The Valcourt Heiress (Medieval Song 7)
Page 49
“Forced you? Ha!”
“Be quiet! You foolish girl, I cannot believe you actually did this.”
“I told you I did not want to be forced to wed with some man I do not know.”
“It is not your right to decide your future. Are you so ignorant you do not understand that? Your father would have selected your husband. But now it is only right that the king act in his stead. I cannot believe you are so willful or so stupid.”
His outrage finally broke through and she burst into tears.
He was appalled, but only for an instant because his anger was riding him hard. He waved his fist in her face. “What are you doing? Crying? How dare you? Stop those infernal tears now!”
The tears dried up. She gulped. “All right, but it is difficult to stop once I get started. What is it you wish to do now, my lord?”
“You can cry whenever you wish to?”
“One of the ladies at court taught me, but I must think sad thoughts. I thought about what the Black Demon had done to Wareham and that was enough.”
“What was her name?”
“Alice of Kent.”
Not Alice, anyone but Alice. Was he cursed? “Did she teach you anything else?”
“No. She even believed I was so backward that gushing out tears when I wished was beyond me. It took me a while, but I finally proved her wrong.”
How had she gotten him off his logical path?
“I would like to beat you, but I suppose that since you are an heiress, since you will soon be the king’s ward, I am to be denied the pleasure.”
“I cannot be the king’s ward. He does not want a girl who is no longer a virgin. I know well that virginity is prized above all else. Well, except for silver and land.”
“That was your fault entirely. I had nothing to do with it. I was scarcely here.”
“Ha! You moaned so loudly I was nearly deafened. Then you yelled—it even woke up Gilpin. I don’t hear him. Do you think he is asleep again?”
“He had better be. You be quiet.
”
“I do not believe you suffered any pain, not like the agony you forced upon me.”
“Agony? You are ignorant as that dead pear tree in the orchard. I cannot believe you did this to me.”
“Why? It appears I am simply one amongst many women who have awakened you in the middle of the night, their hands and mouths all over you.”
“And their breasts. But that was different and you well know it. You are an idiot, Merry.”
She hit his shoulder, felt the scar. “I am not an idiot. I am simply determined not to be given over to some man I do not know. What happened to you?”
“You were Blanche, a female I know well, and you kissed me until my lust overcame my reason.”
“There was no reason involved. You did not hesitate a single minute to think. No, what happened to your shoulder? That scar is quite deep. It could have killed you. What happened?”
Surely this is passing strange, he thought, and looked down at her mouth he’d kissed too many times, and wanted to kiss again. He said absently, “A Scottish madman tried to kill the king. It was my job to protect him, and so I did.”
“What happened to the Scot?”
“He is rotting in Hollow’s Field. It is where assassins are buried.”