The Iron Knight (The De Russe Legacy Book 3) (10 page)

Curious, she went to stand next to the door, listening, and she could hear what sounded like two female voices. At her age, everything had her interest. She wanted to know who was on the landing. Very quietly, she unbolted the door and cracked it open, peeking into the area beyond.

It was dim in the landing outside but she could make out movement. The door across from her chamber was open. She could see into it and the fact that it was utterly jammed with trunks. It looked like there had been an explosion of clothing because she could see garments everywhere – on the bed, on the floor, and piled on the trunks themselves. More than that, two young women were standing just outside of the chamber, speaking in loud whispers. Emmaline could hear them. One was about her age, she thought, but she couldn’t see the features of the other one because she was holding a scarf up to cover the bottom portion of her face.

Bored, and vastly curious about the young girls outside of her door, Emmaline slowly opened the panel and stepped through, silently closing the door behind her. When she looked up from the door latch, it was into two surprised pairs of eyes. She smiled weakly.

“Greetings,” she said quietly. “Do you live here?”

The pretty, pale girl without the scarf across her face shook her head. “Nay,” she said, somewhat nervously. “Do you?”

Emmaline shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “My mother and I were traveling to Gillingham Castle and we were set upon by outlaws. Sir Lucien saved us and brought us here.”

The pale girl’s brow furrowed. “How horrible!” she exclaimed softly. “Were you injured?”

Emmaline shook her head, taking a timid step or two towards the ladies. “Nay,” she said. “But our carriage tipped over and fell into a lake. Sir Lucien swam to the carriage and then had us hold on to his neck. He swam all the way back to shore with us hanging on to him. It was positively heroic!”

The pale girl blinked as if startled by the story. “He
did
?” she asked, awe in her tone. “And he brought you here to safety?”

Emmaline nodded. “He did,” she said. “My mother and I cannot swim so if he had not come to our rescue, we surely would have drowned.”

The pale girl’s mouth popped open in utter astonishment. She looked at her companion with the scarf across her face and the two of them stared at each other with wide-eyed looks. Emmaline looked between the girls, seeing that she had duly impressed them with her horrific afternoon.

“I am Emmaline,” she said. “It was rude of me not to introduce myself. Are you Sir Lucien’s guests, too?”

The pale girl looked at her, still with that same wide-eyed expression. It appeared like she wasn’t sure how to answer the question. “We are,” she said. “I am Lady Juno de Saix and this is my cousin, Aricia.”

Emmaline bobbed a curtsy to the ladies, the polite thing to do. She was looking at the embroidered fabric across Aricia’s face. “My,” she said with genuine appreciation. “Your scarf is quite lovely. Did you make it yourself?”

Aricia nodded; she was always nervous when in the presence of someone new, nervous that they would see how terrible her skin was.

“I did,” she said. “I am honored by your admiration, my lady.”

Emmaline smiled. “I sew but I do not sew nearly as well as you do,” she said. “If we are here a very long time, mayhap you will show me how you sewed something so beautiful.”

Aricia nodded eagerly, feeling flattered by Emmaline’s kind words. Flattery, in her isolated world, was rare. “I would be happy to,” she said. “How… how long will you stay?”

Emmaline shrugged. “I am not for certain,” she said. “My mother is on her way to meet her betrothed, Lord du Ponte, but we were ambushed and our carriage wrecked. I believe that Sir Lucien is going to send word to Lord du Ponte and he will come and get us. It could take days, at least.”

Juno cocked her head thoughtfully. “Du Ponte?” she repeated. “I do not believe I have heard of him. I must ask my father tonight at sup if he knows of Lord du Ponte.”

“Your father is a guest here, as well?”

“He is, indeed.”

Emmaline dipped her head in thanks. “Then I thank you,” she said. “My mother has never met Lord du Ponte because the contract was arranged by my grandfather. If your father knows Lord du Ponte, I am sure my mother would like to hear what he knows of him.”

Juno lifted her eyebrows. “Then your mother and I have something in common,” she said, “for I have not yet my betrothed, either.”

Emmaline was interested. “Oh?” she said. “Who is your betrothed.”

“Lucien de Russe.”

Emmaline’s mouth popped open in astonishment. “Sir Lucien is your intended?”

“Aye.”

