Alinor
Page 54
“And I, too, wish—”
“Yes, but it is not good for either of you. You love him too much, Ian. I have seen you sweat with fear when you knocked him down—and even I could see he was not hurt. Robert is right for Adam, and Robert’s wife also is right. She is like Isobel, not stupid, but very gentle. I am too strong. It is not good for a boy to have a masterful mother as he grows older.”
“But Joanna—” Ian began hastily.
He agreed too much with what Alinor had said about herself and her son to make any remark that would not hurt her. Since she saw it herself, he need never tread on that delicate ground. To his surprise, Alinor suddenly smiled broadly.
“I shall send Joanna to Lady Ela.”
“No!” Ian roared. “She is your daughter, but I love her. I will not have it! I would sooner have her spout prayers and repentance and resignation at me than have her another Ela. She will return fluttering her hands, holding her head and her side and—”
Alinor shook with laughter. “Oh no, she will not. You do not value Ela as I have come to value her. She is too wise to teach a healthy mare like Joanna the tricks of a frail bird. And she is clever, Ian. You do not know how clever, and I will not tell you. She does not tend her men and her flock and her fields as I tend mine, but that Joanna knows already and, God willing, I will have some years more to teach her. Ela can teach Joanna what I never could because, of a truth, I dare not go near King John. She can teach the child the ways of the court, and with Ela there and right under Salisbury’s eye, Joanna will be safe enough.”
“Safe for now,” Ian said uneasily. “Yet I am not over-happy that she should go to court. She will attract the king’s eye and, even now, all unripe as she is, Joanna is beautiful.”
“There may be a little to fear in that, but not more than in her going to court as, say, Geoffrey’s bride and striking that lecher’s gaze in the full beauty of her womanhood.”
Ian shifted from one foot to the other. Alinor watched him as, without speaking, he pulled off his bedrobe and reached for the shirt she had laid out. He shook his head at Alinor when she moved to help him, even though she could see some of his motions pulled at the new set of stitches and caused him pain. Hurriedly, Alinor dressed also, distastefully aware that her clothes were dirty and stained and not particularly becoming. She fastened the veil of her wimple and turned to see Ian, his face very still and quite expressionless, start toward the door.
“Ian,” she cried softly, “beloved, what is your discontent? I have hurt us both through unadvised silence. Do not you now fall into the same error.”
He looked at her blankly for a moment, then lifted his eyes and looked over her head. “My discontent is in myself, Alinor, not in you—except that you have offered me something I desire so much that I cannot trust my judgment on whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. Are you really willing to come to Ireland with me—after all you have said against going? Is what you propose really safe for the children?”
“Yes, of that I am certain. I swear all will be well with Adam and Joanna, barring plague or some accident that is truly in God’s hands,” Alinor assured him fervently.
“And the other?”
“I am perhaps a little afraid,” she replied slowly, “but—”
“Then why do you insist upon coming? As you say yourself, it is a country all at war. Why—”
“I can give you many reasons,” Alinor interrupted, “I can tell you how it is less safe for me to be here where John might take me by stealth. I can explain that it would be wise for me to show myself on my Irish estates. I can suggest that if we were more together I might conceive an heir to your lands, which would add to the safety of Adam and Joanna as well as to our joy.”
She paused, and Ian saw with considerable surprise that she was blushing hotly.
“Do you want the truth?” Alinor asked.
“Yes, I do,” Ian insisted.
Alinor bit her lip. “I am coming because I am jealous,” she said passionately. “Simon told me that Irish women are very beautiful. I am not going to let loose a face like yours among them. To couple a whore to satisfy a need is one thing, but I know you do not like whores. To woo an Irish lady is something else again. In Ireland I intend to be by you, to abate your lust and to watch what you do.”
For a moment Ian was laughing too hard to answer, but finally he swept Alinor into his arms. “Madwoman,” he gasped, kissing her again and again. “Madwoman, there can be no woman more beautiful than you.” Then he laughed again for a while. “Thus are great decisions made. Not on right or wrong or deep necessity, but on the whim of jealousy of one headstrong woman. So be it. If the keep at Kemp is ours and if Salisbury and Leicester agree about the children, I will take you to Ireland.”
About the Author
Roberta Gellis was driven to start writing her own books some forty years ago by the infuriating inaccuracies of the historical fiction she read. Since then she has worked in varied genres—romance, mystery and fantasy—but always, even in the fantasies, keeping the historical events as near to what actually happened as possible. The dedication to historical time settings is not only a matter of intellectual interest, it is also because she is so out-of-date herself that accuracy in a contemporary novel would be impossible.
In the forty-some years she has been writing, Gellis has produced more than twenty-five straight historical romances. These have been the recipients of many awards, including the Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from the West Coast Review of Books, the Golden Certificate from Affaire de Coeur, the Romantic Times Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period (several times) and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy. Last but not least, Gellis was honored with the Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Roberta welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Roberta Gellis
Heiress 1: The English Heiress
Heiress 2: The Cornish Heiress
Heiress 3: The Kent Heiress
Heiress 4: Fortune’s Bride
Heiress 5: A Woman’s Estate
Roselynde Chronicles 1: Roselynde
Royal Dynasty 1: Siren Song
Royal Dynasty 2: Winter Song
Royal Dynasty 3: Fire Song
Royal Dynasty 4: A Silver Mirror
Print books by Roberta Gellis
Heiress 1: The English Heiress
Heiress 2: The Cornish Heiress
Heiress 3: The Kent Heiress
Heiress 4: Fortune’s Bride
Heiress 5: A Woman’s Estate
Royalty Dynasty: Siren Song
Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer ebooks or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.
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