Warrior's Deception. Diana Hall

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СКАЧАТЬ She’s a woman of remarkable power and intelligence.”

      “Have you decided yet if you will return to the queen?” Geoffrey pressed her for an answer. “Or have you found a nice quiet abbey to continue your studies?” His eyes searched her face. The intensity of the look made her uncomfortable.

      She shook her head. “I’ve made no decision as yet. There is too much here to consume my time. My future will wait until the problems at Woodshadow are solved.”

      “Of which I am one,” Beatrice berated herself.

      Geoffrey took her small hand in his own. “I suffer your loss, yet I’m glad you and your mother had to come here. Without that tragedy, I might never have met you, and had my empty life filled with the pure love of your smile.” The young knight gazed into Beatrice’s sorrowful eyes, and his hand caressed the worry lines from her brow.

      “And, of course, Aunt Matilda would never have so apt a student as myself anywhere else,” Lenora quipped with sarcasm. The couple laughed, the pensive mood broken.

      “’Lenora, a lady of your background should not smell of a stable!’” ‘She mimicked her aunt’s voice. “’Lenora, ‘tis not proper behavior to disagree with Lord Ranulf on correct agricultural methods.’”

      Her cousin joined in the laughter, then grew somber. “Mother can be overbearing at times, but she just wants to repay your father. Since your mother is dead, she feared he wouldn’t take us in.”

      “So teaching her motherless niece to be an acceptable young lady helps to keep her from feeling like she’s charity.” Lenora scratched her temple. “I’m sorry, Beatrice. I’ll try to be more…” A word that would express her emotions politely but spare her delicate cousin’s feelings just wouldn’t pop into her mouth.

      “Nay,” Beatrice admonished. “Do not be anything but what you are. If I were as clever as you, I’d be able to avoid Mother’s plans for me. My only prayer is that the lands your father set aside for me will not interest a knight.”

      Though said, Lenora could tell Beatrice gave the prospect little hope.

      “Perhaps, if you went with her to Tintagel, you could think of some diversion to keep Beatrice away from any prospective grooms. I will be there, also, and between the both of us we should be able to protect her.” Geoffrey paused as a portly servant woman lumbered toward the stable.

      “Lady Lenora, Lady Beatrice.” The woman waddled into view as Geoffrey ducked behind a haystack. “By the saints!” She stopped in front of the two girls and paused, taking deep gulps of air. Her huge chest rose up and down like a blacksmith’s forge. “Lady Matilda sent out the word the two of ye is to go to the great hall straight away.”

      “Thank you, Alyse. We will be right there.” Lenora braced her arm at the doorway and blocked the view to the interior of the stable.

      “See that you hurry, Lady Lenora. That woman is on a rampage, giving commands to everyone. She’s got poor Sir Hywel running circles to get everything done.” The woman mopped her forehead with the edge of her soiled apron. “’Tis too hot for a woman of my size to be running around like a youngster.” Alyse turned and plodded back across the bailey to the kitchen, muttering to herself as she fanned her red face.

      “I must leave, my love.”

      Lenora peeked under her arm and saw Geoffrey emerge from his hiding place. He gave Beatrice a chaste kiss on the forehead. “I will see you at Tintagel in a fortnight. With Lenora’s help, we will keep your mother from executing her plan.”

      He winked conspiratorially at Lenora. “You two go on. I’ll slip out the back.” He lifted a loose board on the back wall and disappeared into the dark alley between the outer castle wall and stable.

      “Don’t worry, Beatrice. He’ll be fine. No one has caught him yet,” Lenora reassured her cousin. “’Tis time now to worry about ourselves. I imagine your mother is not in good temper.”

      Lenora’s long legs outdistanced her cousin’s much shorter ones. Beatrice had only crossed half of the inner bailey green when she skipped up the steps and threw open the door to enter the great hall. At the carved lion laver, she washed her hands and inhaled the tempting aromas of the noonday meal. Warm, rich smells of roasting meats and fresh baked breads thickened the air and caused her stomach to rumble.

      “She’s a-lookin’ for ye,” warned a servant. He bustled past Lenora on his way to prepare the high table for the noonday meal.

      “I know,” she mouthed back.

      Beatrice slid in behind her to escape the attention of several hounds. “Go on now.” Lenora waved them off after she patted each massive head. Noses to the floor, the giant beasts sniffed among the new floor rushes searching for scraps. The central fireplace smoldered. Lenora watched the smoky trail rise up the new chimney.

      The pantier entered the great hall from the passage leading to the downstairs pantry. His arms filled with crocks of wine, he was followed by her father’s steward, Sir Hywel.

      The steward looked up and smiled at the two girls. She saw his smile fade and he ducked down a passage leading to the buttery.

      “Lenora, where have you been?” a familiar voice shrieked from behind her.

      She turned to see her aunt striding toward her. Biting her lower lip, Lenora arranged an innocent look on her face. “Have you been looking for me?”

      “Come here, Beatrice.” Matilda’s jet black eyes darted from one girl to the other. Although petite in size, she propelled her two captives toward a less active area of the great hall. With a firm push, she sat Lenora at one end of a massive carved pew and her daughter at the other. Her eyes traveled up and down her niece’s stained clothing and tangled hair.

      Her teeth close together, Matilda launched into a lecture. “I must speak to you about this ridiculous notion that you are not attending the king’s tourney. Such behavior would not be tolerated at King Stephen’s court.” The dignified voice became more elitist. “When I was at court, a woman knew her place. She obeyed her elders without question.”

      Lenora schooled her features to look attentive and copied her cousin’s repentant posture.

      “Aunt Matilda, thank you so much. You are truly wonderful to show such interest in the day-to-day chores here.” Lenora grinned; she had learned quickly that flattery was her aunt’s weakness.

      “I’m glad you are finally realizing that. Three years with that woman has filled your head with all kinds of nonsense. Imagine, adultery with her own uncle, divorcing the King of France, and scarcely a month passes before Eleanor manages to ensnare Henry II. Why, the man is nine years younger than her.” Matilda sniffed her nose in disdain. “Someday you must fulfill your position as Lady of Woodshadow. Your father allows you to shirk your duties. You must begin to oversee the servants, the replacing of the rushes, the soap and candle making. A keep this size must be supervised vigilantly. ‘Tis my deep sense of loyalty to your father that forces me to assume the role of Woodshadow’s mistress.”

      “I understand that, Aunt Matilda.” Letting her Aunt Matilda relive her glory days as a chatelaine served both Lenora’s and her father’s interests. The action kept Matilda busy in the keep and unaware of Lenora’s actions on behalf of her father. Actions that would earn Lenora several lectures from her aunt on proper decorum СКАЧАТЬ