“Please enjoy the hospitality of my home,” Roger said kindly. They swept past Mina so-that she had to follow them like a servant, or a dog.
Dudley, looking worried, appeared at Mina’s elbow inside the entrance to the hall. “Should I instruct the maids to prepare a chamber for her?” he whispered anxiously as he gestured at Lady Joselynd.
“Yes,” Mina snapped with more anger than she had intended to show. She forced herself to be calm, to be in control. This was her home, too, after all, and she was mistress here.
Roger escorted Lady Joselynd to a chair beside the hearth. “Now, what has brought you to my castle?” he inquired gallantly.
A strange, uncomfortable feeling stole over Mina. With her father, she had learned to bear her sufferings without flinching. Reginald she had learned to coerce or ignore. Toward her other half siblings, she had maintained a composed, stony silence.
But what could she do to protect herself from this beautiful woman? Despite her attempts not to make a comparison, there was no denying Lady Joselynd’s pale blond beauty, the expensive quality of her blue overgown with gold embroidery, the bejeweled band about her slender head, the thin silk fabric of her wimple, the embroidered kid gloves and the delicate shift that peeped beneath her dress, everything combining to heighten the young woman’s outward perfection. Compared to her, Mina felt poorly dressed and ugly and as awkward as a bull standing beside a doe.
“I understand Lord Reginald Chilcott is still here?” Lady Joselynd inquired with another feigned blush.
“Yes,” Roger replied, leaning closer to hear the breathy voice. Mina was quite sure that if the lady were among other women, her voice would dominate the conversation.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dudley hustling Hilda and Aldys toward the stairs, their arms full of fresh hnen, a basin and a ewer. The two servants stared at Lady Joselynd with frank curiosity as they went up the stairs to prepare another chamber.
“The baron thought ... that is, the baron hopes...” Lady Joselynd spluttered in a masterful performance of confused femininity.
“What? What does the baron hope?” Mina demanded as she approached the hearth, her bluntness earning her a condemning glance from Roger, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t tolerate this woman’s artificial manner another moment.
“He thinks Lord Chilcott and I should marry,” Lady Joselynd said, batting the lashes of her big, blue and extremely cowlike eyes at Roger.
The basin came clattering down the stairs, and a red-faced Hilda rushed after it. She bobbed a curtsy. “Please forgive me,” she said hurriedly as she grabbed it and rushed back up the stairs.
“Is Reginald to have any say in this?” Mina asked offhandedly, at the same time wondering where Reginald was.
Lady Joselynd’s gaze turned to her, and the innocence disappeared from her shrewd eyes, although her voice retained its breathy childlike quality. “Yes, of course. He is still here, is he not?”
At that moment, Reginald appeared on the stairs, nearly stumbling down them in his haste as he fastened his belt buckle. As further evidence of the speed with which he had dressed, the brooch on the left shoulder of his tunic was hanging crookedly, and he hadn’t had time to curl his hair. He skittered to a stop halfway between the stairs and Lady Joselynd’s chair and bowed with flourish.
“Reginald Chilcott, may I present Lady Joselynd de Beautette,” Roger said solemnly. “Your future wife, or so I understand.”
Reginald started to make another bow, but halted in his half-bent position and raised his widened eyes. “My...my what?”
“Oh, please, Sir Roger, you...oh dear, how truly disconcerting! I didn’t mean it to sound like that!” Lady Joselynd demurred immediately, and Mina was hard-pressed not to smile with enjoyment at her discomfort. If that was what the baron had truly planned, why not be forthcoming and say so, unless you were the type of person who shrouded everything in empty courtesies and pleasant distortions?
“Whatever the reason for her arrival,” Roger said magnanimously, “we are pleased to welcome her, for however long she is able to stay. Isn’t that right, Mina?” He shot his wife a glance, its meaning very clear. She would be rude at her peril.
Mina smiled and said very, very sweetly, “We are completely delighted. Would you care for some wine? Have you journeyed far?”
“That would be most welcome. And if your steward could show Brunhilde, my servant, to our quarters, that would be most kind.”
