by Sara Bennett
Lily found solace in borrowing needle and thread from Una and mending any item of clothing which required her attention. The mundane task allowed her to concentrate her thoughts. She had decided upon a plan for following Radulf, but it would require good luck and cunning in equal measure.
There was one thing of which she was certain: Radulf would never expect her to spy on him. Norman wives did not question their husbands, and as far as Radulf was concerned, the rebellious she-devil was now a Norman wife.
We are wed now. We must make the best of it.
Must they? Perhaps a Norman wife would sit back while her husband made love to another woman, but Lily was half Viking and half English, proud and determined. Following him was the sensible thing to do. In her precarious position, she could not afford to sit by and lose the only thing that bound Radulf to her; she could not afford to give that up to another woman. If she saw for herself, heard for herself, perhaps she could find a way to win him back to her side.
So Lily had spoken privately to Una soon after their return to the inn.
Una had been surprised at the request made of her and gave Lily a suspicious look.
“You say you want me to deliver a message to this Alice of Rennoc, lady? Why don’t you ask your lord’s men to deliver it? I do not have a horse to carry me or Lord Radulf’s colors to see me past any obstacles.”
Lily could not rely upon Radulf to see the urgency of the matter, and she did not want to stir his curiosity. “Please, Una, I will reward you well. All you have to do is go to Alice of Rennoc’s uncle’s house, and tell her that Lily wishes her to visit. Only it must seem as if it is her own idea, and she is to bring a horse and a manservant who knows the city well. Can you remember all that? Please, Una. You have been a friend to me during my difficult times; do this last thing.”
Una shifted uneasily, but in truth she would have done whatever Lily asked of her. Since Radulf and his lady had come to her father’s inn she had experienced life among the great ones, and her new knowledge was heady indeed. But she had also developed a true loyalty and affection for Lily.
“I’ll deliver the message as you say, my lady.”
Lily had sighed in relief. “That is good, Una. Thank you with all my heart.”
God willing, her plan could now go ahead. It was simple enough: she would go to the meeting place and wait there. The difficult bit would be getting to the meeting place, and to pass unseen through the streets of York, she must assume another person’s identity. If she was Lady Wilfreda, Jervois would not allow her out of the inn. She could play the part of Una, but she did not fancy traipsing on foot in the dark to a place she did not know. Besides, Una’s lowly position made her vulnerable to Radulf’s anger and possible punishment.
Alice of Rennoc would be better.
After Una had gone to do her bidding, Lily took a deep breath and tried to relax. Her fingers moved busily with her sewing; her head was bowed. To any watchers she must appear totally unthreatening. It would never do for Radulf to grow suspicious, and he seemed able to read her so well. She took another deep breath. It was as if his dark gaze could pierce her very soul…
“My lady, that is the fifth time you have sighed. Your thoughts must be heavy indeed.”
Lily looked up, startled. Jervois gave her a questioning smile, and Lily hastily smiled in return. “If I really have sighed that many times, then it must indeed seem so. But I was only thinking of…of things past. There is sadness enough in such thoughts to make me sigh.”
He nodded. Although he was clearly Radulf’s man, Lily had always found Jervois approachable and sympathetic.
“Surely you have little to sigh over at present, lady. Lord Radulf has made that rogue Jacob a rich man with his attention to your attire.”
Lily laughed in pure feminine delight. “I will be the envy of all other women!”
Jervois’s eyes lit in appreciation. “And Lord Radulf will be the envy of all men.”
Immediately her animation vanished, and the cool gray eyes surveyed him consideringly. “You are kind, Jervois, yet I do not believe I am quite what Radulf sought in a wife. Remember, he was ordered to marry me. There must be many women far prettier and far richer than I who would have climbed atop each other to become Radulf’s wife.”
Anna, for one. And tonight he goes to meet her. And I will be there to see the truth. Aye, and I will sigh then…
Jervois looked evasive. He lowered his voice. “I think you wrong Radulf, lady, and undervalue yourself. King’s order or no, Radulf would not have wed you if he did not want to. Radulf rarely does anything he does not want to do.”
