Читать книгу Hidden Honor - Anne Stuart - Страница 5

Elizabeth of Bredon strode through the great hall of her father’s castle, keeping her pace determined and her chin high. Her heavy skirts flapped around her long legs, her unfortunate red hair was already escaping from the thin gold circlet that kept it in place, and her mood was far from hospitable. Prince William’s men were even more disgusting than the usual members of his benighted sex, and she’d already had to rescue two serving wenches and a scullery boy from their determined lechery. And she hadn’t yet come face-to-face with the notorious princeling himself. Probably off despoiling her father’s dairymaids. Or perhaps the cows themselves.

One more night, Elizabeth reminded herself, and then the safety of the household would no longer be her responsibility. The journey to the Shrine of Saint Anne was a mercifully brief one—no more than two nights on the road—and then she’d be free of men and their ignominious appetites for the rest of her life.

Well, perhaps not, she reminded herself, glancing at the huddled group of monks in the corner. The holy brothers didn’t appear to be much better than Prince William’s roistering knights, though so far they’d stayed away from the serving women and the livestock. There were six of them, ranging in age from a youth too young to shave to an ancient who moved with such slowness and pain that Elizabeth itched to try one of her herbal remedies on him. It had helped the complaints of Gertrude, the elderly laundress, and she had little doubt that it would ease the old monk. Little doubt he’d refuse to take anything from her hands, as well. In her experience men were unlikely to listen to her.

The remaining monks were in no way remarkable. Two of them were pale, soft, and ordinary enough. One seemed young and strong, clearly new to his vocation and the limits imposed by it. Only the sixth seemed the epitome of quiet, chaste brotherhood, from his demure, downcast blue eyes, his glossy blond curls and his soft, almost feminine mouth. He’d smiled at her earlier, the sweetest smile imaginable, and if there’d been men like him around, men not promised to other women or the church, then she might have reconsidered her long thought-out plans.

Ah, but that would have been a mistake. No matter how gentle, how pretty a smile or how soft a glance, once men became husbands, women became chattel. It was the way of the world and always had been, and Elizabeth was too wise to waste her energy railing against preordained fate. She merely intended to avoid it. She had no intention of devoting herself to a brief life of producing babies and dying from the effort as her mother had. She wanted solitude, strength and power, and a convent could provide just that for a woman unsuited to married life.

Still, Brother Matthew had a very pretty smile, one that almost made her rethink her decision. She had no use for men, but children were a different matter. And children with Brother Matthew’s sweet expression would be wonderful indeed.

“Daughter!” Baron Osbert bellowed from across the hall, and Elizabeth slowed her pace out of habit. The herbal concoction she’d discovered and slipped into her father’s wine may have dampened his carnal appetites, but it did little for his choleric disposition. Her only defense was to take her time, which helped convince her father of the imbecility of females in general and his only daughter in particular.

She stepped over a snoring body, skirted a flea-ridden dog and made her way across the hall, scuffing the rushes with her feet as she went. Her feet were too big—so everyone had always told her—but they went with her overtall body, and were very useful for kicking, as her five younger brothers and their assorted friends had quickly discovered.

Her father was sitting at the table, but not in his accustomed place of honor. He was off to one side, and not looking any too pleased about it. “You overgrown half-wit,” he said with paternal pride. “Where have you been?”

“Seeing to the comfort of your honored guests, Father,” she said in the patient voice she reserved for her sire. At this point in her life he was the only one who dared hit her, and she had no fond memories of his meaty hands. She stayed out of his way as best she could, and when forced to converse with him she kept the simple mien of a witless woman. It was what he expected, and far easier that way.

At times she found her own stratagems amusing. Her father was firmly convinced she and all those of her sex were half-wits, while she, of course, was certain the opposite was true. If her own family was anything to judge by, men were slow, spoiled and stupid.

“Seeing to their comfort, eh? Much ease a bag of bones like you would provide,” her father said with a snort.

“Were you wishing I offer our guests more personal pleasure, sire?” she asked in innocent tones.

“No one would want you. Besides, you’re promised to the convent. Best place for you, even if it’s costing me a small fortune I can ill afford. Worst mistake I ever made was to marry your mother. Skinny wench, and too damned smart for her own good. It’s not right for a woman to be clever. At least you were spared that burden.”

