Susan Spencer Paul

by The Bride Thief

  The silence in the great room was so complete that only the sound of the fire in the hearth made itself known. Isabelle tried to speak, to move forward toward their suddenly arrived visitor, but her mind was bereft. She couldn’t think of a single word to say. She felt Justin’s hand at her waist, warm and still, and realized that he was as absolutely stunned as she was.

  It was Evelyn who finally broke the silence, standing where she was, dripping-wet and dusted with snow, gazing at everyone in the great room with a thin smile and narrowed eyes. “What, Cousin, no greeting? Will you not even welcome me to your home?”

  Isabelle opened her mouth. “I…”

  “What are you doing here?” Justin asked in a low voice. “You arrive uninvited, my lady. Has your father come with you?”

  Evelyn’s smile tilted up slightly, mockingly. “Nay, I am come alone. The men who delivered me have already left to return to Briarstone.” She nodded toward the wet bags that lay nearby, which Aric had carried in at her command before he went to stable her horse. “I had nowhere else to go, and brought all that I now possess with the hope that you will let me remain until the snow passes. A few months, until spring comes, and then I will leave.” Her gaze, stony and somber, locked with Isabelle’s. “I will beg you if I must. I have nowhere else to go.”

  “How can this be, Evelyn?” Isabelle asked with disbelief. “Your father, Sir Myles—”

  “Has disowned me,” Evelyn replied tautly. “He has blamed me for bringing ruin down upon his head, for driv-ing you away and for failing to wed with Sir Justin. He sent me away in shame, with nothing but my own possessions and the jewels that were mine from my mother. I had no money, and so used the jewels to secure an escort here to you. Those two men who have just ridden away have taken all that I had left of my mother’s legacy. Now I have nothing save my clothes.” She took a step farther into the room and pulled the hood from her head, revealing the beautiful face that Isabelle remembered so well. “I have come knowing that there will be no welcome for me here, and accepting that you owe me naught, after the misery you suffered at my hands, and at the hands of my father. But I come, Isabelle, because I am desperate. I will labor for my keep, if you wish it. I will be your servant, if you will but let me remain until the spring arrives.”

  “Why the spring?” Justin asked suspiciously.

  “I will write to whatever friends I have remaining, and ask for their aid. There are several men who, although they will no longer want me for their wife because of my lack of a dower, may be inclined to take me as a leman.” She ignored the disapproving sound that Gytha made. “But I will need time to decide what will be best. That is all I am asking of you, Cousin. A little time. I do not merit such consideration from you, and yet I ask it. If you wish me to leave, I will go in the morn. I beg you, as an act of Christian charity, please do not make me go out again this night. I am full weary, and so cold that I think I shall never be warm again. I will surely die if I cannot rest at least this one night.”

  She did look as if she were about to collapse, Isabelle thought with a sudden rush of sympathy. She had never seen Evelyn in such a state before, shivering and bedraggled, her lips blue and her skin raw from the wind and snow. She was weak and vulnerable now, no longer the dominating woman who had made Isabelle’s life a very hell.

  “Of course you must stay this night,” Isabelle said, moving forward with outstretched hands, unable to feel anything but sorrow for her fallen relative. “Come and sit by the fire, and remove this wet cloak. God’s mercy, ‘tis wet all through.” Having pulled it from Evelyn’s shoulders, Isabelle tossed the offending garment to Odelyn, who caught it with a grimace. “Meg, bring hot wine, and quickly,” she instructed as she brought Evelyn to a comfortable chair near the hearth. “Your hands are as ice, Evelyn. Gytha, heat water for a bath, I pray you, and Odelyn, hurry and make the upstairs chamber ready. We will have you comfortable shortly, I vow,” she assured her cousin.

  “Thank you, Isabelle.” Evelyn leaned forward, her hands shaking as they reached toward the flames. “I do not deserve such kindness. God bless you.” Her voice was filled with emotion, such as Isabelle had never heard from her cousin before, almost as if Evelyn might weep.

  Justin moved to stand before her, staring down at his former betrothed with a frown. “You may stay this night,” he stated bluntly. “But no more than that. In the morn, whether the snow has stopped or no, I will take you to Briarstone.”

