Samantha James (12 page)

Guy's gaze followed hers. "Your mount," he said politely.

Her heart began to hammer. What was going on here? she wondered frantically. Whatever it was, she'd not be a part of it!

She turned to the groom. 'You must be mistaken, Donovan," she said with a shake of her head. "I didn't ask that Esmerelda be saddled—"

"But I did," interjected the earl from behind her.

Kathryn whirled, noting with satisfaction that he only narrowly escaped a jab in the stomach by her elbow. 'Tor what purpose?" she demanded.

"I should think that would be obvious. You, Lady Kathryn, are coming with me."

'To Somerset?" Disdain mingled with incredulity.

"Aye. To Somerset—and Sedgewick." He leisurely crossed his arms over his chest and awaited her reaction.

As he'd expected, it wasn't long in coming. Her eyes narrowed. Her jaw snapped shut, only to open a scant instant later. "I have no intention of going with you to Somerset."

"And I have no intention of leaving you here at Ashbury. You and your Roderick could form an alliance that would be dangerous to my health, my lady fair, which is why you go where I go."

His utter calm was infuriating; his audacity knew no bounds. Kathryn's gaze swept around the bailey, seeking and coming to rest on Roderick, who stood near the entrance to the hall. She had no doubt that he'd heard every word she and the earl exchanged. He looked angry but he said nothing. Kathryn rebelled at the reluctant helplessness she sensed in him. A part of her raged at his acquiescence, yet another part of her understood that to challenge his new lord was to forfeit his life.

Her gaze swung back to the earl. "You do this only because I have no knightly protector!" she cried.

Guy hadn't missed the look exchanged between the two. So, he noted angrily, she sought salvation from her lover.

His gaze flickered briefly toward Roderick. "Indeed you do not," he taunted softly.

His mockery cut deep. Kathryn dimly noted Roderick retreat into the hall; never had she hated the earl more.

She lashed out unthinkingly. "I'll not play nursemaid to your brat, do you hear?"

"I've not asked you to.” Scorn lay beneath his tone. "You've Richard's blood in your veins, girl. I'm not sure I want you anywhere near my son!"

Shattered inside but determined not to show it, she met and matched the fiery hold of his eyes. If it had been anyone but the earl, she might have cried and pleaded for indulgence.

But she hadn't counted on Elizabeth. Wrapped in a red haze of fury, she was scarcely aware that Elizabeth had stepped forward.

"My lord!" Elizabeth clasped her hands together as if in prayer. "Surely you will not take my sister from our home!"

Guy's harsh manner softened ever so slightly. Elizabeth's blue eyes were huge, her expression utterly stricken.

His tone was gentleness itself. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. But I fear I must, at least for now."

She cried out sharply, "But you cannot. Oh, please, you cannot take her from here. You cannot!"

Those devilishly arched brows rose high in silent question.

Elizabeth swallowed hard. The devious plan Kathryn had once thought to use against Richard leapt into her mind. Oh, Mother Mary, did she dare? Would she burn and rot in hell for bringing about such a lie? Yet she could not bear to be without Kathryn. Never in their lives had they been separated. Never!

Dimly she heard his voice. "Elizabeth," he inquired, "why do you insist Kathryn remain here?"

"Because—because she is with child!"

Kathryn gasped. Guy sucked in a harsh breath; his eyes immediately cut back to Kathryn. Her gaze swiveled to lock on her sister. So shocked was she that she failed to notice the grim mask that descended over Guy's features.

"Kathryn!"

She actually jumped at the sound of his voice.

"I asked if the child has made you ill!"

Too stunned to be thinking clearly, Kathryn shook her head.

'Then my decision stands," the earl stated flatly. "Since obviously the child will not be here for many months, you come with me to Sedgewick.”

Though she was shaken and distraught, Kathryn quickly recognized his determination was as relentless as hers.

"I—I need a cloak," she said desperately. "I'll not keep you waiting long, I promise." A moment alone was all she sought, for she knew the keep better than the earl or any of his men. She could flee and hide and they would soon tire of searching for her and be off. . .

