Secret Heart (6 page)

“
Stop
playing games, Roarke,” Garit told his friend. “You’d better tell
me, too, what you want us to do in Calean. I still don’t know your
entire plan.”

“
First, I
must tell Jenia a story,” Roarke said.

“
What
kind of story?” she asked, fearful of what was to come. Still, she
longed to hear his version of the tale, which she knew would be the
version that a man in power had secretly ordered to be told. She
didn’t doubt that the truth would be distorted by the same man’s
self-serving lies.

“
Once
there was a lady named Chantal of Thury, heiress to large estates
and several titles, who lived in eastern Sapaudia, between the
Plain of Ishi and the Nalo Mountains,” Roarke began.

“
The lady
whom you claim looks remarkably like me,” Jenia said.

“
She
looks
exactly
like you,” Garit corrected her.

“
Don’t
interrupt,” Roarke ordered the two of them.

“
I beg
your pardon,” Jenia said. “I am eager to hear the rest. Please
continue.”

“
When
Lady Chantal’s parents died she was made the ward of her mother’s
older brother, Walderon the lord of Catherstone. That estate is
located in northern Sapaudia, on the shore of Lake Nalo, if you
have not heard of the place, or do not remember it. The lake is the
source of the mighty Nalo River which, together with the mountains,
protect our eastern border from the Dominion.”

“
Thank
you for that valuable information, Sir Roarke.” She couldn’t resist
teasing him. The urge to do so surprised her, for she had no reason
at all for humor. His only response was an odd look at her before
he went on with the story that was accurate so far, though it was
incomplete in one important detail.

“
As is
the duty of the guardian of a lady with a large dowry of lands and
titles, Lord Walderon arranged a marriage for his ward and asked
King Henryk to approve the contract.”

“
Which
the king did,” Garit interrupted, “even though I begged him not to
agree.”

“
Garit,”
Roarke warned.

“
No, she
needs to know this,” Garit insisted. “Perhaps these details will
help her to remember. Chantal and I met in Calean City three years
ago, during one of my missions to King Henryk’s court on behalf of
King Audemer. We grew to love each other and we planned to wed. I
was merely waiting for my father to gain King Audemer’s permission
and then send word to me, so I could approach King Henryk on the
matter. I am not a poor man. In fact, I am a better prospective
husband for Chantal than the despicable Lord Malin whom Walderon
chose for her. She despises Malin! And rightly so, for in addition
to being a coward, he has a predilection for pretty little
boys.”

“
Garit!”
Roarke shouted at him. “Be quiet!”

“
Every
word I say is true,” Garit stated. “You know it is.”

“
You are
entirely too emotional about this,” Roarke said.

“
Well, of
course he’s emotional, if he truly loves the lady,” Jenia said, her
words earning her a fierce glare from Roarke and a grateful look
from Garit. She didn’t care about Roarke’s reaction. At the moment
she was more concerned about Garit. Poor, devoted Garit. Very
possibly, poor, useful Garit.

“
May I
continue?” Roarke asked his friend. “Or are we to sit up all night
discussing how much you love Lady Chantal while we reach no
conclusions at all as to how to help her?”

“
Go on,”
Garit said. “I will be quiet.”

“
Thank
you,” Roarke responded sarcastically. Then he spoke to Jenia again.
“Half a year ago, just two days before her marriage to Lord Malin
was to take place at Calean City, with King Henryk and Queen
Hannorah as the chief witnesses, Lady Chantal disappeared. Her
guardian, Lord Walderon, began an immediate search for her. A month
passed and she could not be found.”

“
How can
a noblewoman vanish without anyone noticing in which direction she
went?” Jenia asked. “Didn’t she have a maidservant with her? And a
guard to protect her?” She stopped when she realized she had said
too much and thus, once again she had betrayed her knowledge of
noble life. Roarke said nothing; he just glared at her and went on
with the story.

“
Rumors
hinted that Lady Chantal had fled to a beguinage to avoid an
unwanted marriage, or that she was dead, or she had been abducted
and was being held for ransom. Even Garit came under suspicion,
because quite a few people at court knew of his devotion to Lady
Chantal. But he was cleared of any complicity in her disappearance
when King Henryk realized that he was even more frantic to find her
than was Lord Walderon.

“
King
Henryk ordered me to investigate every beguinage and every school
of Power in Sapaudia,” Roarke continued, “which I did. I also
included a few religious houses beyond the borders of Sapaudia, in
Morenia to the east and even across the Nalo River in the Dominion.
By then, Garit was creating such a stir at court that I asked for
his help in my mission. We have checked every town or city from
which a ship of any size might have departed for ports across the
Sea of Alboran. We have offended Lord Malin by searching his castle
from tower keep to storage cellars, though he has no reason to hide
the lady who was intended to be his wife.

“
Half a
year after Chantal’s disappearance, we still don’t know what
happened to her. No female body has ever been found that was of an
age close to hers. No ransom demand was ever received. Nor did we
uncover any hint that she had eloped with some unknown lover. So
far as I know, Garit is the only man she ever showed any interest
in, and he remains as distressed today as he was the day after her
disappearance.”

“
What
about Lord Walderon?” Jenia asked, interrupting without compunction
because Walderon’s was the one name Roarke had not mentioned as
being investigated.

“
He
claims to be as baffled as we are,” Garit answered the question
before Roarke could.

“
You
sound as though you don’t believe him,” Jenia said.

“
I admit
that I don’t like Walderon,” Garit said.

