Lady Thief (8 page)

“I take no one’s side!
Your behavior towards
my wife is unacceptable and you’ll practice your swordsmanship
until sundown for it!”

William released his son and shoved him away.
Blaise stumbled but did not disgrace himself like Marianne did when
she fell over.
Robert went to assist his young lord, the smirk no
longer present on his face.
Blaise righted himself on his own and
glared at his father, the taunting image of his former self a
shadow compared to how he stood now.

“Why do you defend her?
After what she did to
you?
She is an embarrassment.
I can only be so glad to have
prevented my own downfall in tying myself to her as you let her do
to you!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he roared Marianne’s
disgrace.

Marianne let out a tiny shriek, afraid Blaise
would let out more than what William would want Adam or Robert to
hear.

She had not known Blaise was made aware of
her plot to force him into the marriage, only to capture his father
instead.
Her humiliation intensified.

Adam cocked his head curiously at Blaise’s
angry speech, but Marianne waved her hands and shook her head at
him.
The topic was not to be discussed.
Archer loyally ignored
everything around him but his work.

Good man.
He would get into William’s good
graces soon if he kept it up.

Blaise stormed away and took a new horse,
pulling himself into the saddle and riding off.
William stood still
with a fist clenched, like he wished to strike something.
Marianne
shrank into herself, hoping not to be noticed.

Instead of lashing out at her, he turned and
snatched her wrist, yanking her up and dragging her along.
She
dreaded their coming confrontation.
Even if he did not beat his
servants, after her behavior towards him what was to stop him from
harming her?

Then a different horror came to her.
What if
he demanded his marital rights tonight?
He graciously allowed her
the freedom of denying him the first time, but after the scene she
caused what would stop him from doing as he pleased to vent his
anger?
And what could she do but let him?

Marianne’s face heated.
Several servants had
probably seen her trying to lunge for their young master.
Many more
heard it no doubt.
What would they say about her on the morn when
the gossip spread throughout the entire castle?
She promised
William a wife, not an animal.

William’s grip on her wrist tightened,
bringing her out of her pitiful thoughts.

“He is not to show his face to me unless he
comes with an apology for myself and you.”

Marianne’s breath hitched, and though she
wished to ask him she could not speak.
He was defending her, truly
defending her.
He did not even know what it was he defended her
from.

She looked at him and felt happiness swirling
through her, more so than since before she came to his castle.
Then
he stopped and turned his hard gaze upon her and she felt her blood
freeze.
They were alone.
She raised her nose, ready for whatever he
might say or do.

When he smiled at her, a real smile instead
of some vicious little grin, she could not decide whether or not
she should be more or less frightened.

His grip on her hand softened, and when
pulled her forth, she jerked back.

“Where are we going?”

His grip tightened.
“Just leave here with
me.”

Surprised, she let him lead her into the
castle and soon they arrived in their bedchamber.
Then she was
against the wall.

“You are to never humiliate me like that
again.
Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

Her temper flared.
Back and forth he was with
his emotions.
She could never read him.
“So the next time he
decides to provoke me I am to stay as silent as the wind, is that
it?”

William raised a brow, and Marianne felt
herself falling into his gray eyes.
With a start, she realized that
she had become accustomed to him, his sharp eyes that cut through
her and even the few little silver hairs on his head.
She still
thought of him as a handsome man, but now he seemed to have more of
an effect upon her.
She had expected this to happen but certainly
not so soon.

She blinked and pinched her wrist, shaking
the distracting thoughts from her head.
His appeal to the eye made
no difference to her circumstances.
He would hardly care to know it
so she would keep it to herself.

“You and I both know that the wind can hardly
be so silent, especially during a storm.
So expecting you to stay
as ‘silent as the wind’ as you put it, is not expecting much.”

Marianne turned away from him, her face hot.
“I suppose not.” But then she did not intend to stay silent.
“For a
moment, I thought you would strike him,” Although her father had
never laid a hand on her for discipline, he held no such restraint
regarding her brothers when they were still alive.

William’s kindness shocked her.
He could have
easily used his power as lord of the castle over his son, and
Blaise would have naught to say about it.
But he did not.

She wished her brothers had been so
lucky.

He ignored her statement and pressed his body
closer to hers.
Her breath quickened as the heat radiating from him
enveloped her as he held her shoulders and lowered his already deep
voice.
“Pray tell, now that you are calm, what did my son say to
evoke such wrath?”

William’s voice slid over her body and
wrapped her in a thick blanket.
Damn him and damn her useless
virgin lust.
In the same house with her husband for no more than a
fortnight and already she was having thoughts of lying with him,
naked in the bed they shared.
And where had these thoughts come
from?
Had she not been frightened of punishment only moments
ago?

Virgin or not, she knew what took place
between lovers after she accidentally walked in on her servants in
the act of love at Holton.
The thought of herself and William in
such an awkward looking position made her blush, but it also filled
her with impatient fire.
The servant girl certainly did not seem to
mind the attention her lover bestowed upon her.

