by Anne Herries
‘I shall join you soon, my sweet,’ he told her, and his eyes were dark with passion. She knew that he longed for her as she longed for him, and that, though he would not say it, their coming separation would be hard for him to bear.
‘Do not be long, Rob,’ she said. ‘The night will soon be gone…’
She left him talking to the steward, saying good-night to her aunt as she passed, her heart racing at the thought of what was to follow. She must make this night special, so that Rob would remember it when he was lying on the hard ground with only a blanket to keep him warm.
Agnes was waiting in her chamber.
‘Where is Morag?’ Melissa asked. ‘Why are you here?’
The girl looked at her nervously. ‘She sent word that she was sick and could not come, my lady. I thought that you might allow me to serve you in her place.’
‘I should have been told that she was ill.’ Melissa frowned for she did not trust this woman. ‘Well, I suppose, for this once—but I have decided that I shall not take you with me when we leave. I do not want you near me.’
‘Do you wish to disrobe, my lady?’ Agnes asked. Her eyes flicked away to the corner of the room, and Melissa sensed something was wrong. There was more to this than met the eye.
‘What is it?’ she asked. ‘Speak now, Agnes.’
‘Oh, my lady, forgive me…’ Agnes said, a sob in her voice. ‘I did not know how to warn you…’
‘Warn me?’ Melissa became suddenly aware that someone was behind her. She turned her head, but even as she did so, a heavy blanket was thrown over her, cutting off light and air so that she found it difficult to breathe. She tried to cry for help but the rough wool got into her mouth, choking her as she felt herself hoisted and thrown over a man’s shoulder.
‘Be quiet, girl,’ a voice said. ‘Behave and no harm will come to you. I am taking you where you belong, to your rightful husband.’
Melissa struggled, kicking and pummelling at his back, but the blanket hampered her struggles and she was finding it more and more difficult to breathe. Her chest hurt and she was feeling faint, her resistance fading as she was carried away, through the secret passage that ran beneath the walls of the house itself.
It was some thirty minutes later that Rob at last entered Melissa’s chamber. He had been delayed by one of his men, who had received bad news from home and asked to be released. Rob had given him leave, and then been delayed again by the steward as he was about to leave his own apartments. Impatient and eager, he had hastened to his love’s chamber only to find it empty. He saw that the candles were still burning, but there was no sign of Melissa. She could not be in his chamber for he had left it only moments ago—so where was she? As his eyes travelled ‘round the room, he caught sight of something gleaming near a tapestry that covered one wall of the room. Bending down to pick it up, he discovered that it was the chain of emeralds that he had given Melissa as a wedding gift. It had snapped at the fastener, something that must have taken some force for it was strongly made!
He looked at it in bewilderment. Once, he might have suspected her of breaking it deliberately in temper, but he knew her better now. She might be proud and defiant at times, but she would never do this to his wedding gift. Besides, she had been happy when she left him, her eyes promising a night of love and passion they would both remember.
Where was she? He felt the ice enter his blood as he wondered what had happened to her. Looking about the room, he frowned and then returned to the outer chamber. There was no sign of her woman, which was not in itself unusual, for Melissa often sent her to sleep elsewhere, he knew. And yet he had a terrible feeling that something was wrong.
Going to the top of the stairs, he shouted for Hale. A search must be made throughout the house and grounds for Melissa and there must be no delay.
The steward came running, his expression showing that he was already aware that something was wrong. ‘Yes, sir? You wanted something?’
‘My wife is not in her chamber,’ Rob said, ‘and her women are missing. I want them both found.’
‘The woman called Agnes is belowstairs,’ Hale said, his face grim. ‘She was seen trying to sneak out with a bundle under her arm—she has taken some of your lady’s jewels.’
‘I shall speak to her at once,’ Rob said. ‘There is some treachery here, Hale. Double the guard and make sure that no one comes or goes.’
