“Come with me, sir,” she said suddenly.
He stood like a bear at the stake. “You know I have sworn fealty to the King,” he said hoarsely.
“I need you. He does not.”
She could see the sweat breaking out on his brow.
“But what of King Arthur—the Round Table—the Quest?”
Isolde’s eyes flared. “What of them?”
“I am one of that sworn fellowship,” he said tensely. “King Arthur may send for me to join the Quest. And I’m still Cornwall’s champion. King Mark may need me to defend the land.”
She stared at him, unmoving. “What about our child?”
Trembling, he caught her eye and looked away. A child? They’d never spoken of it. He had never thought of it before.
And now, go to Ireland and bring a child into the world? Reveal the secret of their love to all? He’d be forced to leave the King’s service in disgrace, betraying all he had known since his life of chivalry began. And what of this new life she talked about, the little soul who would call him father and command his heart’s blood for the rest of his days? Could he do it? Or was he bound to fail?
Fail the child, for sure.
Fail Isolde and fail Mark.
Fail, fail, fail . . .
Yearning in anguish, Isolde watched him pace to and fro, feeling the clash of loyalties in his soul. Choose! cried her silent heart. Choose me! But already she knew the choice that he had made.
“What will you do?” she said huskily.
“What should I do?” he cried from the depths of his pain. “I owe allegiance to Mark and King Arthur and the Round Table, too. But you are my lady and my undying love. Who should I follow now?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she said hotly. “What should I do? As Mark’s wife, I should return to Castle Dore. But I choose love over duty. What will you do?”
He looked into the distance, but all he could see was the void within himself. “You are the Queen,” he said awkwardly. “The sovereignty and spirit of the land.”
“And you are the King of Lyonesse,” she said tremulously. “But in my arms, you are a man.”
What did she mean? Tristan struggled to read the mystery in her eyes.
She threw him a glance of despair. Hold me. Love me. Do not let me go.
He covered his face with his hand to hide his grief. “Lady, I beg you, forgive me if you can,” he said huskily. “But I cannot go back on the first vow I made. I swore myself to the King before we met and pledged undying fealty on my soul. I lose my honor if I break that oath, and without my honor, I’m nothing but a recreant knight. And I could not be your knight if I broke my faith. I could not offer you a life of shame.”
She was as pale as death. “So be it.”
Tristan straightened up. “To Ireland with you, lady,” he said bleakly, “while I return to Castle Dore to keep pledge with Mark.”
“Will you come to me afterward? When can I hope to see you again?”
“Somewhere it must be written. But the stars are dark. For myself, I cannot say.”
A cry of pain escaped her. “Must it be?”
“Gods above, lady,” he said, his voice breaking, “I’d give my life to change it if I could. But there is no other way.”
She stepped forward and lifted her hand to his cheek. “Love me one last time?”
About the Author
ROSALIND MILES is the author of the bestselling Guenevere trilogy, as well as the Tristan and Isolde trilogy and I, Elizabeth. A well-known and critically acclaimed novelist, essayist, and broadcaster, she lives in England.
Also by rosalind miles
fiction
THE GUENEVERE TRILOGY
Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country
The Knight of the Sacred Lake
The Child of the Holy Grail
THE TRISTAN AND ISOLDE TRILOGY
Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle
The Maid of the White Hands
The Lady of the Sea
I, Elizabeth
Return to Eden
Bitter Legacy
Prodigal Sins
Act of Passion
nonfiction
The Fiction of Sex
The Problem of Measure for Measure
Danger! Men at Work
Modest Proposals
Women and Power
The Female Form
The Women’s History of the World
The Rites of Man
The Children We Deserve
Ben Jonson: His Life and Work
Ben Jonson: His Craft and Art
Copyright © 2003 by Rosalind Miles
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks
of Random House, Inc.
Map copyright © 2002 by Rodica Prato
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miles, Rosalind.
The maid of the white hands: the second of the Tristan and Isolde novels /
Rosalind Miles.—1st ed.
1. Isolde (Legendary character)—Fiction. 2. Tristan (Legendary character)—Fiction.
3. Cornwall (England : County)—Fiction. 4. Knights and knighthood—Fiction.
5. Arthurian romances—Adaptations. 6. Adultery—Fiction. 7. Ireland—Fiction.
8. Queens—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6063.I319M35 2003
823’.914—dc21 2003003728
www.randomhouse.com
eISBN: 978-0-307-42214-9
v3.0
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