Susan Spencer Paul

by The Bride Thief

  He pressed his face into the bed, holding her hand, and wept. Isabelle slowly opened her eyes, and with an effort pulled her hand from his clasp and set it upon his head, stroking as if she would soothe him. Her fingers plucked at a piece of straw, and, weakly, she lifted it, staring. Past the straw she saw Evelyn standing in the doorway, and she watched, almost too weary to keep her eyes open, as her cousin lifted her own hand and, with a smile, lifted a similar piece of straw from her own hair. Evelyn held it aloft a moment, long enough for one and all to see what it was, and then she dropped it upon the floor and turned and walked away. Upon the bed, Justin sobbed disconsolately, as if he had lost everything he held dear. Isabelle set her hand upon his hair again and stroked once, twice, before her eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Senet growled, grabbing Aric by the collar and shoving him up against the nearest wall. “You aren’t leaving.”

  “Get your hands off me,” Aric warned in a low voice. “You’re not my master.”

  “You’re not leaving,” Senet repeated. “I don’t care what you think—”

  “Think? I saw them!” Aric shoved Senet away forcibly, breathing hard. “Going at each other like two dogs in heat” He sneered. “Lady Isabelle’s saintly husband and that swine she calls ‘cousin.’ Do what you like, but I won’t stay and watch them kill her.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you saw,” Senet told him, moving to stand between Aric and his pallet, where he had been packing his things. “Or what you think you saw. Sir Justin deserves better than such a quick and final judgment.”

  Aric gaped at him. “Do you think I’m blind? I’m telling you that I saw them. And heard them, as well. Don’t you care for your sister at all? You should be up there beating the man to dried salt—” he nodded toward the roof “—not down here arguing his innocence.”

  “If I didn’t love my sister, I’d let you leave Talwar with my blessing, but she needs you. She needs all of us.” Senet’s gaze swept the chamber, taking in the other boys before returning to rest on Aric. “I could have sworn you, more than any other, would not desert her in her time of need.”

  “Senet’s right,” Kayne said quietly from where he stood in the corner. “No matter what Sir Justin may have done, Lady Isabelle needs us now.”

  “If I stay,” Aric said, “I’ll kill him! The bastard. Telling us what’s right and wrong all these years, when he’s no better than the lowliest knave on London’s streets.”

  Senet’s hands curled into fists. “You can speak of him so after what he’s done for you, for all of us? I have been here only a short while, but the rest of you—” pacing away, he flung a hand out at the others “—have been here with Sir Justin many years, learning beneath his hand, eating the food of his table. Taking your rest beneath the comfort of his roof and letting him pull you up from poverty and want. And all the while, has he asked anything of you but trust and obedience?” He turned, facing them. “Until this day, would any of you have spoken a word against him?” At their silence, he shook his head. “One fall from grace, only one,” he said softly, “and you are ready to turn your backs on the man who has given you the very way to climb out of the pit you once lived in. So then, go!” he shouted at Aric, suddenly furious. “Take everything he’s taught you and make your way! It won’t be so hard for you now, as it once might have been. Sir Justin’s cleared the road for you. I have no doubt you’ll be the kind of fighting man he’s trained you up to be. Why should you stay and make his life wretched with your ingratitude and faithlessness?”

  Breathing hard, Aric stared at him. “I know what I owe Sir Justin, but I won’t stay and watch him hurt Lady Isabelle. And I’ll not stay at Talwar if Lady Evelyn is to be mistress here. I’ll not answer to that bitch. Ever.”

  “She’ll not be mistress here,” Senet assured him. “Sir Justin loves my sister, on this I would set my very life.”

  “Oh, loves her, does he?” Aric said with a snort. “So much that he’s been following Lady Evelyn about like a devoted dog this past month?”

  “It’s Lady Evelyn’s been making herself so welcome with Sir Justin’s company,” John put in, moving to stand beside Senet and setting his fists on his hips in an angry gesture. “Senet’s right enough about Sir Justin. He’s been good to us, and good to Lady Isabelle, too. Better than most men are to their ladies. And Lady Evelyn isn’t to be trusted, I vow. I remember her and her father from London, and a more common cat you won’t find. She’s not what she puts on to be here at Talwar.”

