Reclaimed by Her Rebel Knight

‘No, you shouldn’t have.’ His voice sounded more severe than ever. ‘Try to get some sleep. Wake me up if you need me.’

‘Matthew, I’m...’ She stopped as he rolled away from her, struck with the unpleasant conviction that she was the one in the wrong this time. Probably because she was, though it was partly his fault for following her upstairs in the first place. All she’d wanted was to be left alone!

She glared at his back and closed her eyes again. ‘Goodnight.’

Chapter Sixteen

Matthew swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He’d had another bad night’s sleep, no worse than he’d expected, but the fact was still irritating none the less. Being back at Wintercott was bad enough, but the woman lying barely an arm’s length away had made sleep even more elusive. Well nigh impossible, in fact. Now that he’d woken up for the seventh or eighth or possibly even the ninth time, he knew there was no point in trying any longer.

He looked over his shoulder at Constance and felt his heart lurch. She was slumbering peacefully, curled up on one side with her knees drawn up to her stomach to form a kind of circular shape beneath the coverlet. She’d had a restless night, too, though the tense lines of her face had finally smoothed out in sleep. Would she still look that way when she woke up, he wondered, or would she still be angry with him? Tempted as he was to stroke a finger along the smooth curve of her cheek, part of him didn’t want to find out. Better to let her keep on sleeping and simply imagine that she’d forgiven him.

His explanation about Blanche the previous evening hadn’t provoked quite the response he’d expected. She’d seemed almost underwhelmed when he’d finally told her the truth. Admittedly, she’d drunk quite a considerable amount of wine, enough that he’d felt compelled to accompany her upstairs despite the ferocious glowers she’d been sending in his direction all evening, but her reaction had still surprised him. For a woman with so many questions, she’d been remarkably uncurious! He’d have to try talking to her again, but before he did anything, he needed to get out and away from Wintercott for a while. Perhaps then he’d be able to deal with the situation better.

He pulled on his tunic and braies and stole silently out of the room, down through the hall and out to the stables, sending a yawning groom back to bed while he saddled his horse and led it out into the bailey, waiting impatiently for the door warden to open the gates before riding out beneath the grey arch of the gatehouse and into the breaking dawn beyond. His mood started to lift almost at once. Even his destrier seemed to share his relief, breaking into an enthusiastic gallop the moment they were free of the drawbridge.

The frost-covered grass made crunching sounds as they thundered across the valley, sending clods of dirt spinning out behind them as they rode up the far side and through a low layer of mist not yet dispersed by the sun. There was a ridge at the far end, a place where three valleys came together to make a natural viewpoint and where, on a clear day, you could see all the way to the sea. Unfortunately, today wasn’t a clear day, but the sky was still beautiful, a watery combination of pale blue and orange as the sun made its way up slowly over the horizon.

He patted his destrier’s neck and jumped down, feeling ten times better already. If he and Constance were really going to stay longer at Wintercott, then he’d have to do this every morning, if only for sanity’s sake. On the whole, he wasn’t feeling particularly inclined to be generous towards his brother, especially after his behaviour the previous night, but Constance and Adelaide were right, he ought to try to reconcile with him. He’d give it a week, but no more.

‘You’re out early.’

For a moment, he thought he was either imagining things or that his thoughts had somehow conjured his brother out of thin air. Alan was the last person he would have expected to see that morning, but it was definitely him, riding slowly out of the dawn mist towards the ridge.

‘So are you.’ He waited until Alan had dismounted before answering.

‘I saw you leave.’

‘You followed me?’ Matthew drew his brows together in surprise. ‘I thought you were avoiding me.’

‘I was, but then I saw you riding away and it reminded me of last time. You left early in the morning then, too.’

‘So I did.’ Matthew drew in a deep breath and released it again as a sigh. ‘It seems like a lifetime ago now.’

‘Five years, two months and four days, not that I’ve been counting...’ Alan looked faintly sheepish ‘...but I didn’t want it to happen again.’

‘I came out for a ride, that’s all. I wasn’t leaving.’

‘Good.’

‘And I’m sorry about last time.’ He pressed on, taking the opportunity to apologise properly. ‘Not just about leaving, but for all of it. For not saying goodbye, for not explaining, for leaving you with Father. I know it doesn’t help to say so now, but I am sorry. Deeply and truly. If I could have taken you with me, I would have.’

For a whole minute he thought that his brother wasn’t going to answer. His expression seemed to harden first and then soften again.

‘You’re right, it doesn’t help, but it’s still good to hear you say so.’

‘I don’t blame you for being angry with me.’

‘Has it been that obvious?’ Alan laughed sarcastically and Matthew found himself smiling back.

‘Only to everyone. But I deserve it.’

‘Yes, you do, but I owe you an apology, too. I’ve behaved badly over the past couple of days. I’ve been bitter and spiteful and cruel. It’s just hard to let go of the past and I was angry at you for so long. I suppose I wanted to punish you.’

‘I know. It’s all right.’

‘No, it’s not.’ Alan shook his head. ‘You know when you left I thought that I hated you. I wanted to hate you, but deep down I couldn’t. I suppose that’s the real reason I took your old room, as a way of staying close to you. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I thought that maybe it would help me work out why you left.’

‘It’s hard to explain...’