The Faithful Heart (7 page)

“Oh.” Madeline let out a shaky sigh, backing
towards the castle door. “I didn’t know. I … I assumed he would …
he would wait for me. I should have.…” She swallowed, unable to go
on, unable to look away.

“Who the hell is that?” Aubrey planted her
hands on her hips and frowned at the woman.

A page dashed out from the stables to take
Jack’s horse and the gray horse he had been leading. Jack stepped
aside to have a word with him. The woman turned to glance up the
castle’s long front steps at them. She was the most beautiful woman
Madeline had ever seen. The sunlight only made her more radiant.
Madeline raised a hand to pat her own chopped and covered hair.

“I should go.” She turned and scurried into
the castle. She was a fool to think that just because her heart’s
every waking moment had been filled with Jack that he would feel
the same about her.

“Madeline, wait!” Aubrey chased after her,
catching up halfway through the main hall.

“Let me go, Aubrey.” She tried to shake out
of her friend’s grasp when Aubrey grabbed her wrist.

“I swear to you, Madeline, I have no idea who
that woman is. I’ve never seen her before now.”

“I don’t know that that matters,” she gulped,
eyes darting back to the door. “Jack obviously knows her.”

She tried to break for the stairs but Aubrey
continued to hold her. “Jack knows a lot of people,” she
argued.

“Oh?” Her heart erupted into pure misery as
she misunderstood.

“Yes. I mean, no! Not like that! He has a lot
of duties and responsibilities now.”

“I see,” she nodded. But she didn’t see. She
pulled out of Aubrey’s grasp and marched for the stairs.

“Madeline!” Aubrey caught up to her. “You
have to at least say hello to him!”

“I don’t want to bother him,” she sighed and
added, “Maybe I never should have left the convent.”

“Oh good grief!” The force of Aubrey’s
frustration stopped her. She turned towards her friend with a sigh,
eyes still downcast. “Alright.” Aubrey threw up her hands, “I’ll
admit this was a terrible way to start things. Your father, that
woman, whoever she is. Not the best homecoming.” Madeline was too
miserable to answer. “So let’s try this again.” She raised her eyes
to her friend’s. “Let’s go back upstairs and have a snack sent up.
I’ll fetch Joanna and we’ll see what we can do to make you look
even more fantastic and irresistible for the feast tonight.”

“I’ll never be as beautiful as that woman,”
she moaned, gesturing towards the door.

“That woman,” Aubrey scowled, “looks like a
cheap strumpet to me.”

“Jack didn’t seem to think so.”

“Yes, well, men are easily distracted by
shiny baubles. But the good ones know true gold when they see it.
Now come on.” She hooked her arm through Madeline’s and whisked her
off up the stairs.

Madeline glanced over her shoulder at the
castle door one last time feeling like anything but true gold.

Lydia watched the two women at the top of the
stairs out of the corner of her eye as Jack had a word with the
page about her horse. If what she had heard was right the one in
black and silver was the Countess of Derby. Jack had smiled up to
her as if they were friends.

She turned her back to Jack as if to look
around the courtyard then snuck the folded letter out of her
pocket. It had been tucked in Jack’s belt. He hadn’t noticed when
she relieved him of it. She flicked open the seal and scanned the
letter. Most of it was ridiculous drivel about love and devotion.
She narrowed her eyes. It was signed ‘Madeline’.

So, Jack had a sweetheart. It must be that
mouse of a woman who had been at the top of the stairs with the
countess. The woman had turned colors when she saw him. She skimmed
through the letter again, looking for anything that could give her
a leg up. Jack didn’t know that his sweetheart was at the castle
but he would soon. She had to act fast.

“Oy! That’s all taken care of now.” Jack’s
voice startled her into refolding the letter and shoving it back in
her pocket.

She turned to him with a broad smile. “You’re
too kind to me, my lord.” She lowered her lashes and bit her
lip.

His eyes shot straight to her mouth. Perfect.
Sweetheart or not, Lord John was game.

“Right.” He cleared his throat, fighting not
to be tempted. “Let’s figure out what to do with you.”

“Let me stay with you, my lord.” She surged
forward and grabbed his arm, leaning into him chest first. “You
have been so kind to me and I came here to serve you.”