‘Yes, sir.’ The steward hesitated for a moment, then, ‘There is a secret way into and out of the house, Sir Robert. Only the earl knows it for the secret is passed down from father to son…’
‘It is as I might have expected,’ Rob said, and swore furiously. ‘He gave his bond too easily and broke it just as easily—he must have had something like this in mind from the beginning.’
‘If it is my former master…’ the steward hesitated, and then, ‘I think he will have used her to bargain with the Marquis of Leominster. I daresay he hopes to draw you from here so that he may enter in secret and take Gifford back by stealth, thus saving it from being sacked as it might have been during the siege.’
‘You are right,’ Rob said, for he had already worked it out. The earl had known that if he resisted the siege he would likely be forced to surrender on harsh terms, and his property might have been destroyed in the fighting. It was not unknown for the home of a traitor to be burned to the ground. He had hoped to avoid such a fate, and to get his manor back by some other means. And now he had Melissa! ‘Damn me for a fool! I should have had her guarded all the time.’
‘You could not have known,’ Hale said. ‘I believe if you question the woman she will confirm what I have told you.’
‘Yes, I daresay.’ Rob’s lips were white for, with Melissa in his enemy’s hands, he was loath to move against Leominster.
He ran down the stairs to the great hall. Agnes was sitting on a bench, her head in her hands. When he spoke her name, she looked up at him, her face deathly pale.
‘What have you to say for yourself, woman?’
Agnes trembled. ‘I was afraid that I would be punished when you discovered that he had taken her. I took the jewels because I did not know where to go or what to do…’
‘You are a thief and perhaps worse,’ Rob said, ‘for if you knew he was here in the house why did you not warn us? And where is Morag?’
‘She was sick and took to her bed. The earl said that he would kill me if I said a word to warn my lady,’ Agnes said. ‘He came so suddenly, and I did not know how he had got into the house. I did try to warn her but it was too late. He threw a blanket over her and was gone before I could do anything to aid her.’
‘But you might have come to me at once,’ Rob said, his eyes glinting with anger. ‘Instead, you chose to sneak away with your mistress’s property.’
Agnes fell to her knees before him. ‘Forgive me. Allow me to seek the sanctuary of a nunnery and I shall bother you no more.’
‘You deserve to be whipped if nothing more,’ Rob growled. ‘But I shall have you confined and kept here as a prisoner. It will go hard with you if my lady is harmed. Had you acted differently this night, we might have stopped her abductor from spiriting her away.’
He nodded to two of the men, who had been responsible for catching her as she tried to flee. They took hold of Agnes by her arms and took her off. Rob paced the floor, uncertain what to do next. It was almost impossible to discover the secret way. Besides, the earl would be long gone now. He must decide what to do next. Was Hale right in thinking that he would take her to Leominster? Was she to be used to gain the marquis’s help in retaking the fortified manor house?
If Leominster had her…Rob might endanger her life by attacking the castle, and yet what choice did he have? It was his duty to the King, and his only real chance of getting her back might be by subduing Leominster.
Of Melissa’s likely fate once she was in the hands of such a monster, Rob did not dare to think. Leominster thought to marry her to gain control of her lands, perhaps making himse
lf so powerful that Henry was forced to treat with him. Melissa was his wife! She belonged to him, Robert of Melford. The marquis would be angry once he knew that he had been cheated of his prize. What would he do to her?
Rob was wracked with agony at the thought of what could happen to her. Leominster might consider that she was rightfully his—and that she had betrayed him by wedding Rob. He would punish her for that in some way. If he forced her to lie with him…the sickness swirled inside Rob’s stomach for the thought was more than he could bear.
Leominster would die for it! He gathered all his strength of purpose, knowing that he must summon his men. Attack was the best form of defence. Leominster would have little time to take his pleasures if his castle were under siege. They would march tonight and attack as soon as it was light, perhaps taking the marquis unawares. Surely he would not have time to think of bedding her!
As he strode towards the door there was a commotion and some of Rob’s men brought in a stranger. He was struggling and protesting that he wished to speak to Robert of Melford. Rob held up his hand.
