That had been the turning point.
Now, speaking to Aurelia was like throwing cold water on the pleasant feelings she had about the conversation with Andreas.
Pleasant feelings were so rare for her these days.
“Exactly what I said,” she said angrily. “You dragged me out of my warm bed in the middle of the night to take me to some clandestine guild where people fornicate for all to see, men are free to grab any body part they wish, and people engage in things better left unsaid. How dare you take me to such a place and then run off and leave me standing there alone. If I am home late, it is your fault!”
Aurelia’s mouth popped open in outrage. “If you cannot appreciate fun, that is your misfortune,” she said. “I knew it was a mistake to take you there, you little country chit.”
Gavriella’s eyes narrowed. “I’d rather be a little country chit than a big city whore,” she said. “You heard me correctly – I said whore. I saw what you did in that place and you probably did more that I did not see.”
Aurelia’s face turned red. “You’re such a child, Gavriella,” she snarled. “You know nothing about the ways of men and women. I would keep my mouth shut if I were you.”
It was a threat and Gavriella knew it. But she was prepared. “If you think to challenge or torment me in any way, know that your first transgression will send me to your mother with every wicked thing you have done,” she said in a low voice. “I’ll tell her everything, Aurelia. Do not test me.”
Aurelia was looking at her in shock. No one ever challenged her and most certainly not another woman her age. She could push people around with the best of them, but Gavriella was evidently sprouting some courage. She very much wanted to snap back, but she knew that Gavriella’s threat was a real one. She could see it in the woman’s face. She looked exhausted and angry and…
“Where is the dress you were wearing last night?” she demanded, abruptly noticing her clothing was not the dress she had worn last night. “That was an expensive dress!”
Gavriella wasn’t going to tell her the truth. “Some man from your vulgar guild ripped it off of me,” she lied. “This was the only thing they could give me to wear, so your ruined dress is your fault. And I am never going anywhere with you again!”
Aurelia was beyond shocked now. She had moved into the realm of outrage. Cheeks flushed and mouth working, she turned and stomped out of the chamber, leaving Gavriella standing there with a stunned Camilla. Gavriella knew she’d won the battle, but not necessarily the war. This wasn’t over with Aurelia in the least.
She could only imagine what the next confrontation would be about.
Once Aurelia was gone, she heard Camilla speak softly.
“Are you well?” she asked, concerned. “You are not sick or injured, are you?”
Gavriella looked at Camilla. She was sweet and young, but her sister’s influence over her was great. Gavriella knew she couldn’t trust Camilla because anything she said would get back to Aurelia.
“I am not sick or injured,” she said, her tone kinder than it had been with Aurelia. “I am well, I promise.”
She went over to the wardrobe that contained her clothing in it and opened the doors. As she began to remove the garments that the tavernkeeper’s wife had loaned her, Camilla came up behind her and started helping.
“I am sorry we left you,” she said sincerely. “I thought you would dance with us, but we realized you had not. I went looking for you but could not find you. We only came home about an hour ago.”
Gavriella pulled the surcoat over her head. “Cammie,” she said slowly. “Do… do you really like that place?”
Camilla helped her pull the shift over her head. “It is fun,” she said. “It is exciting kissing men and not knowing who they are.”
Gavriella took some precious oil she’d brought with her from home, oil that smelled of flowers, and rubbed it on her skin because it was dry after the scouring she’d been given at the tavern. “But you should not be kissing men you do not know,” she said softly. “You are young and pretty. How do you think a fine husband will feel if he knows you have kissed so many men before him?”
Camilla pulled forth a fine, soft shift from the wardrobe. “He will appreciate that I know how to kiss him,” she said. “He does not need to know how I learned.”
It was clear that she didn’t understand the seriousness of her actions, of the dangers of a place like Gomorrah. Gavriella was trying to be delicate with her because Camilla was, in truth, a delicate creature, but she was also naïve. Reaching out, she put a hand on Camilla’s arm.
