Archangel (30 page)

Julian was only focused on capturing de Lara.  He waved his arms around. “Then what do you suggest? Out with it!”

Donnell put up a hand to ease him so he wouldn’t fly out of control.  Julian flew out of control quite easily.

“We should find out about the man,” he recommended. “Ask around to see if anyone knows him.  De Lohr has allies, men that we known and men that are also allied with you. Perhaps other knights know of this man and where he is from.”

Julian liked the idea.  His dark face lit up. “Of course,” he agreed. “Find out what you can about the man. Perhaps he has a home. Perhaps he has kidnapped my wife and taken her there.”

“It is as good a start as any, my lord.”

Julian was less agitated now that a plan was set, one he considered cunning and true. He would outsmart de Lohr and his arrogant brother.  He would win.

“Go, then,” he told Donnell. “I will leave this up to you.  Decide whom you wish to speak with and take no chances. They must not know our motives.”

“Aye, m’lord.”

Julian watched Donnell quit the room, feeling a great deal of comfort and happiness at the scheme.  Forbes was no longer a suspect but this new knight was.  He would track down where this man had taken his wife. 

There was no telling what he would do to Emberley once he found her.

***

“Explain what has happened to me so clearly that there will be no doubt in my mind as to what you have done,” David was struggling to keep his patience. “I am waiting, Gart.”

Gart stood just inside the door of the solar of Bellham, a lavish room that generations of de Lohr males had made their own.  Now it belonged to David and his brother the earl, a pair that was deeply entrenched in the security of England.  Gart always thought the room smelled of power, a scent somewhere between leather and smoke and hot steel.  Right now, it was a somewhat intimidating smell considering he was here to ask release from his oath.  So far, things weren’t starting off in his favor.

“With your permission, my lord, I remained at Dunster Castle to become reacquainted with my best friend’s sister,” Gart began.

“I know that,” David snapped softly, leaning against his desk with his arms crossed. His expression was decidedly unfriendly. “Tell me something I do not know.”

Gart braced his legs apart, hands clasped behind his back.  His manner was professional and non-emotional.

“I spent several weeks with the Lady Emberley de Moyon, my lord,” he continued. “I came to know her children as well. In spite of the fact that they attempted to rob anyone who entered the keep at Dunster, they are good boys. They will make fine knights.”

“Go on,” David urged impatiently.

Gart complied. “Although it was never my intention at the start, during the time I spent with Lady Emberley, I fell in love with the woman,” he finally met David’s gaze. “She is the most wonderful, kind and beautiful woman in the entire world and I love her with all my heart.”

David looked at him, waiting for more of an explanation. When nothing more was forthcoming, he lifted his eyebrows.

“And?” David demanded. “What else?”

Gart wasn’t sure what he meant but he continued. “And… and I intend to dissolve, break up or otherwise destroy her marriage to Buckland. The baron is a vile, repulsive excuse for a man and….”

David cut him off. “And his
wife
is pregnant with
your
child.”

Gart didn’t flinch. “Aye, m’lord.”

David just stared at him.  Then he clenched his teeth and threw up his hands, pushing himself off the desk.

“You told me that you held no feelings for the woman,” he jabbed a finger at the knight. “You lied to me and wove me into your web of deceit.”

Gart was shaking his head before David even finished. “Untrue, my lord.  I did not love her at the time we last spoke. That came much later.”

David grunted and growled, making a fist at Gart as if to punch him in the nose but then drawing back, running the same hand through his cropped blond hair. He was clearly agitated.

“I should, at the very least, turn you over to Buckland,” he growled. “It would serve you right for getting yourself into such foolish trouble. What on earth possessed you, Gart? You have always proven yourself to be far wiser than this. I would have never expected this from you, not in a million years.”

“If that is true, my lord, why did you send de Lara to Dunster to warn me of Buckland’s approach?”

David came to a halt, looking at him as if he truly wanted to punch him. But posturing was all he did, clenching his fists and growling to himself.

“Because I suspected you would still be there,” he told him, less bark out of his tone.  “In fact, I was sure of it. I suppose all of this is my fault.  When you asked me if you could stay at Dunster, I should not have allowed it. You told me that you held no feelings for the woman and I gave you the benefit of the doubt although I guess in hindsight, I did not believe you. I should have made you leave Dunster when I did.”

Gart could see that David wasn’t truly angry at him, simply at the mess the situation had become. Gart decided to lay it all on the line because at this point, he suspected honestly was the only thing de Lohr would be receptive to.

“Please believe me when I tell you that it was never my intention to do anything immoral or clandestine,” he lowered his voice to a beseeching tone. “In fact, even as I say that, it still does not seem wrong or immoral to me.  I love the woman with all my heart and soul, as I also love those little ruffians she has raised.  I love all of them, so much that I would die or kill a thousand times over for them.  Buckland is an abominable, depraved man who flaunts his affair with the queen as if he is doing nothing wrong or immoral himself. He beats his wife senseless when the mood strikes him and has since the day they were married. Why is it wrong for me to love the woman and want to remove her from that hell?”

