Lady Thief (7 page)

Regardless, the apology would have to be
postponed for later.
Perhaps now was the best time to simply speak
with him and determine if he remained angry with her, or if his
back still stung from her father’s treatment.

When he bowed to her she was pleased with the
easy way he did so.
Perhaps his back no longer troubled him as much
as she thought it did.

“Milady,” Archer greeted her, sparing Adam a
nod of his head.

“Archer,” she did not know what to say.
What
would a gentle-bred lady say to the man hired to keep her horses?
She had never had to watch her tongue around him before.
He was
much more like an older brother than a servant, especially after
Reggie’s death.

She could think of nothing to say, and Adam’s
presence had naught to do with it.
“You look well,”

He nodded.
The horse whose shoe he had been
cleaning nudged him, and Archer reached a hand up to stroke his
muzzle without taking his eyes away from her.
“Robert ‘as been
keepin’ me busy.
Keeps my mind from wanderin’ to…other things.”

Guilt attacked her entire body and clawed her
mercilessly from the inside.
He referred to his family, the family
he had been separated from for protecting her from her father.
There was no scorn in his voice, none directed towards her at any
rate.
Perhaps this meant he would forgive her?

“Yes, the stables are kept much better than
the castle.
Perhaps I could convince my new husband that ‘twould be
more suitable to spend our nights here.”

A ghost of a smile cracked Archer’s miserable
lips before disappearing.

Adam cleared his throat.
“Naught here has
been well kept for quite some time.
Master Gray usually has to make
his demands known loudly whenever he wishes the stables as clean as
this.
I too am amazed at the neatness in here.
No doubt ‘twas all
your doing rather than Robert’s?”

Archer hesitated, eyed Adam carefully, then
nodded when he finished judging his character.
Marianne could
hardly blame him.
No one wished to speak ill of their superiors
should their words make it back to the person in question.

Marianne blew air out of her mouth.
How many
of William’s servants were running loose throughout his household?
How could he be so cold to her and still allow these people to walk
all over him as they seemed prone to do?

Seeing William would have to wait for later.
She could not wait to tell him of her plans with his castle.
No,
she would set her commands in motion now, before the servants knew
of his wishes, and let him see that she was as fit to run a
household as she claimed.

She straightened her back and reminded
herself that she was the lady of the castle.
“I would like to see
this Robert.
If the stables are his business, then he should be in
here with Archer and not out doing … whatever he is doing at this
time.
Where is he?”

Archer hesitated.
“I think ‘e is with master
Blaise, milady,”

She blinked, unsure of how she should feel
about having missed seeing Blaise.
After a week she had almost
grown to think she would never see him.
It appeared he spent much
of his time hunting and riding, or hiding in some other part of the
castle.
“Is that so?
Doing what?”

“Riding, most likely,” said Adam.
“They do
that.
‘Tis the only thing that will get Robert to move ‘is, er, to
get ‘im working, milady.”

She tapped her chin, struggling over whether
she should await his return or harass the servants into working.
“Hmm, when do you expect them back?”

Archer shrugged.
“They left some time ago,
milady.
I ‘xpect they shall return shortly.”

No sooner had the statement left his lips did
two horses gallop into the stables before jolting to a heavy halt
out of the reach of the sun, kicking up earth and strands of
hay.

Marianne’s stomach ached.
Even with the dim
lighting she knew who it was.
With a little warning she might have
fled before they arrived, but the doors were blocked and now ‘twas
too late.

She dreamed of this confrontation for months,
but dearly wished for it to not happen now that he was here.
Now
she must finally meet Blaise.
The man she was supposed to marry and
the man that turned her down.

The thought lit a fire of anger in her
heaving chest.
‘Twas his fault she was in such an awkward position
and she would do well to not forget it!

With the light behind them she could not
distinguish the two from each other at first.
When they lowered
themselves from their horses, the older of the two allowed the
grooms to take his horse away while the younger held the reigns
tightly.
As he approached the light in the windows, Marianne found
that if not for the clothes they wore, which clearly stated their
differences in station, she still would not be able to tell one
from the other.
The sight sucked the breath out of her.

Both men were of equal height and hair color,
a bright orange only found on the carrots in Marianne’s stew, that
met in a small widow’s peak in the center of their foreheads.
Both
pairs of cheeks were equally spotted with freckles, though they did
appear fading on the face of the older man.
And one
did
appear some years older.
He was older than William even, though not
by many years, with deep lines under his eyes and aging hands.

Marianne saw no laugh lines around his mouth
either, and she pondered over what could prevent a servant, who was
offered so much freedom, from ever smiling.

For a servant neither his posture nor step
was humble, he stood nearly as tall as the young lord riding beside
him, though he did keep one hand clasped over the other, as though
hiding something.

The younger one must surely be Blaise, but
they looked too much alike to not have any blood connection.

Surely Archer had made a mistake.
But when
the younger one came down from his horse and handed Archer the
reigns of the magnificent animal he had been riding, she knew that
no mistake had been made.

“See to it he gets watered.” He patted the
animal fondly on the neck.
“Benedict ran well today.”

Archer bowed.
“Aye, Master Blaise.”

