An Honorable Rogue (12 page)

Ropes creaked. Winchmen on the boat from the ducal quarry shouted orders. Swifts were feeding high in the sky, black arcs against blue.

Rozenn shot Ben an odd look and attempted to extricate her arm from his.

'Nay,
cherie.'
Ben held her gently but firmly in place. 'I have my reputation to think of.'

Melting brown eyes looked up at him, a dimple winked out. 'You have a reputation? What about mine? I'm a respectable widow here in Quimperle, while you, you...'

Unabashed, Ben grinned, well aware she had been about to name him a womaniser, or worse. 'But, Rose, you have been a widow such a short time, while I... I have been a wandering minstrel, doomed to wander the country for ever. It's hard...but I must insist. I have to maintain my reputation--I need to be notorious.'

'Oh?'

He lifted a brow. 'Certainly, notoriety guarantees a crowd for every performance. People come to hear me because they think me a devil."

'I see, very well.' Her tone was light, but at the back of her huge brown eyes, he could see shadows.

Rozenn let Ben keep one arm while she gathered up her skirts with the other. They picked their way to the end of the jetty, past stacks of crates and heaps of fishing nets to where Ketill's ship was docked at the last mooring.

At this, the southerly end of the port, the smell of gutted fish was strong and the planking slippery. Noses wrinkling, they trod warily.

On the deck of the ship, the protective canvasses had been rolled back and Osgood. Ketill's youngest son, was using the deck hoist to rearrange the cargo. He had tied his fair hair back at the nape of his neck like a Saxon, and was rolling a barrel into the cradle, brawny biceps bulging.

Rozenn waited while Osgood finished with the barrel before attracting his attention. Her heart was leaden in her breast, which was not what she had expected to feel on this, the day she had longed for--the day she was repaying the last of Per's debts.

While the barrel was being manoeuvred into place, Rozenn looked up at the cliffs towering above them, to the highest point where the White Bird stood just out of sight. Wondering what Mikaela would be serving for supper, she ran her gaze down the slope, down along the line of little houses that stopped at the port. Hauteville. Rose's throat tightened. She would shortly be leaving-- was that why she felt as though her heart was breaking?
No,
a little voice said,
be honest, it is not entirely that. You are sad because the night Ben came back, you made a point of telling him of your plan to leave Brittany, and he did not so much as blink. You expected a reaction from him, but you did not get one. You think he no longer cares, as he did when you were children. And maybe you are right.

The barrel safely stowed. Osgood hauled back the empty cradle.

'Osgood?
Osgood!'

The fair head turned, Osgood flashed a practised grin in her direction and vaulted lightly over the ship's rail to take her hand.

At her side, Ben went very still. He looked startled and for some reason this irritated her.

'Mistress Kerber!' Osgood ran his thumb lightly up and down the back of her hand. 'I am right glad to see you. You look very well, the prettiest widow in all of Brittany.'

'Yes, yes, Osgood.' Ignoring Ben, Rozenn smiled into the trader's blue eyes. Osgood loved to flirt, but this was harmless flirting. The world knew that Osgood was blissfully happy married to a woman named Anki , who lived with their daughter in a place called Scarborough on the north coast of England. Osgood only ever flirted with women who knew this. The flirting had begun when Rozenn had been married to Per and it continued now because Osgood knew there was no chance of Rozenn reciprocating. If the trader thought for one moment that Rozenn really had her eye on him, he would untie that mooring rope and be off faster than you could blink.

Rozenn indicated the purse at her waist. 'I think your father will be pleased to see me too, for I have come to set the tallies straight."

She unhooked her half of Per's tally stick from her belt, while Osgood called his father over. The tally stick was a record of the money Per owed the trader, the amounts being noted by the making of marks on the stick at the time the debt was incurred. As was the custom, the stick had been split lengthwise--Rozenn had kept one half and Ketill the other.

'Father! Father! Mistress Kerber is here with her husband's money.'

Out of the corner of her eye Rozenn spotted the red-haired man with the sharp nose, seated on a bollard near the Duke's quarry ship, whittling a stick. It occurred to her that he was uncommonly interested in the conversation that Abbot Benoit was having with the ship's master, but just then Ketill bustled up with his half of the tally stick, and the red-haired man was forgotten.

