True Love (38 page)

“You defame me!” Lady Edith cried.

“I have not yet told the half of it. My lord
king, Lady Edith has long been Achard's lover and accomplice.”

Royce made the shocking announcement in a
tone so deadly that Catherine, hearing him, was chilled to her
bones.

“Sire,” Lady Edith said, quickly regaining
her composure, “I pray you, stop this madman. I refuse to be
subjected to his scurrilous lies.”

“Peace, madam. Let him speak,” King Henry
said.

“As I have already recounted, Achard's scheme
was to marry Catherine and thus acquire her dowry,” Royce
explained. “But there was more, and worse, planned. With me dead
and Achard in position as your most trusted agent, Catherine was to
die next, possibly in childbirth, as happens to so many women. If
my daughter did not die naturally, then Lady Edith was prepared to
help her along the way to heaven with a dose of poison. For this
lady is greatly skilled in the uses of many kinds of poison. Nor is
she the flighty, silly creature she pretends to be. In fact, the
clever mind and steely nerves behind much of Achard's success as a
double agent was hers.”

“That is pure calumny,” Lady Edith
exclaimed.

“Later, after a decent period of mourning for
Catherine had been observed,” Royce continued, “if the word
decent
may be applied to anything this wicked pair planned
to bring about, then Achard intended to marry Lady Edith. The two
of them, traitors and murderers both, as wealthy and well-regarded
nobles would be free to continue their spying for Louis of
France.”

“It's a lie,” Lady Edith protested, though
more weakly than before, as if she knew she could not prevail
against the damning information Royce held against her. “Achard
will deny it, too. Just ask him.”

“Ah, well, now,” Royce said, displaying an
open malice that Catherine would not have credited him with if she
had not heard it for herself, “Lady Edith, I fear I have neglected
to inform you that Braedon has slain Achard. Your lover is dead.
Your schemes are ended.”

Lady Edith went pale as parchment. She swayed
as if she would faint, then steadied herself and stood quietly,
awaiting King Henry's inevitable sentence on her.

“There is more to this affair,” Henry said.
“I know you, Royce, and you are never deliberately cruel to any
woman. What has Lady Edith done that you haven't told us yet?”

“You are right, my lord. There is still more
to tell,” Royce said to Henry. “I am sure you will recall my
conviction years ago that my wife did not die a natural death, and
my vow that I would discover who had killed her. I now know that
the murderer was Lady Edith. She escaped suspicion for so long
because she was so young at the time that I overlooked her. It took
another woman to comprehend the depth of Lady Edith's
depravity.”

Royce turned and held out his hand to the
woman who stood at the back of the room. She came forward to
curtsey to the king.

“I know you,” Henry exclaimed. “Madeline of
Dol, you have assisted Royce in the past.”

“I know you, too,” Catherine cried. “You were
Mab, the fortune teller at Wortham fair.”

“And at other fairs, too, my lady,” Mab said
with a smile. “A month before Wortham fair, I was in Sussex, where
Lady Edith was born and raised, and there I acquired the proof that
Lord Royce wanted. Later, at Wortham, I spoke with Lady Edith in my
guise as a fortune teller. It is amazing what folk will say to a
commoner who is only going to linger for a day or two. At Wortham I
was able to put together the last details of a dreadful story.”

“Father,” Catherine exclaimed, stunned by
what she was hearing, “you always told me that Mother died of a
wasting illness while I was away from home, being fostered at
Cliffmore Castle.”

“I wanted you to think so,” Royce said. “I
believed it would be easier for you to think Avisa died that way,
rather than that she was murdered.”

“Tell me you did not lie with Lady Edith,
knowing she killed my mother,” Catherine cried.

“I never lay with her,” Royce said, adding in
a cold tone, “I have learned to control my lust.”

“That is a pity,” said Lady Edith. “I could
have enjoyed seducing you, Royce, but I see now there never was any
chance of it happening. I suppose I may as well tell the truth. It
will be a great change for me and it won't make any difference in
my sentence, will it? Of course, I killed Avisa.”

“Why?” King Henry demanded. “What possible
reason could you have had for such a wicked deed?”