  “Briarstone?” Evelyn repeated shakily.

  He nodded. “Sir Christian will keep you safely until you have made some determination of where you will go.”

  “But, Justin—” Isabelle began.

  “It is for the best,” he told her. “I do not blame your cousin for the trouble that your uncle has caused, but I do not think it wise to let her remain at Talwar for long.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to argue. “Nay, Isabelle, it will be as I have said. Lady Evelyn may stay with us this night and be welcome, but in the morn, she will leave.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The snowfall had stopped during the night, and the world surrounding the three travelers was beautiful, with a white blanket that made everything seem fresh and new.

  They were silent as they rode, for which Justin was grateful. He didn’t want to converse with Lady Evelyn, and he didn’t particularly want her making an effort to converse with him. It had been hard enough to leave Isabelle this morn, to disentangle himself from her alluring warmth, especially after the night of loving they had shared; he wasn’t going to make it worse by reminding himself that it was on her cousin’s behalf that he’d had to do so. Escorting Lady Evelyn to Briarstone was the last manner in which he’d planned on spending the day. It was all too rare when he and Isabelle had an entire day to themselves, to do what they pleased, rather than tend to duties. He had looked forward to Christmas this year for just that reason—so that he might have Isabelle all to himself, instead of sharing her with her account books or his lads.

  He wasn’t very happy to be burdening Chris with the care of Lady Evelyn, either, especially now, when the people of Briarstone would be tending to their own celebrations. But he knew that his friend would do him this favor and take the woman in, despite the fact that Chris had so disliked Lady Evelyn. Justin, at least, had been able to admire her beauty, wit and intelligence, even despite her scheming, while Chris hadn’t found any redeeming qualities in her whatever.

  She was, truly, quite beautiful, Justin thought, glancing briefly at Lady Evelyn’s proud profile. It was a pity that such a cold heart lay beneath that lovely countenance, but he had learned long ago which of the two elements was more valuable. Isabelle’s beauty would never fade, not even when she had grown old. Justin would always think her the loveliest woman he had ever known. Her warmth and generosity to her cousin the night before had proved the fact to him again. Despite the cruelty and contempt that Lady Evelyn had ever treated her with, Isabelle had been gentle and kind to her. Later in the evening, when they were alone in their bedchamber, she had even asked Justin to let her cousin stay at Talwar, insisting that Lady Evelyn’s presence would not upset her. But Justin didn’t possess a nature quite so forgiving as his wife’s. Every time he thought of how Isabelle had suffered at her cousin’s and uncle’s hands, he was filled with renewed fury.

  And yet, he thought, looking at Lady Evelyn again, she did not appear to be quite the same woman he had known in London. Despite the proud tilt to her chin, she seemed tense and uncertain, perhaps even a little fearful, and quite pale. As he watched, she grew even paler, and suddenly lurched forward in her saddle, setting one hand over her stomach.

  “My lady, are you ill?” he asked, moving Synn so that he could take hold of her steed’s bridle.

  The hand that was on her stomach moved up to cover her mouth, and Lady Evelyn, wide-eyed, nodded violently.

  He could see that there wasn’t much time, and quickly dismounted, grabbing Lady Evelyn by the waist to pull her to the g
round. She made a sound of distress and shoved away from him, stumbling to the side of the road toward some bushes, collapsing to her knees while her stomach emptied itself.

  “My lord?” Kayne said, having turned back to see what was amiss.

  Wanting to spare Lady Evelyn further embarrassment, Justin waved the boy forward. “Wait for us ahead. We will follow shortly.”

  Kayne nodded and turned away, and when he was out of sight Justin went to Lady Evelyn, bending beside her in the snow and setting one hand on her back.

  “Gently, now,” he said soothingly, waiting for her body to cease its wrenching. “Gently. All will be well.”

  She was shaking, trembling violently. She tried to wipe one gloved hand over her mouth, but wasn’t able to control her limbs enough to do so. Placing the hand back on the ground, she knelt where she was, bent over, and began to sob.