“Of course I shall see to that at once. Please excuse me.” Mina hurried to the stairs and found Dudley in the room that had been hers when she had first arrived at the castle. Lady Joselynd’s accommodations were already well in hand, so she simply asked him to have wine, cheeses and bread prepared for Lady Joselynd’s refreshment. Dudley, with a harried nod of his head, scurried out of the room, leaving the maidservants to complete the preparations.
Mina was in no hurry to return below, where her husband was being so completely charming to a total stranger. She moved the basin a fraction of an inch more to the center of the table and straightened one of the candles in its holder. Hilda brought a ewer of fresh water to the table and set it down with trembling hands.
“Aldys,” Mina said at once, “go to the kitchen and help with the refreshments. Hilda and I will finish here.”
Aldys nodded and scampered away. The moment she was gone, Mina turned to Hilda. “What is it?” she asked worriedly. “Is Hollis all right?”
“He’s fine, my lady,” Hilda replied, biting her lip. “It’s... it’s nothing.”
“You dropped that basin on the stairs,” Mina noted.
“It’s a little dented, but easily fixed, I’m sure!” Hilda protested, an edge of hysteria to her tone that belied her assurances that nothing was the matter.
“Is it Lady Joselynd? Have you met her before?”
“No, my lady, never. What could Lady Joselynd have to do with me?”
“She may be visiting us for some time.”
“Oh, really?”
“You can go now,” Mina said, sensing that whatever was troubling Hilda, she was not going to reveal it. “The chamber is quite ready.”
“Thank you,” Hilda said with relief before she bolted from the room.
Mina followed her out in a more leisurely fashion. Obviously she was not the only person less than delighted with Lady Joselynd’s sudden arrival. But why should Hilda care? Lady Joselynd was merely another guest, and only that.
It should be Reginald who was the most upset. Mina guessed that Lady Joselynd was a very crafty young woman who had set her sights on someone called Lord Chilcott, with his title and ancient family name, rather than the simple, vain but wellmeaning Reginald.
Then Mina thought of the ridiculous picture Reginald made when he had halted in midbow. Maybe Lady Joselynd would not find Reginald Chilcott to her taste, but perhaps there was another man she would.
Mina suddenly recognized the emotion she had been feeling from the moment she had seen Lady Joselynd standing beside Roger, an emotion she had felt often in her childhood and only rarely since she had arrived at Montmorency Castle.
She was afraid.
Afraid that Roger would want Lady Joselynd. Afraid that even now, he was finding his own wife lacking. Afraid that he would share his incredible, powerful passion with another woman.
The way he was treating Lady Joselynd would seem to provide some justification for her fears.
What of his talk of loyalty and honesty? He had sworn to be faithful to her before the people and the church, and by God, she would ensure that he abided by that oath!
“I am going riding today,” Mina announced a few days later after she broke the fast. The hall was nearly empty. The soldiers and lesser knights had finished their meal, and most had gone to prepare for the business of the day. It had been raining off and on since Lady Joselynd’s arrival, and the men were anxious to get to outdoor tasks, just as Mina was anxious to get out of the confines of the castle, away fr
om the affected Lady Joselynd and away from Roger, too.
She had been watching the two of them whenever they were together, as if she were one of Edred’s hawks on a hunt. The continuous surveillance was exhausting, as well as demeaning and, she feared, ultimately useless. If Roger wanted to seduce a woman, Mina did not doubt as to his eventual success, or his ability to keep an illicit relationship concealed, if he wanted it to be. Few women would be able to resist his potent combination of physical attraction and gallant charm.
Surely Lady Joselynd would not.
However, she also presumed that Joselynd would not be clever enough to hide an immoral liaison, and so far Mina had no evidence that there was anything improper between Roger and their guest. She continued to hope that he intended to honor his marriage vows, although she could not completely allay her apprehensions and insecurity.
“It’s going to rain,” Roger said bluntly from his place on Mina’s right. He reached out to take hold of his goblet, but quickly pulled his hand back when there seemed to be a danger of coming into physical contact with her.
