Defiant Surrender (6 page)

William grunted. “I see this pleases the Lady Madeline.”

If possible, Maddie felt her smile widen. “It does, my lord, very much so.” As silence ensued, Maddie looked at William only to see his gaze taking in her form. She cleared her throat to gain his attention and inwardly laughed as he masked his features to one of cool indifference.

“It is only fair your people have the opportunity to see you and your new husband. I will, of course, be bringing Lady Veronica. She will act as your companion.”

Maddie lost all enthusiasm for the trip. She narrowed her eyes and bit back a horde of curses she longed to fling at him. How dare he.

“I do not think so, my lord.” Her voice was hard, unmovable. “I will not allow that woman to enter my house. Unless you want to sleep with her outside the castle walls? She’d be more comfortable left here.”

“Do not presume to tell me what to do, Lady Madeline. I am your husband and what I say is law.”

Maddie held her ground and refused to give in. As the silence stretched, William shifted his stance and placed a hand upon his sword belt.

“She is not welcome in my home, nor will you be, shall you think to bring her,” Maddie said unsympathetically. “You may be baron and lord of the manor here, but Aimecourt is my home. You may get away with such activities under this roof, but I will die before I lower myself to allow such under my own.”

Her words snapped his temper. Grabbing her arm, William dragged her toward a woodshed beside the gatehouse. He ignored her shocked gasp and attempts to dislodge his grip as he led her inside, away from inquisitive eyes. Away from help.

“I could have you whipped for speaking to me in such a way. Cease this jealousy over Lady Veronica and accept the situation.”

Maddie puffed out a breath of temper. How dare he think her envious of him and that slut? She couldn’t hate him more than she did at this moment. “I accept it here, my lord. But do not think to bring her with us. Don’t—” she squeaked as his mouth came down, demanding and intent against her own. It quelled her outburst and she stilled. What the hell was he doing? As reality asserted itself, she bit his lip—hard.

He wrenched away, his hand against his mouth, his eyes astonished. A tiny spot of blood marked his lip. Maddie flicked her hair behind her shoulder and turned to leave. At the door, she paused to look back at him. Still and watchful, his eyes burned with fury at her rebuff. She took in all his form, and then allowed her distaste of him to settle on her features.

“Don’t think to control me, Lord William. I may be your wife and I may be a woman, but I’d die before I would allow my people to see your degrading treatment of me. They will never see their Lady allow her husband’s whore to sleep with him under her own roof. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to pack. And if I see you at the carriage in two days, then that is fine. But if you think you cannot spend a month at least without Lady Veronica, I suggest you stay exactly where you are.”

She walked out and hurried to the security of the castle. She looked toward the smithy and noticed Sir Alex watching her. She ignored his worried countenance and proceeded into the Great Hall. It seemed to take forever to make her way to her room. With shaking fingers, Maddie shut her door and turned the massive key in the lock. Slumping against the wood, she sighed in relief before she touched her lips.

When he’d kissed her, with such demanding softness, had she not been so angry with his obnoxious audacity, she would have unravelled like a ball of wool. She would have kissed him back and enjoyed every second of it. Her stomach fluttered as the memory of his tongue sliding into her mouth raced through her mind.

Holy mother of Christ, after everything he had done; ignored her, cheated on her, and frustrated her, she was in lust with him. She closed her eyes in self-disgust, thumped the door behind her. How could a twenty-first century woman fall so low? But fall she had, for the worst kind of fiend alive.

*

Later that evening, Maddie sat alone in her room. Her hand idly twisted the rosary beads Mistress Rhode had given her the day before. She wondered how she would go about hiding her mixed emotions from William. God forbid he try to touch her again, she may not have the sense next time to push him away. And why, when she made him so obviously angry, would he kiss her? She shook her head as she stared out over the darkened land beyond her windows. A group of outlying cottages the only shadows that marred the hills, dimly lit by the scatter of stars appearing in the night sky. As an all too familiar knock sounded on her door, Maddie turned and watched Mistress Rhode bustle into the room. Flushed, she fluttered over to her in excited haste.

“M’lady, there you are. I have been searching everywhere for you, the baron wishes to see you.”

“I’ve already had the pleasure.”

“You have?”

“Yes…he happened upon me as I came back from my daily walk to the river,” she replied, half-smiling as her maid visibly relaxed at the news. Her jaw clenched in annoyance. How dare the man frighten people? It was pathetic that they ran themselves ragged just to please His Lordship.

“So, m’lady, did His Lordship tell you of the new bathing quarters in the castle? This is my surprise for you.”

Maddie stood at the mention of bathing and cleanliness, not something she’d seen a lot of in this time. “He never mentioned a bathroom.”

“Over the past months the floor beneath this one has been having some improvements. The new bath chamber is now ready for use, m’lady.”

“Can I see it?”

“’Twould be my pleasure. Follow me, if you please,” Mistress Rhode said opening the door for her.

Moments later, Maddie entered a room, no doubt once a bedchamber, now decked out as a medieval bathroom. A maid busily stoked a fire, pots of boiling water bubbled over the large hearth. A round wooden tub lined in cloth, sat in the centre of the room. Soaps that smelt of lavender lay within a bowl. Cloths and towels, neatly folded on a wooden shelf, sat ready for use. Despite the lack of running hot water and a flushable toilet, the room was lovely. Maddie took in the room before she noted a door beside the window.

“Where does that door lead to, Mistress Rhode?” she asked, sure no balconies joined this side of the keep. Her room, directly above, would have revealed this.

“That, m’lady,” her maid said in enthusiasm, “is the new garderobe.”

“Garderobe?”

“Come, m’lady. It is most visionary.”

Maddie walked across the room and stepped into the wooden structure, which seemed to protrude from the castle wall. She looked down a circular hole and into the flowing moat below.