'Mistress Kerber.'

With much smiling and not a little relief, Rozenn noted, on the part of the trader, she put the two sticks together. 'Here, Ben, hang on to these, while I count the money out.'

Moments later the money was counted out into Ketill's broad and callused hands. Ketill and Osgood checked the amounts marked on the tallies.

When they were satisfied. Ben shifted. 'May I?' he asked, holding the tally sticks aloft.

Ketill nodded. 'Aye, lad, you do the honours."

Ben smiled, brought his knee up and the sticks smartly down. They snapped with a crack. 'I witness that this debt is settled in full,' he said, formally.

Free at last! The relief was as heady as strong wine. Per's debts were settled, to the last penny. Rozenn's purse felt lighter, but what of it? There was enough to do one last deal with Ketill. However, it wouldn't do to look too eager...

Pointedly, she closed her purse.

'My thanks, Ketill, for your patience,' she said. And now I have one last proposition to put to you.'

'One
last
proposition?" The trader frowned. 'Mistress Kerber, I had thought that you and I would be doing business for years to come."

She shook her head. 'I'm afraid that's not likely. You see, I am planning to journey to England to join my brother, Sir Adam.'

At her side, Ben sucked in a breath. 'Rose--'

'And I may not return,' she continued firmly. 'I was wondering how on earth I, who cannot ride, could get there. But then I remembered that your family is based somewhere in the north of England, and that you and Osgood must return there between voyages."

Ketill's gaze had narrowed, but he smiled. 'You wish to book passage in my ship, yes?'

'Yes. For myself and, possibly, another.'

Ben had hold of her sleeve.
'England,
Rose? You
are
serious!'

'Yes, I'm going to join Adam.' She met Ben's dark eyes steadily, but a certain intensity to his expression gave her pause. He looked pleased, excited almost--how strange. 'But, Ben, I have already told you. I had word from Adam, and he has invited Ivona and me to join him.'

'Yes, yes, I remember that, but...but you really mean to go?"

Rozenn put her hands on her hips. 'I cannot speak for Ivona, but as for me, why, yes, I intend to go. Why shouldn't I?'

Ben ran his hand through his hair and sent her a crooked grin. Yes, he was definitely pleased. 'No reason.' He took her hand and steered her away from Ketill and Osgood.

She hung back. 'Wait a minute, my business with Ketill is not concluded.'

'It is for now." A muscle twitched in his jaw, and, with Rozenn firmly in tow, Ben continued down the quay, dragging her farther from Ketill and Osgood.

'I beg your pardon!'

'We will discuss this over supper,' Ben said, marching with her towards the street that led up to her house and the White Bird at the top of the escarpment.

Ben. Sometimes he was most odd. Rozenn found herself smiling at his back before she came to her senses enough to resist his pull. 'Ben, I will have supper with you, but I must book passage and with Ketill and Osgood while they are in port. Not only are they the most trustworthy of the traders, but they live in England, where I intend to go.'

Ben came to a halt so abruptly that she ran straight into him. Instinctively, they reached to steady each other. Ben's hands slid down to hers and they stood at the foot of the hill, holding each other's fingers.

'I'm the last to know, I suppose," he said, twining his fingers with hers and loosing a disturbing
frisson
in her belly.

Rozenn frowned. 'Actually, I told you first, but--'

'Rose, I wasn't sure you meant it."

She shrugged. 'Well, I do mean it, Ben. I will have supper with you, but please release me so that I may speak to Ketill."

He shook his head. 'You can't..."

Hackles rising, she glared at him.
'Can't?'

A gentle fingertip touched the side of her face; again her belly tightened. His mouth edged up at one corner. 'Careful, little flower, your dimples have gone into hiding. All I meant was that you can't go that way, not by ship.'

She tipped her head back to look at him. 'Why ever not? Osgood told me their trade route takes them north. It skirts the coast of the Duchy till it reaches the Narrow Sea.'

'Yes, Rose, and England is on the other side of the Narrow Sea."

'So?'

'Rose, you are
terrified
of water. A few moments ago you looked very ill at ease. I see why." Ben gestured beyond the docks towards the Laita. 'You've never so much as put a toe in the river and now you are contemplating a sea voyage--'

'I'll be on board Ketill's ship, I won't be swimming! Ben, this is the best way, given I can't travel on land. Ketill will look after me.'

