Susan Spencer Paul (15 page)

His grip was so harsh that tears stung Rosaleen’s eyes.

“I wasn’t trying to shame you! I meant only to make you know how great the needs of the people of Briarstone are. Hugh, stop!” She shoved at him and he loosed her. Stepping back, rubbing her arms, she cried furiously, “Men! God help me to understand a one of them! If there was a way for your people to live off that incredible pride of yours, they’d never go hungry again!”

They stood glaring at each other in silence, until Rosaleen said, “Write your brother and ask him to make a loan to you, then. A loan you’ll repay as soon as Briarstone shows a credible profit. It will be a business matter, nothing more, nothing less.” Her voice took on a tone of daring. “You need not even view the Lord of Gyer as a relative, but only as a banker from whose source you have drawn. Even the lowliest estate owner makes such contracts for the good of his lands and people. Has not the Lord of Gyer arranged such loans with his own vassals?”

Hugh nodded, but when he spoke, the words had nothing to do with either money or loans.

“There is something about you, Rosaleen,” he said very slowly, very calmly, “that bothers me greatly.”

Rosaleen’s eyes widened first in surprise and next in bewilderment. Finally she looked down at herself, at the filthy clothes she hadn’t had a chance to wash yet, and, spreading her arms wide, said, “Well, I know, Hugh, but I did try to bathe as best I could this morn, though there wasn’t any soap. Once I’ve had a proper bath and have washed my clothes, I’m sure that I’ll—”

“R-Rosaleen,” Hugh managed to say, trying and failing to keep the sudden laughter out of his voice, “that’s n-not what I meant, and you damned well know it! God’s teeth, woman! Can you never let me stay angry with you for more than a few minutes?”

Perplexed, Rosaleen stood still as he neared her.

“What I meant,” he clarified, lifting his hands to gently rub those places on her arms where he had earlier hurt her, “is that I am bothered by the fact that you are not in truth what you pretend to be.”

When all the color drained out of her face, Hugh knew he had been right and, strangely, the knowledge made his heart ache.

“You promised that you would not press me until we reached London,” she whispered. “That was our agreement, else I never would have come to Briarstone with you.”

He frowned, and his hands moved in gentle circles over her tender skin. “I’ll not break my word to you, Rosaleen. It has simply become clear to me that your knowledge of estates is much greater than I’d thought. I cannot help but wonder who you are in truth, or how wellborn.”

“Will you write to your brother, Hugh Caldwell?” she asked, unwilling to speak of such things.

He gave her a very odd, considering look. “No,” he said finally. “I have said I will not and I’ll not, but we shall make a bargain betwixt the two of us, if you like. Your
idea of a loan appeals to me, though I would, in truth, prefer to receive money from a source other than my brother. However, I realize that none of the London banks would be willing to take a risk on Briarstone as immediately as my brother would, and it would please me to prove my sufficiency to him by repaying such a loan with interest.”

“Oh, Hugh! You will write to him, then?”

“No, I said we would make a bargain, and that the idea of asking my brother for a loan is not entirely repugnant to me.”

“But what…”

He placed one hand beneath her chin and held her very still. “A bargain, sweeting. An exchange. I will agree to let you write my brother, requesting a loan made not to me but to the people of Briarstone, to be repaid with interest. In return for my allowing this, you will agree to give me perfect obedience for the next three months.”

Stunned, she stared at him. She was the heiress of Siere. She owed obedience to no man save the king.

“Complete, total obedience, Rosaleen,” he said. “No speaking against my will, whatever it may be. No making me look a fool before my vassals.”

“I did
not
try to make you look a fool this morn,” she insisted.

“Do we have a bargain, Rosaleen?”

“Never! I’d have to be mad to make a pact with such a devil! You would take unfair advantage at every turn!”

“Rosaleen!” Hugh spoke as if she’d mortally wounded him and dramatically placed a hand over his heart. “How can you say such a thing?”

“Easily,” she muttered, and made to move around him to return to the keep.

“Very well. But remember, Rosaleen,” he said to her retreating back, “you could have saved the people of Briarstone needless suffering but didn’t.”

Rosaleen whirled around.

“That’s not fair, Hugh Caldwell! You’re the one who makes them suffer, not I!”

“We both do, then,” he replied with a slight shrug. “But we can both put an end to it, can we not? You have asked me to make a sacrifice, one that is more than a little unpleasant for me to make, and I have asked you to do the same. If that’s not fair, I don’t know what is.”

Her expression was grim. “You will make me suffer if I make this bargain,” she accused. “You will punish me endlessly.”

He shook his head. “I’ll not, Rosaleen. I swear it before God. There are many things I should like to do to you, darling, but making you suffer isn’t one of them.”

“I won’t be made to give up my maidenhead simply because you demand it!”

His face showed real surprise. “God’s toes, Rosaleen, you make your virginity sound like royal goods.”

