The Master of Winterbourne

Letty's entrance cut across what he had been about to say. Henrietta took the tray and refused to let him speak until he had drunk as much as he could manage of the rich beef broth.

At last he lay back, the colour stronger in his face, his eyes brighter, more alert, his voice steady. ‘And you, Wife, why did you not tell me you loved me before?’ He watched her face, the blush spreading over her cheeks, her downcast eyes. ‘Surely it was not so very difficult?’

‘Matthew, I am so ashamed of it, but I was jealous of Sarah, convinced you still loved her…’ Her voice trailed away.

‘Sarah? But she has been dead these past six years.’ He sounded genuinely bemused.

‘Your face when you spoke of her, the pain in your eyes when you recollected her death. You spoke of her so often,’ she whispered.

‘Henrietta, look at me.’ He tugged her hands and she met his eyes reluctantly, still ashamed of her jealousy. ‘Listen to me. I loved Sarah, we grew up together knowing we would eventually marry. It was our fathers' wish for us. We were friends first, lovers second, she and I. She was gentle and meek and obedient, not at all like you, Henrietta.’ She gasped indignantly, then saw the smile in his eyes.

‘I loved you the first time I saw you, so proud and haughty, so passionate inside. Sarah and I never crossed words; ours was a steady marriage. But until you I never understood what passion between a man and a woman truly was.’

‘You made me feel so wanton. .so unmaidenly,’ she confessed, blushing still deeper.

His grin was almost like the old Matthew. ‘You make me very eager to be well and strong again, Wife!’ He tipped up her chin and gazed long and lovingly into her eyes. ‘Kiss me.’

Henrietta let her lips rest gently against his, her arms round his neck, their hearts beating together. The long, tranquil moment stretched on as she wondered hazily how it was possible to be so happy, so at peace.

But there was still her secret lying between them. She must face it. To be true to Matthew she must be untrue to her brother, break her oath of secrecy and trust in Matthew's moderation that what she told him would not hazard the safety of Robert, Alice and the others. At least she had kept the casket safe while it was in her care, she had discharged her promise.

‘Matthew, there is something I must tell you. I know you have been suspicious that I have not been open with you, that I have kept a secret from you. And there was the letter… Now we have found each other there can be no secrets between us – ’

‘Do not tell me.’ He broke across her confession. ‘I know that you love me and no other. I trust you, Henrietta.’

‘But I must tell you,’ she implored. ‘I would have told you sooner but I had sworn an oath.’

‘No. Enough. You must not break an oath for my sake.’

The door crashed open behind them, startling Henrietta so much that she almost fell from the bed. Nathaniel Cobham stood on the threshold, hair and clothes awry, face wan from four days' enforced seclusion. ‘Master Matthew! Thank the Lord you are alive.’

Matthew's brows shot up. ‘Nathaniel? Do not distress yourself so, I am much restored, thank you. Come in and shut the door.’

‘Have you drunk anything that witch has prepared for you?’ Cobham demanded, white lipped. ‘Pray God I am not too late.’

‘Have you taken leave of your senses, man?’ Matthew demanded, struggling to raise himself in the bed. ‘How dare you address your mistress in those terms?’

‘Ask her why she has kept me prisoner these past four days,’ the clerk demanded. ‘I was dragged from your side by her louts, thrown into my room… I would be there still if it were not for the stupidity of the dolt guarding me.’

‘Henrietta, is this true? Have you ordered Nathaniel incarcerated?’ Matthew looked at her, clearly uncertain whether to believe the clerk's ravings or not.

‘He accused Mistress Perrott of witchcraft when she came to help look after you. Matthew. He acted like a man demented. The servants were terrified, I had no choice.’

‘She lies!’ Cobham blazed, one bony finger raised in accusation.

‘Nathaniel, I will become seriously displeased if you continue like this. It should be obvious to the dullest wit that I am mending and that is due to my dear wife's care.’

‘Your dear wife? That Royalist whore – ’

‘Henrietta, ring for John. You are right, his brain is turned.’

‘Hear me out. Ask your dear wife about the man whom I found meeting her in the yard in the dead of night while you were away.’ Matthew shot Henrietta a puzzled glance, his eyes narrowing as he saw the colour drain from her face. ‘She met him in her nightrobe, was conducting him to her chamber when I discovered them. She and that old crow Lady Willoughby hatched some pretence of a groom and a servant wench, but he was no groom. I saw his clothes, his sword. He was a gentleman.’

‘Henrietta? Tell me he lies.’

‘I cannot. There was a man here, but he was not, is not, my lover.’

‘Then he did not come to meet you?’