Susan Spencer Paul (10 page)

The twins laughed. “No, he’s not told us any like that. The stories he tells us are the kind that Father says gave him all his gray hairs.”

“Father says that if we ever try some of the things that you and Uncle Hugo did,” one of the boys said, grinning, “he’ll make us rue the day we were born.”

Hugh laughed, and the boys, finished with the bird, presented it for their uncle’s inspection.

“Let’s see, now,” he said thoughtfully. “You’ve done a fine job with her talons. They’ve been nicely trimmed. The
jesses are correctly placed, and you’ve belled her properly. Are her eyes seeled beneath her hood?”

The boys nodded.

“Father’s head falconer sewed them shut for us,” one of the twins admitted. “We’ve not learned how to do that yet.”

“‘Tis well,” Hugh said. “It’s always best to let a skilled man do the job rather than attempt it yourself before you’re ready. You’d not want to hurt her pretty eyes, would you? She’d be of no use to you then.” Carefully, he took the bird to his own wrist and bounced her gently up and down. “She’s unsteady yet, but that won’t take long to change. You’ve done well, lads,” he said approvingly. “All she needs now is her leash and a perch and she’ll be ready for training. She looks to be a fine bird once she’s done. You’ll be wanting to house her in the mews now, of course.”

Again the boys nodded, much impressed by their uncle’s knowledge of birds.

“We were just going to take her now,” one of them said. “Will you come with us, Uncle Hugh?”

Hugh smiled at his handsome nephews. “I’d be pleased, lads. And on our way we’ll stop at my chamber and fetch my own bird, Amazon. Have you seen her?” Carrying the sparrow hawk aloft, he headed for the door. His nephews eagerly followed behind.

“Yes, sir, we did see her,” the one to Hugh’s left replied quickly. “She’s a beauty. We were hoping for a chance to see her more closely.”

“We can do better than that,” Hugh told them. “How would you like to have a try at handling her? We can take her to the north fields, where there should be plenty of small game for Amazon to play with.”

This suggestion met with such joyful affirmation that Hugh couldn’t help but laugh, and he had to be careful not to trip down the stairs as the two boys rushed him along.

“I would that you had seen them,” Hugh said later that afternoon as he walked in his brother’s gardens with Rosaleen, recounting his day with the twins. “Hugo and I were never possessed of such vigor, I vow. Those lads make me feel so old!”

Strolling beside him, Rosaleen offered Hugh a smile.

“You’re enjoying this time with your family, are you not, Hugh Caldwell? I’m glad for you.”

“It is good to be home,” he admitted. “Strange, but good. I always knew that one day I must face returning to Gyer, though if not for you, I suppose I would have put it off awhile longer.”

“I’m glad I forced you to it, then,” Rosaleen told him. “The longer you put it off, the harder it became. Now you are reconciled and can enjoy your family just as you should, and they can enjoy you, if such a thing is possible,” she added teasingly.

Hugh chuckled. “If it is, it will have to be possible from a distance, for I still intend to go to Briarstone.”

“Yes, so Lady Gyer informed me. We spoke at length this afternoon. Your brother and sister are most unhappy about you leaving again. Your sister, supposing that I wield some kind of influence over you, though I cannot imagine why she should think such a thing, asked me to do what I could to change your mind.”

“Did she?” Hugh asked with surprise. “Dear Lillis. I don’t suppose I’ll ever be able to make her understand why I can’t stay at Gyer.”

“You certainly won’t,” Rosaleen agreed, “for it is foolish and selfish beyond all measure. It has been ten
years since your family has seen you, yet you would leave them again after only a day. Can you not sacrifice a little more of your precious time? Even a few days?”

“No,” he replied bluntly, “I cannot. And I will remind you, lady, that this is no concern of yours, regardless that you’re the one who caused me to return to Gyer.”

Rosaleen made an impatient sound. “ Why can you not stay with your family for a few days?” she demanded. “It cannot be as painful as you seem to think, and it would mean much to both your brother and sister, who love you well.”

“I don’t wish to speak of this, Rosaleen,” Hugh warned.

“I don’t care what you wish!” she returned hotly. “Are you some coward, then, Hugh Caldwell, that you cannot bide time with your own family? Are the memories of this place that painful?”

