The Velvet Promise (Montgomery/Taggert 2)
Again she shook her head, thinking of Walter Demari.
“What then of Gavin? Was he pledged to another?”
Judith lifted her chin. “He did ask another woman to marry him.”
“And this woman is?”
“Lady Alice Chatworth.”
“Ah,” Henry sighed and leaned back in his chair. “And now the lady is a widow and he wishes to marry her?”
“Yes, he does.”
King Henry frowned. “I don’t like divorce, but I also don’t like my earls and countesses so unhappy. This will cost you a great deal. I am sure the pope will require that you endow a chapel or a nunnery.”
“I will do that.”
“Lady Judith, you must let me think about this. I must speak to the others involved before I make a decision. Alan,” he called, “take the countess to her room and see that she is made to rest.”
Alan smiled broadly as he helped Judith to her feet.
“The Lady Judith looked to be very sad,” Queen Elizabeth commented as she entered the room just as Judith was leaving and took a seat next to her husband. “I know how she feels after having lost a child.”
“It’s not that, or at least the child is not all that weighs upon her. She asks for a divorce from Gavin.”
“No!” Elizabeth said, dropping her knitting to her lap. “I have never seen two people more in love. They argue, true, but I have seen Lord Gavin lift her in his arms and kiss her.”
“It seems that Lady Judith is not the only woman Gavin kisses.”
Elizabeth was silent. Not many men were faithful to their wives. She knew that even her husband at times…“Lady Judith asks for a divorce for this reason?”
“Yes. Gavin seems to have asked Lady Alice Chatworth to marry him before he married Judith. It is a verbal contract and grounds for divorce. That is, if the woman will accept Gavin.”
“She will!” Elizabeth said angrily. “She will be glad to take Gavin—she has done so much to obtain him.”
“What are you talking about?”
Elizabeth quickly told her husband of the castle gossip how Lady Judith had fallen and miscarried her child.
Henry frowned. “I do not like such happenings between my subjects. Gavin should have been more discreet.”
“There is some doubt whether he asked the woman to his bed, or whether she placed herself there.”
Henry chuckled. “Poor Gavin. I wouldn’t want to be in such a state as he.”
“Have you talked to him? I do not think he wants this divorce,” Elizabeth stated.
“But if he were pledged to the Lady Alice before his marriage…”
“Then why did she marry Edmund Chatworth?”
“I see,” Henry said seriously. “I think I will investigate this further. There is more here than appears on the surface. I will talk to both Gavin and Lady Alice.”
“I hope your talks take a long while.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If Judith is allowed to separate from her husband, their marriage will indeed end; but if they were forced to stay near one another, they might realize they do care for each other.”