“Is this the toilet then?”

“I do not understand toilet, m’lady. But this is the garderobe, where you may do your…private business.”

Maddie stemmed a laugh. “So they built this wooden structure onto the wall just so a toilet could be housed within the keep?”

“Garderobe, yes, m’lady.”

“What’s the little pot for, the one on the shelf in there?” she asked, picking up the container before putting it back in haste. Her eyes watered from the foul stench.

“Lady Madeline, you know urine is saved for dyeing of cloth.”

“You use urine to dye our clothes?”

“M’lady, you know of this way. You have used it yourself.” Her maid smiled.

“I would not put my hand into my own urine, let alone someone else’s.”

“I’m sure, once your memory returns, you will remember all of your life as it was before. Do not trouble yourself, m’lady, it may only lengthen the time before your memory does come back.”

Maddie nodded, not sure she wanted to remember her previous life, especially if it had her remembering working with urine to dye clothes. She looked down at the gown she wore, and wondered whose pee had been used on the fabric. She lifted her arm and smelt her sleeve, thankful the only smell that met her senses was one of clean, washed cloth.

She looked over at her maid, who seemed to be chuckling silently. Maddie laughed.

*

Two days later, Maddie sat comfortably—well, as comfortably as one could in a medieval carriage with no glass windows or suspension. She bit back a smile and refused to gloat over her triumph. Her husband had in fact met her at the carriage this morning, and alone at that. She couldn’t help but think she had won a battle against His Lordship this day.

They travelled for most of the day and were due to arrive at Aimecourt within the hour. Or so her bad tempered spouse had uttered while glowering across at her. Other than those few words, William hadn’t spoken at all. Not that she minded. It saved her from having to argue with the ancient he-man.

She’d enjoyed the day immensely even with the shocking conveyance and her “delightful” travelling companion. They had stopped for lunch and had partaken of an impromptu picnic. Sir Alex was a welcome friend after being stuck with William. They had companionably eaten bread, cheese, and a tart wine. She had almost dozed as she listened to him speak of his own home south of London and the woman he hoped to make his own.

Sir Alex spoke with such love and wistfulness over his betrothed that Maddie could almost be jealous of the lucky woman who would marry him. William had sat away from them, brooding and quiet while they talked. His eyes had burned a path across to them, until, unable to stand it any longer, she had looked away. Maddie wondered if William was a little jealous. It would serve him right if he was.

“Aimecourt is just ahead, Lady Madeline.”

Pulled from her musings, she looked out the carriage window as they reached the peak of a hill, allowing her apparent ancestral home to come into view. The foundations sat on the edge of the valley before them; the castle itself sat above a monstrous amount of stone. The fortress was magnificent. Bordered on three sides by ocean, it looked to sit on an island. The gatehouse, situated over an ocean moat that filled with seawater, its only entrance.

An impossible building to take during battle; no wonder Lord William wouldn’t grant an annulment. Who in their right mind would give up ownership of such a place? It reminded her of Tintagel Castle which she had once toured while in Cornwall.

“You are looking at your home, Lady Madeline, like you have never seen it before. Have you missed it so much that you cannot keep from gazing upon its grandeur?”

She ignored his sarcastic tone and looked back toward the castle.

“I’d be lying if I said I am not looking forward to being home. Do you not miss your own when away, my lord?” she asked, a double entendre to her question. She had not been thinking of Aimecourt or Kingston Castle at all, but her own home in Greenwich, which seemed a million life times away at present.

“It is only a stone building. I travel a great deal, Lady Madeline; it is easy to forget where home is,” he said, before looking away.

Maddie kept her eyes on his and watched as he squirmed at the lie he just told. For all his words that his home meant nothing, the beading of sweat atop his brow and his inability to look at her told another truth. His home was run with dedication. Not a thing was left untended, including those who worked his lands. No, William did not fool her; he loved his home and his lands. Took pride in them. Even if he did disappear for weeks on end.

“You are very different from what I’d been told of you, Lady Madeline.”

Maddie looked back from the view of passing fields and working serfs to her husband. “Oh, how so?” She refused to fidget as his dark, hooded gaze studied her profile.

“I find it strange that Lady Veronica has more grace and finesse than you, when you were brought up in and around privileges rivalling those of the king.”

Maddie frowned. “Are you calling me common?”

“Well, Aimecourt is a thriving stronghold so I rank you more than common. And you seem to have wits, since your holdings strength and production have only increased since your father’s death. However,” he paused, “I believe when your father had you undergo tutelage in the arts of being a lady, he allowed the standard to slip.”

“And you my lord, to point out my flaws, were never raised as a gentlemen.”

A heavy silence ensued. Maddie glared, before she turned away. What an obnoxious arse.

*

The carriage crossed a wooden drawbridge, which spanned a deep ravine. They passed through the gatehouse and stopped within the outer bailey. With the help of Lord William, Maddie disembarked, pulling her hand free of his clasp the moment her feet touched the ground. Why, whenever she inadvertently touched him, did nerves assail her? At shouts and commands behind her, she turned and watched, entranced as the drawbridge closed, isolating them within the walls. People were everywhere; it was a complete working village on top of a rock.

The carriages moved on to be unloaded and a moment later, Mistress Rhode joined her before accompanying her inside. Since her husband had thought to take himself off elsewhere, Maddie pretended indifference and proceeded indoors to inspect her property.

It only now dawned upon her that she knew no one, nor did she know her way around the massive edifice. As she walked into the Great Hall, she stopped, stunned, in front of two life-sized painti
ngs of people she recognized. Without the period clothing, she could have been looking at her mum and dad, exactly as she had seen them last. Before a drunk driver took them away from her at seventeen, and her dreams along with them.