“My memories are mine and mine alone, sweeting. You could
never
understand what my feelings are for Gyer, or for my past.”

She stopped, turning to face him. “I want to be able to understand, Hugh. I do. Tell me why you cannot stay here and let me try.”

Enough was enough, Hugh thought furiously, and that sweet, pleading tone of hers was worse than enough. He stopped and turned, as well, raising his eyebrows in an expression that openly mocked her.

“You must learn not to intrude upon the privacy of others, sweeting. It is just the kind of coarse behavior that speaks of a lady’s lack of breeding and training.”

She’d known Hugh Caldwell only a few days, but already Rosaleen could tell when he resorted to insults in order to protect himself. He had a sharp tongue, indeed,
but, she thought with a thin smile, it was a dull blade compared to hers.

“Oh no, my lord, my training was most complete, I assure you,” she replied easily, falling into step beside him once more. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have you to serve as my example for what true coarseness is. Thus, what I did learn of grossly vulgar behavior in my youth was a waste, as I’m sure you’ll agree. I have been trying to remedy the lack by studying you closely these past many days.”

Hugh couldn’t help but admire her. She was something, his Rosaleen no-name. Reaching down, he took her hand and placed it on his arm, where he covered her fingers with his own.

“Rosaleen, my darling, you are the most unnatural female I’ve ever known. You were supposed to fall into tears at my words and proceed to make me feel like the veriest knave. Do you know nothing?”

“I have been told my understanding is very well formed, Hugh Caldwell,” she said, “and be pleased to not flatter yourself, I beg. If you were naught but a knave I certainly should have treated you to a fit of tears. However, as I am loath to waste my time, I did not.”

Hugh laughed and squeezed her fingers. “Do you know, Rosaleen, I don’t think I’ve ever admired another female quite as much as I admire you. You’ve wit and beauty, the rarest elements to be found at once in a woman. Where shall I find my daily abuse after the morrow, I wonder?”

Smiling, Rosaleen said, “I was just thinking that myself, Hugh Caldwell. I wonder if I shall ever meet anyone who will be as wretched to me as you’ve been. I shall have to take up some form of penance to make up for the lack of it, I suppose.”

Stopping once more, Hugh took Rosaleen’s hand and brought it to his lips, where he kissed it gently. The sur
prise on her upturned face showed clearly, and Hugh felt an unaccustomed stab of regret. She had the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen, he thought for probably the hundredth time since meeting her, and she had the loveliest mouth he’d ever seen or kissed, and she had the smoothest skin that he’d ever seen or kissed or touched.

“I have been wretched to you,” he admitted before he could think not to. “Kindness isn’t part of my nature, I fear, but I do wish I’d been kinder to you, Rosaleen, for you have certainly treated me better than I deserve after all the insults I’ve handed you.” He kissed her hand again, then offered a gentle smile. “I hope you’ll not hold my bad behavior against me forever, sweeting.”

For some strange reason, Rosaleen suddenly felt like crying.

“I think that perhaps I am the one who must apologize to you, Hugh Caldwell. I forced myself on you and made you return to a place you didn’t wish to go, and I have been ill-mannered and mean-spirited. If you have behaved badly, it could only be because my own behavior has been so much worse. I have not even thanked you, yet I do want you to know how grateful I am for all you have done. Indeed, Hugh Caldwell, I shall never forget your kindness to me.”

“Rosaleen,” he murmured, “I’ve already told you that kindness isn’t a part of my nature. And I wish you would not thank me.” He smiled. “I much prefer it when you rail at me and call me all those dreadful things.”

Rosaleen made no reply but continued to stare up at him, and Hugh, gazing back at her for a silent moment, finally spread his fingers gently across her cheek and neck and lowered his head to kiss her. There was nothing of passion in the kiss. It was warm, gentle and tender.

When Hugh lifted his head, he stared deeply into Rosaleen’s eyes.

“How strange,” he whispered, stroking his thumb across her temple. “I will miss you, Rosaleen.”

Her hand slid over his, pressing it against the side of her face.

“It is odd, Hugh Caldwell, but I shall miss you, also.”

A tiny light flickered in the depths of his green eyes.