“Sweetheart, Aurelia is leading you astray,” she said as kindly as she could. “What your sister does is her own business, but you… you are better than that. You should not go to a place like that. I am afraid of what will happen to you, especially if men can have their way with you without consequence.”
Something in Camilla’s expression suggested that she knew that, but the truth was that she was weak. Aurelia led and she followed. It had always been that way.
“Do not worry,” she assured her, helping pull the new shift over Gavriella’s head. “I will not fall prey to anyone. But I do like to dance. That is the only reason I go.”
Gavriella knew she couldn’t talk any sense into the woman, so she shut her mouth. It was unfortunate that Camilla felt so, but there wasn’t anything more she could do about it.
“Just be careful,” she said before changing the subject because there was no use in continuing. “Now, I am going to sleep for a few hours. Mayhap you should, too.”
Camilla nodded, yawning. “I will,” she said. “But I could not go to sleep when you were missing. I was very worried about you.”
Gavriella smiled at her, patting her cheek. “I am well,” she assured her. “But Aurelia said your mother was asking for me. Why?”
Camilla shrugged. “She did not say,” she said. “I suppose when she realized you were not in bed, she wondered where you were.”
Gavriella was heading towards the big bed she shared with Camilla. “I will tell her that I could not sleep and went to walk about,” she said. “I have had trouble sleeping since I arrived, so that is nothing unusual.”
She climbed in, with Camilla climbing in next to her. They settled down on the feather mattress, soft and warm, far away from the foggy night and the dangerous guild in the sublevels of a burned-out church.
Far away from a dirty river that Gavriella had once entertained.
“Sleep well, Gavy,” Camilla said, sighing as she closed her eyes.
Gavriella rolled onto her side, facing the wall and the door. She was exhausted, that was true, but she didn’t fall asleep right away. Her thoughts were back on the handsome knight who had escorted her home, the one she had once told to go away. But he hadn’t listened.
She was glad he hadn’t listened.
In a few hours, he was going to take her to an entertainment across the river and she had to admit that she was excited about it. Not just the idea of watching an entertainment, but the idea of continuing the conversation with a man who had done the impossible. In spite of everything, the tumult they had been through and her own struggles against him, he had knocked a few holes in that wall she kept up around herself.
She was coming to trust him.
Truth be told, she was coming to like him just a little, too.
She knew she shouldn’t – God knew, she should send the man along his way – but she couldn’t seem to do it. Having a friend, a male friend, was something foreign and exciting and even a little titillating. She really hadn’t known any men other than her father and the men who served him, and then after what happened last year… nay, she had no desire to be friends or acquaintances with any man.
Men only brought pain.
But Andreas hadn’t. He’d been quite the opposite.
Something told her that her stay in London just became a little more bearable.
Lothbury House
“Where
have you been?”
The question came from William as soon as Andreas walked into the hall of Lothbury House, his Uncle Edward’s townhome. Edward de Wolfe was an advisor to the king and, as such, needed a home near the Tower of London and also one near Windsor, which he did. It was on the River Thames off to the west, and a beautiful structure, but Edward and his cousins and Theodis had been staying at Lothbury, a hell of a fortified manse that wasn’t too far from the home where he’d just left Gavriella. The Asher, she had called it.
He couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Or her.
“Out,” he told his cousins, who were seated at the big table in the hall, having a morning meal. He pulled off his big leather gloves and plopped down next to Tor. “How was the rest of the evening at Gomorrah?”
He was deflecting the subject and, for the moment, they went along with it. “Boring,” Theodis said. “All of the pretty women were taken, including the one you left with. Where did you go?”
Andreas gave him an exaggeratedly coy look. “Do you truly expect me to kiss and tell?”
Will leaned into him. “Give us something to gossip about, lover,” he said. Then, he sniffed the man and immediately pulled away. “Jesus, Dray. You smell like the fat and greasy river rats that populate The Pox.”
