Lady Thief (20 page)

Marianne snapped at him.
“Do not be harsh
with her.
‘Tis not her fault you cannot control yourself.”

“
I
cannot control myself?
You, my
dear, have less self control than any living creature I have ever
met.
‘Tis
your
lack of control that put us here!”

The second insinuation towards his regret of
the marriage was the last she could take.
Without commanding her
body to act, she squared her shoulders before his taller frame and
slapped him.
The resounding crack echoing loudly enough to send
birds from their nests in the woods, Marianne was sure.

The demanding fury on William’s face melted
into stunned disbelief before her eyes.
And because she was a
coward, Marianne fled from him before he could do anything to her
in return.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she blindly
ran, humiliation and heartbreak throbbing in her chest and escaping
her throat in choked sobs.

He did not love her.
He regretted that they
were wed, that she had chained him to her with her foolishness

And he was correct.
Of the two of them, she
had the least control.

***

William watched her go, frozen in place and
hand on his tingling cheek, Olma and James scurried after their
lady.
William turned, similar looks of shock were on all three men
behind him.

“Are you certain she was not raised by a pack
of wild dogs?” Hugh asked.

“A woman’s temper is not a thing to be
trifled with,” Nicholas replied when William did not.

William was thankful that neither of he nor
his wife had given this show of temper in front of anyone else.
Regardless, William was at a loss for what he should do.

Part of him wished to punish her so that she
would know to never behave in such a way again, but he knew that to
do so would be to kill the fire in her that he did indeed love.

Regardless, he could not trust himself to
leave her be now.
Whether he punished her or not, if he did not go
after her she was sure to do something rash again.

Nicholas smirked, seeming to already know
what William would do before he did.
“We forgive you for your cruel
abandonment of your guests.
A woman’s hissing heart needs to be
soothed before it blackens against her spouse.”

Bryce rolled his eyed and rubbed his face.
“God’s teeth, will ye kindly shut that romantic nonsense up?
I’ll
be forced to throttle ye if ye spew anymore of it.”

Satisfied that his guests would not bear any
grudge against him, William went after his wife.

***

Marianne had to run into the castle and take
several turns before she was satisfied James and Olma would not
find her.
She loved Olma and was growing fond of the boy but she
needed to be left alone with her humiliation.

‘Twas the second time he had suggested she
was having an affair and the second time he claimed to regret their
marriage.
She could take it no more, so she slapped him.

The nerve of him!
How could he suggest such a
thing?

She rubbed away the moisture on her cheeks
and the guilty tingle in her palm as she sat herself on a bench
outside of the Chapel.
‘Twas quiet, something she thought she
needed but the silence only prompted her to think about her
mistake.

She’d struck him, in front of his friends.
If
there would be a penalty then she would pay it.
Though no love
existed between them, she felt certain what they shared would have
brought some level of trust between them.

She knew better now.

Already tired of sitting and sniffling,
Marianne rose to her feet and went back to the stables, rubbing the
annoying tingle in her palm along the way.

She went inside and this time was glad to
find Robert absent.

The grooms saw her and looked amongst
themselves.
The bravest came forth.

“Ye be needin’ any help, milady?”

Marianne forced a smile to her trembling
lips.
“Nay, I merely came to enjoy the animals.”

He nodded and bowed, though before he turned
away his eyes went to hers.
There was concern on his face.

Marianne wiped her cheeks.
Moisture touched
her fingers.

She sighed.
‘Twould be obvious to any who saw
her that she’d been weeping.

She took a breath and allowed herself to
relax.
The grooms returned to their duties quietly, occasionally
they gazed at her, as if they assumed she was only there to search
for flaws in their work.

She was not.
The scent of horses, leather,
and old grass soothed her.
She went to the mare her father brought
with him and debated on taking her for a ride.
She should give her
a name at the very least.
None of those things would take her mind
from her husband.

She made up her mind to brush the mare when
William’s voice stopped her.
She stiffened.

“Could you explain to me why I am not
surprised with your presence here?”

Stiffly she turned and faced him.
She
distinguished the red mark on his cheek as her own handprint even
from the distance.
She looked away.
“Despite what you are thinking,
I came here to spend time with my horse.” As if to prove it she
found the brush and began grooming her.

His voice rumbled.
“Everyone out.”

There was a brief and curious hesitation
among the men in the stables before they dropped their tools and
did as their lord bid them.
Marianne heard the footsteps and
watched the shadows of each man disappear outside the stable.
She
flinched when the door closed behind them.

She was alone with her husband.

He came forth at a leisurely pace.
The sound
of his feet made her pause.
Soon he stood on the other side of the
mare.
Though she detected no anger in him she grimaced when he
spoke.
“I shall help you.”

Her head flew up, he picked up another brush
and worked on the mare’s other side.
The act shocked Marianne into
dropping her own brush.

