Lady Thief (5 page)

She stood straight and stiff and allowed him
to clasp her hand with his gnarled fingers and bestow it with a
kiss.
Even through the fabric of her gloves, she felt his wet lips
and suppressed another shiver of disgust.

“Congratulations to you, my lady.” His voice
was deceptively sincere.
Marianne tried to pull her hand back,
calmly so Lady Anne and none of the watching guests would see, but
he held firm, his other hand caressing the glove he had just
kissed.

Though she was slightly taller, perspiration
formed on her forehead with her sudden stress and quickening of her
heart.

This man frightened her beyond anything she
ever experienced, and sent chills under her skin.

Like the first time when she had been
introduced to him, the faint scent of urine wafted from his clothes
and circled her, tightening around her body through her clothes,
trapping her to him.

He was bald on the top of his head, but on
either side of his skull grey hair stuck out in all different
directions.
Unlike his hair, his eyes were focused solely on
her.

“‘Tis a shame I missed my opportunity to have
you.
I should have acted more swiftly.”

Anne pretended to sneeze so that she might
clasp her nose against the smell.
The small action gave Marianne
enough courage to smile, because in this castle, Ferdinand could
not frighten her with his perverse innuendos.

“‘Tis fortunate for both of us that I am
swifter.” She said, and Ferdinand’s grasp on her hand tightened
with a strength that should have been impossible for his age.

***

Her hair was as red as he remembered and she
smelled of the fresh air he had eagerly inhaled in the damp church.
With her face so flushed from the humiliation she no doubt felt,
pleasant color invaded her cheeks, leaving a beautiful maiden for
his pleasure.
More beautiful than he remembered.

When well-wishers approached, her face lost
its blushing color and twisted in an awkward smile.

Her face soon dropped, as though stunned and
fearful of whom she was seeing, but a group of giggling women
blocked the view of whoever was the cause of her stress, and
William tilted his head, willing them to move on.

They did, and William gasped quietly when he
saw that the source of her discomfort was the man he most despised.
His fists clenched and body trembled.

He should have warned his men at the gate not
to allow Ferdinand entrance, but it had been years since he thought
of the man’s wretched existence.
Yet it seemed Ferdinand had not
forgotten him at all.

William politely separated himself from his
group and inched closer to listen to Marianne’s conversation, and
he cocked his head when he heard Ferdinand’s statement of
opportunity, and he wondered at the meaning behind it.

He watched Marianne shift, and the subtle
pull of her arm as she tried to back away from the man was very
telling indeed.
He felt a sympathetic tugging in his chest that he
had not experienced in some years.
It made him angry to see her
beautiful hand in the cruel grip of that hideous man.

Perhaps Ferdinand was somehow the reason
Marianne felt compelled to kidnap a husband.
Her continued efforts
to pull away from him and disappear into the crowds suggested as
much, and such an action seemed almost understandable if that man
was her original intended.

His reputation was known to make even the
most experienced of women shudder.

But no matter, her reasons made no
difference.
He still planned on enjoying her torture for a few more
minutes before he rescued her.

Ferdinand would never dare attempt anything
other than whisper a few lecherous comments in her ear while around
so many people.
William relaxed with the knowledge that she was
perfectly safe.

Unfortunately, Ferdinand saw him before he
could make his gallant entry.
His milky eyes lit up with pleasure
before he slowly approached him at a pace understandable for his
age, though William knew he could move faster, and without the need
to put his hand on his lower back while still clinging to
Marianne’s hand and forcing her with him with the other.

“I must say that I am quite insulted that I
was never invited to the wedding.
It must have been a small event
to sneak by so many people.” Ferdinand smirked.

Anne’s husband John, chose that moment to
make himself known.
“Aye, quite,” His arms were crossed, his eyes
under scruffy eyebrows changed from their sparkling bright color to
dark, though he did fail to conceal a quirk of the lips.

William looked behind him and noted that
several other guests were having similar troubles at keeping their
expressions under control, though they put more force into their
disapproval than John did.

William had thought of the insult his family
and friends would suffer from not receiving an invitation to his
wedding while spending all the time alone in his solar.
It had not
occurred to him while the actual wedding was taking place, but
there was naught he could do about that except hope they were
pleased with the feast and music he prepared to forget it.

Marianne yanked her hand from Ferdinand’s.
William, recognizing her heated glare, stepped in.
He was not sure
of her ability to calm a pack of wolves but did not want to risk
that she said something unpleasant.

With a tenderness that surprised him, he slid
his arm around her and pulled her possessively close.
She did not
fight him.

“‘Twas a hasty decision, aye, and one that my
bride and I have both regretted since our first kiss as man and
wife.” He brought her hand to his lips to emphasize his point,
pleased with her flushed cheeks.

That color had naught to do with any feelings
she might hold for him, but her humiliation worked in his favor
regardless.
“However, since Marianne was unable to wait on a set
date and for invitations to be sent and answered, she talked me
into having our wedding in a small chapel sooner than expected.
I
hope you all accept my apology and be merry with food and drink on
this wonderful occasion.”

