Virginia Henley (18 page)

“I can manage,” she said, doing her best to regain her composure as she pulled away. She changed the subject rapidly. “I’d like to attend Zeus myself after such a rigorous
journey.” She said it as if she were challenging him for the right to be in the stables.

“I approve of your tending to your own horse,” he said, “although you are the first woman I have ever known who wanted to do such a thing. But just this once, I think you can safely leave Zeus in the hands of my grooms, as I will my horse today.”

She acquiesced as graciously as she could and turned to view the castle. It had been built by the Normans in their solid square style from the pale limestone that abounded in the area. There was only one barbican tower over the entrance. A great wolfhound came loping up to Roger, and he greeted the beast with familiar affection.

The first floor of the castle housed the armory and the men’s sleeping quarters; on the second floor was the vast dining hall, and behind that the living quarters for the household servants. Ravenspur’s chambers were on the third level of the castle. Uppermost in Roseanna’s mind was the fact that she intended to have her own rooms, separate and at some distance from his. She knew it would take a battle of wills to get her own way.

They began their tour of the castle in its vast kitchens, to which the warmth and delicious smells had drawn them. Two great hearths, so large a man could stand upright in them, were filled with roaring fires. In one an oxen was being roasted, and in the other fireplace were spitted a sheep and two deer. Flitches of bacon and hams hung from the rafters amid bunches of dried herbs and strings of onions. Scrubbed wooden tables held cheeses, tubs of butter, and freshly baked loaves. A plump woman had just baked a dozen blackberry pies. Roseanna bent over them and sniffed their ambrosial aroma with a heavenly look upon her face. The woman beamed and asked if
she would like to try some. “Yes, please,” said Roseanna, stripping off the jeweled riding gloves so she could eat it with her fingers. The kitchen was a beehive of activity, filled with kitchen workers of every age, from the elderly pie maker to the young boys who turned the spits and kept the dogs from the kitchens.

As Roger led her up to the great hall on the second floor, they were met by the household chamberlain. He was a man of middle age, squarely built with a strong face and an air of authority.

“Mr. Burke, I want you to meet my wife, Lady Roseanna. We have been a household of men too long, but I think we will manage the transition smoothly if we all learn to compromise.”

Mr. Burke bowed formally to his new mistress, but she smiled inwardly at her husband’s attempt at diplomacy. She could tell that Mr. Burke was used to ruling the roost, and compromise was probably a thing he’d never done in his life. She smiled, imagining how the sparks would fly when Kate Kendall and Mr. Burke met head on. She glanced up at Roger and saw from the amusement in his eyes that he had read her thoughts. He took her upstairs to the watchtower; she knew it was his way of maneuvering her to his own chamber. As they looked out from the tower, they saw that the rest of the party were beginning to wend their way up the hill toward the castle.

She turned to him quickly. “I know you’ll want to go down and direct things, so I’ll just look around and choose a chamber of my own liking.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement of her intention. He stood very close, looking down at her without speaking. Then he put his hand beneath her chin and raised her face so that he
could look directly into her eyes. “So you still intend to deny me the rights and pleasures to which a husband is entitled?” he demanded.

Her eyes widened. “By God, Ravenspur, are you actually trying to appeal to my sense of fair play when you know damned well that you forced me into this marriage? When I appealed to you, it fell on deaf ears. Let me remind you, I made it plain right from the start that I would not yield to you.”

His eyes licked over her like a candle flame; then his mouth was on hers in a kiss that showed how savage he could be. He pulled her body into his so that she was left with no doubt about his hardened condition. Only when he allowed her to was she able to tear her mouth from his. A small curl of fear gripped her. “I shall kiss the insolence from your overbold mouth every time you speak to me in such a manner,” he warned her.

“So that’s to be my punishment,” she said with more daring than she felt.

His arms tightened, and her breasts were crushed against the hardened muscles of his broad chest. “If I wanted, I could take you right here on the floor.”

She almost panicked but held her ground with shaking legs. “That would prove you the rutting animal I think you to be.”

“You have only yourself to blame. You provoke me, you goad me, you turn me into a savage.” He released her, and they stood glaring and panting, their blood high.

Roseanna would not back down, so Roger made up his mind to make her. Very deliberately, he hooked his hands into the neckline of her gown and tore the bodice to the waist. Her bare breasts sprung out at him.

“How dare you!” she cried.

But he ignored her. His head swooped down, and he took her pink nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. At the same time his right hand went up her skirt and his fingers played where they would until he felt her wet and soft. She writhed, trying to escape his grasp, but he was too strong for her. At last he let her go and ordered, “Be on your best behavior tonight when we dine in the hall before our people.”

Stunned by his outrageous actions, she nonetheless knew he was at his limit and that pushed further he would indeed be bold enough to take her there on the floor. “Of course I shall be on my best behavior,” she said, clutching the ripped bodice and trying unsuccessfully to cover her breasts. “These people are mine now as well as yours.”

He allowed her to move past him to leave. When she had safely gained the door, she said, “You owe me a new gown, Ravenspur.”

His dark eyes gazed at her breasts. “You’re well worth the price of a dress, Roseanna.”

Roseanna had felt his kiss all the way down to her legs; they had actually become wobbly.
Damn him,
she thought. Damn herself, while she was at it. Whenever he touched her, she was driven so wild that she wanted to scream. Yet she couldn’t resist tempting him, so that she almost dared him to touch her.

As Roger went down to the courtyard, he thought,
Damn her! She lures me, then rebuffs me, daring my manhood.
He wasn’t going to put up with it any longer. If force was necessary, then so be it!

