My Lady's Guardian (6 page)

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "You are right—I'm too used to controlling my own fate."

"I thought that was your brothers' task."

Again she heard that edge of bitterness, but his face showed nothing.

"They trust me. They trust my judgment." And they were wrong.

"So what are we doing today?" Gareth asked.

"We?"

"I go where you go."

She sighed. "We are eating. I'm famished."

He nodded and lifted his arm toward her. She stared at it for a moment in puzzlement.

"You're supposed to take it," he said gruffly. "I am your suitor, you know."

"Oh, yes. Of course."

After only the briefest hesitation, she slid her hand beneath his elbow and lightly touched his arm. He pulled his elbow in and she was firmly trapped against the heat of his body, intimately aware of his strength, of the power that lay dormant inside him, waiting. All at her command.

At the head table he insisted on sitting beside her. Her two suitors, short and dark to Gareth's golden height, showed their displeasure with frowns and whispers to each other.

But Gareth seemed strangely oblivious to their jealousy. He ate only when she was eating. Otherwise he gazed solely at her, until Anne and Cicely dissolved into giggles, covering their mouths and pretending to cough. He finally bestowed his smile on them, and even Margery could see their

eyes soften and their expressions grow dreamy. His smiles must be few, to be so potent.

When the meal was over, Margery waved goodbye to her two suitors, surprised at the frowns they directed at her as they rode away. Then she turned and saw Gareth standing just behind her, hands linked behind his back, his expression victorious.

She made a low sound of disgust and tried to stalk past him. He took her arm and pulled her to a halt.

"What is wrong?" he asked, his mouth close to her ear.

"I felt like a child's toy between you and those men." She shook off his hand and stepped away, feeling angry and unsettled.

He lifted an eyebrow. "I was only playing my part."

"Too well. What if they return to slit your throat?"

His smile didn't touch his eyes. "They hardly seem to have that much bravery, even between them."

"Do you want to make enemies of all the men who come to court me?" she demanded, fisting her hands on her hips, heedless of the fact that they stood in the center of the ward. "Then you 77 need your own guard."

Gareth frowned. "You said you have your choice in husband. But those two—"

"And are you the man who shall make my decisions for me? You are supposed to know my own heart better than I do?"

He didn't reply.

"Just do as I ask," she said, softening her voice as she realized how silent the ward had become, how they were being watched by people who didn't bother to hide their amusement. "Let me choose the path of my life—I know what I'm doing."

After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "I will stay out of it, unless you put yourself in danger."

"I am not in—"

He narrowed his eyes, and she suddenly remembered being chased by Lord Fogge around the bench.

Gareth was a true reminder of the privacy she'd lost. Every time she looked at him, she thought of the men who would be coming, the men he'd promised to protect her from.

And they were coming sooner than she'd thought. She sent a silent prayer to the heavens that Peter Fitzwilliam would not be one of them.

Margery stifled a shiver of dread. She wanted to mount her horse and ride through the Severn Valley until her problems were far behind her. But her

freedom, her choices, were gone, lost in the grass along with her virginity.

Why couldn't she keep on pretending that she could solve all her problems and live her life as she wanted? Why couldn't she be left alone?

But there was Gareth, looking too deeply, seeing things he had no right to see. Even Peter had never made her feel that she had no privacy.

Walking beside Margery, Gareth noticed how distracted and pensive she was. She wore her hair like a maiden, with long waves of curls falling forward over her shoulders and breasts, as she kept her head bowed. He quickly looked away.

He didn't understand her. Hawksbury was an impressive castle, and her people already seemed loyal to her. She should be content with such wealth —he certainly would be.

But something else was bothering her, something buried so deeply she showed no one. As long as her girlish secrets didn't interfere with his duties, she was welcome to them. After all, what could be so terrible in her sheltered life?

They stopped before the massive double doors leading into the casde. She gave him a brisk, impersonal smile.

"I have duties to attend to, Sir Gareth," she said.

"I will join you."

"It is but women's work. You would be bored."