“Avisa discovered that I had poisoned my
older sister,” Lady Edith answered. “My father was a minor baron,
with few lands, so there was dowry enough for only one daughter. I
was to be sent away to a convent, though I protested often and
loudly that I could make a great marriage if I but had the
chance.”

“You killed your own sister so you could
inherit her dowry?” Catherine cried, scarcely believing her
ears.

“I did.” Lady Edith shrugged her shoulders as
if murder was nothing very important to her.

“But, why did you poison my mother?” In
Catherine's cry was all the grief of years spent without her
beloved parent.

“It was necessary,” Lady Edith said. “My
mother and yours were friends, and while Lady Avisa was visiting
our home, she accidentally uncovered proof of what I had done to my
sister. When she took me aside and accused me and then begged me to
confess, I knew I had to kill her before she told my parents. She
became very ill very quickly, and returned home to Wortham to
die.”

“You are a monster,” King Henry declared. “I
don't know what to do with you. I cannot send you to a convent; you
are so evil you would corrupt the holiest of nuns. I want her
chained and kept in a secure room,” he said to Royce's remaining
men-at-arms. “Do not let her out of your sight, and allow her to
speak to no one.”

“Madeline,” King Henry said to the erstwhile
fortune teller, “like these honorable knights, you have once again
served me, and justice, well. I do believe rewards are in order for
all of you. Please do not leave Gloucester until we have spoken
again.”

“As you wish, my lord.” Madeline
curtsied.

“Oh, Father.” Catherine went into Royce's
arms. “All these years you kept that terrible secret, and I never
guessed. But why didn't you tell me what you suspected when Lady
Edith first arrived at Wortham? I could have helped you to uncover
her evil deeds.”

“I had already put you at too great a risk by
allowing Achard to court you,” Royce said. “I decided to bring
Edith here to Gloucester ahead of you and Achard, because I feared
if she saw her lover in chains, she would know I suspected her,
too, and she would do something unspeakable to you.”

“This is unbelievably horrible.” Catherine
leaned against Royce, and Aldis came to put her arms around the two
of them.

“At least it's all over now,” Aldis murmured,
trying to comfort them. “We can go home to Wortham and be at peace
together.”

“Not yet.” Royce freed himself from the
tender embraces of his womenfolk and faced King Henry, who was
looking as shocked and horrified as Catherine felt.

“My lord king,” Royce said. “I have one
disagreeable but necessary duty left to me this day. With you as
witness, I issue a challenge to Sir Braedon. He has once refused to
fight me, but I insist. Hand to hand combat, to the death.”

No!” Catherine cried. “Please, no. After so
much pain and trouble, how can you want to bring more distress to
me, or to yourself?”

“Oh, don't,” wept Aldis. “My lord Royce, how
can you be so hard-hearted, when Braedon is such a good man?”

“Stupid men,” Gwendolyn declared, facing
Royce and the king with her hands balled into fists and held
tightly down at her sides, as if she would use them on Royce if she
didn't keep herself under tight control. “Not a bit of sense to be
found in any man. You'd all destroy love for the sake of your
foolish honor.”

“How true,” murmured Madeline with a sigh,
and Gwendolyn sent an appreciative glance in her direction.

“All of you women, be quiet,” Royce
admonished them.

“I begin to understand,” said the king after
taking a long look at the women. “Braedon, what have you to say
about the challenge Royce has issued?”

“I have already told Royce that I will not
raise my hand against him,” Braedon said. “He knows why I refuse to
meet him, but I want you to understand that my reason has nothing
to do with fear of him.”

“No one who knows you could ever doubt your
courage,” Henry said.

“Or his occasional surprising and unexpected
good sense,” added the irrepressible Gwendolyn, grinning in
unrepentant glee when the king cocked an eyebrow at her.

“I absolutely forbid any combat between Royce
and Braedon,” Henry said, his tone and demeanor invoking all the
power and influence of a respected king. “Dare I hope that we have
completed this interview?” he asked, his gaze moving from Royce to
Braedon, to the four women who were all standing close together,
and finally on to Cadwallon and Desmond.

“Before you dismiss us, I have a request to
make of you,” Braedon said.

“Now, there's a novelty.” The king's lips
twitched as if he was trying not to smile at Braedon. “What is it,
lad?”