“And you have never met him?”

“Nay.”

“But how long have you been a guest here?”

Juno shrugged. “We only arrived today,” she said. “We were told that he was detained by trouble in the village and now I find out that trouble was you. It seems that Sir Lucien was quite noble in saving your life. I am glad he was of assistance to you.”

It was a kind thing to say and Emmaline smiled, but she still wasn’t over the fact that this young girl, no more than her age, was betrothed to a man old enough to be her father. Certainly, it was not unacceptable in society and, more often than not, encouraged so that old men could have young brides to have many more children with. Still, Lady Juno was very young and, to Emmaline, Sir Lucien was quite old. He had to be at least twenty or more years older. She began to feel some pity for the girl.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “I am sorry if we took Sir Lucien away from meeting you. I would not have knowingly done that.”

Juno smiled. “Of course not,” she said. “I understand. Saving a life is more important. I will be introduced to Sir Lucien tonight at sup and all will be well.”

Emmaline nodded. Then, she sniffed the air. “I think I smell sup already. I am quite famished. I hope they will bring our meal soon.”

Juno’s eyebrows lifted. “Bring your meal?” she repeated. “Will you not attend the meal in the hall?”

Emmaline looked down at herself, wrapped up in a heavy dressing robe made from wool. “When our carriage went into the lake, so did our clothing,” she said. “All I have is the dress I was wearing and the servants took that away to wash it. I would not presume to think that I could go out in public in this clothing.”

She made a face, causing Juno and Aricia to giggle. But in that giggle, they were also sizing up her, looking at the robe she was wearing. It was bulky and hideous. Aricia finally turned to Juno.

“She is taller than you are but I am willing to wager that she would fit into your clothing,” she said. “Why not lend her something until her clothing can be retrieved?”

Juno nodded eagerly. “Of course!” she exclaimed. “I am certain I have something to fit her.”

Emmaline was torn between refusing the generosity and giving in to it. She had few friends, living with her mother and cruel grandfather as she did, so she was quickly being swept up in Juno and Aricia’s excitement.

“I… I do not wish to be a bother,” she said. “Sir Lucien said that he would send his men to retrieve our possessions, so I am sure I will have my own things returned to me very soon.”

Juno frowned. “But you said they were at the bottom of a lake.”

“They are.”

“Then they will be smelly and wet,” Juno pointed out. “I will loan you something dry to wear until your clothing can be returned to you in wearable condition. Oh, do let us dress you!”

It was a lovely, thoughtful suggestion and Emmaline couldn’t honestly think of a reasonable excuse to refuse her. Besides, there was an allure in spending time with two girls her own age, girls who seemed kind and generous. A timid smile crossed her lips and she opened her mouth to thank Juno, but the words never came froth. A screech from the floor below interrupted her gratitude, whistling up the spiral stairs and filling the air with its unhappy wheeze.

“Stop talking!” a young girl’s voice shouted for all to hear. “Stop talking up there! Come down here to me this
instant
!”

The three young women froze, looking at the stairwell with shock and dismay. The faceless young girl screamed again, with frustration, positively lifting the hairs on the back of their necks. Frightened, Juno reached out and grasped Emmaline.

“We heard this girl earlier today when we arrived,” she hissed. “We were told that she was Sir Lucien’s daughter. I’ve not met her. Have you?”

Wide-eyed with fear, Emmaline shook her head. “I have not,” she said. “What should we do?”

Juno didn’t know. “I do not want to anger Sir Lucien,” she hissed. “The knight that showed us to our chamber – de Royans was his name – said that Sir Lucien should introduce me to his daughter, so I do not want to disobey the man’s wishes.”

More screaming hurled up the stairs followed by something banging against the stone down below. The screaming was accompanied by demands again, demands that the young women come to the source of the screaming. Whoever was yelling had strong lungs because she was very loud, but the three young women on the level above had no intention of obeying the commands. They stood there, simmering in uncertainty, when the door to Emmaline’s chamber suddenly opened.

Sophina was in the doorway. Wrapped in a heavy brown woolen robe, she appeared sleepy but alert. Even though the woman was a heavy sleeper, the screaming going on downstairs was loud enough to wake the dead. As more yelling and banging wafted up the stairwell, she frowned deeply.