By this time, David was gazing at him with less anger and more understanding, reluctant though it might be.  He sighed heavily.

“It is not as if I do not completely agree with your assessment of Buckland,” he said quietly. “But the fact remains that Lady Emberley is his wife. There is nothing you can do about that.”

“I can if you will help me.”

David’s eyebrows lifted.  “Help you do what?”

Gart remained calm. “Help me persuade the Church to grant her a divorce.”

David looked at him as if he was mad. “That is impossible,” he said, “and even if it was possible, the Church would only grant a divorce to her husband and not to the lady.  You know that the male is only considered in marital disputes – the wife is property. It would be no better if a horse asked to be given another master.”

Gart was struggling not to feel some despondency. “There must be something that can be done for I will never allow her to return to Buckland. Will you please speak with a priest on my behalf and see if anything can be done?”

David could see simply by Gart’s expression how serious the man was. He’d never before seen that countenance on Gart’s face, the deep longing in his intense eyes.  He felt his anger abate completely, replaced by depression.  The man had himself in a hell of a predicament. David leaned back against his desk again, folding his arms pensively.  After a moment, he simply shook his head.

“My Rock,” he eyed Gart, irony in his tone. “I always called you my Rock because when everything around us was deteriorating, you always stood strong and firm. Nothing could crumble you, Gart. You are the strongest man I know. But what you have done… I understand that we cannot control who we fall in love with, but you have certainly created a mess for yourself. I do not know how we can get you out of it.”

For the first time since entering the solar, Gart relaxed. All of his defensive posturing left him and he stood there, a lone and weary shell. There was a fine oak chair off to his right, against the stone wall, and he made his way to it, lowering his bulk onto the seat. 

“I never knew that such happiness existed in the world,” he said softly. “Every day I spent with Emberley was the happiest day of my life.  She is sweet and humorous and wise, and her children remind me of her brother and I as children.  Living at Dunster these past few months was like living in a little corner of heaven reserved just for me. It was paradise.”

David could hear the adoration in his voice and it surprised him.  He had no idea the man was capable of such feeling. But it also deepened his respect for the man, for Gart Forbes had grown in dimension since the last time he saw him.  There was breadth and depth to the perfect knight that didn’t exist before.  The man was learning what was truly important in life.

“Those children still have the money they stole from me,” David reminded him quietly, watching Gart grin. “I should take it out of your wages.”

Gart merely shrugged. “I will gladly pay it,” he said. “Those boys have shown me joy in life that I had forgotten about.”

David wriggled his eyebrows as he pushed himself off the desk. “Having a brother of my own, I understand that somewhat, but my wife has three sisters and now I have a daughter, so the womenfolk have the edge in my family.  Girls do not rob or try to beat you with a stick.”

Gart chuckled softly. “I have hopefully broken them of that.”

“It
was
fairly bold for three small boys.”

“They are limitless in their courage.”

Now considerably calmer than he had been since he first entered the room, David was moving to the seriousness of the situation and what to do about it. Gart was a smart man but his brilliance lay more in tactics and battles. He was a knight and knights followed orders for the most part.  Something like this was out of his scope of experience and David realized he had to help Gart or risk losing his best knight. Gart was begging for assistance. His mind began to work quickly.

“Speaking of the boys,” David began casually. “You realize that the eldest is Buckland’s heir.”

“Of course,” Gart nodded. “Emberley and I have discussed this at length.”

“Even if by some miracle the church should grant her a divorce, Buckland will not let her take the children,” David pointed out. “Would the woman leave without her children?

“She will not, and neither will I,” Gart replied, averting his gaze and looking at his hands.  It was clear that he was contemplating something. “My father was Viscount Tenbury, heir presumptive to the Earldom of Albemarle.  But my father and my uncle, the Earl of Albemarle, had a disagreement and my father left the family and disregarded his titles. But the truth is that the title Viscount Tenbury is rightfully mine, as is Bridgnorth Castle in Shropshire, and I intend to regain my inheritance from my uncle.  I will give it all to Buckland if he will divorce Emberley and turn her, and the children, over to me.”

David stared at him. “I knew you were related to Albemarle but I did not know how closely.” He cleared his throat softly.  “You are aware that Albemarle is allied with my brother.”

“I am.”

“Have you not spoken with your uncle in recent years, Gart?”

Gart shook his head. “There was no reason to.  My father severed those ties long ago.”

David sighed faintly. For a moment, he appeared at a loss for words.

”Gart, Albemarle has a son,” he said quietly. “I have met the lad, perhaps no more than eight years of age.  It is the boy that carries the title Viscount Tenbury.”

Gart looked up at him, surprised.  “I did not even know my uncle had a son.  He had three daughters who were grown.”

David was trying to be gentle. “The earl’s wife died several years ago and he remarried. It is his second wife who gave him the son and the boy carries the title.”