But Lily did not hear him.
She was looking past Jervois toward the door of the inn and the silhouette of the person who had just entered—Alice’s small, curvy form. Jervois turned to see what she was looking at. For a moment he gazed wonderingly at those small but voluptuous curves. He had not forgotten Alice of Rennoc, and he straightened with a new alertness as the girl approached. Her hair was like summer wheat and her eyes as blue as the sky, a knowing twinkle in their depths.
Lily rose quickly to her feet and, with a happy smile of greeting, hurried to meet her friend. Jervois followed her slowly, almost against his will.
“I hope you have a good reason for luring me into the ogre’s den,” Alice murmured into her ear as she hugged Lily. In return Lily gave her a reassuring squeeze. Alice’s gaze lifted beyond Lily, and her expression stilled.
Lily, surprised by the look on her face, turned to see Jervois bow his fair head. “This is Jervois, Alice, my lord’s captain. Jervois, this is Alice of Rennoc.”
Jervois’s green eyes flared with rare humor. “We have met,” he murmured, but his voice was strange.
“Yes.” Color was further heightening Alice’s already bright cheeks. She smoothed the skirts of the green gown she wore, and fiddled with the knot of her girdle, while Jervois fixed her with his serious stare and looked more than a little seasick.
Startled, Lily wondered if this was how she appeared when she was with Radulf. Jesu, she hoped not!
“Lady?” The familiar husky growl cleared all question of Jervois and Alice from Lily’s mind. Taking Alice’s warm hand in her own, she made her way unhurriedly toward the fireplace, where Radulf sat polishing the long, lethal blade of his sword.
He watched her come, his black eyes dancing with the flames. His face was impassive as Alice made her curtsy and stammered some excuse about passing and thinking Lily might be home.
“Do you often go about York on your own, lady?” he asked her mildly.
“I have one of my uncle’s servants with me, my lord. He is outside tending my horse.”
Radulf nodded and glanced to Lily, but as usual her eyes were cool and unreadable. He shrugged and turned back to his sword, his long fingers slow and thorough as he oiled the finely wrought steel.
“Come Alice,” Lily said in a light voice. “We will go to my chamber, where we can speak in private. I am sure Lord Radulf and his men do not want to hear the frivolous chatter of women.”
Radulf snorted a laugh, but Lily had already turned away, Alice close behind her. Lily shut the door to the bedchamber behind them and immediately felt better. As well as reducing the noise from so many men, it weakened the constant tension of Radulf’s penetrating gaze.
She took a deep, calming breath.
“I hope you mean to tell me what this is all about,” Alice said, plopping down onto the straw-filled mattress. “My uncle is from home or I would not have been able to come. Your servant was very mysterious, Lily.”
Lily sat by Alice’s side. The girl’s color was still high, and now her blue eyes shone with curiosity.
“I am going to ask something of you,” Lily began. “I will be honest. It may be dangerous and you may feel the might of Radulf’s anger, and believe me, he can be very angry indeed. But mostly, if I am discovered, he will be angry with me. In fact he will probably forget about you altogether, Alice.”
“I want to take your place when you leave the inn. I will become Alice of Rennoc and you will stay here in my bedchamber and pretend you are me. I’ve thought about it, and if you pretend to be unwell, then no one will interfere with you.”
“Oh, Lily, do you mean to escape?” Alice cried out in dismay.
Startled, Lily pressed her fingers to her friend’s lips and looked nervously to the door. In truth, escape had not entered her head. All she had thought of was Radulf and Lady Anna. Now that Alice had brought the subject up, she dismissed it. Where would she go? Who would hide her? And if she did run, what would become of her people?
Besides, how could she leave Radulf when all she wanted to do was stay?
“No, I don’t mean to escape,” Lily said, when it was clear no one had heard Alice’s voice in the other room. “I need to follow Lord Radulf, and it has nothing to do with politics, Alice. It is a personal matter. He is going to meet someone and I wish to follow him and…and watch him.”
