"Aye, 'tis why, then Clem spoke so quickly and softly in my ear when I asked him. " Tricky frowned, folding her arms over her middle, and pursed her lip into a pout. "An' I bethought he meant to steal a kiss by doing so. "
"Tricky! Clem tried to kiss you as well?" Madelyne could not suppress the niggling annoyance that her friend should suddenly be the target of affection of two different men, when she had not-
Had not what?
Caught the attention of the mighty lord of the manor? She huffed out a breath of air and bit her bottom lip. Marry, she was a fool to entertain such fantasies!
Her maid was shaking her head. "Nay, Lady Madelyne, it 'pears I was mistaken that he sought to kiss me. " She appeared slighted by this realization and returned her attention to delving into a new trunk of old clothing.
"Well, there's no sense in bein' put out by the fact that he ain't kissed ye yet," Peg wagged a motherly finger. "Kissin's a good thing, but ye don't wanna be too free with'em. 'Course. . . it's the best way to know true love. " She held up a ruby-colored gown and shook it out. With a nod, she added it to a trunk filled with clothing. "When the right man kisses ye, ye'll know he's the one! Mark my words. I've had my share of kissin' and only my Peter was the one who made m'head spin like a top!"
Peg pushed down on the lid of the trunk that overflowed with gowns and overtunics, shoes, hose, and several cloaks. "Aye," she puffed, sitting heavily on it, and brought them back to the previous topic, "My lord Gavin is quite the closed-mouthed ogre about the lady. Tricky, fetch those ties there-beyond the bed clothes. "
Madelyne joined the other two women as they struggled to wrap the ties about the bulging trunk. Curiosity got the better of her, though, and she asked, "What happened to Lady Nicola? And why will Lord Mal Verne not speak of her?"
The older woman smoothed a hand over her bright red hair with the pale yellow streak. "I served Lady Nicola as her tiring maid at court, ye know, and I saw how it happened. "
Tricky plumped herself on the floor next to the trunk, tucking a cushion beneath her rump. "What was it that happened?"
"Well, 'twas oh, nigh on seven years past. . . nay, six summers. Lady Nicola accompanied Lord Gavin to the court of the new King Henry and Queen Eleanor as they went to pledge fealty to our new rulers. She was a beautiful if foolish lady, and had been married before she was wed with Lord Gavin. She oft complained to me that the lord traveled overmuch, fighting in battles and that he did not woo her as he should. "
"Well, 'tis no surprise. Lord Gavin is not the wooing sort," Tricky snorted. "'Tis obvious even to me, who has been in an abbey since I could walk!"
"Tricky!" Madelyne could not disagree, but she would not have spoken such a thing.
"Nay, my lady, 'tis true. And since the death of his wife, Lord Gavin has been e'en less gentle. " Peg took up the story again. "At any rate, I was with Lady Nicola on the first she saw him. . . not Lord Gavin, mind, but the man who would be her lover.
"Even to these old eyes-well, they weren't so old six summers past, but old enough that a fine face and figure won't easily turn them-er. . . ach, aye, yes, even to these eyes, the man was fine and courtly. Not so tall, but taller than Lady Nicola. . . and his hair brushed his shoulders like a moonbeam. " When Tricky snickered, Peg pulled from her reverie to glare down at her. "Those were the words of Lady Nicola, and not my own, know you well.
"Aye, she did moon for him, and wail over his manners, and his sapphire blue eyes, and the skill with which he played the lute. . . and she waited until Lord Gavin was called home to Mal Verne. She begged for him to allow her to stay with the king and queen's court. . . and Lord Gavin, sharp though he might be, cared for her enough to allow her to stay. "
Peg stopped, and when Tricky humphed in impatience, she shrugged. "'Tis easy to guess the rest, of course. Nicola found her way to the man's side, and he wooed her with his smile and his beautiful voice-I'll not argue that when the man sang, he had the voice of an angel-and his gentle charm. In Lady Nicola's eyes, he was all that Lord Gavin was not. "
Madelyne felt a stab of pain for Mal Verne. The man might be a warrior, and a rough one at that. . . but surely he did not deserve to be dishonored by his own wife because he did not sing beautifully. 'Twas no wonder that he did not wish to speak of her.
"Did Lord Gavin learn of her betrayal? She did betray him, did she not?" Tricky asked, adjusting her bottom on the pillow like a child in the throes of a bedtime tale.
Peg nodded sagely. "Aye. 'Twas not until later that my lord learned of her fancy. . . months later. And aye, she did betray Lord Gavin by bedding with her lover during their time at court. Lord Gavin did not learn of the depth of her unfaithfulness until he came to bring her back to Mal Verne. " Her eyes became troubled and she patted the streak of yellow in her hair again. "Quite a row, there was. . . the lady would not leave, and my lord insisted that she go. She loved him, she said to Lord Gavin, and she wanted only to be with him. "
Drawing her eyebrows into irregular ridges, Peg paused for a moment as if to gather the threads of the story. "I did not hear it all, but another of the maids claimed Lady Nicola insisted that her lover was a man of greatness and holiness . . . hmph, I said when that was told me. . . a fine face and lilting voice do not make a great man! And one who would couple with another man's wife is no holy one in my mind!"
"Did Lord Gavin make her leave with him?" Tricky asked. Madelyne did not know whether to be amused or alarmed at the glow of interest in her friend's eyes.
"Aye. He took her back here to Mal Verne. A fortnight later, a missive arrived for her. 'Twas from her lover, of course-his name she never spoke in my hearing. She planned to ride out and meet him, so they would leave together. "
Peg sighed, and stood suddenly, shaking out her skirts. The pleasure of tale-telling evaporated from her face, and Madelyne recognized sorrow blanketing her features-but was the sorrow for Lady Nicola or for Lord Gavin?
"The rest I do not know," said Peg. "There is no one but his lord and her lady who do. All that has been told to us is that she left here in the dead of night-escaped his wrath, some say-and Lord Gavin went after her. When he returned, 'twas with word that she was dead from a fall off her horse. "
Coldness gripped Madelyne's heart as she remembered her own flight with her mother. What would Fantin have done if he'd learned of their escape and caught them? The thought sent a wave of emptiness and fear through her. "And no one knows what happened?"
"Nay. None but the lord and the lady herself. And she ain't speakin'. "
Chapter Ten
Rule was eager to be on the road again. Gavin was not.
In fact, he was in a most foul mood, and his men had given him a wide berth since leaving Mal Verne that morning.