  “I agree,” Kayne said. “I don’t trust her, and never have. If Sir Justin fell, ‘twas she who was the cause of it. He’s made his feelings for Lady Isabelle certain these past many months. Is there any one of us who’ll say that he hasn’t?”

  Aric set his mouth, looking stubborn.

  Senet regarded him soberly. “If you had stayed this morn, you would have seen his remorse for not being with Isabelle while she lost the babe, and how he grieved for the loss of the child: There was no falseness in his tears.”

  At that, Aric’s eyebrows rose. “He wept? Sir Justin?”

  Senet nodded. “Like a child. Never have I seen a man more desolate.”

  “He said he fell asleep,” Neddy said, and they all turned to look at the boy. “That’s what he said.”

  “Neddy’s right,” Ralf maintained with wonder in his voice. “He did say that. And sounded as if he spoke the truth.”

  “You’ve known him many years,” Senet challenged. “Could he have stayed away from Isabelle for any reason, hearing her cries throughout the night? Knowing that she might be losing the very babe of which he has spoken to us so often with longing and pride?”

  “Nay,” Kayne said thoughtfully. “Not if he heard her cries, which he must have done in the smithy, for she was that distressed. He would have killed an army to reach her side, if he’d heard her calling for him.”

  “And if not for love of Lady Isabelle,” John added, “then surely for the child. He’s done naught but crow over it, and haven’t we all heard him, time and again?”

  “But I saw them,” Aric insisted. “Even while Lady Isabelle’s cries filled the bailey. They were going at it through all the noise, not caring.”

  “But what did you see?” Senet pressed, taking a step toward him.

  Exasperated, Aric ran a hand through his thick black hair. “They were lying together in the hay. She was on top, and Sir Justin beneath. What more do you need to know? Shall I describe the whore she looked, with her dress about her waist, or the way she sounded, like a cat howling in heat?”

  Senet grabbed his sleeve. “She was on top? How do you even know Sir Justin was sensible? Did you see his face?”

  “See his face?” Aric gave a disgusted laugh. “His leggings were down around his knees, and Lady Evelyn was jumping up and down faster than a rabbit, moaning like a ’ dockside whore riding the king’s regent and knowing she was about to be well paid for the performance. Why in the name of all that’s holy would I need to see his face?”

  The other boys exchanged glances.

  “Oh, come along,” Aric chided. “You think she was taking her pleasure of him and he wasn’t having any? That he wasn’t even awake?”

  “Was he moving?” Kayne asked. “Or just lying there?”

  “He didn’t need to do any moving,” Aric replied tartly. “She was doing enough moving for both of them, and a couple more. Why would he need to weary himself while taking his pleasure so free?”

  “Verily,” Senet returned. “Why would he? Save that he has never before been the kind of man who would do such a thing while listening to his wife’s tortured screams, has he?”

  “Nay,” John said firmly. “Never.”

  “Even if he might have readily coupled with Lady Evelyn, he’d not have done so at such a time,” Kayne agreed. “Not if he was aware enough to hear Lady Isabelle crying for him.”

  “He has proved time and again to be a man of honor,” Senet s
tated. “He saved Isabelle from my uncle’s cruelties and gave her his name and his home. He has devoted himself to raising all of you up farther than you might otherwise have dreamed. And for me,” he said, setting a fist against his chest, “he came while I lived in darkness, and risked everything he possessed to bring me out of it.”

  “We all came,” Aric argued. “We all took risks.”

  “S’truth,” Senet admitted. “But you did not all do it only for the sake of your lady wife, as Sir Justin did. He did it for Isabelle alone. Can you stand there, then, and say that he does not care for her?

  Silent, Aric turned away.

  “I cannot so easily throw away my gratitude,” Senet murmured quietly. “If he had not come for me, I would yet be living in the darkness that had become my Hell. But here I stand, free, in the presence of others whom I have learned well to respect and hold dear. Because of Sir Justin Baldwin.” He unsheathed the dagger belted at his waist and lifted it into the light. “The man who labored long to create these for each of us when he might so easily have given us naught is a man whose heart is tender and good. I do not care if he has proved to be human, as the rest of us are, even if he has fallen from the heights where we worshiped him, and has betrayed the vows he took with my sister. I will not desert Sir Justin. Surely not while that foul witch who is my cousin plots against him. Aye, and against Isabelle and the rest of us.”

