A Stern Lord for My Lady Read online

  “Women need to show cunning rather than forthrightness at times. Our husbands think themselves entitled to show they are mightier than us…What of your husband?”

  Alicia knew the queen valued plain talk and honesty, so she spoke in earnest.

  “He is a worthy man. Not vain. He’s levelheaded. And he is not the sort who feels the need to belittle a woman in order to show his might.”

  The queen gave her an appraising glance.

  “You’re pleased with the match,” she said with a half-smile that was both surprised and wistful.

  “Aye, my queen,” Alicia answered simply.

  “In truth he is a worthy man, your husband,” the queen said begrudgingly. “And you were wrong to spurn him on account of his being a bastard. Had you sought my council, I would have advised you to pen out a gracious refusal.”

  Alicia did not want to betray her father, because she knew the queen’s wrath was just as scorching as that of her royal husband. Eleanor would not be pleased to learn Alicia’s father had hidden his intervention from her. Since she did not want to lie to her queen, Alicia just bowed her head.

  Eleanor heaved a deep sigh.

  “What’s done is done, although a match to De Jarnac’s son would have been preferable and strengthened our ranks. And I see you are, after all, pleased in your new husband. So we could turn an advantage into a disadvantage.”

  Alicia raised her head, and she knew there was no turning from this. She’d made a pledge to her husband, one she could not betray.

  “I mean to stand with my husband from now on, my queen. And as you know, my husband is loyal to King Henry.”

  Her heart started thumping heavily in her chest. She knew the queen would prove a formidable enemy. So she fully expected Eleanor’s wrath. Instead, she heard the queen laugh and saw her shake her head.

  “I never expected a man like Bertran FitzRolf to switch allegiance. And I know you. You are a woman who places above all else the welfare of those she cherishes. It is plain you already care for your new husband. It is touching. Once I believed in love, the same way you do, until my heart was trampled upon.”

  There was something heart-breaking in the queen’s words, which made Alicia’s own soul stir in sympathy. Trouveres and troubadours alike still sang of the great love between Henry and Eleanor, yet Henry had betrayed that love.

  “But I need not dwell upon past misfortunes, but try to right present times,” Eleanor concluded. “My son is getting restless, knowing his father wishes to deny him all access to power. A gesture is needed to reassure him of his father’s love and respect. I wish my son to be crowned again, in Winchester this time, for all England to rejoice in the crowning and witness my son’s glory. But I dare not suggest this to my husband, lest he think I mean to use this for my own gain. Yet Bertran FitzRolf has my husband’s ear.”

  Alicia nodded, beginning to understand Eleanor indeed sought to turn a match she’d first perceived as disadvantageous into an advantage. Eleanor was wise, and it seemed all she wanted was her son to feel secure in his authority. If Young Henry felt secure, a conflict could be avoided and war between two feuding monarchs could be prevented. Alicia remembered Bertran wanted peace just as much as she did.

  “The suggestion has to come from FitzRolf, because he’s the one man whose loyalty my husband will never doubt,” the queen went on. “It’s for the common good. As long as Henry gives my son his due respect, he has my loyalty. Tell your husband this. I do not mean you to prevail upon him with cunning. Just tell him of our talk.”

  “I could never do otherwise than be forthright with my lord,” Alicia spoke, with a gaze that gave the queen to understand she would never deceive her husband, no matter what her sovereign’s plans might be.

  The look Eleanor cast her was one of begrudging respect.

  “Off you go then. I am told FitzRolf is not with Henry at the moment. Go find him as soon as can be. I cannot summon him myself without Henry becoming angry and suspicious. So it is best you do this task for me.”

  Alicia inclined her head and curtsied. Then she left the chambers to do what her sovereign had asked of her. As she hurried to descend the stairs, heading to the place where she knew her husband carried on his duties, she nearly bumped into two bodies, close to one another. It was an isolated spot, where guards or courtiers would not come upon the two lovers, Alicia began to think, attempting to avert her eyes from the hot embrace in front of her. Yet she found herself unable to look away, because she instantly saw it was not a woman who the man in front of her was hotly embracing, but another man. She stared, dumbfounded. One of the men locked in the passionate embrace was Erec de Jarnac, whom she should have wed. The other was Godfrey Haughton, a young courtier who was her own age and whom she knew but little. The two men sprang apart, looking upon her with eyes full of apprehension. De Jarnac was the first to regain his composure.

