayhap it does, but you still do not want to give up everything when you marry,” she said. “I remember when we walked in the meadow and you told me that your father had given you command of Ludlow Castle. You said it would make you a very wealthy man. You were proud to tell me, Peter, I know you were. I could see it in your face.”
He averted his gaze, pretending to brush at nonexistent hay on his thigh. “Of course I was proud,” he said. “It is one of the largest castles on the Marches, much coveted.”
He was looking at his feet and she went to him, putting her hand on his chin and forcing him to look at her. “And you were given that appointment from your father because you are an elite knight,” she said softly. “You have worked very hard for what you have and it would be a waste of all of those years to throw it all away for a marriage. Do you think that would make me happy knowing that you gave it all up for me? Peter, your intention is as sweet and endearing as you can imagine and I am deeply touched, but I cannot and will not let you do it. Giving up your knighthood is out of the question.”
He was hypnotized by those pale eyes, that gorgeous face with those ripe lips he’d so recently kissed. “But I want to marry you,” he whispered seriously. “I would never ask you to give up your life for me. That would be selfish and wrong to expect you to do it.”
She smiled, pressed against him, and his arms went around her yet again. Liora’s hands were on his face, looking into those strong, handsome features.
“And that tells me even more about your character that you would not make such demands,” she said. “Rather than see me give up everything I know, you are willing to do it instead. That speaks of your honor, Peter. You are very honorable.”
“Maybe so, but if I do not give up my world, we cannot be married.”
“We can if I give up mine.”
He studied her to see if she was serious. After a moment, he sighed faintly. “My father said that if you did that, I would be thrusting you into a world you knew nothing about and eventually, you would grow to resent me,” he said. “I could not live with that, Liora. Your happiness would mean everything to me.”
She nodded. “I know,” she said. “I already know you would make it your life’s work to ensure my happiness, but I am telling you that out of the two of us, it makes the most sense that I should become a Christian. I know you will teach me all I need to know so that I would make a fine wife for Lord Pembridge.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “Is that what you would want?” he asked. “Truly, Liora – think hard on it. Is that what you would honestly want? What about your heritage and your culture? Do you truly think you could leave that all behind?”
“Would I really have to?”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “I mean that we all worship one God, Peter,” she said. “If I worship God as a Jew or as a Christian, I am still worshipping God, am I not?”
“I don’t understand.”
She patted him on the cheek. “I can still become a Christian and worship at your side,” she said. “But in the privacy of our home, would you allow me to observe the Jewish rights? Would you still allow me to say my prayers in Hebrew because it would please my ancestors? Our children would be raised as Christians, but I would still like to teach them where their mother came from.”
Peter studied her face as she spoke, trying to determine if she was serious or if she was just telling him what he wanted to hear in an impulsive move. But he couldn’t imagine there was any other motive than pure honesty, as she had never given him any reason to think otherwise. And her suggestion wasn’t a terrible one. In fact, it gave him hope.
Great hope that this might work out, after all.
“I would permit you to do what you wished,” he said. “If it makes you happy, you have my permission.”
She grinned at him, her eyes twinkling, when they both heard a door creak and then slam on its hinges. Liora jumped away from him, moving over to the other side of the stable, when a figure abruptly appeared in the stable entry.
Peter and Liora found themselves looking at Haim.
And someone else.
Christopher was standing behind him.
“Papa?” Peter said in disbelief when he realized his father had made an appearance. “How on earth did you find me?”
Christopher came to stand next to Haim. “It was not difficult,” he said. “You left your horse tied out in the open. I could see him as I came up Milk Street.”
Peter came towards his father, eyeing the man in the moonlight. “You followed me?”
“I followed you.”
Peter sighed sharply, realizing his father knew of his intentions back at Lonsdale. He’d already escaped once to see Liora and Christopher, rightly so, had guessed that he would try and see her again before departing for Ludlow in the morning. Peter’s gaze moved to Haim, who was looking at him somewhat curiously. He shrugged helplessly.
“This is not how I hoped to be introduced to you, my lord,” he said, eyeing her father. “I assume my father told you everything?”
Haim shook his head. “He told me nothing except that you were somewhere on my property,” he said. “But, clearly, you should tell me everything. I find you alone with my daughter in the stable?”