  “Nor will I,” John declared. “I stay at Talwar and with Sir Justin.”

  “I, also,” Kayne said.

  “And I,” Ralf added, putting a hand about his younger brother’s shoulders. “And Neddy, too.”

  “Aye,” said Neddy. “We’ve got to get rid of Lady Evelyn.” He looked sternly at Aric. “We’ve got to do it together.”

  “You’re a crowd of fools,” Aric told them, scowling. “But I’ll stay, if only to make certain no harm comes to Lady Isabelle. It’s clear enough Lady Evelyn’s set her aim on Sir Justin, and I don’t trust her not to do whatever she must to get our good Lady Isabelle out of her way.”

  Senet clapped him on the shoulder, clasping him in the way of an honored comrade. “It does not matter why you’re staying, Aric, but only that you are, and that you stand with us.”

  “Neddy has spoken truly,” Kayne said, moving forward until they all stood in a circle. “We must work together to rid ourselves of Lady Evelyn. ‘Twill be no easy task, but we will find the way. Let us set ourselves to it, and determine just how we shall go about succeeding.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Come away, Justin. The night is nearly upon us, and you’ve been here since afternoon. Come away.”

  “I’m all right, Hugo,” Justin replied. “I wish to be alone.”

  Lifting the skirt of the dark robe he wore, Hugo sat cross-legged beside his brother, who had spent most of his recent days here beneath the tree where his lost child was buried. It was mid-March, and the grassy ground was, thankfully, no longer wet from the recent rains.

  “You cannot bring her back,” Hugo said quietly, placing one large hand on the back of Justin’s neck. “She has been with God this past month, and will not return to this place. You must accept it.”

  “I have.”

  “Then what is it that troubles you so? Surely you no longer blame yourself for the loss of the child. You and Isabelle were both ill. Neither of you could have stayed the hand of God, nor done anything to change its course.”

  “I know.” Justin pulled in a shaking breath, wiping away a single tear. He was full weary of crying, and yet every memory of the lifeless little girl, so tiny, but perfectly formed, readily called forth an unending well of tears. His child, his daughter, if she had but lived…

  “Is it not a mercy that the sickness did no more damage?” Hugo asked, squeezing the back of Justin’s taut neck in a soothing gesture. “You might have died, as well, or Isabelle. Others at Talwar might have taken ill with the disease and died of it.”

  Justin shuddered. “God forbid.”

  “Can you not be glad, then, that you were spared such loss, and think on that, rather than on the child?”

  “I will try,” Justin answered, closing his eyes and letting his head fall forward to rest upon his indrawn knees. “I would give anything to go back to that day. Even if I could not have stayed the loss of the babe, I would at least be able to stop the things I said to Isabelle.”

  “Is that what haunts you?” Hugo asked. “But you know that Isabelle does not set any blame at your door.”

  “Nay, she does not. She has been very kind, when she should do naught but curse me. If I had not spoken to her in such a way, giving her such lies, she might never have become so ill.” Lifting his head, he rubbed at the stinging beneath his eyelids.

  Hugo gave a long sigh, and patted Justin’s back. “Now you begin to play at being God, my brother. I have no doubt that whatever passed between you and Isabelle that day had nothing to do with what came after. If you spoke wrongly to your good lady wife, then you must ask her forgiveness, and afterward, you must forgive yourself. Then both you and Isabelle must begin to go on with the life that God has given you. A month of grieving is enough. More than this, and you court the sin of indulgence.”

  “You speak truly,” Justin admitted, releasing a long breath and settling his gaze on the valley below. After a moment, he said, calmly and quietly, “I am a great fool.”

