By Love Unveiled (20 page)

What’s more, her heart told her Garett couldn’t have done it. The same man who’d expressed concern for his tenants’ well-being, who’d shown compassion to the soldier who’d burned his fields and who’d treated her with courtesy most of the time couldn’t also have ruined her father.

Then who? Sir Pitney was a possibility, since he, too, had wanted Falkham House. He, too, had hated Father. Still, would he have done such a thing, knowing that his nephew had returned with a stronger claim to the estate?

The innkeeper descended the stairs to approach her and William. Avoiding her eyes, he bent to mutter something in William’s ear.

William nodded and stood. “We go now,” he said, offering her his hand. She took it and rose on shaky legs.

But as she passed through the room toward the stairs, she realized everyone watched her, waiting anxiously for her to give some sign that she was in control, that their futures were safe in her hands. As she climbed the
stairs, she forced an expression of calm assurance to her face. She had to show the people of Lydgate that they could count on her to manage the earl.

The first thing Marianne saw when she was led into the room where the council met was Garett standing at one end of a long table. His eyes were trained not on her but on the men who watched her enter. Clearly, Garett hadn’t told them what the meeting was for, because they looked first surprised, then alarmed.

Mr. Tibbett grew red, as he always did in an uncomfortable situation. And the mayor, whose foppish mannerisms were the joke of the town, began to smooth the lace trim of his petticoat breeches repeatedly. She felt their anxiety so acutely that it was difficult to keep from bolting out of the inn and taking her chances that Garett wouldn’t find her.

Then Garett leveled a fierce gaze on her, clearly seeking to pierce her defenses and frighten her into blurting out whatever he wished to hear. She matched his gaze with a scathing one of her own. Devil take him, she’d show him that no matter his tactics, she wouldn’t be intimidated.

Mr. Tibbett broke the silence. “My lord, if you could tell us what this is about . . .”

Garett turned his eyes from Marianne to Mr. Tibbett. “As you know, I’ve taken an interest in Lydgate from the time I returned to Falkham House and reclaimed my inheritance. After all, my tenants come to your town for their goods, their amusements . . . their ale.”

One of the men laughed nervously.

“I believe I’ve been careful to look to your needs as well,” he went on. “But now it is I who need your help.”

“How’s that, my lord?” asked the mayor, his hands now nearly frenzied in their nervous movements.

“You all know Mina,” Garett said, gesturing toward her. “You may not . . . ah . . . recognize her without her mask, but you know her all the same. From what I understand, she’s taken care of many of you and your children.”

Murmurs of assent filled the room.

“Although she’s a gypsy, I realize she’s been a great help to this town. But it has come to my attention, gentlemen, that she isn’t what she appears to be. She has admitted to me that she has noble blood, something you may not have realized.”

Marianne saw the look of alarm in the men’s faces. Quickly she asked, “Must you proclaim my bastardy to the world, my lord? I fail to see how that suits your purpose.”

The men at first seemed confused by her statement but then quickly realized what she must have told Garett. Some of them relaxed.

Garett shot her such a quelling glance that she caught her breath. “In any case, her past isn’t typical of a gypsy. Recently, it’s also come to my attention that she has connections to my uncle.” His gaze left her to sweep the men in the room. “You all know that my uncle stole my lands when I was in exile. But you may not realize that since I’ve returned, he’s also sent men to burn my fields and even to kill me.”

Angry mutters could be heard throughout the room,
and Marianne’s pulse quickened. Their anger wasn’t for her, but it alarmed her to realize that Garett knew just how to manipulate the council members to gain their sympathies.

“So you see why I must be cautious in my dealings with strangers, particularly ones who know my uncle well,” Garett continued. “That’s why I’ve come to you. I know you’ve trusted Mina to cure your ailments, and I don’t doubt your trust is warranted. But I also know she’s hiding something. I must wonder what it is and why she won’t tell me how she knows my uncle.”

Mr. Tibbett darted a glance at Mina, his face suddenly ashen. “My lord, I’m sure her connection to Sir Pitney is of little consequence. As for what she is hiding . . . well, if I may be so bold, gypsies are often reticent about their pasts. They . . . they lead rather sordid lives, after all.”

Garett eyed him skeptically. “How then can all of you so trust one of them? Don’t you question her motives in healing your ills? Haven’t you wondered why she takes no coin for it?”