“
You
are Blaise?” The words burst from
Marianne’s throat without her permission.
She deeply suspected it
when she saw them, but ‘twas shocking nonetheless to find it to be
true.

He turned a scornful eye to her, his nose
upturned in sneer.
Then he looked at her red hair before a flicker
of recognition dawned.
“Yes, and you must be my new
stepmother.”

Chapter Five

William slammed his
goblet down and
poured himself another drink.
The celebration of his union had
officially ended after only a few more guests needed a gentle push
out of his castle gates, apart from Sir Holton, who had slipped
away without notice.

Lord Seacliffe and Lady Anne were the only
ones to leave early.
A disappointment since they were among the few
people that William enjoyed having for guests, though, admittedly
apart of what made them so enjoyable was that they knew
when
to leave.

Naturally, other close friends remained and
continued celebrating in the now calm great hall.

The grand room had been cleared and only
William and his three guests drank at the one long table that had
not been removed.
The fire burned evenly in the middle of the floor
while sewing maids pretended to ignore their conversation as they
worked on the spinning wheel and repaired torn clothes.

William paid the sewing maids no mind as he
contemplated whether he should reveal his growing displeasure with
the topic of his guests conversation.

“Did ye get her with child?” Hugh kept a
straight face and looked William in the eyes when he asked his
question.

“Of course not, fool!” William clenched his
fist around the goblet and struggled to keep from throttling the
man with it.

He would gladly have admitted to having yet
to touch her, but did not want to give them that information to use
against him in this conspiracy of theirs.

Bryce, a man who carried huge muscle on his
body, laughed in an open mouthed boom that vibrated the walls.
“I’ll wager he went to her father’s and demanded to have her fer
himself,” he nudged William suggestively with his overly large
elbow.
“Didn’t want the boy to have all the fun, did ye?”

William relaxed his hands, sat straighter,
but could not keep the ire out of his voice.
“Blaise refused her by
his own will.
I did not have to go around him.”

“I still cannot believe you let him refuse
her,” Hugh shook his head and drank from his cup.

William shrugged, he also did not want them
knowing that he was unaware of Blaise’s refusal until after it
happened, after Marianne wed William instead.
“He will marry
eventually, it matters not to me.”

As long as Blaise chose someone who could
bring some happiness into his angry heart.

Nicholas danced his fingers around the rim of
his half full goblet while resting his head on his fist, dark hair
fanning his shoulders.
He had a look in his equally dark eyes that
William recognized.
He had women on his mind.

“She
is
a beautiful lady.
I certainly
could not blame ye for snatching her like ye did.
I would have.
Her
lovely hair dances around her pale face like fire.
Is she a wild
thing?”

William’s brows flew to his hairline.
“This
conversation will end immediately if you are speaking of her skills
in the bed.”

Nicholas released his cup and raised his
hands, a somber expression on his face.
“Nay, do not think so
little of me.
I was referring to her
spirit
.”

William said nothing.

She had been a wild thing on the morning he
met her, but lately he was not certain of her at all.
Then he
remembered what Nicholas said before.

“You think Marianne to be beautiful?”

There was no doubt in his mind that he had
come to notice her more and more with every day that passed, which
made the nights more difficult to bear when he could not bring
himself to sleep in the solar.
It had not occurred to him that
others would notice her as well.
William was unsure of how to
handle his spurting jealousy.

Nicholas downed the last of his drink and
helped himself to another from the jeweled pitcher.
The early
morning sun shone through the windows, catching the sparkles in the
jewels as well as in Nicholas’s eyes.
“Ye do not often find a woman
with that particular color of hair.
I have seen women with hair
similar to your son’s, but never blood red like that.
It reminds me
of the roses from my lady’s garden, an open flame, a—”

William shoved him.
“Stop being an idiot.
Romantic fool,”

Nicholas ignored the feeble attack and
laughed.
“‘Tis true!
I would wager that should she have been born
in time for it, she could have convinced King Edward to never look
at Eleanor again.”

“And have his son cease his bed games with
Gaveston.” Bryce muttered.

Hugh leaned back in his seat.
“There is no
proof of that.”

Bryce ignored him.
“‘Tis a relief to see
you’ve finally wedded again.
We worried ye’d die without anymore
sons to safeguard your bloodline.”

William nearly sputtered his drink across the
table when all three nodded their agreement.
He drank some more to
disguise it.
“My line is perfectly safe!
Marianne will have my
other sons, there is nothing to fear.”

And she would have them, he told himself,
when he managed to woo her into his bed.
Despite this happy thought
he could not help the twinge of irritability that overcame him with
the conversation of bearing children.

He could still remember overhearing his
grandfather lecturing his father for not having more sons.
When the
old man finally left the world William was the one to be spoken to
and eyed harshly for not producing any sons quickly enough.

Thank the Lord the man had died before Blaise
was born.

Regardless of his words to the contrary,
Bryce had to speak up again.
“Not safe enough, especially with no
battles to go to.
Your sword wielding reminds me of a boy swinging
a stick.
Improvement is what ye need.
How will ye defend yer lands
and family without it?
Sending the boy to do it when you are still
capable would not look well.”