Alice twitched her skirts. “I see,” she said, and from the tone of her voice Lily sensed that she did. After a moment Alice covered her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.
“Radulf is a great lord, Lily. Great lords do not have to cleave to one woman. Even I know that, and I am still a maid. There is no place for jealousy in the lives of such as Radulf.”
Lily’s back stiffened. “I am not jealous,” she retorted sharply. “I merely want to see the woman for myself, and read their feelings for each other by their actions. A wife needs to know these things if she is to survive in marriage, particularly if she is an English woman married to a Norman lord.”
Alice’s eyes softened with sympathy. “What you say is all very sensible, Lily, but when I met Lord Radulf at the castle he seemed more than fond of you. Why should he want another woman?”
Lily stared and then gave a high laugh. “Ah no, Alice, you are wrong. Radulf is a passionate and earthy man, and what you saw between us was but his lust. But you are a maid still and I will say no more.”
Alice flushed and shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe I am ignorant, but it seemed he had an affection for you.”
Lily dismissed her friend’s comment as innocence and maybe wishful thinking. She rose to her feet and began to pace up and down the narrow room. Her heart was thudding anxiously inside her and she could no longer keep still. “I do not say these things lightly or to upset you, Alice. Please, will you help me?”
Alice hesitated and then gave an impish smile. “Yes, I will. But if Radulf finds out, have no doubt that I will lay the blame squarely on your head, Lily. Despite what you believe to be my ‘ignorance,’ I feel sure he will restrain himself with you, whereas he may well turn me over his knee!”
Lily laughed softly and reached out to take Alice’s hand. “Thank you. I am in your debt. If there is ever anything I can do for you…”
Alice’s smile wavered. “You can tell me why it is that all the men I like are unsuitable.”
Lily frowned. “Do you mean Jervois, Alice?”
The girl flicked her a glance and then sighed. “He is rather nice, is he not?”
“He has always been so to me. He is the son of a mercenary, I believe; Radulf relies on him a great deal.”
Alice’s eyes brightened. “Well, Radulf is rich, so there is a start! I have to marry a rich man, Lily. My father and uncle would never agree to anything less, but all the wealthy men I have met, I do not like.”
Lily clasped her friend’s hand. There was little she could say in comfort. In all probability Alice would marry a man she merely tolerated, at best. Being practical, Alice would make the best of it. Perhaps that was better than the risk of being wed to a man you loved and who did not love you. At least then you would be spared the heartache.
Love—now there was a dangerous word. Lily shivered as if she was cold.
Radulf stared into the flames, a mug of ale in his hands. Soon he would leave for his assignation at St. Mary’s Chapel—to meet the Lady Anna, that lovely viper. That very persuasive viper.
He wondered suddenly if Lord Kenton knew of the meeting, then dismissed the thought. Kenton might be jealous but he was a fool—he must be, to have wed Anna. Or perhaps he was in love with her as Radulf had once been. That blind, heedless love that concealed the beloved’s faults behind a screen of sickly-sweet perfection.
Radulf blinked down at the ale mug and saw that his fingers were clamped so hard about it that his knuckles were white and the soft metal had dented. Carefully, methodically, he straightened his fingers one by one. This was not a good sign. If his very thoughts could arouse such anger, would he be able to keep his temper when he met her face to face?
He would keep his temper, because he had to. He would meet her and tell her that it was over. Tell her in a way that even someone as self-obsessed as she would understand and accept. For much of his adult life he had carried this guilt and pain within him, and half of it was rightly Anna’s. He was tired of the burden.
Perhaps it was finally time to take it out, look at it, and then put it away forever.
Radulf transferred his fingers to his eyes, pressing at the ache behind them. His head throbbed and he did not want to go out in the chill night. He would much prefer to spend the evening in Lily’s bedchamber. Her body welcomed him even if she did not, but one day, he vowed, he would slide under the shield of her cool gray gaze, and make her his captive.