Ben was shaking his head, and his dark hair fell into his eyes. 'I know you. You are likely be sick the entire way. No, there's nothing for it, you'll have to go overland.' He looked thoughtful. 'Even then there will be the Narrow Sea to navigate, but if we embark from one of the northern ports and land at Bosham, say, in Wessex--yes, that would be about right, a shorter crossing. I will have to make enquiries, but the less time you spend at sea with your fear of water, the better. You should have let me teach you to swim. Rose, but that can't be helped. Yes, we'll go by land, to one of the northern ports--'

'We?
' Puzzled. Rose stared at him. Ben hardly seemed himself this afternoon. There was such a light in his eyes, such a determined light, as he attempted to take charge of her plans. Where had her frivolous lute-player gone?

Ben cleared his throat. 'Yes, we.' And then, abruptly, he was back to his old gallant, superficial self as he bowed over her hand and raised it to his lips. 'Rose, you are my lady fair. Surely you did not believe I would let you embark on such a dangerous enterprise on your own? If you are set on joining Adam in England, then I shall be your escort.'

'But, Ben, I can't ride, remember?'

'No matter, I'll teach you."

'Ivona can't ride either."

His lips curved, 'I will teach her too.'

'And what about horses?'

'We'll hire them."

'Won't that be expensive?' Knights and squires and ladies rode horses, noblemen rode horses, not ordinary girls like her. It was true that Rose was going to marry a knight, but the thought of riding right through Brittany was more than a little daunting. However, if Ben were to accompany her...

He gave her a smile that had melted sterner hearts than hers. 'Little flower, I have money, I told you.' His brown eyes danced, 'It seems I was not the only one who was not listening the night I came back. If you don't have enough to stand the hire fees, I have."

She snorted. Was it likely that Ben would have
saved
his money, even if he'd earned it? Rozenn threw a glance at Ketill, who was standing where they had left him, watching them. 'Ben...' Her voice trailed off.

Dear Lord, he knew her too well. The thought of the voyage
had been
troubling her, and the thought of making the journey with an old friend like Ben was tempting indeed, even if it meant she would have to learn to ride. Earnestly, she looked at him. 'You would travel with me?'

He shrugged, 'I have long had a yearning to travel to England, to play in London or Winchester.'

'Truly, Ben? You would be my escort? The
whole
way?'

He swept her one of his extravagant bows, 'I am, as I have told you a thousand times, yours to command. I'll have you and Ivona riding within a week."

'You will change your mind."

'Not a chance." Offering her his arm, he started up the hill.

Rozenn was smiling from ear to ear, but she could not help herself. Ben would accompany her to England!

He grinned down at her. 'Anyway, I have no choice.'

'How so?"

'Adam would have my hide if he knew I'd let you set off on your own."

'Are you and Adam still at odds with one another?'

He shot her an impenetrable look, but answered clearly enough, 'He will bury the hatchet if I escort you to England.'

'Oh?'

Aye." He affected a shudder. 'It is so fearful a task. Who else would put up with you? All the way to England?"

She stuck him lightly on the arm. 'Beast. Are you ever serious?'

'Not if I can help it'

'Ben?'

'Mmm?'

'Tell me, what was it you and Adam quarrelled about? He never would say.' Ben stared out over the roofs of the houses and made no answer--sometimes he was such a dreamer. 'Ben?'

'Hmm?'

'The quarrel? What was it about?'

His broad shoulders lifted. 'Something was said about a visit to Genevieve's bathhouse."

'Oh." Rose wrinkled her brow. Genevieve's bathhouse was also the town brothel. It was no surprise to learn that Ben had visited it, but it was surprising that it had caused such a rift between Adam and Ben.

Men. Would she ever understand them? A pair of long-lashed dark eyes were watching her, so she shook her head at him as he no doubt expected and let him escort her to the inn to discover what Mikaela had cooked up for supper.

The next morning, Rozenn met Ivona in the cool and quiet of the castle chapel, one of the few places where a private conversation could take place.

'What?'
Ivona stared at her, mouth working. 'Have you gone mad?'