The Velvet Promise (47 page)

It was an interesting afternoon for Judith. She realized how few men she had known in her life. Alan was entertaining and the day passed quickly. He was fascinated that she was so well educated. They laughed together over Judith's confession of how her maids sneaked romantic tales to her and how she read to them aloud. Alan was certain Judith was not fully aware of how unorthodox her childhood had been. Only late in the afternoon did she speak of her married life. She told of her reorganizing of Gavin's castle, briefly mentioned her talks with the armorer. Alan began to see the cause of Gavin's outbursts of temper. It would take great strength in a man to be able to stand aside and let his wife's word take precedence over his.

They talked and laughed until the sun was low in the sky. "We must return," Alan said. "But I hate to end this day's enjoyment."

"I agree," Judith smiled. "It has indeed been enjoyable. I'm pleased to get away from court. There's too much gossip and backbiting there for me."

"It's not a bad place—unless you're the object of the abuse."

"As I am now?" Judith winced.

"Yes. No one has had so much to talk of for years."

"Sir Alan," she laughed. "You are cruel to me." She tucked her hand around his arm and smiled up at him.

"So!" a voice hissed close to them. "This is where you hide?"

Judith whirled to see Alice standing close to them.

"He will be mine soon!" Alice sneered and moved closer to Judith.

"When he rids himself of you, he will come to me."

Judith stepped back. The light in Alice's blue eyes was unnatural. Her lips curled and showed her uneven teeth, which she usually was so careful to hide.

Alan put himself between Alice and Judith. "Get away from here!" he said in a low, threatening voice.

"Are you hiding behind your lover?" Alice screeched, ignoring Alan.

"Can't you wait for the divorce before you take other men?"

Alan's hand clamped onto Alice's shoulder. "Go and don't return. If I see you near Lady Judith again, you'll answer to me."

Alice started to speak but Alan's hand digging into her shoulder prevented her. She turned on one heel and stalked away.

Alan turned back to Judith, to see her staring after the woman. "You look almost frightened."

"I am," she said and rubbed her arms. "The woman gives me chills.

Once I thought her to be my enemy, but now I almost pity her."

"You are kindhearted. Most women would hate her for what she has done to you."

"I did once. Maybe I still should. But I can't blame her for all of my problems. Many have been caused by myself and—" She stopped and looked down at the ground.

"And your husband?"

"Yes," she whispered. "Gavin."

Alan stood very close to her. The darkness was rapidly gathering, and he had spent the whole day with her. Maybe it was the delicate light on her hair and eyes, but he knew he couldn't keep himself from kissing her. He took her chin in his hand and lifted her face. Her lips met his. "Sweet, lovely Judith," he whispered. "You are too often concerned with others and yourself not enough." He bent and pressed his lips to hers.

Judith was startled, but she didn't find Alan's caress offensive. Nor did she find it particularly exciting. Her eyes stayed open, and she noticed Alan's lashes on his cheek. His lips were soft and pleasant, but they set no fire in her.

The next moment, the world had opened up and emitted hell. Judith was violently pushed away from Alan, her back slamming into a tree, her senses leaving her briefly. She looked about her dazedly. Alan was on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He rubbed his jaw, flexing it. Gavin stood over him, then bent as he went for the man again.

"Gavin!" Judith screamed and flung herself at her husband.

Gavin carelessly tossed her aside. "Do you dare touch what is mine?" he growled at the knight. "I will take your life for this!"

Alan was on his feet instantly, his hand going for his sword. They glared at each other, not speaking, their nostrils flared in anger.

Judith placed herself between the two men, facing Gavin. "You want to fight for me after you have willingly turned me aside?"

At first Gavin didn't seem to hear her or even be aware of her presence.

Slowly, he pulled his eyes away from Alan to look at his wife. "It wasn't I who set you aside," he said calmly. "It was you."

"It was you who gave me just cause!" she stormed. "It was you who throughout our marriage fought me when I tried to offer you love."

"You never offered me love," he said quietly.

Judith stared at him, the anger leaving her. "Gavin, I have done nothing else since we were married. I have tried to do and be what you wanted of me, but you wanted me to be… her! I could be no one but myself." Judith bent her head to hide her tears.

Gavin took a step toward her, then looked back at Alan with hatred.

Judith felt the tension and glanced up. "If you touch one hair on his head, you will regret it," she warned.

Gavin frowned and started to speak, then gradually began to smile. "I had begun to think that my Judith was gone," he whispered. "She was only hidden under a cloak of sweetness."

Alan coughed to cover the laughter that threatened to escape.

Judith straightened her spine and held her shoulders back as she started to walk away from both men. It disgusted her that both of them were laughing at her.

Gavin watched her for a moment, torn between his fight with Alan Fairfax and his desire for his wife. Judith easily won the tug-of-war. Gavin took three long strides, then pulled her into his arms, sweeping her from the ground. Alan quickly left the two of them alone.

"If you're not still, I will set you in a tree until you can no longer move."

The horrible threat quieted her. Gavin sat down on the ground with her and pinned her arms between their bodies. "That is better," he said when she was calmer. "Now I will talk and you will listen. You have humiliated me publicly. No!" he interrupted himself. "Don't speak until I'm finished. I can withstand your fun of me in my own castle, but I've had enough of this in front of the king. By now all of England laughs at me."

"At least I have some pleasure in that," Judith said smugly.

"Do you, Judith? Has any of this given you pleasure?"

She blinked rapidly. "No, it hasn't. But it wasn't my fault."

"That's true. You have been innocent of most of it, but I've told you I loved you and I have asked for your forgiveness."