  “Godfrey…” he muttered. “Go now. I shall talk to the lady.”

  Haughton nodded, then scurried away, up the stairs in the direction Alicia had come from. So she was left alone to face Erec de Jarnac. She stared at him, still shaken by what her eyes had perceived. Sir Erec gave a slight shrug and a faint smile.

  “I trust you won’t tell anyone what you’ve seen, my lady. We both know it will lead to my downfall.”

  She nodded. It was not for her to judge, was it? Some might call Sir Erec’s behaviour sinful, but Alicia recalled only too well her own behaviour in the bedchamber would be frowned upon. If Sir Erec was a sinner, then so was she.

  “I shall not reveal your secret,” she said softly, glancing warily around.

  It was not prudent to linger alone with Sir Erec. People might come upon them, and they were prone to gossip. Alicia was a married woman now.

  “Thank you, my lady,” Sir Erec said courteously.

  Alicia wanted to go, but he stopped her with a gesture.

  “I did not mean to deceive you, my lady,” he went on. “I would have made a good husband to you and been able to sire children. We would have agreed upon a convenient arrangement, which would have made us both happy. I meant to tell you the truth about my preferences, but we were never alone together, and there was no opportunity to do so.”

  Alicia recalled too well that all their encounters had been brief, and there had never been a chance to confer alone with Erec. Both their fathers had always been there. She glanced at him, measuring him from top to toe. The ladies found him more handsome than Sir Bertran, but she did not. His features may be more harmonious, and his green eyes alluring, but his frame was lither than Sir Bertran’s. He was graceful where Sir Bertran was strong. And there was no heat or passion that she’d ever felt when she glanced upon Sir Erec.

  “I wish you well, Sir Erec,” she said in earnest. “And I do not think you meant to deceive me.”

  She liked Erec de Jarnac, and had thought this would be enough to make him a good husband. Erec had always seemed amiable and tolerant, so she’d thought his mild disposition would suit her own temper, which was haughtier and fiercer. Still, while there was liking between her and Sir Erec, there’d never been any heat. And perhaps it was because Sir Erec seemed to prefer men to women. But, Alicia understood, it was not only because of that. She simply preferred Bertran. He was the only man she’d ever looked upon who made her blood hot.

  “What of your present match?” Sir Erec went on in the same soft voice. “Are you well, my lady?” he asked, and there was genuine concern in his voice.

  She nodded, with a small smile.

  “I’m well, Sir Erec. It might not be the match I wished, but he…” she trailed off, blushing slightly.

  She didn’t truly know what to tell Sir Erec. There was great heat between her and Sir Bertran, and, in the last days, she’d discovered there was more. There was mischievousness, and there was laughter, and there was simply contentment and joy whenever they just talked or walked together. She could not imagine herself ever married to Sir Erec now that she had h
er new husband.

  “I see…” Sir Erec said casting her an appraising glance.

  He then added with a smile.

  “Perhaps it’s best we did not wed.”

  She nodded, and then glanced sharply behind her, as it seemed to her there was a rustle she could hear. She saw no one, but she knew the castle was a busy place. Soon they were bound to be discovered.

  “Be careful at Court, my lady,” Sir Erec whispered, as if in echo of her thoughts. “The court is like a nest of asps, and even more so today, as Henry and Eleanor are readying for war against each other.”

  “You stand for Eleanor?” Alicia asked.

  It was his turn to nod.

  “I stand with my family,” he said with a rueful smile. “And my family stands with Eleanor…”

  He added, giving her a pensive look.

  “Your husband’s family stands with Henry,” he said. “So I’ll assume you’ll now stand with Henry.”

  She acquiesced, as he gave a sigh, which he accompanied with a sad smile.

  “We’re all forced to play our monarchs’ game, aren’t we?” he said, echoing her own thoughts.

