Lady Thief (15 page)

“He’s bringing them back,” She argued more to
herself than to him.
She already planned on having them help her
convince the other maids to start pulling their weight.
Hawisa had
a scream that rivaled Marianne’s, and Molly’s nimble fingers made
her very quick with her work.
She could teach the sluggish women
here a thing or two about working faster.

“And, did his lordship tell you of this?”
Holton did not bother to look at her while lifting his goblet to
his lips.
When William left his castle her father had taken the
liberty of making himself more than comfortable with his new
lodgings, which included helping himself to as much wine as he
wished.

The question, and his manner, prompted
Marianne into a standing rage.
“He is not a greedy toad like you!
He will do it!”

And she had been correct.

Marianne clasped her hands together over her
mouth and watched with barely suppressed joy as Archer kissed his
wife and held his small son to his chest, Clovis doing the same
while Hawisa wept openly in his arms, her feet not touching the
earth beneath her since Clovis lifted her and appeared in no mood
to put her down.

Pleasure and envy swirled through her blood,
pleasure for their reunion and envy over how joyful and filled with
love it was.

Molly melted in the presence of her husband,
keen on touching his face and keeping their noses close together,
the boy latched to his father’s neck, his feet did not yet reach
Archer’s waist and between the three of them he had a much calmer
disposition than his parents.

Marianne looked at William, he had a curious
look similar to hers on his face.
As if sensing her study of him,
he turned and their eyes met briefly before he turned away.

He quickly sent an order to Robert to return
the horses to their stalls but the man was already moving.

It could be the same for us
.
She
thought, but then dismissed the idea as quickly as it had come to
her.
William felt lust for her and naught else.

The realization brought a sharp pain in her
chest.
Marianne became aware of the hard beating of her heart and
the heat in her cheeks.

This beating was different from the other
times when she was overly excited with anger, this beating
represented something entirely different that she had never before
experienced.
And she shocked herself with the notion that she might
know exactly what it was.

She covered the area above her heart with her
palm, willing it to slow so that she might catch her breath, but
looking at William again, who busied himself explaining to the men
reunited with their families that he couldn’t bring anyone else
from the former Holton House, only worsened her symptoms, and heat
spread from her chest to the rest of her limbs at a delicious pace.
Her knees threatened to crumble beneath her.

Good Lord, she
loved
her husband.

Even without ever experiencing the emotion in
any way other than the sisterly love she felt for her brothers when
they still lived, she knew what it was.
There was naught else it
could be.

Marianne nearly panicked and had to turn away
from the beautiful reunion and tug at her red braid to force calm
upon herself.
She breathed deeply and closed her eyes.

Really
, she thought,
there are
worse things
.

Loving her husband was a luxury most married
women could not pay for, or reach, her father and mother included,
and at least if William did not love her back, he did show a
physical interest in her, which was also more than what she could
have hoped for.

The pain in her chest returned, though mixed
in with a touch of regret over the circumstances, and Marianne
released her hair and bit down on her fist to keep from gasping.
Her insides felt like they did that time when she was a girl and
jumped down the stairway in her old home.
Her stomach, heart, and
guts had all flopped into her throat.
Only this time she stood
still, not flying down a stone stairway.

A physical interest was all well and good,
she liked it even, but how could she accept it as her only
comfort?

She gave one last fleeting glance to William,
who had seemingly forgotten the meeting of their eyes and grinned
smugly over his generous deed.
Marianne tightened her shawl around
her shoulders and left to tell the cooks to prepare his meal.
She
could not face him yet, after the act of kindness he performed she
knew she would burst into tears if he so much as said a word to
her.

***

William hunted for Bryce when he escaped from
the men and their wives, the unusual spring in his step brought on
by retrieving their women soon disappeared as he remembered what he
needed to do.

Strange how a small act of kindness towards a
few servants could make him realize how brightly the sky shone on
the chilly autumn day.

Then his thoughts returned to Ferdinand and
the words the man spoke of, his unusual behavior to stay in a house
just under a day’s ride from his castle, his hints towards
William’s unspeakable past, and the frost in his voice when he
spoke of the loss of his
would-be wife
.

Returning to his studies of the blade would
now be for more than just to save face in front of his friends who
frequently made his lack of skill known in their jokes, but he
wanted to be prepared to defend himself and Marianne in the case
that, that underhanded devil pulled a cruel stunt for revenge.

Men and women who’ve angered Ferdinand have
been known to disappear, William knew this very well, having never
forgotten it after the incident with the prostitute, poor Bertha,
and he was going to prepare himself for the possibility of
something dangerous.
First, he needed to do one quick thing.

“Adam!” William called when he finally
spotted him.

The man abruptly stopped, looked shocked at
the sight of his master before bowing.
He was running an errand
outside the castle, probably hoping to see his woman as he was
prone to sneak off and do when he felt there was naught better for
him to work with.
William decided not to mention it.

“Yes, milord?”

