His hands clinched into fists at the cold arrogance in her voice. He may not have wanted to throttle her before, but he bloody well did now. “Your cousin broke our bargain. The deal is off.”
“If Barak tried to cheat you, he did so of his own accord. I’m here on behalf of my parents, not my uncle. You made a bargain, to hand over Isabeau for an agreed price. Are you telling me, ‘twas a lie? Not that I’d be surprised.” She curled her lip, looking down her delicate nose at him with distain. “Men like you don’t change.”
“Men like me?” Alec lifted a brow, leveling a censuring look of his own. If her injured attitude wasn’t so ridiculous he’d have laughed.
“Men who take what they want with no regard for who they harm along the way—spreading bastards from Northumbria to Cornwall.”
Her voice echoed in the courtyard, turning heads from the mews to the stables. “Had I not accused you, ‘twas only a matter of time before some other maid did.”
Anger welled in Alec’s chest. “My character is not in question, Madam. ‘
Twas your family who wronged me.”
“And the ransom will be your compensation,” she said, biting out each word distinctly. “But don’t look for an apology from me, because you’ll never get it.”
Alec’s hands clenched and unclenched. It was all he could do not to shake her. How he had imagined he could marry into such a family, he did not know. ‘Twould be a colossal mistake. Isabeau deserved to be happy. She’d never be so with such rancor existing between her husband and sister.
‘Twas clear a match between them could never work.
His gut twisted at the thought of giving Isabeau up, but he could not go back on his word—not with Nicola Dawney standing before him, calling him a liar. ‘Twould make a mockery of everything he stood for. “If you come in good faith, as you say, where is the ransom?”
“You’ll get it, when I know my sister’s safe. Do you think I’m so foolhardy as to ride in here, purse in hand.” A mirthless smile curved her lips.
“Nay.
When and only when I have my sister, will I send my man to fetch
it.
”
Alec’s gaze sliced past her to the burly auburn-haired knight, leading their mounts toward the stable with William, then back to the hard blue of Nicola’s eyes. The ransom meant nothing to him compared to Isabeau, but ‘twould serve as a good lesson to her sister. Mayhap in the future she’d not be so eager to accuse an innocent man. “You don’t trust me?”
“Nay, I do not.” Her mouth flattened. “But then, there are very few men that I trust.”
“You’re wise to be wary of your enemies.” Anger built in his chest under her cold appraisal, but he kept his voice smooth. “However, in this case, you’re mistaken. My word is good. I see only one liar, standing here.”
She flushed to the roots of her hair, swaying visibly under the heat of his stare.
He relished the effect of his accusation, until she bent forward, sending forth a groan of pain.
“Will!” Alec shouted as he rushed forward to lend his arm as support, to prevent her from crumpling to the ground.
Will came running from the direction of stables. Each taking an arm, together they managed to assist her over the threshold and into the hall.
“Where is my sister?” She gritted through clinched teeth after they’d deposited her safely on a bench. “I demand to see her at once.”
“Demand?”
A short, bitter laugh escaped him. “You’ll see her, when you’ve rested,” he told her firmly, leaving no room for doubt that he was in charge of what transpired in his own hall.
He turned to Will, swallowing down his bitterness. Isabeau would never forgive him if anything happened to her sister. “Fetch Myrtle to attend the lady at once. Tell her to make haste, that she is ailing and with child.”
***
“I can’t believe this is happening!” Isabeau paced the length of the bed, then stopped, fixing her gaze on Nicola, who sat propped up amongst the furs. Nicola appeared flushed, but thankfully had had no more contractions since Myrtle examined her then ordered her to bed. “What on earth did you say to him?”
“I demanded to see you, of course.” Nicola struggled to come to a more upright position in the bed. “He demanded the ransom, and then I collapsed. There’s nothing more to tell.”
Isabeau laid a comforting hand on Nicola’s shoulder, easing her back on the bed. Nicola had risked her babe to rescue her, and Isabeau did not wish to seem ungrateful, but truth be told, Nicola could not have arrived at a worse time. Isabeau drew in a long slow breath, not wishing to upset her sister, but at the same time determined to know what had transpired between Alec and Nicola to turn him so cold toward her. “Nothing else was said?”
“He told me Barak had tried to cheat him and the bargain was off. I, in turn, reminded him that he had given his word to hand you over in exchange for the ransom, and I didn’t give a fig what Barak had done, as he held no authority concerning you and never had.”
Isabeau shook her head and sighed. That certainly explained why Alec had stalked straight past her in the hall, offering nothing save a curt nod and barely a glance.
Her burst of bright joy at the news of Nicola’s arrival had dimmed to a pin prick in the face of his rebuff, her heart squeezing in her breast so tight she could hardly draw breath.
“Curran is going to kill me.” Nicola threw back her head on the pillow and groaned, raising her azure eyes to the ceiling. “He’s likely returned from London by now spitting blood, or if he isn’t, soon will be when he discovers a good portion of the silver missing from the casket at the end of our bed.”
“Then, he’ll be happy to know ‘tis no longer necessary.” At least, it wouldn’t be, after she convinced Alec not to be so thick-pated, though ‘twould not be easy for him to relinquish his pride. After what Nicola had done to him—the lies she had told, he would feel compelled to prove to her that he was as good as his word.
If only Nicola had been delayed a day or two.
They would have already been safely wed.