Mina flushed and condemned her failure to overlook his actions. She should be used to his aversion now.
“I would dearly love to ride out myself,” Lady Joselynd murmured deferentially. She was seated to Roger’s right as a token of her special status as a relative of the baron and their guest. “But not if it looks to rain. What do you think, my lord?” she asked Reginald, who sat beside her.
“Rain would ruin that gown,” he remarked. “I had a tunic in a similar fabric once. One drop and it was marked forever.”
“Oh, my! Well, I suppose I could change. Has that woman — Hilda, is it?—mended my green brocade?”
“I believe so,” Mina replied uninterestedly.
“I must caution you against risking the weather,” Roger said to Lady Joselynd. “I’m sure the baron would not be pleased if you were to fall ill while you were in my care.”
“Oh, you are so kind to fear for me,” Lady Joselynd said with a simpering smile. “I would not wish to make any mischief, my lord, although I am quite sure the baron thinks you incapable of doing wrong. However, I shall obey your wishes and stay inside the castle walls today.”
Mina wiped her lips and rose. Her emotions felt as batted about as Hollis’s ball. One minute she was determined to ride, the next she was determined to stay if Joselynd was planning on joining her, then she was eager to leave, but only if she could ride alone. “If you will excuse me, I shall return shortly.”
“Where are you going?” Roger asked sternly, finally looking at her and not at the company, or Lady Joselynd.
“A little rain does not frighten me, nor will it damage my clothes, and I am sure the baron does not particularly care if I am sick or not,” she answered evenly. “I bid you all good morning.”
Roger ground his teeth in frustration as his wife left the hall. He was used to unquestioning obedience to his orders. He had discovered, though, that he did not particularly enjoy unquestioning obedience to his every suggestion, as demonstrated by Lady Joselynd. He kept wanting to shout to the pale, lackluster creature to make up her own damn mind. As for arguing, he almost wished Mina would. Her dispassionate refusal to obey or even cooperate and the ease with which she ignored him was completely outside his experience, and he had no idea how to deal with it.
“I must say I think she’s quite wrong,” Lady Joselynd said, leaning toward Roger with sympathetic eyes and placing her hand over his. “I’m sure Baron DeGuerre would be most distressed if anything were to happen to your wife.”
Roger turned his dark, inscrutable eyes onto this vain, tiresome young woman he rarely listened to and said, “As would I, Lady Joselynd.”
Fully convinced of her abilities to beguile men, Lady Joselynd saw only the smile on Sir Roger’s extremely handsome face and surmised that the bold Sir Roger de Montmorency was answering as he did because of the foolish young man beside her, who was the bride’s relative.
It was really too bad that Sir Roger de Montmorency had slipped through her fingers, she thought, letting her hand remain on Sir Roger’s strong one for a moment longer than necessary, enjoying the physical sensations the touch aroused within her. Sir Roger was everything she had heard, and more. Nobody could possibly describe the irresistible physical presence of the man. Or the lust he could induce. Why, even she, well aware of her virginal value as a potential wife, was tempted to let him seduce her.
The great mystery was how his wife could be so immune to him. She acted as if she barely noticed him. She had to be a fool, for all her arrogant, superior ways. It might be good for her to realize that others appreciated her husband’s merits, if she did not.
The woman was homely, with her outrageous red hair and stern temperament, and surely Sir Roger more than welcomed having a demure, womanly companion.
Still, Joselynd realized, it would probably not be wise to alienate Mina completely, or she would never be welcomed back, even if she became Reginald Chilcott’s wife. Lord Chilcott would be quite a catch, considering his family’s social position and wealth. And Sir Roger was married, so she placed her hand on her lap. “Perhaps, my lord, if the weather clears, we may enjoy a ride together,” she said innocently.
“I do believe, now that I think on it, that the clouds were thinning as we left the chapel. What do you say to a hunt, Albert?” Sir Roger said. His friend agreed, and then Sir Roger faced her with one of his attentive smiles that proved he found her tempting. “Would you care to join us? Your company would be most welcome.”