Marianne groaned. All her stupid mistakes were coming back to haunt her.

The mayor leaned forward. “Ah, but she does take our coin, my lord.” Then he hesitated, as if uncertain whether he’d said the right thing. “I mean, ’tis worth it to give her a bit of gold for all the good she does.”

Garett’s eyes sought hers, cold and gleaming. “ ’Tis only my coin you refuse, then?”

She swallowed but didn’t answer.

“My lord, I do not think you should worry for us,”
Mr. Tibbett put in hastily. “We’ve dealt with gypsies before. Some are undoubtedly scoundrels, but we will vouch for Mina and her aunt’s trustworthiness. They’ve never harmed any of us.”

Garett’s stormy gaze shifted to include the entire council. “Tell me this, then. Why did she lie about the reason for her mask?”

The mayor settled back in his chair. “Who knows? Women are funny about such matters. Perhaps she’s shy.”

Despite her fear, Marianne bit back a smile. Trust to Lydgate’s eccentric mayor to come up with such an absurd reason.

Another man spoke up. “Mayhap she didn’t want us to think she was a whor—a disreputable woman. Mayhap she feared we’d take her for one if she . . . she displayed her attractions openly. You understand.” The man flashed Marianne a sheepish look, as if to say it was the best excuse he could come up with at the moment. She gave him a quick smile.

Garett caught it and clenched his fists at his sides. “You all seem eager to overlook Mina’s odd habits. But you’ve still not sufficiently explained her connection to my uncle.”

Mr. Tibbett drew himself up. “My lord, you mustn’t be concerned on that account. Sir Pitney is our enemy if he is yours. I have no doubt whatsoever that Mina stands with us in this.”

“Of course I do,” she staunchly declared. “I detest Sir Pitney.”

“Why?” Garett leaned down to plant his fists on the table. “Tell me, gentlemen, why should she care? She’s a gypsy. She has no reason to side with me against my uncle. She owns no lands nor owes me any loyalty. So why would my uncle be Mina’s enemy? What has he done to her to make her hate him?”

The men looked nonplussed. The silence in the room was oppressive.

“I told you already,” Marianne said hastily. “He knew enough about my father’s relationship to my mother to ruin him.”

“Time for you to be silent, Mina,” Garett commanded without looking at her. He didn’t have to. His harsh expression would silence anyone.

He let his gaze rest on every man at the table, each of whom looked more uncomfortable by the moment.

“When did Mina first come to Lydgate?” he asked, the shift in his questioning temporarily unsettling them all.

As the men glanced at each other uncertainly, Mina bit back the impulse to answer for them.
Please, God, let them be wise in this and not say anything that contradicts what I told him.

After a long silence, the mayor answered, “I-I really don’t remember, my lord. One day we just . . . realized she lived nearby, that’s all.”

Garett’s expression would have frozen a hot bath. He turned to Mr. Tibbett. “Is that your answer, too, Mr. Bones?”

Mr. Tibbett turned several shades of red. He was
clearly torn between his allegiance to Garett and his loyalty to Mina. After hesitating a moment, he dropped his eyes to the table and nodded.

Garett’s gaze was chilling. “Did any of you know her father?” he went on relentlessly. “How about her mother?”

An uneasy quiet reigned. That only enraged Garett further.

“You, my Lord Mayor,” he said pointedly. The mayor shifted in his seat. “Have you nothing to tell me about Mina’s true identity that will assure me she’s to be trusted?”

The mayor looked as if he was going to faint at any moment. “My lord,” he practically squeaked, “she once threatened to thrash your uncle.”

Marianne had a hysterical urge to laugh. She’d almost forgotten the taunt she’d thrown Sir Pitney’s way the day he’d come to her father with his final offer, after having sought to destroy her parents’ reputations.

Garett wasn’t amused, however. He slammed one fist on the table. “Have you any idea whom you’re dealing with, gentlemen?”

Their cringes gave him his answer.

“Damn it to hell, what hold has she over all of you? How can this one girl make you risk so much to protect her?”

Marianne’s stomach sank at his words. Oh, Lord, what had she brought upon them all?

Mr. Tibbett rose with a solemn expression. “My lord, we wouldn’t have you angry with us. Do we fear
you? Indeed we do. We know our town wouldn’t survive without your tenants, our tradesmen couldn’t thrive without your patronage, and even our church would founder without your charity.”