Nicola gave a depreciative wave of her hand. “He’ll soon calm down when he realizes what it’s for. He’d not leave you here, with that bed-hopping, Cornish, rogue. You’re likely to get the pox, if you haven’t already.”
“Of course I haven’t!”
“Good.” Nicola heaved a great sigh.
“Then ’tis not as bad as I feared.
It appears I’ve arrived just in time, before he managed to seduce you into his bed.”
“You mistake my meaning,” Isabeau told her through tight lips. She’d be damned if she would allow Nicola to make her feel guilty. She might have been able to twist her around her little finger as a child, using guilt as a weapon, but she was a grown woman now—answerable to no one but herself and God.
“What?” Nicola’s eyes widened.
“That whoreson villain!”
She attempted to struggle upright again.
Isabeau put a hand to her shoulder to still her. “It’s not what you think. ’
Twas my doing, not his.
I thought Newbury wouldn’t want me, if I wasn’t a virgin. Apparently that isn’t the case. According to Barak, Newbury would take me if I had three heads and a horn for a nose, in order to protect his interests in the North.”
Nicola nodded her features grave. “He possesses few allies, having changed camps so many times. Neither Matilda nor Stephen trusted him by the time their battle for the crown ended. Uncle Royce admires his crafty ways, but no others will back such a traitor. But,” Nicola reached over to give Isabeau’s hand a pat, her voice laden with sympathy, “‘Tis hardly your fault, my love. You could not have known that.”
“I have no regrets,” Isabeau declared stoutly, snatching her hand away. She felt no shame for what she had done. If she had not had the courage to forfeit her virtue, she would never have known such exquisite bliss. She’d never have known Alec as she did now—that secret part of him. She would never have known love. What began as a sacrifice had turned into a great gift.
“Captives often form attachments to their keepers.” Nicola’s tone turned brisk, as though her very breath could blow Isabeau’s feelings for Alec away.
“But, ‘tis not real affection.
You’ll forget him, as soon as we’re gone from here. There’s no need to make excuses for him.”
“Forget him? I won’t ever forget him! I love him.” The breath caught in the back of Isabeau’s throat. She had felt it in her heart, but to say it out loud for the first time came as a jolt. It took her a full moment to compose herself. “I’m sorry if your marriage isn’t everything you hoped it would be, but that’s no reason to steal my happiness.”
“You needn’t worry.” The sharp crystal blue of Nicola’s eyes softened along with her voice. “Curran and I have made amends. He no longer blames me for what happened.”
“How could he blame you? ‘
Twas Father Clarence and
Barak’s
doing. You were an innocent victim.”
Nicola’s face lit with amazement. “He told you? He actually admitted it?”
“Yea, before he tried to do the same to me.” Isabeau shivered, remembering the feel of his hands pawing at her skirts—squeezing her breasts painfully, like she was a straw doll to be played with,
then
thrown away. “I left him with a cracked shin for his trouble.”
“I should have told you.” Nicola voice clouded with regret,
then
heated with anger. “The church protected Father Clarence and he was sent away, so I knew you were safe from him. Barak swore to leave you alone—to never touch you, if I kept silent, right after he said he’d kill me if I didn’t.”
Isabeau nodded in understanding, never doubting it for a moment. “Going to Uncle Royce would have done no good. Barak was his pet—brow beaten and bullied, but his precious and only son none-the-less. But, what I don’t understand is, why you named Alec as the father, why not Curran?”
“I don’t know. I should have. I just…” Nicola spread her hands wide. “Uncle Royce was so angry. He looked as though he might sink his teeth into me and chew me up. He had been campaigning hard, to betroth me to one of Newbury’s neighbors—a match our parents opposed. He was enraged that I’d ruined his plans. I feared he might kill Curran out of spite—just to make a point. I thought who better to name than Fortin—a man who had left so many bastards in his wake, according to his reputation and the talk about the hall. It appeased my bitterness.”
But apparently, not all of it.
“You can’t condemn a man for taking willing bedmates.”
“Don’t try to defend him. He’s a seducer of women—a rogue of the worst kind. If I couldn’t make Barak pay, then why not blame someone else who deserved it.”
“So your accusation wasn’t random.” How could Nicola hold such malice in her heart without even knowing Alec?
“Nay.
I knew him to be a brazen, arrogant rogue, if that’s what you mean.” She sent forth a loud huff. “Little has changed in that regard from what I’ve just seen.”
Isabeau bristled on Alec’s behalf. Not only was she annoyed, but surprised as well. Nicola had changed. The meek, gentle sister she’d known was gone, replaced by a stronger, albeit more cynical woman. Knowing why—what pain she had endured as a result of Father Clarence and Barak’s betrayal, kept Isabeau’s voice calm. “How can you say that? You don’t even know him.”
“If he wishes to marry you, ‘tis only out of revenge. Can’t you see that?” Her voice held a note of hysteria. “When he realized Barak had no intention of playing fair—handing over the ransom as promised, he decided to keep you instead.”
“It isn’t that way. I’ve just told you!”
“You’ve told me you love him, or at least think you do.
But what of him?
Does he return your feelings? Has he pledged his heart—told you that he loves you?”
“Nay,” Isabeau admitted on a reluctant breathe. He had said many times that he wanted her—made his desire clear, but not once had he said he loved her. She’d heard it in his voice—felt it in his touch, or at least thought she had, but he had never spoken the words.