"And I told you—"

He put two fingers over her lips and smothered her words. "I'm tired of fighting you. You are my wife and my property, and I plan to treat you as such. There will be no divorce." His eyes blackened. "Neither will there be more afternoons spent with young knights. Tomorrow we'll leave this gossip-ridden place and return home. There, if need be, I will lock you in a tower room and only I will have a key. It will take a long time to still the laughter throughout England, but it can be done." He paused but she didn't speak. "I'm sorry about the trick Alice played, and I shed my own tears over our lost son. But a divorce now won't change the past. I can only hope that soon I will get you with another child and that will heal your wound. But if you think it won't, it will not matter, for I am to have my own way."

Gavin had said all of this in a deliberate manner. Judith didn't answer, but lay quietly in his arms. "Don't you have anything to say?" he asked.

"And what would I say? I don't believe I'm allowed an opinion."

He didn't look at her but stared across the green countryside. "Is the idea so repulsive to you?"

Judith could contain herself no longer. She started laughing and he stared at her in wonder. "You say you love me, that you will keep me apart from everyone but you, locking me in a tower room where we spend nights of passion. You admit the woman you swore you loved has played you false. You say all these things to me and ask if I am repulsed. You have given me what I have most wanted since I first saw you at the church."

He continued staring at her. "Judith…" he began, hesitating.

"I love you, Gavin," she smiled. "Is that so difficult to understand?"

"But three days ago—the divorce—"

This time she put her fingers to his lips. "You ask for forgiveness from me. Can't you forgive me?"

"Yes," he whispered as he bent and kissed her. He drew away abruptly.

"And what of that man who kissed you? I will kill him!"

"No! It was but a token of friendship."

"It didn't look—!"

"Are you getting angry again?" she demanded, her eyes shooting sparks.

"I have stood by for several days and watched woman after woman paw you."

He chuckled. "I should have enjoyed it, but I didn't. You have ruined me for all time."

"I don't understand you."

"The women talked of nothing but clothing and"—Gavin's eyes twinkled

—"face creams. I had more trouble with the ledgers, and not one woman could I find who could help me!"

Judith was instantly concerned. "Do you again allow some baker to rob us?" She started to push away from him. "Come on, let's go. I must see to this straightaway."

Gavin tightened his arms about her. "You will not leave me now! Damn the ledgers! Can't you think of anything else to do with that sweet mouth of yours but talk?"

She smiled at him innocently. "I had thought I was but your property and you the master."

He ignored her jibe. "Come then, slave, and let's find a secret den in this dark wood."

"Aye, my master. Most willingly." They walked hand in hand into the forest.

But Judith and Gavin were not alone. Their words of love, their play, had been witnessed by Alice. She watched them with feverish blue eyes.

"Come, love," Ela said as she forcibly steered her mistress away. She looked with hate at the couple who walked through the trees, their arms and bodies intertwined. Those devils played with Alice! she thought. They teased and laughed at her until the sweet and lovely child nearly lost her mind. But they would pay, she vowed.

"Good morning," Judith whispered and snuggled closer to her husband.

He kissed the top of her head but didn't speak. "Are we really going today?"

"If you wish."

"Oh yes, I do. I've had enough of gossip and sly looks and men asking me improper questions."

"What men?" Gavin frowned.

"Do not bait me," she answered, then suddenly sat up in the bed, the covers falling away. "I must speak to the king! Now! He cannot keep believing that I want the divorce when I don't. Perhaps the messenger can be overtaken."

Gavin pulled her down in the bed beside him. He ran his teeth along the cord of her neck. He'd made love to her in the forest yesterday and most of last night, but he wasn't anywhere near satiated. "There's no need for such haste. No message will reach the pope."

"No message?" Judith asked as she moved away from Gavin. "What are you saying? It's been days since I talked to the king about a divorce."

"No message was ever sent."

Judith pushed forcibly away from him. "Gavin! I demand an answer.

You speak in riddles."

He sat up in the bed. "King Henry told me first of your request and asked if I wanted a divorce. I told him it was an absurdity you had dreamed of while you were so angry with me. I told him you would repent it in a short while."

Judith's mouth opened to speak, her eyes wide. "How dare you!" she finally gasped. "I had every right—!"

"Judith," he interrupted. "A divorce cannot be granted to every wife who is angry at her husband. Soon there would be no marriages left."

"But you had no right—"

"I have every right! I'm your husband and I love you. Who else has rights if I don't? Now come back here and let's stop talking."

"Don't touch me! How can I face the king after what you have said."

"You have been facing him for days, and you seem to have come to no harm." Gavin leered at her bare breasts.

She snatched the covers under her arms. "You have laughed at me!"

"Judith!" Gavin said in a low, threatening voice. "I have taken a great deal from you over this. I have been laughed at, ridiculed, all in an attempt to appease you. But all that is at an end. If you don't behave now, I will turn that pretty bottom of yours over my knee and spank you. Now come here!"

Judith started to defy him, but then she smiled and snuggled against his chest. "What made you so sure I wouldn't divorce you?"

"I guess I knew I loved you enough to forbid it. I would truly have locked you in a tower before I let another man have you."

"Yet you bore the laughter about the divorce."

Gavin gave a derisive snort. "I had no intentions of doing that. I didn't know your tantrum would leak into public knowledge. But then I had forgotten what gossip there was at court. No one does anything that everyone else doesn't know of it."

"How did the news spread?"

Gavin shrugged. "A maid, I guess. How did the knowledge of Alice's trick spread?"

Judith's head came up. "Don't speak that woman's name to me!"

He pulled Judith back to his chest. "Have you no forgiveness in your heart? The woman loves me, as I once believed I loved her. She has done everything for that love."

Judith gave a sigh of exasperation. "You still don't believe any wrong of her, do you?"