Courtly Love

IN THE COURT OF THE KING TREACHERY RULED . . .

Lady Serena,
whose sapphire eyes and rare beauty not even King William could resist.

Lord Gyles
, who was sure he had tasted every pleasure and experienced every sensation life held . . . until he met Serena.

Lady Beda,
sultry and diabolical wife of Gyles's dead brother, who would stop at nothing until her plans for Gyles and Camden Castle were realized.

Richard,
whose unquenched passion for his childhood sweetheart, Lady Serena, would drive him to disaster.

THIS IS COURTLY LOVE

A tale of love in a breathtaking era, a time of courageous knights, perilous jousts, royal intrigue, when passion reigned supreme.

Contents

Prologue  THE BETRAYAL

Part One A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE

Part Two A PRINCE OF THE REALM

Part Three THE LETTERS

Part Four THE FLEETING PROMISE

Part Five A CASTLE UNDER SIEGE

Part Six OUR LADY OF SORROW

Epilogue CAMDEN

"
I
'll not wed him!"

The angry words rang through the halls, causing the servants to glance knowingly at each other and to depart hurriedly for a different part of the castle. The argument between Lord Geoffrey and his daughter Lady Serena had begun at breakfast and now, shortly before the noonday meal, neither party had surrendered to the other; and knowing the stubbornness of both, the battle could rage late into the evening.

Lord Geoffrey was seated behind a massive oak table upon which numerous papers were strewn. A fine looking man who had lived a full life in the five and forty years God had seen fit to grant him, Geoffrey, his dark hair flecked slightly with grey, allowed his brown eyes to flash angrily back at his daughter. At seventeen, Serena was a portrait of her mother at the same age. Her taffy brown hair shot through with gold hung to her waist and her sapphire blue eyes glared defiantly back at her father.

"I'll not wed him!" she repeated in a calmer voice. "You promised me that my marriage would be a love match—I was to wed whomever I chose. You swore to my mother on her deathbed that I would not be forced into a political marriage. Will you now break that holy oath? You know Richard and I..."

"Richard no longer is of any concern to you, nor you to him. You shall be wed to Lord Gyles of Camden. All the negotiations are completed." Geoffrey tapped the papers before him. "There is nothing else to be discussed, these arrangements are final, Serena. Richard would never have accepted you on these terms, Lord Gyles has."

Serena snatched the papers from her father and began to read them—no small accomplishment, since few people could read and women were not educated at all. Her delicately arched brows pulled together in a frown.

"But, Father, this cannot be right! These say that all I bring with me as a dowry are Mother's dower lands. What of the gold and silver I know you've had saved for me these many years? Surely that's not..."

"There are many expenses in a household as large as this, Serena," a purring feminine voice interrupted. "Really, Serena, you should be more considerate of your father's position."

"Aurelia, my pet." Geoffrey left his seat to guide his wife to a chair.

Serena watched the beautiful blond woman coldly. How things had changed when Father had remarried. The household Serena had managed since her mother's death three years before had been taken from her charge and it seemed Father had no time either for herself or her brother Bryan. Aurelia had been pushing her toward any available male who visited Broughton. Before Aurelia had come, Father had been content to allow Serena to choose her own suitors. Serena's eyes narrowed angrily, emphasizing their upward slant.

"Was this marriage your idea, Aurelia? I cannot believe that Father would choose Lord Gyles for my husband without being influenced by someone else. If I remember correctly, your sister was married to the lord's half-brother, Kier, wasn't she? It was never known how Kier happened to be riding alone the morning he was killed, was it? As for expenses incurred by this household, I would remind you that I well know when coin must be spent and on what items."

Serena studied the richly clad form of her father's wife—she could not and would not think of her as a stepmother. "It suddenly comes to me how my dowry was spent. 'Twas used to clothe your back, Aurelia, was it not? The bolts of material that have constantly arrived here ... of course." Serena eyed her father with dismay, and the good man flushed slightly under her uncompromising stare. "Is this how you carry out your promise to my mother?"

"Serena, there is much you must understand. . . ." Geoffrey's voice trailed off as Serena raised a tiny hand.

"I do not care for explanations or excuses, I wish only a share of that which is rightfully mine. From you, Aurelia, I want the key to the storage room where you keep the bolts of cloth. And from you, Father, I want your word that I may have anything in that room that attracts my eye." Aurelia moved as if to speak, but subsided into tight-lipped silence when her husband nodded.

Serena flashed them both a cold travesty of a smile as she stepped to Aurelia and extended her hand. "The key, Lady Aurelia, if you please. Thank you." Serena thoughtfully weighed the key in the palm of her hand. "Very well, Father, the battle is over and well met by both sides. Only tell me why Lord Gyles is willing to accept so poor a bride when Richard would not."

Her father's flushed face turned a deeper hue of red. "He is wealthy enough, Serena. He has no need of more coin."

"And he is a bastard." Aurelia's voice cut across her husband's. "Being merely a bastard—even though his father saw to it he would be Lord of Camden if his legitimate, first-born son died without leaving issue—there are few who would wed him."