“Rosaleen,” he began with a great deal of uncertainty, “what would you think if…in a few months, when I’ve settled matters at Briarstone, how would you feel if I…what I mean to say is, I’ll have to go to London eventually, for estate purposes, and while I’m there, what would you think if I…sought you out?” He sounded so unsure of himself, yet so hopeful, that it nearly broke Rosaleen’s heart. “Would you care to see me again?”

Rosaleen swallowed with some difficulty and dropped her hand from his. Taking a step away, trying her best to sound as distant as possible, she said, “No. I wouldn’t.”

His eyes widened for the briefest of seconds, but long enough for Rosaleen to see the pain she had put in them. She wanted to cry out, to tell him that her words were false, but she couldn’t. All she could do was stand there, steeling herself against the powerful desire to soothe him, and watch as he mastered his emotions with the ease of years of practice.

It took only a few moments for him to retreat behind his mask of indifference.

“You couldn’t speak more honestly than that,” he said, smiling.

“Hugh—”

“Let’s not speak of it,” he said without a hint of hurt or anger in his tone. Placing her hand on his arm again, he began to stroll through the gardens. “Tell me, instead,
what it was that Justin was talking to you about when I found you together an hour ago. He looked as if he were laying his heart at your feet.”

“In a manner of speaking, he was,” Rosaleen replied miserably, wishing that she could think of a good excuse to leave him so that she could go to her chamber and have a good cry. “He was telling me of his many qualities, and explaining what he has to offer a bride and why he would make a good husband.”

Hugh laughed harshly. “So he was blinded by your beauty and decided to win your heart, did he? How very foolish of him. Alex and Lillis told me that he’s decided to wed as soon as he may, and you would do as well as any other woman, I suppose. Better even, for in spite of your cold nature, Rosaleen no-name, you do warm a bed nicely. More than that a man shouldn’t desire from a woman. I never have, nor shall I ever.”

Rosaleen winced at the sharpness of his tone but said nothing. Instead she turned her head away and forced her watering, aching eyes to look at the rosebushes.

“Why would you not let me tell Hugh the truth about Lady Rosaleen?” the Lady of Gyer asked her husband as they stood by the long windows of his working chamber, looking out over the gardens to where Hugh and Rosaleen were strolling together.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Alexander Baldwin replied, lazily running a hand over his wife’s shapely back. “The poor girl clearly wants to keep the truth a secret. And who could blame her, with Simon of Denning and her uncle searching everywhere for her? That she and Hugh arrived safely at Gyer is a miracle, considering the small army that came here only a few days past asking about her. I didn’t wish to make her feel foolish, I suppose.”?

“But Hugh will be furious when he discovers the truth. He thinks her naught but the daughter of a farmer and has treated her accordingly. Can you imagine what he’ll think when he finds out she is Rosaleen Sarant, the heiress of Siere?”

“Mmm. Another reason I didn’t wish to make such a revelation. Hugh probably would have strangled her, for it is certain he never would have offered her his aid if he’d known how valuable a property she is. He despises the nobility. He would have run from her as fast as he could.

But—” he motioned toward the gardens “—look at him now. I’ve never known Hugh to be so happy in a woman’s company before, save when he’s had them in his bed.” He grinned at his wife, who laughed.

“And what would you know of that, my lord?” she teased, before turning her attention back to the couple, who were so slowly making their way down yet another path in the gardens. “You speak the truth, my lord, for he does seem to enjoy her company. Does he love her, do you think? It would be strange were Hugh to become the next Earl of Siere, though I should be happy for him, of course.”

“God forbid!” Alexander declared, pulling his lovely wife closer. “Can you imagine? We’d have to treat him like royalty, and I’ll not spend the rest of my life saying ‘my lord’ to Hugh.”

“It’s impossible, I think,” she said with a sigh. “He hates the nobility. He’ll not even let himself be knighted, not even at the king’s command. Still, I should love to see Hugh happily settled.”

“As would I, my love,” her husband agreed. “We must pray that he’ll meet a more suitable maiden who will appeal to him as greatly as the lady Rosaleen does.”

“Yes,” said his wife, “though it is a shame. She is a lovely girl. Perfect for Hugh. If only she weren’t so highborn.”

Alexander of Gyer nodded but said, more practically and more grimly, “If only she weren’t in so much danger.”