‘Let him speak,’ he commanded, and the stranger was pushed forward and made to kneel. ‘Well, tell me what you would say, sir.’
‘I have news from King Henry,’ the man said. ‘He sends word that he will send you more men to help in the siege of Leominster. You are to begin it at once and Morgan of Hywell will join you with fifty men before three days are out.’
‘Let him stand,’ Rob said. ‘Have you the King’s seal to prove your words, sir?’
‘Aye, I have, but they would not listen…’ The stranger gulped. ‘I found the body of a man outside your gates, sir, and I brought him in on my horse. They thought I had murdered him, but I swear it is not so.’
‘It is the Earl of Gifford,’ Owain said, coming into the hall at that moment. ‘He has been knifed in the back and was dead when they took him down—but there was something in his hand.’ Owain held out a scrap of cloth of gold. ‘From her kirtle I think. Someone took her from him and killed him for his pains.’
‘I would expect no more of a man such as Leominster,’ Rob said, his mouth twisting with anger. ‘I do not know why they fell out…’
‘Perhaps I may tell you,’ Lady Gifford said, coming into the hall at that moment. Her head was held proudly, her face pale but determined. ‘I know that Leominster always coveted my husband’s lands for the forest abounds with game to the west and is a rich source of charcoal. To the east lies the sea. There are deposits of sea coal and good fishing, besides an opening to the ocean. Leominster has no forests of his own—and so he covets ours.’
Rob nodded, for a man might covet his neighbour’s lands and many quarrelled and fought over them, taking what they could by force. It was a measure of the lawlessness that had come upon England these past years. ‘By right they belong to your son, lady—though the King may have other ideas.’
‘All I ask of you is to be allowed to retire to my dower lands,’ Lady Gifford said. ‘Let me bury my husband and leave, sir. I could not hold these lands against such as Leominster, even if the King granted them. My dower is but insignificant and may not arouse so much envy.’
Rob looked at her in silence for a moment. Perhaps he ought to send her to the Tower to await the King’s judgement, but he would not see a woman so harshly treated. Besides, she had been kind to Melissa in her way. ‘Go then, lady, for I leave here on the hour. I am sorry for your loss. Had your lord kept his word and given his allegiance to Henry, he might have lived—perhaps to return to his home one day.’
‘I care not that he is dead,’ she said, her head raised, eyes glittering. ‘I live only for my son. He has been deprived of his birthright, but perhaps he may rise again to his rightful position one day. I shall not see you again, Robert of Melford—but if we meet it shall not be as friends!’
Rob watched as she walked away. Her last spurt of defiance had shown her true character. She had appeared meek and welcoming, but she had hidden her anger behind a smiling face. It was clear that the lady of Gifford resented what had happened here, for her son if not her husband or herself.
Rob had been determined to subdue Leominster for Henry’s sake, but now he was impatient to begin his campaign. That monster had Melissa and he would not rest until he had set her free. He dare not think beyond that, for if she suffered at Leominster’s hands…
The pictures whirled inside his head, and he groaned as he thought of her at the mercy of that evil creature. There were so many things that the marquis might do while he had her, and all of them sent shivers down Rob’s spine. He burned with anger and frustration for, until he could break down Leominster’s defences, there was no way he could reach her. The delay had been crucial for he could never hope to catch up with the marquis’s men. She might even now be imprisoned within the castle walls.
‘Do not fear for her,’ Owain said, seeing the agony he was enduring. ‘Melissa never bowed to her father’s cruelty and she will not break now. Besides, the marquis will hardly have time to bother with her, for we shall be on them before they know it.’
‘Yes.’ Rob took a grip on his emotions. He had no time to dwell upon his own pain. He must take command of his men and do as the King had bidden him, for that way lay his only chance of salvation. ‘But if he has harmed her, he shall know the agony of hell…’
Melissa’s head was swirling as she felt herself lifted and carried from the back of the horse. She had no memory of how she had come to this place, for she had fainted, almost suffocated by the heavy blanket that had only now been removed from her head. It was dark and she could see little of her surroundings, even had she been inclined, though the clatter of horses’s hooves over a drawbridge had told her that they must have arrived at Leominster’s stronghold.
