Lady Thief (14 page)

William raised a brow.
“You still believe the
Ferdinand Home is your home?”

She looked at him.
“Ferdinand Home?”

“He surely would not keep it under the old
name, whether he plans to sell it or not.”

Marianne moaned louder, and since Archer was
no longer present, she slid her arms under William’s and held him
tightly, taking her comfort from him.

She barely noticed how his body tightened
under her, no doubt shocked by her initiative, but she needed this.
When he put his arms around her she found the stables decidedly
less chilly.

They were silent, and Marianne’s tears came
with no sobs.
“I should have done as my father asked, and none of
this would have happened.”

His arms tightened around her.
“You would
rather take back your actions than face the consequences?”

She pulled away from him.
“’Tis not like
that!
I would just rather those men did not have to be without
their families!”

William’s face unexpectedly softened.
“Tell
me, what are the names of Archer’s and Clovis’s wives?”

A foolish hope sprung in her chest.
“Molly is
Archer’s wife and Hawisa is Clovis’s.”

“And are they young women?
Beautiful?”

The hope was replaced with an angry spark.
William saw had to cut her off before she could scream at him like
she did with the servants.

He gave her one hard shake.
“Get that foolish
thought out of your head.
I am not one to sniff around the gowns of
other women.”

“Most married men would not hold the same
opinion as you do.”

His glare was brief before vanishing into a
calm mask over his face.
He said nothing to her.

Marianne blushed and wished she could control
her emotions better.
Strange how it never seemed to be as much of a
problem until she married William and he made it his mission to
point out that particular fault.
Of course, he also seemed to like
that fault in her.

“Forgive me, ‘tis just—”

He captured her chin and lifted it so that
she faced him.
“Your nose looks odd when it faces downward like
that.” He lifted it higher, smiling when satisfied.
“I much prefer
it to be here.”

Marianne felt that she would overheat at any
moment if he did not stop.
She swallowed hard and forced herself to
go on, but her wretched emotions put a stutter in her voice.

“My lord … if … if you will kindly explain
your interest in the servant women…”

“My interest in them is naught like my
interest in you,”

He moved closer and Marianne expected him to
kiss her.
She felt such fire that she welcomed the thought of
it.

He pulled away from her instead.
“Forgive me,
I know I have promised that we would become more … knowledgeable of
each other, but I must be away tonight.”

Marianne felt like she had been thrown into a
lake of disappointment and frustration.
“Away?
Where?”

He took a loose strand of her red hair into
his fingers and twirled it around.
“I will not be away for long,
while I’m gone I expect you not to brawl with Blaise,
or
leave the castle grounds,” he said sternly.
“Or else Adam will tell
me and I shall have to put you over my knee.”

Had she feathers they would have bristled.
“But you would never—”

“By now you should know perfectly well that I
have never truly harmed a servant, but that does not mean I have
not put an insolent child in her place.”

She bristled at the insult.
“I am not a
child.”

He closed his mouth over hers, quickly to
keep her from saying anything else.
She clutched his shoulders with
sharp fingers, hoping for something akin to the kiss he presented
her with the night before, and he complied and gave it to her
without asking.
Or perhaps she did ask when her body pressed closer
to his and her mouth opened without her say.

Was this proper kissing?
Her entire body
filled with tingles and vibrated happily.
His hands ventured down
the whole of her torso and waist she thought that it must be.
Kissing could be no other way if it could make her lose
herself.

When his mouth left hers his hands left her
waist and found her southern regions, lazily kneading the thick
flesh of her bottom through her gown.
Somehow that made her body
tingle more, and her arm went about his neck.

His breath was hot against her face, and she
leaned closer to that too.
“You need not fear that I view you as a
girl, ‘tis very obvious that you are indeed a woman.”

With one last squeeze of approval he released
her and walked out of the stable, leaving her alone.
She panted,
searching for air that fled the stables while leaning against the
stall for support.

While calming the heat in her cheeks she
wondered how he could make her go from an angry fool to a wanton
puddle like he did, and her cheeks heated again with the smile that
brightened her face.

Whether he knew it or not, there was
something between them, whatever that feeling was, she could not
believe a man could do that to his wife without feeling
something.

Chapter Nine

William did not
sleep that night.
Despite his claim that he would take his wife to bed and have her,
he had business to attend to a day’s ride from his castle.
Bringing
Marianne along for a possible romp was not a possibility.
Should he
have brought her strictly for her company on a road thick with
muddy craters from the recent rains and oncoming cold, she would
only be as uncomfortable and irritable as himself.

Highly unsuitable for loving.

He’d been eager to finally have her and
expose her to the secrets of the bed, and after so long of
torturing himself only to go without again brought an ache into his
loins that was difficult to ignore.