“I see, he made you a proposition, is that
it?
You wanted him as your husband once, perhaps he offered to aid
you in convincing me to allow you to petition for an annulment in
exchange for taking you to his bed, is that it?”

At first she didn’t hear him, but when he
finished speaking all good thoughts of him evaporated.

She raised her hand and slapped him.
The snap
of her hand across his cheek horrified her, and she clenched her
hand into a fist to make the tingling disappear, but it only
worsened.

She refused to look away from him, to lower
her eyes or apologize.
Even if she had been seeking an annulment,
she would never hope to get it from Blaise.
But then, William did
not know that.

He looked at her with cold eyes, but did not
raise his hand to her like she did to him.
“Am I correct?”

She tried to shove him away but he would not
be moved.
“Of course not!”

“Then what did he say that has you turning
red?” He pointed his finger at her nose, as if to show her, her own
face, and when her eyes crossed to follow the tip of his finger, he
couldn’t help but laugh.

Her eyes uncrossed.
“You dare to laugh at me?
After you accuse me of having…of having relations with
another?”

Blaise had said inappropriate things to her,
William was correct in that assumption.
But there were many more
hurtful things Blaise had said other than the ‘old pest’ comment,
and it had naught to do with helping her get the annulment.

William promptly ceased his laughter, but
there was a fresh sparkle in his eyes that Marianne found much
safer than the angered stare he had presented her with earlier.

“You have said that you are not the lover of
my son,” and his eyes turned serious once more, “but are you in
love with him?”

“No.” Her answer had been immediate and free
of doubt.
If he did not believe her she did not know what she would
do.

He exhaled deeply.
Marianne sensed genuine
relief in his sigh.
He did not ask her if she was having an affair
to be cruel.

Then, without reason she thought of Blaise
and his face that was so similar to Robert’s.

She would not ask any questions just now, not
while he was warming towards her.

“Good.” He said.
“From now on I want you to
stay away from him.
You two are not to be near each other without
an escort.”

“He lives here, am I to have an escort at all
times?”

“If that’s what it takes, my dear wife.”

Marianne flinched.
He made the word sound
like an insult, and her stubborn nature reared its head again.
“If
you cannot trust me then perhaps we really should petition for an
annulment.” She folded her arms.

His fingers grabbed her chin and pulled her
forward.
He smiled at her now.
“I think it very endearing when you
thrust that nose of yours in the air.”

Marianne’s whole body heated, and the flesh
on her chin where his fingers held her seemed much more sensitive
than usual.
She rarely received sincere compliments and when she
did they went to her head.
“Do you truly?”

He nodded.
“Truly.
‘Tis endearing how much
you think you can intimidate others with that foolish act.”

She pulled her face away and touched her
heated cheek with her hand.
Willing the flesh to cool, she felt
stung.
The gleam in his eyes made it clear he was not laughing at
her expense.

He stepped away from her, and suddenly he was
her lord and not her husband.
“Adam will be your escort.
I trust
him most of all my servants.”

“You would have to.
He is the only one of
your servants that actually works every day.”

William’s eyes narrowed, and she smirked when
he had naught to say, so she continued.
“I was making plans for
your servants before I was rudely interrupted—”

“Before you decided to brawl with a man like
a wild animal after its dinner.”

She clenched her teeth.
“But now that we are
both here and speaking, I might as well say that your order to keep
the servants from obeying me is—”

“Choose your words carefully!”

“Unorthodox, I was going to say.
And I wanted
to suggest that when I give them orders to stop their miserable
slacking, for the good of this castle, you do not go against what I
tell them strictly for the sake of your revenge.”

He eyed her carefully.
“And which commands
would you bestow upon them?”

She shrugged, she was not sure what her exact
words would be, but the orders would be clear.

Do your jobs or get out.

“I promised you a wife who can govern your
household, I will deliver on that promise, as I
always
deliver on my promises.
‘Tis simple as that.”

He smiled at her again, that same smile that
let her know just how foolish he thought she was.

Marianne inwardly cursed.
Would staying the
wife of William Gray doom her to be forever at battle with him?

He shook his head, his teeth showing through
his grin.
“I can see into your mind as you scowl like that, and
while I do not think the notion of having one’s servants perform
their normal duties daily to be nonsensical, you must bear in mind
that they have all had years of practice at being lazy.
What makes
you think they will obey you?”

Marianne realized too late that she had
raised her nose, but she refused to lower it out of embarrassment
should he make another mention of it.
“They will do as they are
told unless they wish to receive a lash.”

His eyes blinked wide and mouth dropped as he
swayed under the venom in her threat.
She finally got the chance to
enjoy a good smirking at his expense.

“However, that can only be done if you do not
go against my orders when they come to you.”