“It was my idea, Father,” Liora said, coming out of the shadows and looking at Christopher. She bobbed a brief curtsy. “My lord, I am Liora, daughter of Haim. This is not how I hoped to be introduced to you, either.”
Christopher’s gaze moved over the petite, raven-haired beauty who had his son behaving so irrationally. Within the first few seconds of seeing her, he could understand why Peter was so enamored with her. She was positively exquisite.
“Demoiselle,” he greeted her. “It seems there are some odd introductions all around, but I am pleased to finally meet you. Peter has spoken highly of you.”
She smiled weakly. “Thank you,” she said. Then, she looked to her father. “Papa, I am sorry I became angry with you tonight. I did not mean to be rude, but… but there is a good deal on my mind.”
Haim’s gaze moved to Peter. “I can see that,” he said. “Would you like to tell me what is happening, young de Lohr? Why do I find you here with my daughter?”
Peter cleared his throat softly, glancing at his father, seeing the man’s expression. Usually, his father was stone-faced, but in this case, he wasn’t. He looked uncertain yet encouraging. It was an odd combination and one that didn’t give Peter a lot of confidence, but he cleared his throat softly yet again and proceeded.
“My lord, you know me as Christopher de Lohr’s son,” he said, improperly addressing Haim but wanting to show respect the way he knew how. “My father stands for truth and honor and I hope to stand for the same. I will therefore be completely honest with you because today when we met, I was not honest at all. I told you that I had come to purchase a gift for my father when, in truth, I had come to see your daughter. I had met her the day before when she so kindly provided me with a hiding place until the danger passed. It was quite by accident, of course, but she was very kind to me.”
Haim, fortunately, wasn’t the irate type. That was simply his temperament. He nodded to Peter’s confession.
“Eh,” he said as if it were nothing to be worried over. “I am glad my daughter was of service to you. The Talmud dictates that we always be kind to strangers.”
Peter had expected much more of a reaction. Haim’s lack of outrage to his admission bolstered his courage.
“I have spoken to your daughter several times since we first met,” he said. “She is kind and empathetic, witty and wise, and she is unlike any woman I have ever met before. Please do not think I was sneaking around behind your back and trying to seduce your daughter, because I was not. I have simply found a woman that consumes all of my attention and I have never felt that way before, not ever. There is something so fresh and honest ab
out her, and in the world my father and I live in, finding a woman like that is rare. Liora a very rare jewel.”
Haim smiled pleasantly. “She is,” he said. “I see that you are trying to explain something to me, but let me explain something to you first. When my daughter started asking questions about your father yesterday, I thought it strange, but now I know why. She asked if knights always marry Christian women and I told her they did, but she wanted to know if I knew any who had married outside of their faith.”
Peter looked at Liora, who shrugged apologetically. Now he wasn’t so confident because he suspected Haim knew exactly where he was heading.
“I went to speak to Rabbi Judah today,” Peter said. “I asked him about interfaith marriages. He told me what I already suspected – that the Jewish faith only recognizes Jewish marriages, and the Catholic Church only recognizes Christian marriages. There is no such thing as a Christian husband and a Jewish wife. I asked him this because I wish to marry your daughter, my lord, but I wanted all of the information I could gather before approaching you. I did not want to appear ignorant and I wanted to be respectful of your faith.”
Haim simply nodded as if he’d known this was coming all along, which of course, he did. He looked to Christopher.
“You knew of this, my lord?” he asked.
Christopher nodded, though he was apologetic in manner. “I did,” he said. “My son and I have had a couple of serious conversations about it. He understands that in order for a marriage to take place, one of them will have to convert to the other’s religion. Either Peter becomes Jewish or Liora becomes a Christian.”
“Do you believe he is sincere?”
Christopher looked to his son, looking back at him with such naked emotion in his eyes that Christopher could feel the physical impact. He knew what it was to want something so badly yet be so fearful that it would never come to fruition. In fact, as he looked at Peter, he remembered Peter’s mother, Amanda, looking at him in the very same fashion. Peter had her eyes, so looking at Peter was a stark reminder of Amanda from those years ago. Sweet, docile Amanda who would never get what she wanted – marriage to Christopher.
The Splendid Hour: The Executioner Knights Book 7 Page 20