But alas, it seemed he had anticipated everything! Before she could spin around, Helga appeared, her cloak thrown over one arm. Another servant followed in her wake, balancing a small chest on his shoulder. Kathryn's heart sank as she recognized it as her own.

Guy's patience was nearing an end. 'Take your leave of your sister," he advised curtly.

A painful ache tightened Kathryn's throat as she turned to her sister. By now Elizabeth was openly sobbing. Kathryn wrapped her arms around her. "Shhh," she attempted to soothe her. "Be strong, Elizabeth... no, do not say me nay. You are strong, sister, stronger than you know. 'Twill not be so bad, you'll see. And I'll be back soon, I promise."

Elizabeth clung to her even more tightly.

Witnessing their painful good-bye, there was a slight easing of the hard line of Guy's mouth. He found himself stung by a prick of conscience. It wasn't because of Kathryn, he assured himself, but Elizabeth.

Kathryn forced back the burning threat of tears. She drew back, caught Elizabeth's hand, and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Wish me well, now, sister," she whispered. "And may God be with you."

"Kathryn—" She choked. Kathryn squeezed her fingers, unable to manage any more. Then with a strangled cry, Elizabeth reeled and fled.

It was a moment before Kathryn was able to turn to Hugh, who still hovered nearby. Overwhelmingly conscious of the earl's all-seeing presence, she began to speak, her voice husky and low.

"I do not know you, Sir Hugh, and yet I sense that you are a kind man. I hope that you are, for I have no one else to turn to."

She paused to draw breath. "I've not yet told you how sorry I am about your sister." Her smile was a trifle watery. "And now, it seems, I must ask you to take care of mine." She gazed beseechingly into his eyes. "Will you do this for me, Sir Hugh? Will you watch over Elizabeth?"

A faint smile creased his lips. "I will, but I think it only fair to warn you, my motives are not entirely without selfishness."

His meaning was not lost on her. Kathryn was keenly aware of his flare of interest in her sister. She hesitated, a shadow flitting across her delicate features.

"Then there is something you must know," she said slowly. "Sir Hugh, it may not be possible to woo and win my sister, for Elizabeth is not comfortable with a man's attention. Indeed, she is afraid of all men." She went on to hurriedly confide how Elizabeth had witnessed their mother's rape years earlier. "I fear," Kathryn ended, "that the memory has never truly left her."

Hugh listened, somberly intent. Guy is wrong about her, he thought suddenly. His vengeance has blinded him to Kathryn's goodness. She could never willfully hurt anyone.

"I'll not disappoint you, Lady Kathryn." His gaze met Kathryn's, unerringly direct, In that instant, a silent current of understanding passed between them.

She touched his cheek. "I'll keep both you and my sister in my prayers, Sir Hugh."

She stepped back. At a signal from the earl, her palfrey was led over. Kathryn laid a hand on the horse's mane. All at once the earl was there to assist her in mounting. At the touch of his hands on her waist, she twisted away. After what he had done this day, his effort at gallantry merely made her angrier. She mounted unassisted, unaware of the tightening of his jaw as his hands fell to his sides.

A moment later they were passing through the gates. Inwardly devastated, Kathryn didn't dare look back for fear she would burst into tears. Her gaze stabbed into his back where he rode at the head of his troops. It was easier, so much easier to focus instead on her hatred of him. He was wrenching her away from Ashbury, from all that she loved. Yet even as her heart yawned empty and cold, her soul burned with a rage more potent than any she had ever known. She had lost this battle of wills, she conceded bitterly.

She'd not lose the next.

Chapter 5

So Kathryn was pregnant. . . she was with child.

Guy felt a flash of anger every time he thought about it, for it only proved she was the slut he'd known her to be. Oh, he could easily see how her predicament had come about—how her lover Roderick had been unable to resist her wiles. It struck him then that he assumed her Roderick was the babe's father. But what if he was not? Hadn't she offered herself to him just last eve, knowing she carried another man's child? Mayhap she had no idea who the father was! Indeed, she was a temptation few men could resist, he acknowledged silently. Even he himself was not immune to her beauty.