Strangely enough, she thought, he wasn’t wrong about that. The virginity of the heiress of Siere, or rather the absence of it, was a matter that could seriously affect any marriage alliance she might make. The heiress of Siere must go to her marriage bed a maiden, else the parentage of the possible future Earl of Siere might be in question.

“I cannot lose my maidenhead,” she repeated stubbornly.

Hugh pinned Rosaleen with a look that made her feel warm all over. “I want to be inside your body, Rosaleen,” he said softly. “Tonight. Today. This very minute, in fact. And you want to feel me inside you just as badly. How long do you think we can share a bed without
quenching the fire that’s been building between us since the moment we set eyes on one another?”

His words made her shake so badly that Rosaleen thought she might stumble to the ground and, seeing her weakness, Hugh took advantage, going to her and pulling her body against his own.

“Rosaleen,” he murmured, laughter in his voice, “you are so damned innocent. I could seduce you with words as easily as with touches, little sweeting.” He kissed her trembling mouth gently.

“Oh, Hugh, don’t do this to me,” she begged, putting her arms around him and pressing her face against the warmth of his neck. She wanted him with all the violence of a virgin’s desire, so passionately that it was painful. “I cannot lose my virginity, save to the man I wed. I will do anything else you ask. Anything, I swear it, but don’t make me do that.”

He groaned loudly. “God’s feet, I hate making promises I’m not certain I can keep.” With both hands he cupped her bottom and pressed her softness up against his aching manhood. “Can you not feel how much I want you? Do you think that feeling is pleasant, especially when the only ride I’ve got to look forward to is the one to Stenwick?”

The giggles that came out of Rosaleen were unstoppable.

Hugh sighed. “Very well, let us make our bargain and have done with it. My vassals have bitten their nails to naught by now, mostlike.” He put Rosaleen from him and looked into her beautiful face. “I promise to do my best not to take your maidenhead, Rosaleen, but that is the most I can promise. If you start begging me one of these nights, I’ll not answer for what I do. Now, what of you?”

“I promise not to take advantage of you, either, Hugh Caldwell.”

Hugh gave her a stern look, and Rosaleen laughed.

“Very well, wretched man. I promise to be as obedient to you as possible, but that is the best that
I
can promise. I’ll be no man’s slave, of that I give you fair warning.”

He kissed her again, licking her lips with his tongue when he finished, and enjoying the way she melted against him.

“Mmm, very nice, Rosaleen. I believe you’ll make a very good, uh, servant.”

She put her hands on either side of his face and looked him in the eye.

“The missive to your brother, my lord?”

“You will write it this eve, and I shall attend.”

Rosaleen was sure she hadn’t heard correctly.

“I’ll not have you looking over my shoulder, my lord.”

“You will.”

“I’ll not!”

“Rosaleen,” Hugh said wearily, wondering at how quickly she had forgotten her vow of obedience, “you Will.”

“D
o you know, my love,” said the Lord of Gyer as his wife looked up from the tapestry on which she had been working, “I have just received the most extraordinary missive from the lady Rosaleen.”

“Have you?” said Lillis, setting her needlework upon her lap and looking up into her husband’s intent face. After ten years of marriage she found him almost more attractive than when they had first met, and with appreciation let her eyes wander over his handsome face and muscular body. Although he was a man of great physical activity, he was also a man of business, and it was rare that he should leave his working chamber to visit her in the garden solar, which was her own daily retreat.

“Mmm,” he affirmed, frowning at the missive in his hand as he settled next to his wife on the cushioned bench on which she sat. With a careless hand he pushed the tapestry aside, sending it to the floor, and leaned over to kiss her. Just as absently he sat up again, slipped an arm about her to draw her closer, then set his eyes to the missive once more.

“I shall read it to you,” he said, “verbatim.”

“To Sir Alexander Baldwin, the Lord of Gyer,

“I am grateful to you, sir, and to your very good lady
for your kind support of my most difficult situation. Should I require assistance greater than what your brother can provide, you may be certain I shall send word to you at once. As well, I would ask your forgiveness for my unmannerly departure from Gyer. Although my reasons seemed good to me at the time, there is verily no excuse for such coarse behavior, especially after one has received such kind and thoughtful courtesy as you and your lady extended to me during my visit with you.

“As you guessed, I have indeed accompanied Hugh Caldwell to his new estate and have agreed to remain here in his service for three months. Lamentably, Briarstone and its people are in a distressing state; thus the need for this missive. I am writing this under duress, I might add, as your unmannerly brother has set himself guard over me at present and is swearing so loudly at every other sentence I write that if you happen to be out of doors at the moment you will no doubt be able to hear him all the way to Gyer.

“The purpose of this missive, my Lord Gyer, is to arrange for the people of Briarstone to obtain an ample loan from you, said loan to be repaid with interest during the next five harvests Briarstone completes. This loan will be made in provisions, household items, livestock and working men, the cost of which shall be determined and accounted by yourself and made known to me at the time of delivery of goods. The present rates of the London markets will be acceptable.