"Then I'll have to be bored."

She studied him for a moment, her blue eyes direct and assessing. He felt an uncomfortable urge to squirm like a boy caught following a dairymaid. Though he told himself he was merely doing his duty, he was relieved when she finally led him toward the rear of the inner ward. An extensive series of gardens began as square beds of kitchen herbs and vegetables, and ended in an elaborate, tree-shaded lady's garden, full of blooming flowers, graveled paths, and vine tunnels. Low fencing of entwined hazel branches separated the gardens.

She opened a small gate and entered, waving to her waiting ladies. Gareth stood still, caught by the overwhelming fragrance of roses. He was reminded sharply of woman, of Margery.

He refused to think of her like that. She was just a problem he had to conquer before moving on, back to the solitary life he preferred.

"Sir Gareth?"

Margery stared at him with a bemused expression. Her two ladies, the twins he hadn't bothered to notice much yet, were openly smiling at him as they flanked her.

"Sir Gareth," she continued, "do you have an unusual fear of gardens?"

He bowed his head and gritted his teeth. "No, mistress, I was just enjoying the day."

She turned away and started down a path. He opened the gate and found the twins waiting for him.

"You might need our guidance in such a maze," said one of them.

The young women, both reddish blonds, took his arms to draw him forward.

"Are you wondering how to tell us apart?" the other one asked.

He wasn't, but saw no point in telling her that.

The lady on his left slanted her green-eyed gaze up at him, showing the sparkle of wit and good humor. "I am Lady Anne, Sir Gareth, but I fear you will never be able to tell us apart. Many a good man has tried."

The twin on his right gave a shocked gasp, clearly a more demure, responsible young woman.

"I am Lady Cicely," she said, and gave her sister a scolding look. "Please excuse Anne for her lack of manners, Sir Gareth. I don't think she quite knows how words can be misunderstood."

Lady Anne stuck out her tongue at her sister.

"Ladies, you have given me all I need to know to tell you apart," he said dryly.

A few rows away, Margery, now wearing an apron that covered her from bodice to toes, was kneeling in the dirt, plucking out weeds like any kitchen maid. Gareth guided the giggling twins to a bench in the shade of the lady's garden, then returned to Margery. Damn, it would have to be weeding.

He stood over her, deliberately casting his shadow across her body.

She looked up and shaded her eyes. "Yes, Sir Gareth? Wouldn't you rather keep Anne and Cicely amused?"

"You are the lesser of evils," he said, sitting down beside her.

"Should I be flattered by that?" she asked sweetly.

For a moment he almost smiled, but caught himself in time.

She went back to her task.

He tried not to show his distaste as he braced himself with one hand and plucked a weed.

"That's parsley," Margery said, laughter in her voice.

"Oh." He buried the roots, telling himself that the warmth in his face was from the sun, not a blush.

"This is harder than it looks. You don't weed much, do you?"

"I buy or am served the food I need. It is not my task to grow it."

"Ah, then farming is beneath you."

Anger flared within him at such hypocrisy from her mouth. "Nothing is beneath me." He gritted his teeth and controlled himself. "Why do you do such menial tasks? Surely your maidservants are competent."

"I can already tell that, by the beautiful care they've taken with the gardens. But I am trying to meet all of the castle folk. I thought that if I joined them in their work, even if only for a few hours, they might grow to accept me sooner."

He looked at her bent head. He told himself there had to be a selfish reason behind all this.

For a time they worked in silence, Gareth following her lead as to which were weeds. The sun beat warmly down on their backs, and the gende buzz of bees mixed with the murmuring of the twins' voices. His mind drifted lazily, thinking of nothing in particular, and he almost forgot his purposes here.

Then a sour twist of nausea struck him without warning, and Gareth barely resisted the urge to gasp. When he closed his eyes, he didn't see blackness, but a swirling maelstrom of colors trying to form a picture. Not now; not with Margery so

close. He put a hand to his head, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and tried as always to force the coming vision away.