“Who is that?” she demanded softly. “What has happened, Emmaline?”

Emmaline ran to her mother, grasping at her. “I do not know, Mama,” she said honestly. “We were simply talking when someone down below started yelling. Lady Juno believes it is Sir Lucien’s daughter.”

It was then that Sophina focused on the two girls her daughter was standing with. One was pale and pretty while the other one covered most of her face with an embroidered red scarf. They looked to be about her daughter’s age and she smiled politely.

“Ladies,” she greeted. “I am Lady Sophina, Emmaline’s mother. Are you guests here, too?”

Juno nodded, her gaze moving over the lushly gorgeous older woman with the dark red hair. She was rosy-cheeked, with smooth skin and beautiful eyes. In truth, Juno was a bit in awe for a moment, as she had never seen such a lovely woman of that advanced age. Surely the woman had seen well over thirty years, but it was difficult to know for sure. She looked positively ageless.

“Aye, my lady,” Juno replied. “I am Lady Juno de Saix and this is my cousin, Aricia. We are here at Spelthorne with my father, the Earl of Holderness. Lady Emmaline told us of your misadventures today. I was sorry to hear of your troubles.”

Sophina thought that Juno seemed like a pleasant young lady on the surface. At least, she was well spoken and had polite manners. Her smile turned genuine. “It is kind of you to say so, my lady,” she said, turning her attention once again to the shouting and banging below. “Has anyone gone down to see what the screaming is about? Mayhap the girl is in some kind of trouble.”

All three young ladies shook their heads. “Nay, Mama,” Emmaline said. “She has screamed at us to stop talking and attend her. There is no trouble, only that she wants us to go to her.”

Sophina was puzzled. “
Go
to her?” she repeated. “And she is Sir Lucien’s daughter, you say?”

All three girls were nodding to varying degrees. “Aye, my lady,” Juno said. “I was told that Sir Lucien would personally introduce me to his daughter and I do not want to anger him by heeding her call. I must wait.”

The screaming was now turning into crying. Loud, unhappy crying. Bewildered at the behavior, Sophina left her daughter and the two ladies and made her way to the stairwell, peering down to see if she could see anything. Since it was spiraled, there wasn’t much to see except some shadows on the wall where the dim light was silhouetting a figure, moving about. There was more banging against the wall. Now deeply curious, Sophina made her way cautiously down the stairs.

The second level was configured a little differently than the third level with two or three large rooms; Sophina had noticed when she’d been shown to her chamber earlier. As she came down the stairs, she could see a young girl with long, dark hair sitting on the floor near the stairs. In her hand, she had two steel rods of some kind with claw’s feet at the base. Sophina had no idea what they were but she was banging them about, crying unhappily. Sophina paused four or five steps from the bottom, watching the girl slam the rods around.

“Are you hurt or injured?” she asked politely. “Do you require assistance?”

The young girl instantly stopped banging and looked up at her, astonishment on her tear-streaked face. In that moment, Sophina instantly knew that what the girls had told her had been the truth – this was Lucien’s daughter, for she looked exactly like him. She had his long, wavy dark hair and muddy brown eyes. She even had the shape of his chin, with a big cleft in it. The moment she laid eyes on Sophina, however, she gasped and struggled to roll to her knees.

“Who are you?” she asked eagerly, scrambling to get up from the floor. “What is your name?”

Sophina remained on the steps. She didn’t want to get in range of those rods that the girl was holding on to, rods that she was using to stand up with. Sophina could see that they were canes of some kind, although she’d never seen canes like that before. She wasn’t entirely sure the girl wouldn’t start swinging those canes at her.

“I am Lady Sophina,” she said. “I am a guest of Sir Lucien’s. What is your name, child?”

“Susanna,” the girl said immediately. “There are more girls here, aren’t there? I asked them to come and visit me but they will not come. They are mean and cruel, and I shall have them punished!”

The short outburst was petulant but Sophina remained even. “I am sorry you are angry, but I assure you that the girls are not being rude,” she said. “They have been instructed to stay to their chambers. I am sure you will meet them soon enough.”

Susanna’s eyes bugged as if she’d just been told something completely outrageous. “But they must come to me
now
,” she insisted. “I cannot travel the stairs. Therefore, they
must
come to me!”