William hated the topic of his battle skills
even worse than the topic of children, and while it was true he had
not picked up his sword in years, he knew perfectly well that he
looked better than a boy wielding a stick.
“My skills are hardly so
poor, and I would never send him to defend land he had yet to
inherit.”

Hugh scratched his chin.
“Blaise is eighteen
already, and he has not married or produced any sons of his own.
I
would say you were in trouble as well, my friend.”

William poured himself another drink, and
wagered he would be good and drunk very soon with the way this
conversation kept going in circles.
“And what of your son?
He is
over fifteen and his wife has yet to bare a child.”

Hugh shrugged, unfazed by the attack.
It made
William want to throw him out of his seat.
“The girl is thirteen, I
suspect they have yet to consummate the marriage with the way she
continues to play with her dolls.
Idiot boy plays with her on
occasion as well.
When they do consummate the marriage they shall
have many children.
Even if they do not, I have other sons.”

“And this conversation is over.” William
said, irritated with himself for not stopping the curious questions
of his friends sooner.

Hugh looked pained at the sound of his voice.
“Forgive us, we meant no insult.”

William groaned and let his head flop onto
the table despite the audience.
He was spared from forgiving them
of their nosiness when Adam burst through the double doors.
Panting
like an over-exercised horse.

William stood, but Adam spoke first.

“Milord, yer wife has just had the pleasure
of meeting yer son.”

The jaws of all three men fell open when
William fled from the room at unnatural speed.
The pitcher of wine
wobbled when the door slammed behind them.
Bryce caught it before
it could tilt over.

Not one man stood to follow.

“Should we go with ‘im?” Bryce topped off his
goblet and made himself comfortable on the bench.

“I doubt that will be necessary.”

“Aye, he has been struck by a woman of beauty
and does not want to share her with the man who would have been her
husband.
I do not believe our assistance will be appreciated.”

Bryce clenched his large fist.
“Ye can quit
talking like such a long winded dog.
If ye wanted to stay and drink
‘tis all the explanation I’ll be needin’.”

Hugh raised his goblet.
“I’ll drink to
that.”

***

Marianne stood with her back straight and
stared up at Blaise with clenched fists, resisting the need to slap
his face.

Blaise was tall, taller than William, but the
smirk on his face vanished when he realized his size would do
nothing in his favor by way of intimidation.

He turned up his nose at her, a slight shake
of his head as he turned his back.
“Old pest.”

Marianne saw red.
She lunged to claw out the
eyes of the person she most hated when arms reached around her
belly and pulled her back.

Blaise turned and laughed at her, an open
mouthed, loud taunt.
Robert smirked from behind his master while
pretending to look elsewhere.
All reason left her mind as she
struggled madly to free herself.

“I will kill you!”

“Then come and kill me, my lady!
I am
standing right here.” He mocked.
As she had mocked William on the
morn of their wedding.
Blaise stood just beyond the reach of her
fingers, fingers that itched to rip his eyes from his skull.

But Marianne could not move one step forward.
A large hand covered her mouth and she found herself slammed so
roughly onto her feet that her knees gave out and she collapsed on
her bottom, knees up and spread apart beneath her gown.

She looked up, expecting to see Archer and
intending to reprimand him for treating her so roughly.
William’s
upside down face glared at her from above.

He bore his teeth at her, his fists clenched
and body shaking.
“What is the meaning of this savage
behavior?”

Marianne’s mouth fell open, horrified that
she had been caught.
Adam stood behind his master, a sheepish look
on his face.
She immediately knew that he had gone to fetch her
husband to put an end to the brawl that would have occurred while
she had been too angry to notice.
Archer returned to cleaning out
horseshoes without another word from anyone, ignoring everything
around him, including Marianne.

“I…I…He insulted me!” She pointed her finger
at Blaise’s hateful face, but her eyes did not leave William’s.

To her surprise, William turned, a single
brow raised at his son, and the smile melted from Blaise’s lips.
“Is that so?
What did he say?”

Marianne’s face colored.
She could not tell
him such things, he would never understand her position, and to
mention the comments would only spark more questions.
Questions she
would be unable to answer.

Her silence prompted his scowl to return.
“Enough!
You will tell me of this nonsense that has you behaving
like an animal or I shall beat it out of you.”

“You cannot even discipline your own
servants!” Marianne regretted saying it the moment the words left
her lips.
She did not wish to test him but her insides still burned
from Blaise’s taunts, from today as well as all those months ago in
his letters.

Taunts that were much more hurtful than
simply, ‘old pest.’

William’s jaw tightened, and his face became
the same color as her hair.
Without another word he stormed to his
son, grabbed a fistful of orange hair on the back of his head and
forced Blaise to stand on his toes when his father yanked him
upward, which essentially only made Blaise that much taller than
William, though he did not retaliate.

“You cannot be taking her side!” Blaise
yelled, his eyes comically wide as he stood on his toes with his
hands behind his head, as though trying to keep William from
pulling out the hairs he held.

Marianne could hardly believe her eyes, but
she stamped down any happiness that threatened to rise.
She would
surely receive her punishment when Blaise was not around to gloat,
so she held her tongue.