“I shall list our needs by category.

“Provisions:”
Alexander stopped and squinted at the parchment. “It becomes more difficult to read after this, for it looks as though Hugh has gone back and scratched over a great deal of what Lady Rosaleen wrote, but I shall read it as best I can.”

He proceeded to recite the same list that Rosaleen had previously given to Christian Rowsenly, although the amounts requested were much greater. Several of the items had two or three different amounts listed, as Hugh had gone back and changed them before the document was sealed, and Rosaleen had waited until he had left the room before she unsealed the document, rewrote the figures and resealed it before Hugh had returned.

Finishing “Provisions,” Alexander began working his way through “Household Items.”

“Fifty trestle tables crafted of oak from the forests of Kythem, with chairs or benches fashioned of same oak to seat one hundred. One high table made of cherry wood from the orchards of John Smith of Bandoewn, large enough to seat thirty, with matching chairs fashioned of same wood—”

He gazed hard at the document. “This is difficult to make out with all Hugh’s scratches,” he told his amused wife, and then he continued, slowly and with many starts and stops as he worked out the words.

“—ornamented with carvings depicting the riches of the harvest, carved by Newton Bessick of Camdentown. One complete set of goods suitable for a lady’s bedchamber, including—”

He shook his head. “This one word has been so heavily scratched out that I can’t be certain. I shall assume that it
reads ‘bed.’“ He looked at Lillis. “I cannot imagine why Hugh should not wish to have an extra bed in his household. Can you, my love?”

“It seems a reasonable request, my lord, especially if it is for Lady Rosaleen’s comfort.”

“Very strange,” said Alexander, before reading from the list once more.

“—including bed, dressing table and matching chair, four clothing chests, low table and two matching chairs for leisure, set with hand-embroidered cushions. All goods are to be crafted of imported Italian rosewood and ornamented with carvings of various spring flowers, especially roses.”

Both he and Lillis broke into laughter.

“She writes with the knowledge and authority of a queen,” Lillis said. “I doubt Eleanor of Aquitaine was so commanding.”

Chuckling, Alexander agreed, “She writes like the future Countess of Siere, and rightfully so. God’s pity, the forests of Kythem! I’d not find her regal demands so amusing were it not for thoughts of how Hugh must be suffering at her hands.”

Lillis shook her head. “I’m not sure who is suffering more, she or Hugh, but one thing is certain…this list of hers will cost you a fortune! And why could Hugh not write and ask himself? Does he not realize that you would willingly give to him without asking recompense?”

“He knows, love, and all too well, but you have not let me finish this. Lady Rosaleen added something when Hugh had left the chamber. Let me read it to you. It is just
past the place where she has listed all of the masons and carpenters and husbandmen she requires.”

“My lord, this must be quick, as your wretched and beastly brother has finally taken himself away for a few blissful moments. He has watched over my shoulder all this time, reading and arguing over every word I write, so that I have not been able to write as I wished. You must dismiss what I wrote earlier of Briarstone repaying this debt. I shall make payment as soon as my rights as the heiress of Siere have been established. I would not have you fear for recompense. You shall have it in full, and more, with all my gratitude, as well. This, from Rosaleen Sarant, Lady of Siere.”

With one last smile Alexander set the missive upon his knee.

“She is very kind,” said Lillis. “She would aid Hugh without harming his pride. I think it most sweet.”

Reaching out to caress the smooth skin of his wife’s cheek, Alexander said, “I think it most foolish, for should Hugh discover the truth, he would turn her over his knee.” He chuckled. “But I think I must go and make myself busy, love, rather than sit here longer and enjoy myself.”

Standing, he added dolefully, “If I’m ever to fulfill this list, I must send missives at once to the master of the forests of Kythem and to John Smith of Bandoewn and Newton Bessick of Camdentown. I am certain Lady Rosaleen would be able to command their immediate attention to her needs had she been able to do so directly, but I, being so much less a personage,” he teased, “must rely upon my wealth to do so.”

Smiling, Lillis bent to pick her tapestry off the floor.

“Aye, that you must, my Lord Gyer, being so much less a personage.”

“Lillis…”

“I but jest, my lord,” she assured him, her eyes filled with amusement as she gazed at him. “I have never heard such foolishness. There is naught about you, Alexander, that could ever be named—” her eyes moved over him appreciatively “—less.”

Alexander tossed the several pieces of parchment that made up Rosaleen’s list onto the floor.

“Madam wife,” he said, settling himself comfortably beside her again and pushing her tapestry back to the ground. “I am a fool, full dumb and void of reason. You must explain what it is you mean by such speech.” He kissed her lingeringly. “In minute degree,” he whispered against her mouth. “Good lady, I do beseech you.”