Andreas poured himself some warmed, watered wine. “You were close when you said the river, actually,” he said. “Mayhap I’ll tell you sometime just how close. Now, back to that bawdy guild. Are you telling me that with all of the women there, I was the only one to find an attractive one? Tay, that’s not like you. Usually, you have a few hanging off your arms, anywhere we go. You must be losing your charm, old man.”
Theodis sneered at him. “I have lost nothing except my virginity at a very young age,” he said, watching William and Tor laugh. “Dray, you do not seem to understand. We do not want to speak of our evening. We want to know about yours.”
Andreas spooned stewed fruit into a bowl and took a hunk of bread. “There is nothing to tell,” he said. “You saw her run into the room where we were – she was hysterical because she could not find the exit. I merely helped her find her way out.”
“And?”
“And nothing. It was foggy, she could not remember where she lived, she tried to drown herself in the river, and I took her to an inn to wait out the mist.”
He said it so fast that they almost didn’t catch the part about the river. “She tried to drown herself?” William repeated, confused. “Why? What happened?”
Andreas stuffed his face with bread. “In truth, I still do not know,” he said. “She’s a sweet lass once you get past her hysteria. We had a pleasant conversation and I took her home at dawn. I am going to sleep a few hours and then we are going across the river to the entertainment over there.”
Will’s eyebrows lifted in surprise that Andreas should actually make a date to see the woman again. He looked at Tor, who shrugged, but Theodis was far less discreet than those two were.
He wanted answers.
“You must like her,” he said. “What is her name?”
“Gavriella.”
“Ah,” Theodis said. “Gavriella. A lovely name. Where is she from?”
“I do not know.”
“What is her family name?”
“I do not know.”
Theodis frowned. “What do you know about her?”
“Enough,” Andreas said, washing the bread down with wine. “Stop pestering me or I’ll tell you nothing more.”
Theodis backed down, but it was only to rethink his strategy. They continued to eat, with servants moving around the small hall delivering more food to the table, but Theodis was eyeing Andreas, as they all were, only Tor and William were more discreet about it. They didn’t want to hammer their cousin too much, although they were quite curious.
Andreas and a woman was a rare thing, indeed.
“When did you want to leave, Dray?” Tor finally asked, mouth full of warmed-over beef. “With our business here finished, I see no reason to remain. Have you thought about heading home soon?”
He spoke the truth. There really was no reason to remain in London because everything they’d come to accomplish had been completed. Yesterday, Andreas was ready to head home, but now…
Now, not so much.
“We need to make it home before the September rains come,” he said. “That gives us about five or six weeks at most. There’s plenty of time.”
Will shook his head. “Not for me,” he said. “I have a family to return to. I have already been gone overlong. No offense, lads, but I want to get home.”
No one argued with him, not even Theodis. They all knew the situation with Will, how his wife had been ill for the last year. A tumor in her belly, the physic said, something he couldn’t remove, so pretty and frail Lily had been fighting for her life ever since. Will was a devoted husband and father, strong in the face of his wife’s illness because he had to be. Outwardly, he was in control, but inwardly, that was another matter altogether.
He was struggling with a world turned upside-down.
But no one brought that up. There was no need. Still, it had been good to see Will enjoy himself, at least for a short time, something that was rare for him. When all of the puking and purging and scandalous guilds had passed, the fact remained that Will had enjoyed himself, even for a short while.
“As do I,” Andreas agreed after a moment. “In truth, I miss home when I am away from it overlong, but I would like to spend the afternoon with the lady I saved from Gomorrah. I did promise her entertainment, after all. If you are agreeable, then we can leave on the morrow.”
Will and Tor shrugged in agreement as Theodis smiled wickedly from across the table. The man was oozing lascivious suggestions even if he wasn’t speaking them. Rolling his eyes, Andreas shoved the last of the bread in his mouth and got up from the table.