Elizabeth smiled sweetly. “Praise be,” she murmured softly. “In that one way I take after you.”

Baron Osbert had no notion he was being insulted, but there was a stifled laugh from the man to his right, the man in the place of honor usually reserved for the lord of the castle. Elizabeth had been doing her best to ignore him, but now she had no choice. She turned slightly, to get her first good look at the notorious Prince William.

She’d heard the stories, of course. His title was no more than a courtesy at that point. William Fitzroy was King John’s eldest son, but there’d been no marriage to sanction his birth. John Lackland’s first marriage had produced no children, only a divorce, but now he had a new wife, a French child he’d married when she was twelve. Three years later there was still no legitimate offspring, and people were beginning to wonder if William might be named the royal heir.

It would be an unfortunate day for England when that happened. The stories about William Fitzroy were legendary and disquieting. He was a spoiled lecher, a whoremonger whose current act of penance was occasioned by the accidental death of a young woman who shouldn’t have been in his bed in the first place, and so Elizabeth would have told her if she’d happened to have been there. Not that Elizabeth would have been anywhere near a prince’s bedroom herself, but she could always imagine what she might say.

In any case, it wasn’t the first unfortunate incident involving Prince William’s unpleasant habits. This time, however, the girl was of minor aristocracy, and her father, one of King John’s supporters, wasn’t as easily placated. So William was headed for the Shrine of Saint Anne to do penance, accompanied by an armed guard to protect the royal personage and a group of clerics to make certain he was cleansed of sin. And Lady Elizabeth had the dubious privilege of joining their party, to be delivered safely into the hands of the reverend mother.

She’d been wise to avoid the prince—she knew at first glance he was trouble. It was little wonder he’d managed to cut a swath of lechery across the countryside—what woman would have said no to him? Though apparently the problem lay in the fact that several women had done just that, and suffered the brutal consequences.

Sprawled lazily in her father’s chair, the dark prince was every inch the royal personage. He was long-limbed, she could tell that much, and his black hair was shorter than was the custom, though it curled about his strong face like a lover’s caress. His eyes were opaque, dark, almost black, and his skin was the golden color of a man who spent a great deal of time in the sun. Maybe he despoiled virgins in the light of day, Elizabeth thought critically.

He dressed in almost gaudy finery, with gold chasing on his tunic and his leather boots, a large ruby ring on his left hand, chains of gold hung around his neck, so many that a lesser man might bow beneath their weight. Not Prince William.

He didn’t have the mouth of a lecher. No thick, pink lips, no lascivious smile. It was a strong mouth in the midst of his clean-shaven face, almost stern, and she wondered if the spoiled prince ever smiled. He looked older than his years—old in the ways of sin, perhaps. He probably only smiled when he was molesting innocents.

“This is m’daughter,” Baron Osbert said, introducing her carelessly. “Not much to look at, but she’s quiet and biddable and won’t get in your way on the journey. Tell the prince what a great honor it is, to have his protection on your trip to the convent.”

“It is a great honor, my lord,” Elizabeth repeated dutifully.

But Prince William was looking at her with far too much interest. “Quiet and biddable, is she?” he murmured, and Elizabeth felt an unwelcome shiver run across her backbone. He had a deep voice, with a faint rasp to it that tickled her skin. “Just the way I like my women,” he added.

Baron Osbert hooted with laughter. “Not this woman, my lord. She’s hardly worth your time and attention.”

“All women are worth my time and attention,” he said in a slow, drawling voice. “Your name, my lady?”

All the bloody saints of Christendom! She didn’t want those dark, unsettling eyes on her, and she certainly didn’t want her existence to mar the even tenor of the prince’s self-indulgent life.

“Elizabeth,” her father answered for her. “Approach the prince, you dullard, and make your curtsey.”

Elizabeth had no choice but to do as she was bid, keeping her head meekly lowered. She’d perfected the gesture for a variety of reasons. Keeping her head low diminished her height, and it prevented people from reading the expression in her eyes. Even the dullest of her brothers would be unsettled if they realized just what their sister was thinking.