S
ir Larents Dassen and Sir Inghere Fitzwald thought they had died and gone to heaven.

And if they hadn’t, they had at least come close to it. The angel before them was proof, and although she might be an unwilling angel, they fully intended to claim her as their own.

“I’ll not be treated in such a manner!” Rosaleen said as firmly and as calmly as she could, speaking with all the authority of the heiress of Siere. “You gentlemen don’t know who you have taken captive. I am a lady, and I demand to be treated as such.”

“But we are going to treat you well, my lady,” Larents said happily, holding the reins of her mare. “Very well, indeed. Are we not, Inghere?”

Inghere, a redheaded giant with the biggest nose Rosaleen had ever seen, nodded. “You’ve no need to fear us, mistress. We’ll do you no harm, and we’ll pay good coin after.” He winked at his friend. “She’ll be worth it and more, will she not, Larents? I doubt I’ve seen a comelier maid in all my days.”

“You are mistaken,” she told them, trying without success to regain control of her mare. “I am not what you as
sume. Be pleased to return the reins of my horse and let me pass.”

Larents, holding her reins fast, chuckled. “We’ll be pleased, pretty lady, and that I promise, but you must pay a forfeit first.”

“A forfeit?” she repeated, gaping at the man as though he were the greatest fool alive. “I’ll pay no forfeit to such as you. This road is owned by the king. No man save he can demand a forfeit for its use. Now give me back the reins to my steed or I’ll…I’ll scream.”

“Aye, we’ll make you scream, mistress,” Inghere promised. “Take her over to those bushes, lad, and be quick about it. I’m eager to have her.”

Rosaleen stiffened. “H-have me? Wait! I’m a lady, I tell you, not some whore to be taken without due!”

The two men ignored her and, flanking her, forced her little brown mare to the side of the road.

Frightened, Rosaleen groped about in her skirts to find the dagger she had secured there earlier. She was just in the process of pulling the sharp instrument from its sheath when the sound of horse hooves racing furiously toward them stopped her.

The same sound caught the attention of her assailants, for they stilled and, like Rosaleen, looked up to see who it was approaching them at such an express pace.

“God’s teeth!” said Inghere, much amazed.

“Why, it’s Hugh Caldwell!” added Larents with equal surprise.

“Oh dear,” muttered Rosaleen, pushing her dagger back to its resting place.

“Good old Hugh!” Inghere said with a laugh. “Imagine meeting him on such a piteous road as this in the midst of England! Why, the last I saw of him, he was felling Frenchmen left and right at Agincourt.”

“He looks as fit for battle this morn as he did then,” Larents said. “I wonder who the poor devil is he’s chasing after.” He lifted a hand in greeting as Hugh neared them. “Hugh! Hugh Caldwell! Hail, good fellow!”

Hugh brought Saint to a halt several feet before them, and Rosaleen couldn’t decide who was breathing harder, the horse or its master. One thing was certain, however. The look in Hugh’s eyes as they came to rest upon her boded no goodwill. Swallowing, she attempted a tiny smile in greeting. Hugh glared hotly at her in turn and frowned.

“Aye, well met, Hugh!” Inghere agreed happily. “It’s been a long while since we’ve seen one another, friend.”

Not moving his eyes from Rosaleen, Hugh nodded. “Dassen, Fitzwald. It looks as though you’ve caught a pretty doe this morn.”

“Aye, and that we have, Hugh Caldwell.” Inghere laughed. “We were on our way to Drake, minding naught but ourselves, when what should come riding out of the mist but our very own angel.”

“A right gift from God, do you not think, Hugh?” Larents asked, casting an admiring glance at Rosaleen, who sat rigidly in her saddle, trying to look at anything but Hugh Caldwell. “She means to make us work for our pleasures, I fear, but ‘twould be an insult to the Deity to let her go without first showing our appreciation for His gift.”

Both men chuckled, not seeing that their friend didn’t share their jest.

“You
are welcome to join us, if it pleases you, Caldwell,” Inghere offered. He took in Rosaleen’s full figure admiringly. “There’s certainly enough to go around, would you not agree, Larents?”

“Certainly! Come along, Hugh, it will be like days gone past, though you’ll have to put in your share for her pay after.”