His head began to ache, and suddenly the colors in his mind coalesced into Margery riding a horse, a man astride behind her. The vision vanished as fast as it came, leaving him with no clue to the man's face, no knowledge of her emotions. He couldn't even tell if she was in danger. Why was he sent such useless visions? A wave of self-loathing almost choked him.

"Gareth?"

He heard Margery's voice as if from far away. He forced himself to look at her, squinting as the sun pulsed through his eyes like his headache.

"Gareth, are you ill? You've become so pale."

He focused on her worried face. "I am fine. I thought I'd beheaded another parsley plant."

Margery knew a falsehood when she heard it. His face had drained of color, the skin about his eyes was creased in the corners with sudden strain. And his gaze seemed remote, as if he no longer saw the ground—or her.

Chapter 5

"Gareth, I have never met a man who would admit to gardening, let alone do so in full view of the entire castle."

For a long moment, she didn't think he'd answer. When he finally spoke, he sounded distant, preoccupied. "I've always preferred to be outdoors."

She gave up. If he couldn't be bothered to make conversation, then neither would she. She felt so alone in the world, so weighted down by her problems and her guilt that her head was spinning in circles. The sun was hot, her eyes ached, and his presence was suddenly too unsettling.

She stood up, and he rose to his feet beside her. She handed the basket of weeds to one of the kitchen maids. The girl bobbled the basket, she was so busy ogling Gareth. When he actually noticed the maid, she almost lost her hold on the basket completely.

Suppressing a groan of frustration, Margery marched out of the garden, not even bothering to ask if Anne and Cicely wanted to accompany her inside. She felt irrationally angry, miserable, defeated. She would leave the twins in Gareth's capable hands.

But when she glanced over her shoulder, he was there behind her, taking one stride to her two, looking determined—and so handsome he outshone the day. She felt like she'd never know a moment of peace again. She picked up her pace, climbing the steps two at a time into the great hall.

She could tell by the interested expressions of the people they passed that he was still behind her. She entered a corridor, and after the first turn, the sounds of the great hall vanished. She was alone with Gareth, who followed her from one circle of torchlight to the next. He was so close she could hear his breathing.

Suddenly, Margery could take no more. Gareth was a stunning reminder of her problem every time she looked at him. She wanted to don her armor of numbness, to pretend her problems would wait for another day.

She whirled around and planted a hand on his chest.

"You cannot follow me everywhere," she said. "My people will begin to talk—and not in a flattering manner."

He pushed her hand away as if her touch repulsed him.

"I am your guard," he insisted angrily. "I swore an oath to you—and to your father long ago. I will follow you wherever I deem necessary."

His words and actions hurt like a betrayal. She was just an oath to him, a duty—not a real flesh and blood woman or long-ago friend. She didn't understand what had happened to change him so. Did he not even want to be near her?

Then why was he standing so close, his breath the faintest breeze across her cheek? She was not a short woman, but he was above her, surrounding her. She couldn't make out much of his face in the windowless hall, but his intense gaze held her capdve. He was nothing like the men at court, who pranced for her favor.

Why couldn't she look away from those searing eyes? A shot of heat through her middle made her gasp. What was wrong with her?

She stumbled back a step to break this sudden, unwanted connection between them.

"Margery," he said, his voice low, husky, "if I allow you out of my sight, you must promise that you will not leave the castle without telling me."

"Very well," she murmured. "I shall be fine. These are all my people."

"You've known them but a few short months. You cannot afford to trust them."

After seeing Margery to the kitchens, Gareth returned to the great hall, where even summer could not touch the cool dampness. He sat in a chair before the hearth and absently accepted a tankard of ale from one blushing maidservant, then refused an offer of food from another. When they finally left him alone, he surveyed the room, seeing merely a few women cleaning.

He tried to tell himself that he was angry, but what he really felt was—stunned. He could no longer deny that since the moment he'd arrived, he'd felt an undercurrent of attraction to Margeiy. When she had put her hand on his chest, it was a fire he had to thrust away before he was burned.