“You’re to become a holy sister, Lady Elizabeth?” the prince asked in his remarkable voice. “Are you certain that’s your destiny?”

She looked up at that, startled, and found herself meeting his gaze. Merciful Saint Anne, he had the most wicked eyes she’d ever seen. You could almost drown in them. If you were a susceptible female, which she certainly was not. She stared up at him, dumbstruck. There was no joy in those eyes, or evil. But there were ghosts.

“She hasn’t much choice in the matter,” her father answered for her once again. “She’s too tall and too slow to provide much use as a wife.”

“I’d never heard that wit was a desirable trait in a woman,” the prince murmured, watching her.

Her father bellowed with laughter. “True enough. But who’d want to warm himself with a bony creature like her? Give me a plump woman any day, one with curves and something to hold on to.”

“Whereas I’m a great deal more broad-minded. There’s untold pleasure to be had in the most unexpected of places, if a man has the wisdom to look.”

Enough was enough, Elizabeth thought, lifting her chin to risk the prince’s unsettling glance. “If I may be excused, Father? I have work left undone, and I wish to say goodbye to my brothers. God knows when we’ll see each other again—I don’t expect they’ll be traveling to Saint Anne’s to visit me anytime soon.”

“Not unless they’re forced to, and they’re too smart to get caught,” Osbert said carelessly, ignoring the fact that the powerful man beside him was at that moment paying the price for being caught. “I doubt you could find them. They’re healthy young animals, and tonight is a night for celebration, and I have little doubt they’re off enjoying themselves. They wouldn’t wish to be found by their elder sister. I’ll convey your farewells to them.”

“Celebration?” Prince William murmured.

“The honor you do our home,” Osbert said with unexpected smoothness. “And the departure of my daughter.”

“That bad, is she?” There was a thread of laughter under his deep voice and Elizabeth jumped. She’d always had a weakness for a man who laughed, but not at her expense.

She spoke up. “To give a child to the church is always cause for rejoicing.”

“Particularly when she’s no good for anything else,” her doting father observed.

“I’m not convinced of that,” the prince said, causing that shiver of unease to dance down her spine once more. His voice was almost worse than the intense gaze of his dark eyes. He made her want to squirm, to run away. To melt.

Running away was the most practical response. “I’ll just see to the brothers, then, and retire…”

“Which brothers? Yours, or the monks?”

“You’ve already assured me that my brothers are nowhere to be found, and of course you are right, Father,” she said. “I wish to make certain the holy friars are provided for.”

“Keep away from them.”

Prince William’s deep voice had lost its compelling edge. It was the voice of a royal, expecting to be obeyed.

And supposedly dim-witted or not, she didn’t dare countermand such an order.

Elizabeth sank into another curtsey. “As your lordship wishes,” she said demurely. She cast one glance over her shoulder, at the small group of monks in the corner of the great hall. Several had already stretched out on the rushes, sound asleep, but Brother Matthew, with the sweet smile and beguiling blue eyes, was still awake. Watching her.

“Perhaps you’re not that well suited to the convent after all, my lady,” William said slowly. “You seem to find certain men far too distracting.”

That made her jerk her head back in surprise. There was almost a touch of displeasure in his voice, as if he didn’t like the fact that she kept staring at the gentle monk. Surely a man such as Prince William didn’t have to have every woman fawning over him?

Apparently he did. “Accompany me to my room, Lady Elizabeth,” he said suddenly. “I find I’ve grown unexpectedly weary, and after your father’s fine wine I doubt I could find my way on my own.”

“I’ll be happy to find you a comely serving wench, my lord,” she began. In fact, she’d be happy to do no such thing. Entrance into Prince William’s bed was a dangerous thing, and she had no intention of sacrificing any of the women who would likely tempt his appetite, not even to save herself. And in truth, she couldn’t believe she was in any danger. Prince William was a notorious lecher, a connoisseur of beautiful women. She was hardly the sort of female to interest a man like Prince William.

There wasn’t time to dose him with her father’s herbal concoction—it took several days for it to take effect. It was a good thing she was safe from any stray lust on the part of the king’s son.