  They soon parted ways, knowing it was imprudent to linger when someone might come upon them. Alicia hurried down the stairs to give the message she’d been entrusted with, her heart now pounding at the prospect of seeing Bertran. They saw each other so little while they were both at Court.

  She came upon her husband in the Hall, while he was conferring with other lords. He frowned upon her when he perceived her, and he drew her aside.

  “You look flushed,” he told her, and there seemed to be disapproval in his voice.

  “I hurried here. There is a message from the queen,” she told him, then proceeded to relate Eleanor’s words to him.

  Bertran listened closely to what she said, not interrupting her. He heaved a small sigh when she finished.

  “What the Queen asks is level-headed. And Young Henry is already formally a king. A coronation in Winchester may appease his bruised pride,” he said at last, in a soft voice. “Yet I do not know if King Henry will relent.”

  “But will you speak to your liege?” Alicia pressed.

  Bertran nodded.

  “I will. Because I wish for reconciliation between the King and the Queen, not for more strife between them.”

  She nodded in return. It was slim hope, but it was hope, nevertheless. Perhaps the two parties would finally decide to settle their differences. She longed for peace, rather than war, because she knew if war broke out, her husband would have to join that war. She glanced upon him, resisting the urge to straighten an unruly lock of brown hair that had fallen on his forehead. She checked herself, perceiving many eyes in the Hall were upon them.

  “So,” she said rather awkwardly. “I must go back to my own duties.”

  He frowned upon her, and it seemed to her there was disapproval in his eyes as he did so.

  “You came from the Queen’s quarters, and not half an hour past I saw Erec de Jarnac head in the same direction you came from,” he said, and the frown didn’t leave his face.

  She stared at him, and found she’d nearly forgotten her encounter with Erec, although it had been memorable.

  “Yes, I did come upon him,” she said, not wanting to lie to her husband.

  “You did?” Bertran asked softly.

  “Yes, we exchanged a few words in greeting and then we both went on our own ways,” Alicia said levelly.

  She would, of course, protect Sir Erec’s secret, but there was nothing in her own behaviour she sought to hide. She was an honourable woman, and she felt sure her husband would be able to perceive she was so.

  He seemed to ponder on what she’d said, then glanced upon her with gold-flecked hazel eyes that looked warmer.

  “I see,” he said, lightly touching her hand.

  Alicia nearly moaned at the touch, in recall of the heated caresses they’d exchanged the last time he’d been inside her, loving her more urgently this morning when they’d woken.

  “Not so many hours till dusk…” she muttered, speaking to herself.

  He stared at her, then, at last, his lips curved into a lazy smile.

  “So, my lady, thinking of dusk already?” he said softly.

  It was her turn to smile, letting her teeth dig a little into her bottom lip and stepping away from him.

  “Already…” she said, trailing her words, then adding in a teasing voice. “But I must be away, my lord. We both have other, pressing business to attend to.”

  She briefly curtsied, as he bowed. She savoured the hungry look of longing he was now casting in her direction. Suppressing a sigh, she retraced her steps to rejoin the queen’s quarters, already thinking of the moment when she and Bertran would be alone at last.

  Bertran stared after his wife, noting the lovely swish of her rounded hips as she was walking away from him. He thought of her lush bottom, and of that delicious pink colour it had been a few days ago when it had been freshly spanked.

  The image lingered with him, and he found himself rather distracted, and striving hard to focus on the pressing task from the Queen and on the duties he had to attend to. He found himself wishing for dusk to come sooner, and felt incensed when the evening meal found both him and his wife still at Court, doing their sovereigns’ bidding. Henry insisted Bertran take a seat at the high table so, during the meal, Bertran was unable to sit by his wife, who arrived in the Hall later, and had to take a seat at one of the other tables, together with some of the other courtiers. He also noted in displeasure that Erec de Jarnac had chosen a seat not far away from her, at the same table, so it was easy for them to confer if they chose to. His earlier anguish over De Jarnac returned, although, when he’d talked to his wife, he’d been persuaded that she’d spoken the truth to him about her encounter with her former suitor.