“Uh, I… um, I don’t think it’s lords that
have ladies-in-waiting?” He flinched away but she kept hold of him,
pretending to be unaware of how close she was.

“But there are so many things I can do for
you, my lord.” If he was this uncomfortable now she could bag him
in no time, Madeline or no Madeline.

He shifted in place, staring at her arm and
then around the courtyard as if looking for help. She turned
pleading eyes up to him. “Oy, first things first. Let’s see about
getting’ you a room in one of the inns out-”

“Oh no, my lord!” she gasped and hugged his
arm close, painting her face with terror. He raised an eyebrow at
her. “I’m scared.”

“Scared?” He broke into a wide grin. She’d
played her cards wrong. “What for?”

She thought fast. “Those outlaws in the
forest. They … they did terrible things to me. What if they come
looking for me?”

His smile vanished to a hard scowl as he
looked out through the gate at the city. Yes, she’d guessed right.
There was no love lost between Lord John and Ethan. She could use
that.

“I guess we got room in the castle,” Jack
sighed. “I’ll set you up nice there.” He’d made some sort of
decision and started for the steps leading up to the front door.
She hung on his arm so he was forced to escort her like a lady
instead of shooing her off like a servant. It was a step in the
right direction. “Oy!” he brightened, “There’s this banquet thing
tonight. Wanna come?”

“Me?”

“Only, it’s the sort of thing that nobs go
to. But if we dress you up no one would know the difference,
right?”

“I supposed not,” she beamed back at him. Her
luck was endless today.

“We’ll do it then.”

At this rate she would have everything she’d
ever wanted in no time.

Chapter Four

Jack stood outside of the room that had been
given to Lydia scratching his ginger head and rocking on the balls
of his feet. “Just one more minute!” he heard her muffled voice
call from inside.

“Right! Take your time!” he answered. He blew
out a breath. He’d been standing there for ten minutes at least.
His feet were beginning to throb. At least they were the only thing
throbbing at the moment.

He walked over to the wall and leaned against
it, sighing and biting the rough edge of one of his nails, trying
to decide if the entire day was a waste or not.

Ethan had gotten away scot-free. He scowled
and kicked the floor. Crispin never should have let that lot go.
They’d done nothing but cause trouble. That very afternoon, after
he’d gotten Lydia sorted, he’d been accosted by two nobs who made
his ears bleed complaining about how outlaws had robbed them on the
way to the castle. The way they’d spoken to him you would’ve
thought he held the knife to their throat personally. Bloody
wankers. All of them.

He was pulled out of his thoughts and snapped
straight when the door opened and Lydia stepped into the hall. One
look at her and he had to grasp his rosary to keep from falling
over. The kirtle she wore was simple, but the way she wore it made
his skin hot. The neckline was cut far lower than it should have
been, and she had what it took to wear it well. Her soft
honey-blonde hair fell loose over milky shoulders. She lowered her
eyes until her long lashes spread across her soft cheeks. Her lips
were a tantalizing red.

“Well look at you!” he croaked and cleared
his throat.

Lydia’s cat-like grin shifted to a worried
frown. “Do I look pretty?” She turned to the side and slid her
hands over the tight kirtle. “Will they think I’m a lady?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he muttered to
himself. He swallowed and grinned in spite of his odd urge to run.
“You are one beautiful woman, Lydia.” He held out his arm to her.
“They’ll love you.”

“If you say so,” she sighed and took his arm
with both of her hands. Before he could start down the hallway to
the Great Hall she leaned close and kissed his cheek.

“Oy! What’s that for?”

“For giving me the dress.” She sent him a
dazzling smile. “For coming to my rescue.”

“What, that?” He brushed her off and blew out
a breath. “That were nothing.”

Again he thought her smile faltered, but she
was bright again before he could decide for sure. She tilted her
head to his shoulder and tightened her fingers around his arm.
“Will you introduce me to the Countess?”

“Of course I will. Aubrey’s a good friend of
mine.” She stood so close to his side as they walked down the hall
that it sent shivers of … of something he didn’t want to think
about down his spine.

“You’re so sweet to me, my lord.” She hugged
his arms as they walked down the last few stairs and into the
hall.