“
You must
also admit that Chantal’s disappearance spoiled his plans to marry
her off to his friend, Malin,” Roarke pointed out. “Three months
ago, Malin married another girl with a large dowry. Walderon was
probably more disappointed than Malin was when their joint plans
came to naught. Once Chantal’s marriage to Malin was consummated,
Walderon was supposed to receive as part of the marriage settlement
a property that he wanted badly. I don’t think it likely that he
had anything to do with Chantal’s disappearance.

“
I do not
like unsolved puzzles or unanswered questions,” Roarke continued.
“I intend to carry out King Henryk’s command to learn what has
happened to Lady Chantal, no matter how long it takes.”

“
What do
you want me to do?” Jenia had a pretty good idea by this time, but
she wanted to hear Roarke say it out loud.

“
I want
you to impersonate Lady Chantal,” he said. “I will provide you with
the clothing you will require and with a suitable escort. Garit and
I will personally conduct you into King Henryk’s
presence.”

“
And once
you are there, you will lie to your king about who I am?” she
said.

“
When we
explain later, Henryk will understand. He is no stranger to
subterfuge,” Roarke informed her.

“
What,
exactly, will be the purpose of my impersonation?” she
asked.

“
We hope
that someone who knows where Chantal is will be surprised enough to
give himself away when you unexpectedly appear before the
king.”

“
How
interesting,” Jenia murmured, thinking the situation was
interesting indeed, and not in the way the two men probably
imagined she meant. She wished with all her heart that she could
put an end to Garit’s worries by telling him everything. But she
couldn’t. What little safety she could hope for, and possibly
Garit’s and Roarke’s safety, too, depended on her keeping silent
about what she knew, until she stood before King Henryk. If she
spoke before that moment, the chances were good that she would not
live long enough to face the king. In which case, all of her
efforts and all of the suffering of the months just past would be
for naught.

“
Sir
Roarke,” she asked, “what do you expect me to say to King Henryk?
What story have you prepared for me to tell?”

“
I want
you to say to him what you have said to us,” he replied. “We will
present you as Lady Chantal, and you will declare that you have no
memory of where you’ve been, or of what has happened to
you.”

“
And then
the false Lady Chantal will be restored to the guardianship of Lord
Walderon,” she said. “A man whom Garit views with deep
suspicion.”

“
Please,
Jenia,” Garit urged, “we need your help.”

“
So long
as you insist that you can recall nothing, including your own name,
no one will have any reason to harm you,” Roarke told
her.

“
Not so.
I perceive two flaws in your reasoning,” she declared. “First,
whoever caused Lady Chantal’s disappearance will want me dead out
of fear that my false Chantal will regain her memory and make an
accusation against him. Second, anyone who may have already killed
her will know beyond a doubt that I am an impostor. That person
will accuse me of being an impostor, and will still want me
dead.”

Jenia
knew her objections scarcely mattered, for she intended to speak
out and reveal her own secret in the first instant when she faced
King Henryk. She wasn’t fool enough to wait for the villain to give
himself away. What happened after that must be left to heaven, and
probably, to the mages.

“
Garit
and I will be with you, to keep you safe,” Roarke
promised.

Jenia saw
no reason to inform him that he and Garit would very likely die
along with her in order to ensure their silence as well as hers. In
her opinion, the best chance of survival for the two men lay in
their continued ignorance of her true purpose. She experienced deep
guilt for misleading them so badly and she wished with all her
heart that it weren’t necessary. Still, Roarke had presented her
with her only real chance to reach King Henryk and make her
declaration to him while other nobles were present to bear witness
to what she said. That appearance before the king was
vital.

“
Very
well,” she told Roarke. “I will do it.”

“
You
will?” Garit’s smile could have warmed a cold room in midwinter.
“Jenia, I don’t know how to thank you.”

“
No
thanks are needed,” she said, smiling back at him as she lied
through her teeth. “I have my own reason for agreeing to your
scheme, which is that I hope someone at court will know who I am.
If that should happen, we may solve two mysteries at
once.”

“
My
lady,” Garit said to Jenia, “you may take the bed. Roarke and I can
easily sleep on the floor.”

“
You may
lie on the floor if you wish,” Roarke objected before Jenia could
respond to the offer. “I have no intention of sleeping there. I
have paid for a bed, and in a bed I intend to sleep.”

“
A more
honorable knight would never inconvenience a lady,” Garit
proclaimed.

“
She
won’t be inconvenienced,” Roarke told him with no sign that he was
at all insulted by Garit’s emotional claim. “You, my friend, will
sleep on one side. I will sleep on the other. Jenia may sleep in
the middle of the bed.”

“
Absolutely not!” Garit declared. “Have you no shame? No
sense of what is right and proper?”

“
We will
keep our clothes on,” Roarke said. “She cannot object to that.
After all, we are protecting her.”

“
Stop
it!” Jenia cried. “Do, please, stop talking about me as if I
weren’t present. I have not taken complete leave of my senses, only
of my memory.”

Both men looked surprised at her outburst,
almost as if no woman had ever challenged any decision made by
either of them before that moment.

“
I beg
your pardon, my lady,” Garit said, recovering first.

“
In fact,
I think Roarke is correct in this case,” Jenia told him.

“
You do?”
Garit stared at her.

“
Indeed,
yes. Roarke wants to make certain that I do not escape during the
night and go wandering about the countryside. If I sleep between
the two of you, I’ll find it difficult to climb out of bed without
crawling over one of you and that man is sure to waken and stop
me.”

“
You
would do no such foolish thing!” Garit exclaimed.

“
Perhaps
your Lady Chantal would be more sensible,” Jenia said. “But who
knows what I will decide to do if my memory returns in the middle
of the night? It’s possible that I may forget who you two good
knights are, and that we have agreed to work together, and I could
run off to seek help from someone else whom I suddenly
remember.”

“
How
clever you are.” Roarke spoke in a dry tone.