  “Nay, not a great fool,” Hugo countered. “Only a little one, as all men are from time to time. You should resist the temptation to make yourself better or worse than your fellow man, Justin. We are all fallen creatures, dependent only on God’s grace. Now.” He pushed up onto his feet. “Return with me to the keep, where the evening meal awaits us. You will speak with Isabelle and ask her forgiveness, and put all that is past behind you.”

  “I do not know how to speak to her,” Justin said. “If she should turn me aside, I will no longer wish to live.”

  Hugo lifted his eyes heavenward and shook his head dismally. “Such tormented feelings. I’m glad I married the Church, rather than a woman. They seem to be a great deal of trouble.”

  As they made their way down the hillside, toward Talwar, Justin said, “I have a request to make of you, Hugo. It may be grievous, yet I will ask it.”

  “Speak,” Hugo encouraged. “Ask what you will.”

  “When you leave Talwar, I want you to take Lady Evelyn with you. I would have sent her away before you came, if I could have done so, but there was no safe way to manage it. If she goes with you, however, I will have no cause to worry, for no one could give her better care.”

  “She will be safe in my hands,” Hugo agreed. “And I will be glad to take her with me. Indeed, your decision encourages me. I have not been pleased to know that you have taken Lady Evelyn in, when it was she and her father who made Lady Isabelle’s life such a misery. I have not forgotten, nor will I ever forget, Sir Myles’s behavior on the night you married Lady Isabelle.”

  “I had no choice but to offer Lady Evelyn a home when her father sent her off with no manner of support,” Justin told him. “She is my responsibility by marriage. I had my fears, as well, but you can see that she is nothing like her father. Indeed, she has proved to be altogether different than what I had once imagined.”

  Hugo glanced at his brother in surprise. “Isabelle does not seem to share your feelings. She has been clearly unhappy to have Lady Evelyn living at Talwar.”

  “That is why I am sending her away. Isabelle has not yet been able to forget all that she suffered while she lived with her uncle, but I fear she has unjustly judged her cousin. Whatever she may have been before, ‘tis clear that Evelyn has changed. She has been a blessing since she came, doing whatever she can to serve us all.”

  Hugo put out a hand and pulled Justin to a stop. “Are you in love with the woman?”

  “Nay!” Justin’s tone was filled with disbelief. “How can you ask me such a question? I love Isabelle, and ever will. Evelyn is as nothing more than a sister t
o me. I care for her in the same manner that I care for Candis.”

  “And do you think Lady Evelyn understands this?”

  “Certainly she does,” Justin assured him. “How could she not? There has never been anything improper between us. I do not know why you and the others should think there has been. Even Isabelle accused me of dallying with her, but there is no reason for it, I vow.”

  “Is there not?” Hugo asked. “When Lady Evelyn follows you about most of the day, smiling and speaking sweetly and doing everything she can to make you comfortable? You are with her more than your own wife, and yet you are surprised that we should find that odd? Perhaps you are blind to it, my boy, but Lady Evelyn does not behave as a sister toward you, but like a lover.”

  Justin gave a snort of disdain. “You do not know what you speak of, Hugo, and I fear that you insult my wife’s cousin beyond bearing. Evelyn has not once done an improper deed, nor spoken an improper word, while she has been at Talwar. I will tell you what she is like. The night Isabelle was so ill and lost the child, when I was also suffering badly, Evelyn stayed with me in the smithy where I had sought silence and refuge, keeping me warm throughout the night. She never once thought of her own comfort, but only of what she might do for me. She was as kind as a sister to me that night, and I will not stand quietly while you, or any other, openly malign her. If it were not for Isabelle’s unhappiness, I would not consider sending the girl away. ’Tis more than wrong to treat her as if she has committed some grievous crime, when she has done naught but act with kindness.” He released a taut breath. “I wish it were not necessary.”

  “Hear me well, Justin,” Hugo advised. “It bodes no well for you and Isabelle while you so openly favor another woman. I will ask you this, and you must answer in truth. If it were Isabelle who had such a one to follow her about each hour, a fine and handsome fellow, who cared for her where it was your right to do so, and spoke with her when you wished to do so, smiling and whispering and teasing until she smiled and whispered and laughed in turn, not at you, her husband, when it was all that you craved—would you not be wretched? And perhaps angered?”