Madeline had never been more out of place
than in the swirl of color and laughter of the Great Hall. How
Aubrey could smile and talk utter nonsense to the endless stream of
nobles who climbed up the gallery stairs to greet her and Crispin
was a mystery. She never would have been able to do it. Then again,
she never would have pegged herself as the type to flee the convent
in the dead of night without so much as a handkerchief either.
Necessity made people do the strangest things. Necessity and
love.

She glanced out over the floor of the Great
Hall, her eyes searching for a glimpse of ginger hair.

“Didn’t you say Jack would be at the
banquet?” She leaned closer to Aubrey as a portly old noble and his
frail wife bowed and took their leave of her.

“He should be,” Aubrey answered but was
distracted before she could say more. “Lady Wyndham,” she cooed to
the woman who had climbed to the gallery to greet her, “How nice of
you to come.”

Madeline sighed and leaned over the gallery
railing to get a better look at the crowd.

“How could anyone pass up an invitation to
one of your celebrations, Countess,” Lady Wyndham’s voice dripped
with irony. She turned to Madeline and glanced down her slender
nose. “Who is your charming friend?”

“This is Lady Madeline of Matlock.”

Madeline swallowed and snapped straight as
Aubrey presented her to the haughty woman.

“Matlock?” Lady Wyndham raised a thin eyebrow
and tilted her head back to look even further down her nose. “I
know the Matlock girls but I have never met you.”

Madeline stiffened and met the woman’s eyes
with serenity. “I have been away at the Abbey of St. Mary in
Coventry.”

A smirk twitched at the corner of Lady
Wyndham’s wide mouth. “Oh, that Matlock girl.” Her glance turned
mocking. “You’re the girl that had to be pulled out of our
well.”

Madeline fought not to wither under the
comment. “That was twelve years ago. I was seven.”

“Yes, your sister is a friend of mine. She
told me something about your father dragging you off the roof where
you’d hidden after that incident and beating you silly.” Madeline
could do nothing but stand there and swallow her pride as the woman
spoke to her like she was still a wild and willful child who
deserved what she got. “I didn’t think they ever let your sort out
of convents once you’d been shipped off.”

Her cheeks stung pink with anger and shame.
“The Countess has invited me to stay with her.”

“Madeline is my best friend,” Aubrey
confirmed with a smile designed to flatten Lady Wyndham.

“It’s a good thing that she has friends,”
Lady Wyndham smirked and turned her back on Madeline and Aubrey,
facing Crispin. “My lord,” she made a bare curtsy before launching
into a complaint, “I find it most distressing that our party would
be attacked on the road through the Derbywood while on our way to
the castle. Really, these outlaws are completely out of hand.”

“Every effort is being made to control the
problem,” Crispin growled at being addressed like an errant
schoolboy.

“Is it?” Lady Wyndham pursed her lips. “We
shall see about that. My husband has the ear of many important
ministers in London who would-”

“Good for him.” Crispin nodded once to her
then stormed off as he asked Aubrey, “A drink?”

Aubrey didn’t hear him. She was too busy
looking down into the Great Hall, a wide smile lit her face.
“There!” She grabbed Madeline’s arm and steered her to the edge of
the balcony.

Jack swept into the room below dressed in a
fine tunic with a huge grin on his face. Madeline’s heart soared
into her throat for half a second of joy before plummeting into the
pit of her stomach. The woman from the courtyard was hanging off
his arm. She glowed as she strode into the room. Every eye turned
towards her and she stood straight and tall, smiling back.

“This was a terrible mistake,” Madeline
sighed, pulling away from Aubrey and the balcony.

“Oh no you don’t!” Aubrey stopped her from
fleeing. “You’re not going anywhere until we find out what this is
all about. Jack!”

Madeline’s heart dropped like a rock into her
stomach as Aubrey shouted. The assembly of nobles turned their
attention away from the beautiful woman and onto Aubrey as she
waved to Jack. Madeline had no time to worry about the garishness
of the gesture. Her eyes met Jack’s.

His jaw went slack in surprise and his eyes
flew wide. “Oy! MP!” he shouted, face flushed, bursting with
laughter. He dropped the beautiful woman’s arm and pushed through
the confused nobles, mounting the stairs to the gallery two at a
time.