  From where he was, he looked upon his wife and De Jarnac, who exchanged words from time to time. He could not see Alicia’s face, as her back was turned to him, and she was facing de Jarnac, but Sir Erec’s face was plain to see. He was smiling at her as he talked, and Bertran found himself hating him fiercely.

  “So, my lord, how’s newly married life?” a voice nearby cut into his thoughts.

  Bertran frowned, only now perceiving the lady Edith was seated right next to him. He did not like it, already knowing this lady was the worst gossip at Court. He answered her attempts at conversation stiltedly, striving to focus on the food and knowing now he would not have occasion to look upon what his wife and De Jarnac were doing. Lady Edith missed nothing and he didn’t want to give her more fuel for gossip.

  He turned a deaf ear to most of what Lady Edith was saying, but his ears sharpened when she at last spoke of something he disliked.

  “I hope our Lady Alicia has resigned herself to her match to you, my lord. She needs a firm man, after all, who will take her in hand and punish her soundly for her transgressions. I’m sure in no time she will see our king’s wisdom. The knight she clearly preferred, Sir Erec, is no match to you in strength and bravery. He’s just a fop.”

  Bertran suppressed a foul curse. He did not like to be recalled that his wife had preferred Sir Erec’s suit over his. He didn’t have the chance to answer though. Queen Eleanor had obviously heard the lady Edith, and she spoke loudly for everyone at the table to hear.

  “Sir Erec is no fop, my lady Edith. He is a valiant knight who can hold his own against men like Sir Bertran in any tournament.”

  Bertran did not miss the edge in the queen’s voice. Erec’s father was loyal to her cause. The king might have humiliated both De Jarnac and the queen, when he’d decreed Alicia should marry a De Morne, but the queen would plainly not stand for further humiliation.

  Henry, in his turn, did not miss the edge in his wife’s voice. He spoke now, with an equal edge in his own voice.

  “What say you, wife? I cannot believe my ears. Sir Bertran is worth ten times the likes of Erec de Jarnac in any tournament.�
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  The queen snorted derisively.

  “Well, we’ll never get the chance to see it, will we? You despise tournaments and you never want to hold any.”

  There was a tense silence at the table, followed by a long squabble in which the queen’s sons also joined, since both Young Henry and his brother Richard, the second son born to King Henry and Eleanor, loved tournaments above everything in this world. Bertran stared in wonder, when, at last wearied down by his family’s protests, the king proclaimed in a grim voice, “Fine, have it as you wish. We’ll have a tournament in a week hence. And then we’ll all have occasion to see whose champions are better. Won’t we, Sir Bertran?”

  “Yes, my liege,” Sir Bertran replied dutifully.

  He thought of the upcoming tournament with a kind of angry satisfaction. He welcomed the chance to wipe the smirk off De Jarnac’s handsome face. His wife would finally get to see how wrong she’d been to choose Sir Erec over him.

  It was late when both his wife and he rejoined their home and, by the dark circles he could now perceive under Alicia’s eyes, Bertran understood she was weary. So, in spite of his ardent wish to plunge his cock inside her, and perhaps indulge more in the kind of mischievous discipline they both enjoyed, he pleaded tiredness, in order to let her get her own rest. She protested, but not too much, as she dropped with fatigue as soon as they both climbed into bed. He held her tight against him as she slept, telling himself she was entirely his now. She didn’t sleep in Sir Erec’s arms every night, did she? It was in her husband’s arms she slept.

  Chapter 12

  It seemed her husband was at last able to get King Henry to agree to having his eldest son crowned in Winchester for a second time, and Alicia breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the queen was pleased with Henry’s acquiescence. The days that followed passed uneventfully, yet Alicia felt weary of the court, and of Lady Edith’s constant sneers and snide remarks. It was, as one of the ladies-in-attendance who came to befriend Alicia told her, that Lady Edith had a daughter and she’d hoped to make a match with Lord FitzRolf, which gave good cause for her aversion to Alicia. It was also that Lady Edith must have already perceived Queen Eleanor held Alicia in high esteem, which increased her jealousy. It did not help that Eleanor dismissed her ladies from time to time to confer with Alicia.