When Benedict came to a much needed stop in
front of the vast house that had once belonged to sir Holton, sir
Ferdinand himself stood waiting outside the colorless
structure.

Ferdinand approached William with a number of
armed men, and he took notice of his mood as he stepped down from
his horse.

The man’s eyes traveled up and down William’s
tired form and wrinkled clothes as though searching for weaknesses
to exploit.
The aging eyes predictably stopped at the hilt of
William’s sword, and then finally took notice of the men William
had brought with him, which was hint enough for Ferdinand to take
his eyes away.

“Milord,” Ferdinand nodded to him, “You will
forgive me for not bowing, but with my back and all—”

William let Robert take the horses to the
stables, several of his knights followed to protect those horses
along with the valuables packed.

Despite how unapologetic Ferdinand was in his
voice and manner, he overlooked the insult in favor of a speedy
bargain and retreat.

“Yes, yes.
I am not staying
here
long,
I have business with you.” William made no effort to mask the
hostility in his voice, his hand resting on the handle of his
blade.
He would have liked to stay and play the bothersome
houseguest for the sheer amusement of it had he not thought for
sure the man in front of him would poison his wine.

William prayed that Ferdinand had not sold
off all the servants yet.

Ferdinand nodded his head and made a show of
turning slowly back towards the house, keeping a long wrinkled hand
on his lower back for support William was sure he did not need.

His voice bellowed strong when he commanded
the men with him.
“Back to your posts, all of you!”

William certainly had never seen servants or
men at arms move so quickly, not even at his own keep now that
Marianne was there to keep them in place.

He mumbled jealously under his breath and
followed, walking at an equally sluggish pace beside him and
wishing to be anywhere else.
Though he did make a point to walk
with a straight back and not offer his assistance to the seemingly
feebly old man.

“Now, business you say?
Pray, what business
could you possibly have with an old man like me?” Ferdinand turned
his face to him, leaving William unsure if the man sneered or ‘twas
the expression that came with having a face of a gnarled tree.

William folded his hands behind his back,
preparing to barter for what he wanted.
“Aye, I wish to purchase
some of the servants that came into your possession.”

“Oh?
Your timing could be better, milord.
I
sold many already.”

William forced his expression to remain
professional.
He wanted to purchase the servants and get out, but
if Ferdinand decided to be difficult that could ruin his plan of a
hasty retreat.

“I only require a select few.”

He could not purchase all the servants of the
former Holton House, or even all the men who participated in his
abduction, but he could retrieve the families of the men currently
in his care.

A woman stationed at the doors opened them
when Ferdinand and William arrived at the steps, and despite how
Ferdinand continued to walk in the manner of a man about to fall
over, William was aware of how all heads turned down at his
approach, and how no one came to aid him while he walked so
weakly.

The man had not been this fragile when he
attended the wedding party those weeks ago.

Ferdinand stopped before the doors to his new
home, turned, and raised an eye at the men who followed
William.

“I would prefer if your men remained waiting
here.”

William controlled his jaw into remaining
neutral at the order barely disguised as a request, though he could
not convince his hand to not clench like it did.

The man was trying to vex him.

He nearly told Ferdinand that he would prefer
that his men stayed with their lord, but knew that should he
retaliate Ferdinand could simply not sell him what he wished to
buy, and there would be naught at all William could do about
it.

Ferdinand took his silence as an answer, his
smile twisting his sagging features.
“Unless, milord, that you fear
an elderly man so greatly that you require protection?”

‘Twas not the elderly man William feared
would sneak up on him with a blade, and he did not doubt for a
minute that should he enter Ferdinand’s territory with no
protection he would surely suffer a fatal accident, as was known to
happen with some of the people in Ferdinand’s acquaintance.
William
spun on his men.
“All of you, wait for me in the stables, James,
you will come with me.”

The smile was removed from Ferdinand’s mouth,
and his face returned to the natural scowl that was his face.
“I
suppose one man will not hurt anything.”

“James is not yet knighted, and as you and I
both know ‘tis incredibly foolish to go anywhere without a man to
watch your back.
Unless
you
have something to fear from a
squire.”

Though he was an incredibly talented squire,
Ferdinand did not need to be subjected to that information.

Ferdinand sniffed, leading the way into the
house.
“Very well.”

He expected the house to be considerably
warmer than the outside, but not a fire crackled anywhere.
The hall
was entirely silent but for the sound of easy footsteps while
William and Ferdinand trailed mud into the house.
Beyond that
William detected no sounds of maids conversing with each other as
they did the laundry or children laughing.

Ferdinand easily put one leg in front of the
other while leading them up the stairs, his pace becoming stronger
as he forgot to play the feeble old man with their conversation,
but his hand never left his back.