Serena paled and her eyes pleaded with her father for denial, but he stood with bowed head studying the floor. "There is no need to be so blunt with the lass, Wife. I would have told you, Serena, when the time was right." "When, pray, would that have been?" Serena's blue eyes shot sparks into the room. "On my wedding day?

"Tis bad enough I may not take a husband of my own choosing, but this—to be wed to a nameless bastard who would have naught save for his half-brother's death. Whatever have I done, Father, that you would humiliate me in this cruel manner? Have I done you some grievous wrong that you now set to right by marrying me to some nameless cur?" The pain in Serena's heart was so intense that she had to take several deep breaths before she could continue. "Never fear, my Lord Geoffrey, I shall honor this arrangement to my dying day, or his. But hear you this, and heed my words well." Serena's voice was so low they had to strain to hear as she continued. "When the day comes that I am wed, I shall no longer be your daughter, save in name only. Any children I may bear will never know their grandsire, for I will never set foot in your home willingly again. If you should find it necessary to visit Camden you shall be treated as befits your station, but you will find no daughter's love from me. For the present, keep your wife out of my way, for I will brook no further interference from either of you. If you will excuse me, I shall now seek out what my dowry has purchased, for I would not want my husband to find my wardrobe lacking." Serena bent into a deep, mocking curtsy and swept from the room.

Amelia gave her husband an angry look as she jumped to her feet and poured herself a goblet of wine. "The chit needs a good hiding, Geoffrey, and I'll not have her pawing through my materials!"

"Guard your tongue, woman, that chit you speak so harshly of is my daughter. And the precious materials and trinkets you pleaded and pouted for were bought dearly with coin mat was rightfully Serena's. Tis only just she have a share of them." Geoffrey spoke slowly, each word seemingly wrung from his throat.

He had no doubt that his daughter meant every word she said. He sighed deeply, he had not meant to injure his daughter's pride nor force her into a marriage that would turn her so fully against him. Geoffrey cast a glance at his high-born Norman wife. Perhaps it had been a mistake for him to marry again—another injustice Serena doubtless held against him. His first wife—Serena's and Bryan's mother —had been a beautiful Saxon maid of sixteen summers when they had wed and within a year Bryan had appeared, lustily crying his anger at a cold, indifferent world. Serena was born two years later and from the time she could crawl, had followed Bryan like a shadow. Geoffrey had even indulged his wife's whim and allowed Serena to study with Bryan under the tutelage of a monk. The girl had a quick, seeking mind and soon outstripped her brother in their studies. Much to Bryan's chagrin, Serena also wheedled her way into his private lessons of horsemanship, self-defense, and battlefield tactics. Yes, Geoffrey reflected, both children had flourished well until that fateful day ten years before.

The year 1066—by the Christian calendar—had seen the bastard Duke William set foot on English soil, and with him came death and destruction. Geoffrey had fought at Hastings, and when the bloody battle was over, had surrendered his sword and sworn allegiance to William. This he did not out of fear, but for the sake of his family's preservation. As he saw old friends and comrades-in-arms hunted and killed like animals, Geoffrey grew more and more confident that his choice had been the best course for all concerned. And William had proved a just and fair ruler, not at all the cruel Norman the English Saxons had feared.

Geoffrey slumped into a chair near the fire. To what end had his plans come? His son rebelled at every turn, fighting both his father and the Norman rulers, and now Serena, his beautiful, treasured daughter, had disowned her family. Well, perhaps by evening Serena's temper would cool and she would reconsider her words, but Geoffrey could tell by the rigidity of Aurelia's body that she would not forget what Serena had said.

"Do not take Serena's words to heart, Aurelia," Geoffrey said." Twas her anger speaking is all."

Aurelia turned to her husband. "She hates me, Geoffrey. She has ever since we were wed, and I'm not a favorite with Bryan, either. I had hoped that Serena would be pleased with the match I arranged, but I can see I've only given her more cause to dislike me. What a twit— she should be pleased to have a husband with such wealth, not like—" Aurelia stumbled suddenly to a halt, realizing her error. "I mean, that is... I..."

"You mean you wish you'd married a richer man, and perhaps a little younger as well, rather than my father, don't you, Aurelia?" Bryan stood in the entrance, his blue eyes flashing in the same way as his sister's. "Just why did you marry my father? Because you feared you'd die a shriveled up spinster? Or was it to better your life by lowering ours? I know all about your fine Norman family, madame. A grand name and title, but no money in the coffer to pay for their support. So it was decided you and your sister should marry wealth. Pity your sister's husband died so suddenly—well, perhaps she can find another soon. This one may even live long enough to give her a child if..."

"Enough, Bryan!" Geoffrey growled. "You will show your stepmother the respect she deserves."

Bryan bowed mockingly to Aurelia while he addressed his father. "I am, Father. Aurelia has always received the respect she demands from me. Your pardon, I came to ask Serena to go riding." He turned on his heel and strode from the room.

Aurelia poured herself another goblet of wine as Geoffrey slumped deeper into his chair and studied the fire.