He was already her captive, or near enough, though she didn’t know it. He wanted her more now than he had in the beginning. God help him if she ever found out. The great Radulf, her slave! How she would despise him…
“My lord?” It was Jervois, his voice a respectful murmur. “The time approaches.”
Radulf looked up. Jervois was in his confidence. His captain knew him as well as Lord Henry, maybe better, for they had spent more time together. They had fought together, seen each other’s weaknesses and strengths. He had trusted Jervois with his life on more than one occasion.
“Where is my wife?”
Jervois showed no surprise at the sharpness of the question. “She is in her chamber with the servant girl. Do you wish me to bring her to you?”
“And the other…Alice. Where is she?”
“She has gone, my lord. She left with her servant a while ago.”
Jervois had seen only Alice’s back as she slipped through the door. Her veil had been wrapped modestly about her head and throat, her head had been bowed. He had called out a farewell to her, and then shaken his head impatiently when she didn’t answer.
Had her heart, too, beat a little faster when their eyes met?
But what was the point in such thoughts? He was a mercenary, to be bought and paid for. Alice of Rennoc would not consider such a man seriously. Women had always seemed like another country entirely to Jervois, and one he was far from certain he wished to explore. Now he had seen one that he liked, but she was not for him.
“I would I did not have to leave,” Radulf began in a low, weary voice, “but I have no choice but to see an end to this matter once and for all. You will remain here to guard my lady.”
That brought Jervois’s head up with a jerk. “But my lord, you do not mean to go alone!”
“I do not fear a trick, but no, I will not go alone. I will take four of the men and they can wait for me nearby. Make your choice and tell them to be ready.”
Jervois hovered uneasily. “You have many enemies, lord.”
Radulf’s eyes were full of grim humor. “That may well be so, Jervois, but I am immortal, am I not?”
Jervois refused to smile. “Others may believe the legends, but I know you are but a man, my lord, and a man can be killed. What would become of your lady wife then? The king would marry her to another, perhaps one not so inclined to cosset her as you do.”
Radulf hesitated, and then nodded, clapping a hand on Jervois’s shoulder. “Aye, you are ri
ght as always, my careful friend. I will take heed.” He turned toward Lily’s bedchamber, taking a couple of steps toward the door before stopping. No. It was better he say nothing to Lily. She had an uncanny knack of reading his moods and he did not want to answer her questions now. He would see her when he returned. Perhaps he would even explain to her what he had done.
Or perhaps not.
With a deep breath, Radulf turned away from the bedchamber and toward the inn door.
Chapter 14
Seated upon Alice’s docile gelding with her cloak wrapped tightly about her, Lily could have been any York housewife making her way home after staying too late at the house of a friend or relative. Or she might be taken for a foolish young maiden keeping a secret assignation. The last was not far from the truth, except that it was not her assignation.
It had been much easier than she thought. Alice’s clothing fit her well enough, although Una had had to lower the hem, which left a narrow band of a deeper color. But the men didn’t notice that; they rarely looked at a woman’s feet. Jervois had called a farewell, but Lily had ignored him. Radulf had not spoken at all, and although she had been sure she felt two burning holes in her back where his eyes were fixed, everything had gone to plan.
A splatter of rain rattled upon the road and a droplet splashed against her cheek. The servant, his tangled beard and long hair proclaiming his non-Norman origins, ran before her, perfectly comfortable in his role as guide. He had listened with eyes averted as Lily told him where he was to take her. “I know it, lady,” he had assured her.
Lily had smiled her thanks and felt a stab of pity for the man. There was an ugly brand on his cheek, which had puckered the skin and scarred him badly. Such cruel marks were the Normans’ way of accounting for their property.
If Radulf should discover her, she would not allow him to punish this poor man. This excursion was her idea and hers alone. Not that she expected to be caught. All she had to do was wait for Radulf, watch his meeting with Lady Anna, and then…Well, then she would most probably go back to the inn and sob herself to sleep. But at least she would know.