“A visiting prince deserves the company of the daughter of the house and no less,” he said, rising.

She’d been right, he was very tall indeed. Not as huge as some of her father’s best fighting men, nor as brawny. He had a lean, wiry grace to him, and he came around the table and took her hand in his, and there was nothing she could do about it.

“Come, my lady,” he said, his voice brooking no opposition. “Bear me company. You can tell me of the pleasure to be found in this uncivilized place.”

Her father was still sitting in his chair, dumbfounded. He hadn’t even had the sense to rise when his honored guest had done so, but remained motionless, openmouthed in dazed shock.

The prince’s hand was surprisingly rough in hers. She would have thought a prince would have soft, babied skin. But then, word had it that Prince William was a fighter, as well as a lover, and the long hours of training with weapons would toughen him.

He certainly didn’t lack for strength. Before her father could utter a protest, or more likely a warning for her to please his guest, he’d drawn her from the smoke and heat and light of the great hall, into a darkened corridor, out of sight of everyone.

“Which way are we going?” the prince asked in an even voice.

“Where am I taking you?” Her own voice didn’t waver, a small miracle when in fact she was as close to panic as she’d ever allowed herself to feel. The man beside her was bigger, stronger than she was, and he was known for his unexpected brutality. She had no interest in bedding a tender lover, much less a monster.

“To my rooms. Where you will leave me, to spend one more chaste night under your father’s roof before you throw your life away with the holy sisters. I mean you no harm, Lady Elizabeth.” She might have believed him if it weren’t for the irony in his voice.

The torches cast a flickering light over the darkened hallway, and she looked up into his face, trying to read his expression. The shadows playing across his skin made him look as dangerous as he was rumored to be, and she wasn’t reassured.

There was nothing she could do at that moment—his grip on her hand, while not painful, was determined. She had no choice but to lead him to the solar, and hope that something might distract him along the way.

“Of course, my lord,” she said meekly. She started forward, in her nervousness forgetting to take the small steps that were considered proper in a female. She covered ground quickly, and he kept pace with her long stride, moving with an almost leisurely grace.

She had little doubt the prince would command the best rooms in the house, the warm and well-appointed solar in the south tower. It took no time at all to traverse the long corridors of the castle, and there wasn’t a soul in sight to impede their progress. No comely serving wench, no mischievous brother, no disapproving monk. They moved through the halls unwatched, unheeded. There was no one to rescue her, nothing but her own wit to set her free. If she was, in truth, in any danger, which seemed very unlikely.

The door to the solar was closed, keeping the heat inside, and she halted, her mind working feverishly. She could topple to the floor in a faint, and despite his height he’d still have a difficult time hauling her limp body into the room. Though doubtless he’d have no trouble finding someone to help him. He was, after all, a prince, albeit one by courtesy rather than law.

She could kick him in the shins, surprise him into releasing her hand, and make a run for it. He’d probably move faster than she could, but she had the advantage of knowing her ground, and there were numerous hiding places in the castle where she’d spent all her life.

Or she could simply accept her fate. It wasn’t anything worse than most women had been enduring for centuries, and there were countless martyrs who’d been ravaged and murdered. Maybe she’d become another of the dark prince’s victims, making her way straight to sainthood, skipping the convent altogether.

For some reason the notion didn’t appeal. She was still trying to come up with some plausible means of escape, when he simply released her hand.

“I told you, Lady Elizabeth, you have nothing to fear from me,” he said, his deep voice curling down her spine. “I have no interest in raping you.”

She felt her face flush, but it wasn’t with the gratitude that she would have expected. How mortifyingly foolish, to think someone like Prince William would prove any kind of threat to a skinny, overgrown redhead with a tongue like a razor. She wasn’t even woman enough to appeal to the most desperate men in her father’s household—why in the world should a dedicated lecher want her when there was far more abundant pleasure to be found? And why was she feeling faintly aggrieved rather than gratified by her close escape?

Perhaps because it hadn’t been that close. She couldn’t quite summon the vacant expression she usually reserved for irritating men, but she nodded. “If you desire anything you have only to ask one of the servants,” she said, starting to move away before he could change his mind. Not that he was likely to.