He glanced at Marianne, and his expression softened. “But we trust you to be just, as your father was before you. Mina has done you no harm—”

“Yet,” Garett interjected.

Mr. Tibbett swallowed. “Nor will she ever. I would stake my life and reputation on that. She fears all noblemen these days and thus believes she has good reason to fear you. But surely you cannot fault her for her caution, nor find in it signs of deceit.”

Garett’s gaze shot to Marianne. “Only the guilty have anything to fear.”

“Or the unjustly accused,” Mr. Tibbett said. “In any case, she has proven herself worthy of our trust. Would you have us repay her kindness by betraying her secrets?”

When Garett turned his black frown on Mr. Tibbett, Marianne could bear it no longer. “My lord, I’m the only one who should bear the brunt of your anger. If you think me a criminal, then charge me with a crime and hand me over to the constable. If I’m to be imprisoned, at least let it be by a true jailor.”

At that, Garett let out a low curse. “You know I don’t want you imprisoned. But I’d welcome your trust. Clearly you’re hiding from someone or something. I don’t care who or what it is, even if it’s my uncle. I can’t protect you if I don’t know what I’m protecting you
from. And I can’t trust you if you won’t trust me. So why not tell me the truth and make it easier on all of us?”

Oh, how much she wanted to. How nice it would be to trust him. Yet she couldn’t. He was still the king’s man. Would he protect her from the king? Would he protect her aunt and the people of Lydgate as well?

She dropped her gaze. She couldn’t rely on him. It was too risky. “My lord, I’ve nothing more to say.”

An ominous silence filled the room. Garett finally bit out, “Gentlemen, if I might have a word alone with Mina?”

There was a furious scraping of chair legs as the men hurried to leave the room. Mr. Tibbett paused near her, but at the stony glare Garett shot him, he clearly thought better of trying to speak to her and left.

For several moments after the room emptied, Garett simply stood in silence at the opposite end of the table. Her heart hammered to the beat of her fear, making her want nothing more than to flee. When at last she ventured a glance at Garett, he was staring at her as if she were some exotic creature in the marketplace.

“I’m impressed.” The bitter irony underlying his words cut her. “I thought I was the only one, but now I see you’ve bewitched an entire town. How do you manage it?”

She could only stare at his harsh face.

His gaze flicked over her as he rested his hip on the table. “My mother once told me that the mark of a true noble lay in his ability to command the loyalty and respect of those beneath him.” He paused. “If I hadn’t met
your gypsy aunt and seen with my own eyes the wagon you live in, I’d swear you were as much a lady as I am a lord.”

“They are simply grateful for my doctoring.”

“Nay. They care deeply for you. What’s more, you care deeply enough for them to trust them with your life. Tell me, sweetling, why can you entrust your secrets to Lydgate’s fool of a mayor and not to me?”

Was that really hurt she heard in his voice? “He earned my trust, my lord. They all did.”

He rose and came toward her. She backed away, but he caught her around the waist.

As he cupped her chin, his eyes bored into hers. “What must I do then to earn your trust, my gypsy princess?”

His unmistakably wounded gaze disturbed her deeply, tempting her to tell him all, even when she mustn’t. “You could set me free.”

Disappointment clouded his features. He seemed to struggle with himself before his expression grew shuttered. “Ask of me anything but that. I can’t set you free, even to gain your trust.”

His flat tone sparked her anger. “Why not? You heard the council. I’m no friend of Sir Pitney’s. You’ve no reason to keep me, no reason to suspect me so. I have done no wrong!”

He stared at her, frighteningly implacable. “Then why won’t you tell me the truth about your past?”

He had her there. As long as she could give him no proof of her true character, she couldn’t escape him if
he chose not to release her. She pushed herself away from him, the acrid taste of defeat choking her.

“William!” Garett shouted, his eyes following her every movement.

The door opened and William thrust his head in the room. “M’lord?”

“Take her back to Falkham House,” Garett growled.

She stood frozen, her heart sinking as she heard the words that sealed her doom.

“Won’t you be coming with us?” William asked.

“Not yet,” Garett bit out, flashing Marianne a bitter glance. “I still have a few people to talk to in Lydgate.”