The warmth of Lady Joselynd’s smile was very genuine, as was the triumph in her eyes. “I will be more than happy to accept any invitation you extend, my lord.”
Chapter Fourteen
From her place on the ridge, Mina watched Roger, Lady Joselynd and Sir Albert ride along the main road at a leisurely pace. The sun had broken out shortly after she had taken Jeanette from the stables, and the morning had turned warm and bright, allowing Mina to see the sight before her all too clearly.
Behind the mounted nobility came Bredon and the dogs. Edred carried both the merlin and the falcon. Another servant carried a blood-soaked bundle. The hunt must have been successful.
Mina’s gaze returned to the nobles. So, it looked to rain, did it? And the poor dear creature might take cold, might she?
Roger had probably tried to stop his wife from riding out because he knew it would give her pleasure. Maybe he had guessed she would insist upon going if he tried to stop her, and had only protested to ensure that she would go—that was assuming, of course, that he had taken the trouble to ponder his wife’s method of arriving at her decisions. Whatever his thoughts, he did not have his wife’s troublesome presence to interfere with his conversation with the beautiful Lady Joselynd. True, Sir Albert and the servants were with them, but Roger could find plenty of ways to elude them if he wanted to.
Imagine his annoyance if his wife joined them.
That was all the prompting Mina needed to act. She gritted her teeth and spurred Jeanette into a gallop, riding down the slope at a breakneck speed that didn’t scare her. Instead, it increased Mina’s excitement as she rode to a flourishing halt in front of the threesome.
“That was a reckless thing to do,” Roger declared. “You might have broken that mare’s leg.”
“Or my head, I suppose, but I didn’t,” Mina replied with a condescending smile. “Lady Joselynd, what a pleasure to meet again—and you in your easily spotted gown, too! Pray forgive the mud. It was the rain. Greetings, Sir Albert.”
Albert inclined his head in a silent response.
“The weather cleared,” Joselynd said softly, looking uneasily from Roger to Mina with a show of distressed helplessness. “Your husband suggested I join the hunt.”
“I’m sure he did,” Mina remarked, and Roger gave her yet another condemning look. She ignored him, and turned to Sir Albert. “Have you recovered from your illness?” she asked solicitously.
&n
bsp; “Yes,” he replied, blushing like a boy. “It was only the effects of too much ale,” he confessed. “Combined with a touch of ague. I am quite well now.”
“It is nice to know that some men will admit to a weakness,” Mina said.
Roger didn’t make any comment, but she saw the vein in his temple begin to throb. Thinking she had done enough for one day, she allowed Jeanette to fall back beside Lady Joselynd while Roger and Albert led the way home.
“So, Lady Joselynd, did you enjoy the killing?” she asked lightly. “I can tell you are an expert when it comes to prey.”
“Your husband has wonderful hawks,” Joselynd replied. “Exceptionally well trained.”
“Speaking of prey, what do you think of Reginald?”
“I’m sure I don’t see the connection,” Joselynd replied coldly, so Mina was absolutely certain she did. “He is a fine fellow.”
“He’ll make a good husband, you think?”
“Yes, my lady, I do.”
“For you?”
Lady Joselynd gave her a confused and suspicious look. “Has someone else proposed a wife for him?”
“Not lately. It has been Reginald’s unfortunate experience to be rejected by his one and only betrothed.”
“Oh, that.”
“You heard about Madeline de Montmorency?”
“Yes. I think she must be a fool.”
This time Mina was rather taken aback by the uncharitable condemnation uttered in Joselynd’s dulcet tones. However, she also sensed she was getting close to Joselynd’s true personality baneath the lovely, helpless mask. “Apparently she fell in love with another man,” Mina remarked.
Lady Joselynd actually smirked. “He’s a peasant, or so I understand.”
“You doubt the power of love?”
Joselynd gave Mina a shrewd look. “You and I, my lady, know better, I think.” How cold she sounded, how unfeeling—and yet she was uttering Mina’s own opinion of love, wasn’t she?
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