And that was the hell of it.

She refused to look at him the entire day, but Guy had no such qualms. Time and again he found his eyes drawn to her, as if he'd been caught in a web from which there was no escape. Slim and straight, she rode her mount as if she were a queen, her carriage proud and erect.

Guy despised himself for his weakness, but he had only to glance at her to visualize those eyes that flashed like emeralds in the sun, to remember the fascinating heat of that sweetly curved mouth trapped beneath his, the delectable roundness of her breast beneath his palm.

His mood grew ever more vile.

Twilight hovered on the horizon before he called a halt to the day's journey. They stopped on the outskirts of the forest. Nearby was a clear, babbling stream.

Kathryn heaved a silent prayer of thanks. If the earl had chosen to go any further, she didn't think she could stand it. She wasn't used to riding more than a few hours at most; her thighs and backside ached unbearably.

The earl was busy giving orders to his men. Kathryn reined Esmerelda to a stop and prepared to slide to the ground. One of the earl's soldiers appeared. Hands spanning her waist, he lifted her easily to the ground. Kathryn smiled her thanks— his hands displayed a tendency to linger. A single dark look from the earl and the knight hastily backed away.

Kathryn's muscles protested mightily at holding her weight after so many hours on horseback. But once on her feet she became aware of a rather urgent need.

Most of the earl's soldiers swarmed in the clearing beneath the trees. Kathryn started off in the opposite direction.

The earl's voice stopped her cold. "Hold!" he shouted. Four long strides brought him to her side. He grasped her arm. "What is this?" he demanded.

Of all the arrogance! Kathryn took a deep breath and struggled to control her rising temper. "I crave a moment alone." She couldn't look at him as she spoke. She could think of no way to convey her need to him.

His laughter grated. "What manner of fool do you take me for, mistress? A moment alone, so that you may flee?" He laughed again. "I think not!"

Kathryn twitched at her skirt. Vivid color stained her cheeks as she implored desperately, "For nature's call, milord."

"And I tell you again, lady, not alone."

His sharpness shattered her. He trampled on her dignity the way his soldiers trampled the fields. The knowledge that he would not allow her this privacy wounded her as nothing else had. At last she looked at him, dismayed and miserably embarrassed.

"I'll not flee, milord. This I swear."

His grip on her arm tightened. It was on the tip of his tongue to retort that, as Richard's niece, her vow meant nothing to him.

"Please," she whispered.

He saw her convulsive swallow. He saw the way her throat worked and swore violently to himself. Damn, but the wench knew exactly how to probe his every weakness. Yet he sensed the word cost her no small amount of pride.

"Begone, then," he said curtly. "But be quick about it," he warned. "And do not think to escape me—" A devilish smile dallied about his lips. "— lest you come upon some wild, ferocious beast with a fancy for your lovely flesh." He turned his back and retraced his steps toward his knights.

Kathryn picked up her skirts. Bah, she decided as she marched toward a clump of bushes, it was altogether likely the only beast in these woods was the Earl of Sedgewick!

She returned to the clearing several minutes later. A group of soldiers were busily erecting a tent. A roaring fire blazed nearby. A spit had been fashioned above it, from which some delicious odor wafted her way. But Kathryn was too tired to take much notice. Fatigue weighted her body like a stone. She made her way toward a stately oak tree and lowered herself to the mossy ground. Her shoulder propped against the tree trunk, she closed her eyes. She would rest for just a moment or two.

Sometime later a shadow fell over her form. She was asleep, Guy noticed, a sight that gave him pause. Her head was tilted against the tree trunk in what appeared a most uncomfortable angle. Arms crossed over her breasts, she huddled beneath the threadbare wool of that damnable excuse for a cloak. Perhaps it was the childlike pose, but she seemed very vulnerable and very young just then, and he experienced a sliver of remorse. He'd set a breakneck pace that day, stopping only to water the horses. Weariness was plainly etched on his men's faces, yet Kathryn had uttered not a single word of protest or complaint. Another time, perhaps, and he might have admitted to a twinge of admiration.