“Graelam had no choice!” Joanna said in a shrill voice. “He was forced to keep her!”
Kassia moved quietly to stand beside Chandra. She could not allow Chandra to defend her, as if she were naught but a frightened little mouse!
“He did have a choice, Joanna,” Kassia said. “You see, our marriage had not been consummated.”
“Then why did you try to escape him?” Louise said, honestly confused.
“I believe,” Kassia said slowly, “that Lady Blanche claims this as a fact. It is not true. I owe my . . . loyalty to my husband and always will.”
“How you have changed your stance!” Why am I still baiting her? Do I so fear that Graelam will learn that I was the one responsible? It was
true, Blanche admitted to herself as she watched Kassia whirl about at the sound of her sarcastic words. She feared Graelam would take revenge upon Guy.
“Blanche . . .” Kassia murmured.
Very soon, Eleanor thought, this gathering will degenerate into a true debacle. She set aside her thread and rose from her chair. “Ladies, I believe it is time for me to tell you of the court in Sicily. And I will show you some of the treasures I brought back with me.”
“Come,” Chandra said quietly to Kassia. “If I stay longer, I will break Joanna’s neck! And perhaps Blanche’s arm!”
“Why did you defend me?” Kassia asked. “You do not know me.”
“A penchant for fairness,” Chandra said. “Joanna. from what I hear, is a vicious, mean-spirited bitch. Graelam would likely have killed her had he married her.”
Kassia said slowly, “You sound as though you have forgiven Graelam for what he tried to do to you.”
“So he told you about that, did he?”
“Aye, I asked him last night. He much admires you.”
“Well,” Chandra said after a moment, “had we wed, I do not know who would have survived! Graelam is used to ruling all within his power. He will not tolerate his wishes gainsaid. And unfortunately, he cannot seem to accept a woman’s going against him in anything. Am I right?”
“Aye,” Kassia said forlornly, “you are right. There was a time when I believed that he—” She broke off, biting her lip. “It matters not. Nothing will change his opinion of me now.”
“Walk with me,” Chandra said. “I would hear about this adventure of yours.”
“ . . . and so I cannot blame Dienwald for escaping,” Kassia concluded after some time. “Graelam would have killed him. And now Blanche is here, and still persists in despising me. There is nothing I can do or say to convince him otherwise!”
“Hmmm,” Chandra said.
“If I were more like you,” Kassia burst out, “he would likely love me! At least he might believe me, for he spoke about your honor and your honesty.”
Chandra smiled down at Kassia. “I have an idea,” she said. “Why do you not come with me to the archery range. I have a contest with the king tomorrow and must practice. And while I am at it, I can show you how to shoot.”
28
“You are meddling, and I do not like it.”
Lady Chandra de Vernon snuggled closer to her husband. “But she is innocent, Jerval,” she protested mildly, drawing in her breath as her husband’s hand roved down over her belly. “I only wish to help.”
“She does bring out one’s protective instincts,” Jerval said.
“Aye, but do not think she is a fragile helpless little flower. There is a core of strength in her, I think. She will bend, but will not break. If only Graelam were not such a—”
“Proud, cynical, arrogant, distrustful—”
“All of those things, I suppose,” Chandra said on a sigh. “You should have seen her on the archery range this afternoon. She looked at my bow as if it were a snake that would bite her. But she quickly got over that! She hasn’t much physical strength, but she does have a good eye and a steady hand.”
“So you would turn her into a warrior?”