  “Here, sit up,” Justin instructed calmly, taking her shoulders and pulling her upward. Somehow she turned into him, and somehow he was holding her while she wept, shaking and pressing her forehead against his neck. She was feverish, he realized, feeling the heat of her skin against the chill of his own. And she was weeping as mournfully as a babe, as if her misery were too great for her to bear.

  “There, now,” he murmured, holding her, stroking one hand over her covered hair to calm her. “You will be better now, my lady.”

  “Nay,” she managed. “I will not.”

  “Certainly you will,” he assured her. “You are but weary from so much traveling, and upset because of all that you have endured. ’Tis likely that you should become ill from it.”

  A painful sob shuddered through her, and she shook her head. “It is not because of that. It is because they…the men…they…”

  “The men?” Justin asked. “The ones who brought you?”

  She nodded. “They r-raped me.” She spoke in a horrified whisper, choked with tears. “Oh, G-God save me. I th-think I am with child.”

  Justin felt as if he’d been poleaxed. “They raped you?”

  “Each n-night as we t-traveled. They threatened to 1leave me if I did not do what they asked.”

  “The bastards!” he snarled furiously, gathering her slender body more closely into his embrace. “I will hunt them down like the dogs they are and kill them!”

  “What am I to do, my lord?” She clutched his cloak with desperate hands. “What am I to do with a child? No man will take me now, while I am breeding. Where will I go? If my father should discover it, he will have me publicly shamed before the king’s regents. Oh, God—” she raised her voice, pleading “—have mercy on me!”

  “Do not be afraid,” he told her. “No harm will come to you, I vow. You will stay at Talwar until the child is born, and then we will decide what is best to be done. You will have naught to fear.”

  “My father…”

  “He cannot touch you there, while you remain beneath my protection. I will not allow him to so much as threaten you.”

  Gingerly, she pushed out of his embrace and gazed up at him, her face wet and puffy. “But you don’t want me at Talwar. Not after all I’ve done to Isabelle. Last night you made it clear that I’m not welcome. How can you take me back there and let me stay?”

  Justin wondered the same thing, and could find an answer only in the pity he felt for her. Lady Evelyn had fallen far from the perch where she had once been worshiped by so many. He didn’t think he could have felt anything for that hard, cold woman, but for the miserable, wretched creature sitting before him now, he couldn’t do otherwise. He only wished it was something more noble than mere sympathy that he felt.

  “You are Isabelle’s cousin,” he told her, “and for that, also for the sake of the child you carry, I owe you my care and protection. At least until the child has come. After that, you must decide where you will go, and I will lend you my aid.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured gratefully, sniffling and wiping her face. “Thank you, Sir Justin. I will do whatever you ask of me, and will not make you sorry.”

  He stood and held out a hand to pull her to her feet. “Come. Let us return to Talwar before you are ill again. Isabelle suffered badly during the first weeks that she carried our child, and if I remember aright, you will be wanting a bed and slumber soon.”

  “My lord,” Evelyn said, stopping him when he would have turned to the horses. “Please, may I ask a great favor of you? I would beg you not to tell Isabelle that I am with child. Not yet, I pray you.”

  He looked at her curiously. “She must know soon, as will the rest of the household. And she will want to care for you while you are sick.”

  “Oh, please!” She took hold of his hand with both of hers, pleading with him. “I am so ashamed. I cannot bear for anyone save you to know of it yet! Please give me time, only a little while, to pray for God’s strength and to become ready for what will come. Can you not tell her that I am only ill? Please, my lord, I beg it of you.”

  “’Tis foolishness not to speak the truth,” he told her. “I do not like it, and I will not lie to Isabelle.”

  “You need not lie,” she said. “Only tell her that I am ill, for is that not true enough? You need not tell her why. Oh, please, Sir Justin, promise me that you’ll tell no one that I am with child! If, perchance, I should lose the babe in these early days, then my great shame need never be known.”

  It was true that many babes were lost early on, Justin thought It had been his greatest fear when Isabelle first realized she was with child. And it was equally true that Lady Evelyn was fully distressed, and he didn’t wish to be the cause of such as that. If she kept the child, the truth would be known, and only she would have to answer as to why it had been kept from the others.

