“Well, Brian certainly paid for the attempt! I hear Raine is a large man. Did he enjoy tearing my slight brother apart? Did he enjoy hearing Brian’s frail bones snap?”
Miles eyes hardened. “I see that once again you have heard only one side. Did Roger say Raine killed Brian?”
“Not in so many words, but…”
Miles came away from the wall. “Ask him then. Have your perfect brother tell you the truth about who killed Brian Chatworth. Now, if you have nothing else to accuse me of, I must go.”
“Wait!” she called. “Please, tell me the news. How is Sir Guy?”
Miles eyes turned black. “What the hell do you care? Since when have you cared about anyone except your treacherous brother? Guy nearly died from your brother’s arrows. Perhaps he should practice his marksmanship. Another inch and he’d have reached Guy’s heart.”
“And Kit?” she whispered.
“Kit!” Miles said through clenched teeth. “Kit cried for three days after you left but now he won’t even allow Philip’s nurse in the same room. The nurse’s name is Elizabeth.”
“I never meant…” she began. “I love Kit.”
“No, Elizabeth, you don’t. We were nothing to you. You repaid us all for holding you against your will. You are, after all, a Chatworth.”
Her anger exploded in her. “I’ll not stand for more of your insinuations! What was I supposed to do when my brother held a sword at your throat? Should I have stayed with you? He would have killed you! Can’t you understand that I left with him in order to save your ungrateful life?”
“Am I supposed to believe that?” he said, low. “You stand before me dripping pearls, wearing a ruby that costs more than all I own and tell me you followed your brother in order to save me? What has made you think I’m stupid?”
“Tell me then,” she shot back, “what should I have done?”
His eyes narrowed. “You claim your brother loves you so much, you should have told him you wanted to stay with me.”
She threw up her hands at that. “Oh yes, that would have worked so well. Roger no doubt would have resheathed his sword and gone home docilely. Roger’s temper is second only to yours. And, Montgomery, how was I to know you wanted me to remain with you?”
He was silent for a moment. “My wants have always been clear. I hear you have been sleeping with many men lately. I’
m sure your marital status won’t interfere with your activities, although my child will curb you for a while at least.”
Very calmly, very slowly, Elizabeth stepped close to him and slapped him across the face.
Miles’s head snapped to one side and when he looked back at her, his eyes were ablaze. With one quick, violent gesture he caught both her hands in one of his, pushed her back against the stone wall. His lips came down on hers hard, plundering.
Elizabeth reacted with all her pent-up desires and pushed her body into his hungrily.
His lips made a hot trail down her neck. “You love me, don’t you, Elizabeth?”
“Yes,” she murmured.
“How much?” he whispered, touching her earlobe with the tip of his tongue.
“Miles,” she murmured, “please.” Her hands were held against the wall, above her head, and she desperately wanted to put her arms around him. “Please,” she repeated.
Abruptly, he pulled away from her, dropped her hands. “How does it feel to be turned down?” he said coldly, but a vein in his neck pounded. “How does it feel to love someone and be rejected? I pleaded with you to stay with me but you chose your brother. Now see if he can give you what you need. Goodbye, Elizabeth…Montgomery.” With that he left the room, closing the door behind him.
For a long while Elizabeth was too weak to move, but she finally managed to make her way to a chair and sit on it. She was there, in a daze, when the priest entered, obviously agitated.
“Lord Miles had to leave but an escort awaits you outside. And this was left for you.” When Elizabeth didn’t react, the priest took her hand and closed it around something cold and heavy. “Take your time, dear, the men will wait.”
It was several minutes before Elizabeth gathered her strength enough to stand. The object in her hand fell and clanged against the stone floor. Kneeling, she picked it up. It was a heavy gold ring, sized small enough to fit her hand, set with a large emerald that was incised with three Montgomery leopards.
Her first impulse was to toss the ring across the room, but with a grimace of resignation, she slipped it on her left hand and left the room to go to the guard waiting for her.
Roger met her a half-mile from the estate with an armed guard, swords drawn. She kicked her horse ahead to meet him.