“I want to be relieved of my duties as your
secret agent,” Braedon said. “I will serve you loyally in any other
capacity, but I cannot continue with the work I have been doing.
I've lost the stomach for intrigues and secrecy.”

“Knowing you as I do, I am not at all
surprised to hear you say so,” the king said. “You will serve me in
any other capacity, you say?”

“Gladly, my lord.”

“And in any location?”

“Anywhere you wish to send me.”

Braedon glanced toward Catherine, and she
believed she knew what his thoughts were. He wanted to be sent far
away from Wortham, far from England if possible, so he would never
see her again. She wondered how long it would take before her
breaking heart would become obvious to all who beheld her.

“In that case,” said the king to Braedon, “I
have just the task for you.”

“Name it, my lord.”

“In addition to his flirtation with treason,
Phelan has been a most neglectful baron.”

“Do you want me to escort Phelan and Eustace
to the Holy Land?” Braedon asked. “I'd rather fight Eustace to the
death, for a reason you well understand, but if you prefer that I
see him to Jerusalem alive and healthy, I will undertake the
mission and perform it as best I can, given Eustace's uncertain
temper and his habit of drinking too much. I'll do my utmost to get
Phelan safely to the Holy City, too.”

“Leave those two despicable men to whatever
Fate has in store for them,” said Henry. “I want you to restore
Sutton Castle to decent condition, and to see that the fields and
forests surrounding it are made profitable once more. And I want
the taxes remitted to the crown on time, which Phelan never did.
Can you do that?”

“I will certainly try, my lord.” Braedon
appeared to be completely shocked by Henry's request.

“Good,” said the king, smiling at him with
undisguised affection. Henry shot a knowing, startlingly
mischievous look at Royce before continuing. “Most of my other
children constantly importune me for favors. Braedon, you are the
only one of all my bastards who has never asked anything for
himself. The one time before this day that you asked a favor of me,
it was for the sake of your cousin. Nor have you ever given me
cause to doubt your loyalty. It's time you were rewarded. Aelfric,
record in those notes you are making that this day I have invested
Sir Braedon with the barony of Sutton.”

“Braedon is your child?” Royce exclaimed.

“And the child of a sweet and gentle woman,”
said the king, “who also was unfailingly loyal to me. She knew a
fine piece of cloth when she saw it, too.” He chuckled as if
recalling some tender memory.

“Baron of Sutton?” Catherine murmured.
Looking from Braedon's handsome face to the king's careworn visage,
she thought she could detect a resemblance. While she stared from
father to son, the solution to the problem that had been gnawing at
her for weeks suddenly sprang full-blown into her mind. She did not
pause for second thoughts, nor did she hesitate out of concern for
her father's reaction. She did recall Gwendolyn's remark that
Catherine was going to have to seize what she wanted, and so she
stepped forward and went to her knees before the king.

“My lord,” Catherine said, clasping her hands
and looking up at him, “I ask a reward of you in return for putting
my life at risk in your service.”

“Catherine!” Royce admonished, reaching
forward to pull her to her feet again.

“Leave her alone,” Henry said. “A man of my
age can only find it delightful when a lovely maiden throws herself
at his feet. What is it you want of me, Catherine?”

“I am sure you realize, my lord,” Catherine
said, “that a new-made baron who is about to incur heavy expenses
while restoring his lands and a run-down castle will require a wife
with a large dowry. Preferably, she will be a lady experienced as a
chatelaine, who is capable of helping him in his work. Though I am
well past the usual age for marriage, still I feel reasonably
certain that if you recommend me to Braedon, he will not refuse to
marry me.”

“No,” Royce spoke up at once. “Braedon has
already taken unfair advantage of Catherine. That is why I issued
my challenge to him.”

“All the more reason why he should marry
her,” said Henry. “I fear passion runs deep in Braedon's blood, as
it once ran in mine, though judging from the way he looks at your
daughter, I suspect he will keep to one woman, which I was never
able to do. But then, his temptations will doubtless be less. Come
now, Royce, you and I have been fast friends since well before I
became king. Let us be relatives in our old age. I promise, I will
claim you as willingly, and as frequently, as Phelan ever did.”