Still not taking his eyes from Rosaleen, Hugh replied calmly, “I’m sorry, my friends, to ruin your morning’s sport, but you’ll not be enjoying this lady’s charms today, or any other day. It just so happens that she belongs to me.”

A stunned silence followed his words, long enough for Hugh to bring his steed a few threatening steps closer to them. It was Rosaleen who finally spoke, angrily.

“Hugh Caldwell! What a thing to say! I do not belong to you!”

Both Inghere and Larents looked at the furious girl, then turned their eyes to their friend, memories of his fighting skills surfacing vividly in both their minds.

“Are you sure about this, Hugh?” Inghere asked regretfully. Belatedly he noticed the hot, possessive look that his old companion held on the girl.

“Quite sure,” was the hard reply. “Had I come upon you too late, and found that you had already enjoyed yourselves upon her, I swear by all that is holy you would now be dead by my hand.”

Swallowing, Larents gently handed the reins of Rosaleen’s mare back to her. “We never touched her, Hugh,” he assured him quickly. “Not one finger. Or hair. Did we, Inghere?”

“No, we didn’t touch her in the least, Hugh.”

“Good.” Hugh nodded. “If you will be so good as to leave us, gentlemen, I will bid you Godspeed on your journey to Drake.”

Knowing a reprieve when they heard one, the two knights turned their horses about and fled.

Hugh and Rosaleen sat glaring at each other until the sounds of the men’s retreat drifted away, then Rosaleen gave vent to her anger.

“How dare you! I do
not
belong to you, you—you dissipate beast! And what did they mean, ‘like days gone past’? Did you make a
habit
of raping every girl you found traveling without escort? Though
why
such a thing should astound me, I’m sure I don’t know.”

“Quiet!” Hugh commanded between set teeth. “Be quiet, Rosaleen, or I’ll not answer for what I do to you.” He rode closer and snatched the reins from her hands. Leading her mare to a nearby tree trunk, which came just to the level of her feet, he said sharply, “Dismount. You shall have to do it on your own, for if I lay a hand on you, we’ll both regret the consequences.”

Rosaleen dismounted quickly.

“Go and stand on the other side of the road,” he instructed. “And if you value your skin, you’ll stay over there until I tell you otherwise. And don’t, Rosaleen,” he warned when she opened her mouth to protest, “say one word to me until then.
Not one word.”

Huffing, she walked to the other side of the road, then stood watching as he dismounted and tied the horses to a nearby shrubbery.

And she kept watching, forcing herself to remain silent, while he set to pacing back and forth, muttering to himself distractedly and occasionally running his hands through his long, untied hair.

Whenever he turned to pace back from where he’d just finished pacing she could hear snatches of his talk.

“I wake up…I go down to break my fast…I ask where Rosaleen is. They tell me that she’s
gone…I
ask what they mean by
gone…they
tell me they don’t know…she’s just
gone…I
go riding out of Gyer so quickly that I leave Amazon behind…I didn’t even bid my family farewell…I spend the next
four hours
searching every damned
side road trying to find her…when
I do
find her she’s about to be
raped…”

At this point he shot her an extremely unpleasant look, then started up again, all over, as though he just could not believe it, as though there were something missing that he hadn’t figured out yet but which was going to reveal itself to him eventually.

“I wake up…I go down to break my fast…”

He went through the entire litany twice more, finally falling silent and pacing more and more slowly. Eventually he stopped altogether, took several deep breaths, ran his hands through his hair a few more times, then nodded.

Going to the tree stump on which Rosaleen had dismounted, he sat down, looked at Rosaleen and, patting his lap, said, “Very well, Rosaleen. I have calmed. Come here.”

She understood his intent at once and shook her head.

“N-no, thank you.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Did you not hear me, Rosaleen? I said
come here.”

“Why?” The word came out as a squeak, and Rosaleen unconsciously moved one hand protectively toward her bottom.

“Why do you think, Rosaleen?”

“You look as though you intend to punish someone.”

“Rosaleen, your understanding truly astounds me,” Hugh said with mock amazement. “You are quite right, sweet. I do intend to punish someone. Now, who could that be, do you wonder?”

Rosaleen gulped and moved her other hand to join the one behind her back. “But…but, Hugh, I don’t wish to be beaten.”