“How many were you hoping to purchase,
milord?”

“As I said, only a few.
Three.”

“So few?
I would have thought your new lady
would have you coming to me to rescue the entire lot from my
inadequate care.” He smiled that same sneering smile over his
shoulder.
“But then your care has not been much better for some
time now, has it?”

William focused as much fire as possible into
his eyes when he stared into Ferdinand’s.
He should have known the
man would be petty enough to remind him of this, as well as
insinuating that he knew exactly what had caused William’s long
lapse in judgment.
He shook his head and made the decision to not
allow Ferdinand the pleasure of seeing him flustered.
“As I said,
only three.”

Ferdinand looked predictably affronted that
William would not rise to the insult, as well as he could not take
more money from William’s pockets before allowing him, and
reluctantly his squire, into his temporary solar.

Just like William’s, the writing table sat at
the far end, under the tall window and facing East for the best
light.
No rushes lay under his feet, or stools for visitors, and on
the writing table lay several pieces of parchment and an ink
bottle.

William sniffed and noted to himself that the
maids must not be allowed to enter here for cleaning.
The room
smelled of urine, and glancing behind him, the sour expression on
James’s face told him that he recognized the scent as well.

“Not much left,” Ferdinand moved towards the
table, seemingly oblivious of the smell or merely choosing to allow
them to breathe it in anyway.
“But it serves its purpose for
however long I need to be here until I make the sale.”

“You could do that from your own estate.
You
always have before.” William raised his hand to pinch his nose, but
realizing his actions at the last minute he scratched it instead.
James made no effort to hide his disgust and openly held his nose
with both hands.
William did not reprimand him.

Ferdinand waved his boney hand dismissively
and sat down, leaving William to stand.

William glared at him.
The old man knew
perfectly well that their stations provided William with the only
seat.

Ferdinand gave him a smile that was more
gloating than apologetic.
“My old bones…”

“Aye, now to the servants I wish to purchase,
there are two women, one Hawisa and the other Molly and her son.
That is all.”

Ferdinand cocked his head.
“You traveled all
this way for that?
Two women and a boy?” A light flashed in his
eyes when the answer came.
“I see, the servant Holton came to you
with his tail between his legs and the one he gave you
previously.”

William’s jaw clenched.
He hoped the old man
would not put it in place.

He expected him to deny the sale for the
sheer pleasure of it, instead he pulled a single slip of parchment
towards him and, instead of using a scribe, wrote down some figures
himself, sanded the ink, and held out the parchment for William to
inspect.

The figure he read made him crush and slam
the parchment back onto the wooden surface.

“‘Tis four times the amount they’re worth!”
He roared.
The sound magnified in the small space and William was
certain the serfs out in the fields heard him.

Ferdinand eyed the ruined parchment with a
hint of disdain but a smirk twisted his lips.
“The boy is still a
boy, but he will grow into a man far more capable than two women.
I
must take that into account.” He looked up and stared hard at
William.
“And I must say, my lord, that I am still sore over the
loss of my would-be wife.
I shall not pretend that I do not take
some enjoyment in this.
That is my price.
It will stay as such, and
if you do not wish to have them then you must be on your way.
Not
even a man of your status can tell me how to price my wares.”

This time William could not help but show his
displeasure, his shaking fists and clenched teeth were more than
enough to tell the man what he thought of him.

He towered above Ferdinand, willing the other
man to back down but he glanced up at him with the air of a man who
had not a care in the world.

His heel twitched to turn and walk out the
door, but denying Ferdinand all of that money would hardly count as
a win for him considering he would still have the servants he knew
William wanted for Marianne.

Finally, William grumbled and accepted the
price.
Ferdinand was right, William had traveled all that way and
Ferdinand knew he would not return empty handed, regardless of the
price he’d set upon the servants.

Marianne had best be grateful for this
act
.
Thought William as he dragged the parchment back to him,
signed his name and went to retrieve the monies to pay Ferdinand
with.

***

Marianne waited for William’s return with an
anticipation she could not hide.
She was sure she knew where
William had gone, as well as the reason despite his evasiveness on
the hours before his departure.

Her husband had a soft heart, especially with
his servants, and Marianne could not believe that he had gone away
to simply not return with Hawisa and Molly.

She could not bring herself to share her
thoughts with Clovis or Archer in case she was mistaken, but since
she was forced to live in the same castle as her father, she told
him of her suspicions while they breakfasted by themselves and away
from the servants.
Something that William rarely did despite the
fireplace in their chamber.

Her father nearly spit out his ale with
laughter.

“The man has more servants than he knows what
to do with, why else would half of them be lazing about like they
are?”

Marianne muttered and crossed her arms.
Some
servants still outright refused to do their jobs, but definitely
not as much as
half
.