  “The child is yours,” he said, “to speak of if you will, until the matter becomes evident. I will not tell anyone of what has happened, if that is your wish.”

  “It is!”

  “Then I will not speak of it. Howbeit, you also keep me from seeking justice for the men who raped you, for I cannot hunt them out and be silent both. Is this what you wish?”

  “I wish for them to be drawn and quartered,” she answered vehemently, “but that will not help me now. I must have time to think, to consider my shame and prepare for it. That is all I can hope for until God has given me peace.”

  Justin nodded. “Then it will be as you have said. I give you my solemn vow not to speak of the truth until you give me leave to do so.”

  Fresh tears glimmered in her eyes, and the gaze she held upon him shone with gratitude. “Thank you, my lord. You are the kindest man on God’s earth, and I know I do not deserve such from you. Thank you.”

  She bent to kiss his hand, but Justin, with a grimace, pulled free of her touch. “Do not speak thanks to me yet; my lady. I am willing to let you live at Talwar so long as you cause no trouble. If I should see my lady Isabelle made unhappy by your presence, in any manner, then you will surely know my displeasure, and that I vow before God.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  With a long sigh, Isabelle set her quill aside and put her face into her hands, rubbing at the headache that throbbed behind her eyes. She’d been having more of them lately, this past week, and couldn’t fathom why, save perhaps that it was something new from carrying the babe. She’d never suffered such aches before, not even when she spent all her waking hours laboring on her uncle’s behalf. Of course, she was laboring almost as hard now, caring for not only Justin’s moneys but for the lord of Gyer’s and the earl of Siere’s, as well. And at the pace that their combined wealth was growing, she wasn’t certain that she’d be able to handle it all much longer. The responsibility was becoming more than she could bear. Perhaps that was why she was so plagued with headaches of late, although Isabelle suspected the source was much closer than that.

  As if knowing her thoughts, the reason for Isabelle’s worries suddenly knocked on the door to her working chamber, and the next moment Evelyn’s head appeared.

  “Meg’s j
ust made fresh burrebrede cakes,” she said, “and they’re delicious! Would you like me to bring you some while they’re warm? There’s spiced cider, too.”

  No matter how kindly Evelyn spoke to her, nor how thoroughly sweet her manner, Isabelle simply couldn’t bring herself to trust the woman. She was far too changed from her former behavior, far too…strange. But it was wrong to be so suspicious, Isabelle thought guiltily. She should at least give Evelyn a chance before condemning her as a counterfeit. Surely no charlatan could have kept up such a false front for more than an entire month, and in that time, Evelyn had been unfailingly sweet and helpful. She took on duties without being asked to do so, and did whatever she could to help both Meg and Gytha. She was friendly to one and all, without being overly so, and had made every attempt to be a pleasant guest Except for that first week when she was ill, after Justin brought her back to Talwar only an hour after he left to escort her to Briarstone, she’d been consistently cheerful and active. And yet, Isabelle felt uneasy. Sometimes, watching her beautiful cousin go about her day, she wondered if she really knew Evelyn at all.

  “No, I thank you,” Isabelle replied, standing slowly from her chair. “I have only just finished the cup of wine you brought earlier, and am not hungry. But if you will ask Meg to prepare a basket and a tankard, I will take some out to Justin. He will be glad of sustenance, having labored so hard in the smithy all morn.”

  Evelyn’s perfect smile widened. “Do not worry over Sir Justin, Cousin. I’ve already prepared a basket to take out to him. You shouldn’t be walking in the snow while you carry the babe. I know Sir Justin worries that you might fall and harm yourself or the child.”

  “Even so,” Isabelle said firmly, the throbbing in her head growing worse, “I wish to bid him good-day, and will take the basket to him. Bring it here to me, please.”

  “You don’t look well, dear,” Evelyn said, her eyes falling on the open account book on the working table. “Have you another headache? You shouldn’t be working so hard. I’ll speak with Sir Justin about the matter, and he will force you to your bed, I know. He’s told me often enough how he wishes you would rest more.”