At dawn, Lothbury House was already busy with preparations for the coming day. Andreas could hear his young cousins upstairs, preparing to come down to the small hall to break their fast. There were four young girls and a new baby, his uncle’s first son. He could hear the girls squealing and the baby crying, and he grinned as he hurried towards the wing of the manse that housed the young men.
His chamber was at the end of the corridor, a small one that overlooked the yard of the manse, the wall, and the street beyond. As he headed towards his room, he caught the attention of a big, sweaty servant who was bringing fresh water to the rooms. Andreas not only wanted the water, he wanted a bath because he smelled like fish guts, so the servant went running for a tub and hot water.
Andreas was fairly certain that Lady Gavriella would not like him to smell like fish guts.
Opening the door to his chamber, he stepped into the cool and dark room. There was a small hearth, but it lay dark and cold, so when the servants began to bring the buckets of hot water along with the tub, he sent them for firewood as well.
Since the room was so small, Andreas stood out in the corridor while the servants prepared his bath and stoked a fire in the hearth. As he stood there wearily, he realized that he was still hungry, having only really left the table because of the way Theodis was looking at him, so he sent for more food which was promptly brought.
With the fire burning in the hearth and a big copper tub half-filled with hot water, Andreas finally chased the servants away and entered his chamber, closing the door and bolting it. His saddlebags were underneath his bed and he pulled them out, slinging them onto the bed. Digging around, he pulled out a razor, soap, and a comb. He put everything onto a table near the tub and begin to peel his smelly clothing off.
Unfortunately, he was wearing a chainmail coat, something that rusted very easily when it was damp. Already, he could see the rust starting and he unbolted the door and tossed it to the big, sweaty servant who was still out in the corridor. He asked the man to have his mail cleaned, closing the door once more and bolting it.
With his protection be
ing tended to, he proceeded to strip off every piece of clothing on his body, including his boots, which smelled horrible at this point. There were some parts of his clothing that were still damp, so he tossed everything into a heap with the intention of having it washed as he sank his big body into the copper tub.
He hissed as he sat down because the water was so hot, but it felt glorious. Picking up the hard white Spanish soap that smelled of mint and rosemary, he proceeded to scrub himself down. Fortunately, the heavy scrubbing eventually got rid of any mildew smell that might have lingered on his body and the scent of peppermint and rosemary filled the air as he washed his hair and face thoroughly. He even shaved, using the surface of the water as a mirror. It was strange, really, wanting to smell good for a woman he had only just met.
A woman with whom he hadn’t had the easiest of beginnings.
But given the conversation with her earlier, things were starting to look up.
The hot bath felt so good that Andreas ended up scrubbing himself a second time, just because he wanted to. Gone was the smell of the river and in its place, he smelled like the wonderful herbs of a garden. He wondered if Lady Gavriella would like the smell and then laughed at himself for being foolish enough to be concerned.
It had been such a long time since he had last spent quality time with a woman that he wondered if he remembered how. He just wasn’t like Theodis, who charmed women from one end of England to the other. He wasn’t like Tor, who also had a fairly decent following of admiring females. Truth be told, there were a few women in the north who were declared Andreas de Wolfe admirers, but he didn’t take pride in that like the others did. It didn’t mean anything to him. As handsome as he was, it was inevitable that he should have a following. Following – aye, but prospects – nay.
Until now.
Well, maybe the lady wasn’t exactly a prospect, but at least someone to spend some time with while he was in London. As Andreas scrubbed his fingernails to get the grime out, he began hoping that their most recent pleasant conversation wasn’t a fluke. He hoped that when he saw her again, they would go right back to that pleasant moment in time and pick up the conversation where they’d let off. He hadn’t felt this way in a very long time, excited to spend time with someone of the opposite sex. Honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time.
WolfeBlade: de Wolfe Pack Generations Page 13