‘What ails the girl?’ someone asked close by. ‘If you have harmed her, the marquis will have your head!’
‘Nay, ‘tis only a faint,’ a man’s rough voice growled. ‘She was like it when we took her from Gifford, as you instructed.’
‘What of the earl?’ another voice asked. ‘Did he give you any trouble? Did he show you the secret way?’
‘He gave us the slip in the darkness, for we dare not follow too closely,’ the first man said. ‘He is dead as you ordered, my lord.’
‘Damnation! It is a pity that he was too clever for you, but we will take it by force when we are ready. Very well, take her inside and see that she is locked in. I am too busy to bother with her just yet.’
Melissa heard it all through the haze that seemed to claim her senses once more. When they finally began to clear, she realised that she was lying on a bed with a feather mattress, and that the room was well lit with wax candles. As her sight returned and she could focus properly again, she saw that a woman was working at the other side of the room.
‘Where am I?’ she croaked, for her throat was sore. ‘Who are you?’
The woman came forward and curtsied to her respectfully. ‘So you have wakened, my lady. I am called Naomi and my lord says that I am to serve you.’
Melissa pushed herself up against the silken pillows. Her mind was beginning to clear, and she knew that her uncle had abducted her from Gifford, but something had happened after that…She had heard a shout and a muffled groan and then several voices. They had put her on a horse and someone had mounted behind her, holding her when she swooned. She thought that someone had said something about the earl getting what he deserved.
‘Am I at the castle of Leominster?’ Melissa asked.
‘Yes, my lady. The marquis had you smuggled out of Gifford, where you had been held captive…’
‘I was not a captive,’ Melissa said, a note of anger in her voice. ‘I demand to be taken back to my husband at once.’
‘Your husband?’ A look of horror came over Naomi’s face. ‘But you are the betrothed of the marquis…’
‘I was married to Robert of Melford two weeks ago and I am his wife in every way,’ Melissa said defiantly. ‘Lord L
eominster has nothing to gain by holding me here. Pray, tell him that I wish to leave at once.’
‘Forgive me, my lady,’ Naomi said, her face turning pale. ‘If I dared to tell my master that he would have me beaten and thrown into the dungeons. Do not ask it of me. I would serve you well in any other way, bring you wine and food—but do not ask me to tell my lord that you have married another.’
‘Very well, I shall tell him myself.’ Melissa swung her legs over the edge of the bed, but as she tried to rise, her head swam and she lay back with a little moan. ‘I cannot rise yet. Please, bring me water.’
‘You are ill, my lady,’ Naomi said. ‘Stay there and I shall bring you water and a little wine. It has been a terrible ordeal for you.’
Melissa closed her eyes. She was feeling too dizzy to try to leave this bed for the moment; besides, she needed to think about her situation. How was she to escape from this place? She had found it impossible to avoid the eagle eye of the lady of Gifford, who had made sure that Melissa could not run away. But then Rob had come and he had married her, loved her in a way that had made her body sing with pleasure.
Surely he would come for her now. She was his wife, and he cared for her, even if he could not love her as he once had.
She knew that it had been his intention to lay siege to the castle, anyway. He would not fail her. Even if she found it impossible to get out, Rob would find his way to her. All she had to do was believe in him—and keep the marquis at bay.
For the moment she needed to sleep, but when she woke she would see what she could discover about her situation here. Was she to be a prisoner or would the marquis treat her as his betrothed wife? Not once he knew the truth!
He would be very angry when he learned that she was Rob’s wife, but she could not be certain how he would react. She shivered, feeling suddenly cold all over. Everything she had heard of him led her to believe that she might suffer for his disappointment. She prayed that he would be too busy defending his castle to bother with her for a while. It might be better if she were to plead sickness for as long as she could.