Roseanna stepped inside his personal apartments and quickly repaired the top of her gown as best she could. Then she donned her cloak and looked around her. His chamber had every comfort imaginable. The blazing fire reflecting the paneled walls and deeply polished furniture was warm and welcoming. The bed was massive and curtained against the draughts. Fur rugs covered the floors, and a large wardrobe extended the length of one whole wall. By the slitted window sat a desk piled with books
and papers that quickened her curiosity. But she did not tarry lest he return.

The rooms on the west side of the third level were all plainly yet adequately furnished, but Roseanna searched farther afield. In the northeast corner she came across an outer chamber that connected to an inner chamber through a little vaulted door. It was perfect for her needs, yet the rooms were empty and obviously hadn’t been used in some time.

She left quickly to find Alice and Kate. It would take a good deal of work to plenish those chambers before nightfall, but she was determined to do it. “Kate, you know best which wagons hold our furnishings. See if you can get the servants or even some of Ravenspur’s men to bring all our stuff up here, and I’ll go and see about getting fires lit in these rooms. Alice, you are not to lift anything heavy. You can find out which chamber Rebecca uses while she is here.”

Roseanna soon found a squire, who brought live coals from another fireplace; then she sent him off for some flagons of wine. When Kate hadn’t returned in twenty minutes, Roseanna went down to find her. She stood in the entrance hall amid piles of bedding, tapestries, and carpets, hands on hips, engaging Mr. Burke in one of the fiercest battles Roseanna had ever heard.

“In a pig’s arsehole!” shouted Kate, red in the face.

Roseanna gasped. She was aware that Kate Kendall was a formidable opponent in an argument, but she had never heard her use such vulgarities before.

Mr. Burke stood his ground. “You miserable woman. Get it through your thick skull that I am in charge around here. If I were daft enough not to take her things to the master’s bedchamber, he’d cut my balls off!”

“Ha! Out of my way, you pisspot, or I’ll pound your balls to powder—that is, if you have any,” shouted Kate.

Roseanna choked back laughter. Whatever had gotten into Kate? Didn’t she know that that wasn’t the way to handle a man? “Mr. Burke, is there some problem?” she asked sweetly.

He turned to her, and his manner did an about-face. “No problem whatsoever, ma’am. You just let me know your wishes, and I’ll move heaven and earth to see that they are carried out.”

Kate muttered, “You can always tell an Irishman, but you can’t tell him much!”

Roseanna quickly held up her hand to warn Kate. She smoothly put her other arm through Mr. Burke’s. “Do come upstairs, Mr. Burke, and see the wonderful rooms I’ve chosen. You run such an efficient household, the squires have already lit fires for me.” They entered the rooms. “Now, I thought I’d take the inner room for myself, and my two serving ladies can have the outer chamber. I have brought with me beds and linen, carpets and coffers, and dozens of beautiful tapestries to cover the walls. But alas, I fear it would take Kate weeks to furnish the rooms well, as it should be done.”

“Tonight, ma’am.” He nodded firmly.

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Burke?” She hung on his every word helplessly.

“While you are in the hall tonight for supper, I shall see that these rooms are made ready down to the last detail. By the time you are ready to retire, you will think you have lived here for years. Leave everything to me, my lady.”

“Oh, I will, Mr. Burke. You have no idea what a relief it is to know I can place complete confidence in you.”

Kate exploded the moment he was out of earshot. “The constipated cockatrice! I was ready to shove a red-hot poker up his arse!”

“Very pretty sight,” said Roseanna, smiling.

“Oh, child, I’m sorry to use such language,” she apologized.

Roseanna laughed. “I’m happy to know I’m not the only one with a ripe vocabulary, but thank heaven Mother couldn’t hear you.”

“’Twas Lady Joanna taught me to curse”—Kate grinned shamefaced—“and ’twas the King taught her!”

“Oh, here are our trunks,” said Roseanna, throwing one open and pulling out some gowns. “Find me something special to wear, and we’ll go along to Rebecca’s chamber to change for dinner while they plenish these rooms for us.”

Rebecca was abed when they arrived at her room. Her servingwomen had already unpacked her clothes, along with Tristan’s, and had hung them in the wardrobe.

“Aren’t you going to dine in the hall tonight?” asked Roseanna, surprised to find her sister-in-law abed.

“I’m not hungry,” she said, “and far too fatigued. Why don’t you have a tray sent up, and we can have a visit?”

“If I know Ravenspur, he’ll come and drag me by the hair if I didn’t go down. This is my first night, and I’ve already been warned to be on my best behavior,” Roseanna said with a grimace.

Rebecca shuddered. “They’ll all want a good look at you, especially the women. They flirt openly with Tristan and Roger, you know. Every one of them is eager to lie with them.”

Roseanna’s eyebrows shot up. “Surely their husbands wouldn’t permit such behavior!” she protested.

Rebecca shrugged. “Some of them are widows of knights or daughters not yet married. Many of the men are at Ravenspur’s other strongholds. They are an uncouth lot, and I try not to mix with them.”

Roseanna was determined to outshine all the other females tonight. She chose a gown of the palest green. The underdress had hundreds of little pleats; its sleeves were transparent and edged with silver ribbon. The velvet tunic was split all the way up each side and was tied by silver ribbons to show off the filmy underdress. She let Alice brush out her long black hair and decided to wear it loose down her back, caught at one temple with a silver butterfly that her mother had fashioned for her.

A sudden thought came to her. She picked up the cloak she had worn and removed the diamond clasp from it. Then she pinned the large R between her breasts because her wicked juices had begun to bubble and she wanted to see Ravenspur’s eyes when they fell upon it. The corners of her mouth went up. The bauble was so glitteringly eye-catching, he wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes from her breasts.

Roseanna insisted that Alice and Kate wear their most attractive gowns. She had decided they should sit at the head table in a place of honor because they were her special ladies. She made a point of arriving at the hall a few minutes late so that every eye would be upon her when she entered.