He struggled with the smirk on his lips,
knowing this would displease Marianne and excited for her oncoming
wrath.

“Find my wife, tell her that I have had time
to think over my punishment for her lack of judgment when she rode
off, and I have decided that she is now to have an escort.”

Adam blinked.
“Does she not already have one,
milord?”

“A
male
escort, but she is still to
have Olma in her presence,” he quickly added.
“James is about to be
knighted so he will do, I would not want to deprive a knight of his
apprentice unless I thought he would soon be ready.”

He also did not want Marianne to be
suspicious of why she would be followed around by a knight.
A
squire would be a more believable prison keeper for the lady of the
castle without arousing her worries.

Adam blinked again, and his expression fell
at the prospect of telling his lady that she was soon to be
shackled with another keeper.
“Aye, milord, it shall be done.”

William nodded and went on his way.
“Good,
see to it then.”

“The lady will not be pleased, milord.”

William turned back to look at him.
His
expression had gone from forlorn to mildly fearful.

William grinned and continued walking.
“I am
well aware.
I am going to train with Bryce, tell her where to find
me should she wish a word.”

***

Marianne did not know how it was possible for
her to have ever felt anything other than spite for the man.
He
infuriated her!
Not only could she not leave the castle grounds,
but now had to walk around with that little coward behind her.

A squire, soon to be knighted.
Ha!
The little
fool could not even look her in the eye.
She would feel sorry for
him had he not been sent to guard her by her husband.

Now he trailed behind her, just ahead of Olma
who followed too eagerly for Marianne’s liking.
His head was still
down, she did not need any witchcraft to see that, and right now
she felt sadistic enough to not care for his shattered soul.

Every servant within eyesight scurried out of
the way of her violent sneer, closed fists, and stomping feet as
she marched up the stairway and burst through the doors of
William’s solar, mouth open, ready to scream again.

He was not there.

She stomped her foot, the roar that escaped
her shook her body.

A commotion behind her brought her back to
her senses long enough for her to look behind her.
The squire boy
fell over and stared at her like she was possessed.
Olma eagerly
assisted him back to his stumbling feet.

She ignored them and went to the window,
looking out passed the courtyard for any sign of where William
could be.

Her eyes found him like a hawk that found a
mouse while flying above.
He played along the side of the stables,
jumping and dancing clumsily away from another bigger man.
They
both swung their swords about, only William did a more terrible job
of it.

Ah yes,
she thought, he had mentioned
something about sharpening his skills to her.

Marianne hardly cared.
Nor did she care of
what it was William saw that was so important about playing around
like a child when he had the nerve to attach this meddlesome boy to
her leg.

She fled from the solar, and flew down the
stairs, nearly knocking over a maid carrying flour.
Her two watch
dogs followed behind her.

Marianne lifted her gown when she charged
outside and into the mud, following the sound of laughter that she
had not heard before when she was certain he was hiding from
her.

“I’m improving!” William boomed, laughter in
his voice.
He continued his circular dance around his instructor,
swirling his wooden sword about with his right hand, daring his
instructor to come at him with his stance.

The man had a deep voice.
“Lucky, you
mean.”

“Not anymore!” Marianne screeched.

All laughter ceased as all eyes shot to her.
Marianne did not stop, not even when she caught Blaise in her
peripheral vision as she moved in on William.
She stopped only when
she stood up directly in front of him so that he could have a clear
vision of the loathing in her eyes, her nose high enough that it
nearly touched his while his breath warmed her face.

Angrily, she pointed his finger behind her to
where she was sure the squire boy still stood unless he had fallen
over again.

“What is that?” She ground through clenched
teeth.

William looked at the squire, looked back at
her and smiled.
“That is James.
He is to be knighted soon.”

“And pray tell, what is he following
me
for?”

It infuriated her that her temper did not
have the same affect on William as it had on James, his unflinching
demeanor silenced her long enough to hear what he had to say.

“My dear, he is to ensure that you do not
take leave of your senses again and charge off towards the forest
at the first sign of a broken heart.”

“I did not charge towards the forest!”
Marianne stamped her foot.
She rode casually to free her thoughts.
“Nor did I have a broken heart!” She had merely been upset at the
time.
“And how is it that he is to be knighted?
He cowers like a
beaten dog.”

William ignored her previous claims of not
charging towards the forest.
“If he does cower like a beaten dog
‘tis only because you scream like a savage.”

Blaise, having suffered enough in silence,
threw down his wooden sword.
“I believe my training for the day is
complete, if anyone has any need of me, I shall be riding.”

“Do not be riding Benedict!
That is William’s
horse!” Marianne shouted at his retreating back, remembering
William speak of his dislike for Blaise to ride his prized horse
without permission.

Blaise abruptly stopped, turned, and glared.
But he looked behind her to where William stood and left without
another word.

Marianne was glad for his decision to leave
and did not look at him with regret when he chose to do so, even if
it was the product of her temper.

The man instructing William had lowered his
sword and found something much more interesting to stare at off in
the distance.