“I’m glad to hear it. If you enjoyed such a thing I’d be worried about the soundness of your mind. Now come here, Rosaleen.”

“I’ll not,” she said. “You’ve no right to punish me, Hugh Caldwell. You’re not my father or my guardian or my husband.”

By the expression on his face, Rosaleen judged that those had been the wrong words to say.

“No, I’m not, thank God,” he replied tightly. “But I am the man in whose protection you placed yourself, and I am the man who took two full days out of his life to escort you to the safety of his brother’s home, and I am the man who is going to give you what you deserve for running away from Gyer without so much as a word.”

“Please, Hugh, I know that what I did was unmannerly, but at least give me a chance to explain!”

“Have no fears for that, my dear. You may be certain you will explain everything to my satisfaction,” he promised. “After. Now, come here before I come to fetch you.” The look in his eyes promised just how much worse things would be for her if he had to go to such trouble.

Casting a glance up and down either direction of the road in a last hope that some source of rescue would appear, Rosaleen sighed resignedly and slowly made her way to where Hugh sat.

“It is not fair, I tell you, that men should be able to have their way simply because women are so much weaker than they! First my uncle tried to beat me into submission, and now you have the arrogance to punish me for something you’ve no right to!”

Hugh looked to where Rosaleen rode beside him and smiled, finally relaxed for the first time since discovering that she had run away.

“Cease your complaints, sweeting. I barely touched you. You should be thankful.”

“Barely touched me!” she repeated angrily. “Thankful! You’re not the one who has to ride with a sore bottom all day!”

That
made him grin broadly. “You’ll not make me feel sorry, Rosaleen. You deserved what you got, and worse, for running off as you did. What in God’s name possessed you to do it? Did you not believe my brother when he said he would take you to London?”

“I believed him,” she said, feeling even guiltier than when she’d snuck out of Gyer in the middle of the night. “And your family was truly most kind to me. But I…I felt that it would be best if I continued the journey on my own.”

“Of course,” he returned dryly. “Certainly you did. It was a different song you sang at the Red Fox Inn.
‘But I can’t go all by myself! I need protection!”‘
he imitated mockingly in a high, squeaky voice. “I hope I’ve not been wasting both my time
and
pity on you, Rosaleen no-name.”

“No,” she murmured, unsure of how to traverse this foreign ground with him.

“Explain yourself, then, and make certain to speak clearly, Rosaleen. I’d not want to miss a single word.”

“I can’t.”

“What?”

“I said I can’t. Hugh, please believe that I wish I could tell you why I left Gyer as I did. Truly I do. But I can’t I’m sorry.”

Reaching down to grasp her horse’s head, Hugh brought both animals to a halt.

“You will be sorry, Rosaleen,” he threatened seriously, “if you don’t tell me the truth, and right now. You con
vinced me that you were a damsel in need of rescuing, and against my better judgment I took you to my brother and sister, who took you in and agreed to help you without one question asked. You, in turn, repaid both them and me by running off like some thief in the night.”

And, he raged silently, refusing to speak aloud this particular fact, she had given him the worst scare of his life. He had never experienced such fear for another living being as he had that morn when he’d discovered that Rosaleen was gone, and it had driven him wildly, relentlessly until the moment when he’d set eyes on her and seen that she was all right, that she was still alive and whole and unharmed. And in that moment, when he had seen her, he had realized an awful truth.

He cared for her.

He, Hugh Caldwell, whose absent heart had been a matter of great perplexity to almost every female he’d met in the past ten years, suddenly found himself
caring
for the most stubborn, wretched woman he’d ever known. Just thinking about it now almost sent his anger to the other side of the stars.

“Now explain yourself, Rosaleen, or I’ll do worse than warm your bottom, I swear by God I shall.”

As furious as he looked, Rosaleen didn’t believe for a moment that he would truly harm her. The punishment he’d given her half an hour earlier had, despite her complaints, been laughably mild. He’d managed the whole matter through all her layers of clothing, clearly not wanting to damage more than her pride. She had humiliated him in front of his family by leaving as she had, and he had every right to an explanation. It had been a slim chance she’d had of his not finding her, though she hadn’t had a choice, just as she didn’t have one now.

Reaching out, she disconcerted him by grasping one of his hands.