Nearly everyone’s face softened.
Anne
embraced William.
“I forgive you, cousin.
I am glad you found
another wife and will bear ye no grudge.” She embraced Marianne
with the same vigor.
“You and I shall be the best of friends.
We
shall have to be if we’re to survive being wed to
these
men.”

William had trouble containing his laughter,
as did the rest of the men in the room it appeared, including John,
who enjoyed his wife’s humor only when it was crude.

William was warmed from the inside out.
When
Anne said she bore him no grudge with such a smile on her face
William knew she told the truth.

He looked at Marianne, who gently put her
arms around the smaller woman and stared at him, baffled and face
alight with pleasure, before turning her attention back to her new
cousin.

He laughed harder at the expression on her
face, only to become somber again when he saw that Ferdinand had
slipped away without notice.

***

Marianne could hardly believe her ears.
Between Lady Anne’s insinuations and Lord Gray’s explanation she
would not have been shocked if someone told her that her face
matched her hair.

The nerve of him!
To put the blame entirely
on her for their hasty wedding and embarrass her in front of all
her new relatives.
She wanted to claw at him.

Still, she was aware that he could have said
less than respectable things about her.
The fact that he was even
speaking on her behalf made her angry all over again, but she was a
married woman, and he her husband, which meant there was naught she
could do but let him.
For now.

If Lady Anne could have so much freedom then
Marianne would soon have the same.

William clapped his hands and stole
everyone’s attention.
“Now, to the feast!
Be merry because tonight
we all celebrate!”

Marianne barely managed to endure the
celebration without bursting into tears.
Her nerves were so tight
that her hands shook with the strain as a new fear laced through
her.

What should she do if an argument broke out?
If someone complained about their seating arrangements?
She had not
planned this event, nor had she ever since her father never found a
need to have guests.

The fear would not leave her once it came,
and she could only be grateful that sir Ferdinand was no longer
within sight.
The dancing, laughing, and music did naught to raise
her spirits either, and being forced to dance with every male
member of the party had been just as horrifying as each one asked
questions she had trouble answering.

What did she really know about Lord Gray?
What could she say to explain a hasty wedding that would not turn
her into a deceiver?
That her marriage was based on a real contract
and not one of her vengeful whims.

Marianne had yet to be introduced to Blaise.
She hardly knew what she would do when she finally came face to
face with him.
She prayed
that
event would not be for some
time now.
In fact, she should have met him already.
But there had
been no mention of him at all.

She openly sighed when William finally took
her hand and stole her away from everyone.
She forgot all about
Blaise when his hands clasped her shoulders, kneading the tension
in her muscles to a calm warmth with his knuckles.

With little force, he used this method and
turned her about and led her out of the main hall and into the
darkness of the castle.

Though she was far too relaxed and exhausted
from her journey to care that the night was still young, she could
not help but ask.
“Will we not wish the guests a good night?”

His fingers rubbed her lower neck, his thumbs
pressing into her shoulder blades through her gown in a way that
had her fully alert again.
“Nay, I think not.
I want no
interruptions tonight.”

His mouth closed in on her ear.
Marianne
quivered with his words that filled her with promise, his hands
sending a tingle through her gown that was not entirely unpleasant.
“No delay, and no one shall bother to look for us as they are so
occupied with their dancing and ale.”

His words were reassuring, but when the heavy
oak door to his, nay,
their
chamber shut and locked behind
her, she found herself terrified to immobility.

She stood in her husband’s chamber, her
chamber now as well, one of the few places the lord and lady of the
castle could find some privacy, and she was frightened.

She did not wish for privacy.
She knew where
it would lead.

The fire had been prepared for them and the
chamber was warm and inviting.
He had planned this.
He had planned
to lure her away from the guests unnoticed so he might have her
without any drunken men or snooping women trying to interrupt.

She supposed she had to be grateful that he
offered her at least that.

Thick, sweet smelling rushes welcomed her
feet.
The bed was large enough for the two of them and then some.
It was naught like her small room back at Holton manor.

‘Twas another reminder that she was the
mistress of this castle now.

Naught was the same, nor would anything ever
be.
This castle even felt different to her.
Everything she touched
was foreign to her fingers, and it made them itch with longing for
her own bed.But this was her bed now, and she was expected to share
it.

The tension melted from her shoulders when
William caressed and massaged them, again using his touch to force
her guard down.
Damn her weak flesh she could not help the useless
moan of satisfaction with the way he eased the stress from her
shoulders.

His lips touched her ear.
“Thank you,”

Her eyes snapped open but she did not turn to
look at him.

“For what?”

“For not making it public knowledge that you
forced me to wed you.”

“You could easily have ruined my reputation
today, as well,”

He sighed, and Marianne could not tell if he
thought the idea to be a pleasurable one or not.
“‘Tis true, but to
do so would have brought me down to ruin with you.”

She flinched again.
So his actions had naught
to do with preserving her feelings.
So be it.
She was in his
chamber now, and she knew what was expected of her.
Though she was
not sure if she could easily give him what he wanted.