She rushed to pick it up.
“Are you not
furious?”

“Aye, but knowing you, ‘twould likely not
matter.”

She flinched, and her voice came out small as
she thumbed the brush in her hand.
“‘Twould matter.”

He stopped his actions to stare at her.
“Does
it now?
Ye run so wild that it seems ye care very little if I am
humiliated or not.”

“You said you loved my spirit.” A useless
defense, yet it was all she had.
The only thing he ever claimed to
love about her, and she clung to it.

“Aye, but spirit and foolishness are not
quite the same, are they?
Your temper, in front of my guests, good
friends or not, will need to be controlled from now on.”

She remained silent, knowing he was waiting
for her to argue, but nothing came to her.
She had no urge to go
against him.

She nodded instead.
“Aye.”

She looked up in time to see his brows had
shot up.
“You agree?”

She nodded again.
“Aye.”

He swayed comically on his feet.
She could
not help the little smile on her lips.
“Will wonders never cease?
You agree with me?”

She looked him straight in his blue eyes.
“I
do, but you must forgive me this one time.
‘Tis difficult to be
constantly accused of having affairs with the men in the
household.”

“I never accused you of such a thing with
Robert.”

Marianne grumbled.
“You had no need to.
I saw
right through you.”

He said nothing at first, then nodded.
“You
are correct.
I apologize.”

She waited.
“And?”

The confusion in his eyes brought out her
temper.
She took a deep breath.
Hadn’t she just agreed with him
that her temper needed to be controlled?

“You accused me of having a lover’s tryst
with Blaise.” She said, though despite her efforts her words came
out in a hiss.

Understanding dawned.
“Ah.
Aye, yes, I
remember that now.”

She waited for him to explain, but he
continued to brush the pleased mare.

“Will you not tell me why you feel the
constant need to insult your wife?”

He looked at her, sighed and lowered his
brush.
The mare turned to see what the trouble was but he walked
around her nose towards Marianne and took her hand.

“I shall assume that ‘tis no secret you
already suspect Blaise’s parentage.”

Her words to Blaise came back to haunt her.
She flushed.

“
And I do not believe for one moment that
you are of William’s blood.
”

More proof that she did indeed need to
control herself.

William expression turned curious at the
pained look on her face.
“Shall I continue?”

“Yes,” Marianne said quickly.
“Please, do.
I
am sorry, but I have mentioned this suspicion to Blaise
already.”

William’s lips thinned, displeasure clear on
his face.
Marianne wished she had the ability to see his
thoughts.

Finally, he replied and continued brushing
the mare.
“’Twas not a great secret, I suppose I cannot have you
punished for asking about that which nearly everyone is aware.”

She was silent, more ashamed of herself than
she had ever been and she hugged herself.
“Perhaps forcing you to
wed me has been the only intelligent act of my life, as no other
man would have had the patience, and I would have been sent to a
convent.”

He smiled at her attempt to lighten the dark
mood.
Her spirits lifted.

William took a breath and spoke clearly.
“Blaise is the son of my first wife, Alice, and Robert.
She went to
his bed shortly after our marriage.”

Marianne gasped, a thousand questions
swirling through her head.

“You must forgive me, as any doubt I have
ever expressed of your loyalty has stemmed from that event all
those years ago.”

“But why keep Blaise as your son, why allow
Robert to continue to serve here at all?”

His smile was laced with an old sadness.
“I
loved Alice, and I have no doubt that she returned that love.
Her
tryst with Robert was an error more on my part than hers.”

Marianne cocked her head curiously, but he
continued to speak before she could ask more questions.

“I drove her to him.”

Marianne did not believe that, but there was
no venom in her voice when she spoke her thoughts.
“Though you can
be infuriating, for all your patience with me I find it difficult
to believe that you could send any woman to another man’s bed.”

“You would be surprised at what could send a
wife into the arms of another man.
Even a servant who offered her
some slight kindness.” William stopped brushing as he spoke, and
the mare nudged him for attention.
He ignored the animal and took
Marianne’s hand.
They moved to a corner of the stable.

He touched her cheek, gently with the back of
his knuckles.
Marianne enjoyed the feeling but her curiosity was
not settled.

“And, what could send a lady into the bed of
a servant?”

Her back was to the wall of the stable and he
stood wonderfully close.
The fear she felt at his oncoming
punishment was no more.

“How did you feel when we consummated our
marriage?”

The question brought her out of her haze.
“I
beg your pardon?”

He continued as though he hadn’t heard her.
“Did you feel loved?
Were you satisfied?”

His question embarrassed her and poured heat
into her body.
“‘Tis not the place to be stroking your ego.”

He shook his head and smiled.
She was certain
he was smiling at her expense.
“There is no ego involved.
Answer
the question.”

Marianne shifted, blushed, and answered
despite herself.
“‘Twas very pleasant.”