But to her shock he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, halting her escape. Strange, but the feel of his hand against her shoulder, bare flesh against bare flesh, had been oddly disturbing. This time the weight of his hand through solid layers of clothing was even more unsettling. Hands touched all the time during the course of the day. Seldom did people touch any other part of her body. Particularly tall, handsome males. And there was no disputing that Prince William was very handsome indeed.

“I won’t be needing anything. As doubtless you’ve heard, this is a journey of penance.” There was a faint distaste in his smile, though she wasn’t sure whom it was directed at. Himself, or the powers that had decreed he must atone. “You would be wise to seek your bed as well, my lady. We’ll be making an early start of it, and my guard tend to be impatient.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And the friars will see to themselves. They’ve taken a vow of poverty, remember? They’re perfectly adept at taking care of their own comfort. They don’t need you hovering around them.”

“I don’t hover.”

“You looked as if you wanted to,” he said. He hadn’t lifted his hand from her shoulder, and the weight of it was warm, heavy, spreading through her body in a most disturbing manner.

“I’m mistress of the castle,” she said. “That’s been my purpose in life, to see that my father’s guests are well taken care of.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’ll be putting your talents to something more useful,” he said. “Do I have your promise?”

She jerked her head up to look at him, honest surprise wiping every other consideration from her mind. “Promise, my lord?”

“To keep away from the great hall?” he said patiently. “To seek your quarters and stay there till the morning light? The men I’ve brought with me aren’t trustworthy when it comes to women.”

And you are? she wanted to ask, but she decided she’d already pushed her luck to extremes. And he was letting her leave, untouched. She should be wise and grateful.

It was easy enough to agree, when it was exactly as she had intended. “I promise, my lord. Though I must say you greatly overestimate any effect I might have on susceptible males. I have found that I am entirely safe from such things.”

His grin was slow, wicked, the complete opposite of Brother Matthew’s saintly smile. And far more dangerous. “I think you greatly underestimate susceptible males, my lady. And if I weren’t atoning for my sins I’d be sorely tempted to drag you into that room and commit a great many more.” He put his hand on her other shoulder, and he started to draw her closer, and she looked up into his dark, dark eyes, letting him do it, wondering if he would kiss her. She would have liked one last kiss before she took her holy vows, though she’d be much better off being kissed by Brother Matthew than the most dangerously lecherous man in the entire kingdom.

But no one else would want her, so it didn’t matter. She couldn’t move, she simply closed her eyes as he brought her closer, and his lips settled on her…forehead. A brief benediction, and then he let her go.

Not even good enough for a desperate lecher, she thought. Thank all the mercies of heaven for that. She stepped back, and if she didn’t know better she would have thought his release was reluctant.

“Sleep well, my lord,” she said, turning to leave, hiding her intense and totally irrational annoyance. “I’ll be ready to go whenever you wish. Have peaceful dreams.”

“I doubt it,” he muttered. And a moment later he’d closed the door of the solar behind him, leaving her alone in the hallway, with the feel of his mouth on her forehead, taunting her.

An hour later he was sprawled in a chair in the solar, watching the fire, when he heard the faint scratching on the door, the creak of the leather hinges. He allowed himself a stray hope that it was a certain tall, skinny, redheaded creature who wasn’t anywhere near as meek or as witless as she’d have everyone believe, and then relaxed when one of the monks ducked inside, closing the door silently behind him.

“Did anyone see you?”

Brother Adrian shook his head. “Not a soul. I already had an excuse ready—you were in need of spiritual counseling and my Christian duty was to aid you.”

“And I would have turned to the youngest monk in my retinue? Somehow it seems unlikely.”

Adrian flushed. “I didn’t think…”

“It’s all right, Brother Adrian. They would simply assume I’m extending my debauchery to those of my own sex. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Brother Adrian frowned. “But you wouldn’t. You don’t…” he faltered.

“I don’t,” the man said. “But Prince William does. Is the prince safely settled for the night?”

“He is.”

“No women anywhere near him?”

“None.”

The man sighed. “This is harder than I expected. Keep watch on him, Adrian. He cares nothing for atonement.”

“And you care too much,” Adrian was bold enough to say.