Gayle Callen (28 page)

She was saved from answering by shouts down below. After pulling a tunic over his shirt and hose, Reynold flung open the shutters overlooking the street.

“My lord, perhaps you should see this.”

The earl, Reynold, and Katherine gathered at the window and gazed down upon the crowd. They
had begun to chant, “Tudor,” over and over, until Katherine wanted to shut her ears. She bitterly remembered how just this morning they had cheered the Durham army.

Reynold pointed down the street, towards the West Bridge. “They have come.”

Trumpets preceded the new king’s army, and banners bearing the red dragon of the Tudors waved in the breeze. The king saluted in triumph, wearing the royal crown upon his fair head.

Katherine felt ill. The man had less claim to the throne than King Richard’s niece, daughter of the old king. But nothing could be done now. She had tried everything and failed. She must now live peacefully under a new king. Would he forgive her father?

Knights and soldiers, some bloodied and limping, marched down the streets, accepting cheers and flowers from the shouting crowd. Though Katherine felt obliged to watch every minute of it, she soon wished she had not. Were her eyes playing tricks on her?

A familiar banner unfurled in the wind. James’s banner, James’s men, and finally…James himself.

T
hrough a buzzing haze, Katherine heard the earl’s hoarse oath, and Reynold’s simple, “My God.”

She had swallowed every lie, every pretense James had used, when all along he had been a traitor. Her chest was tight with repressed sobs, but mere were no more tears inside her. Instead she looked full at Reynold, and wished she could absorb his pain and leave him free of it. His face was cold and remote, a warrior confronting betrayal, not just a fellow soldier’s, but his brother’s. He must hurt much worse man she did.

“Reynold,” she said softly.

He raised his hand, men turned and stalked away. “Do not speak of it now.”

When she would have followed him, the earl restrained her. “Leave him to mink in peace, my child. Come watch and remember King Richard’s murderers.”

As she shook with anger and betrayal, Katherine
was thankful for her father’s supporting arm, for as James reached the inn, his gaze seemed drawn upward. He saw them standing in the window, and the smile slowly dissolved from his face, replaced by a grim frown. His horse trotted past, pushed by the soldiers and the crowd, but James’s gaze held Katherine’s until a bend in the road took him from sight.

Katherine sagged away from the window, but her father held her upright. She clutched the window frame, feeling remote and numb. Then across the bridge, at the rear of the army, came a horse carrying a naked corpse across its back. A young boy hunched over the horse’s neck, wearing torn clothing in the king’s colors. Katherine grew hot and her stomach heaved. It was the king’s body, and his head rhythmically bounced against the bridge’s stone walls. As the crowd below jeered, she dropped to her knees and heaved up what little her stomach had carried.

“Katherine?” Reynold lifted her from the floor, garnering her close.

She gave a wan smile and sighed. “If mat is what battle brings, I never want to be near one again.”

“You shall not, my lady. I will protect you,” he said, feeling that his overwhelming love for her could easily consume everything in his life.

Katherine tried to protest as Reynold lay her down on the bed, but he touched her lips with the tips of his fingers.

“You have seen and done too much today. Rest.”

“But James—”

“He will be coming soon, if I know him.” A spasm of pain twisted his stomach. “Did I ever know him?”

Reynold wet a towel and sat down on the edge of the bed. Gently, he wiped Katherine’s face. He knew the earl stood silent, watchful, but it was too late to think about propriety. The old man had better understand that Reynold would not meekly walk away from his love for Katherine.

The knock at the door took no one by surprise. Katherine gently pushed Reynold’s hand aside, and slid her legs over the edge of the bed. The door rattled again and Reynold stepped forward.

“No,” she said. “I must do it.”

Katherine took a deep breath, and flung the door wide. She truly didn’t know what she would feel on first sight of her betrothed. James stood unmoving in the doorway, wearing a black doublet and hose, with embroidery at the neck his only bow to fashion. He had a beaver hat tucked under one elbow.

Katherine stared at him, trying to remember how once he’d dominated her girlhood dreams. She had known nothing about him, only that he would be the man she’d marry. He had always been a stranger.

“You had me kidnapped.” She didn’t know where those words came from; they just seemed to
well up out of her bitterness. Everything suddenly made sense.

James sighed. “May I come in?”

After he entered, Katherine made an exaggerated show of looking into the hall. “My lord, are there no men to do your bidding?”

James set his hat on the table before finally meeting her gaze. “If you’d let me explain—”

Katherine was pushed aside as Reynold launched himself at his brother. Her father pulled her away as the two men crashed to the floor.

Reynold rolled and easily subdued James beneath him. “She could have died because of you!” He slammed his brother’s head into the floor.

When Katherine would have stopped them, her father held her back. “They must deal with this,” he said.

James fiercely struggled against Reynold’s grip. He arched his back in an attempt to throw his brother off. “I didn’t know! I tried to keep her safe when the others would have killed her. I deliberately sent her to your monastery, in case things went wrong!”

“Think, you fool! What kind of man did you entrust her to? A man who would imprison her in a dank undercroft—”

“He was not supposed to—”

“A man who would follow us across the country, terrorizing your betrothed, until she finally had to defend her life! Look at the bloodstains on her gown!”

Grabbing James’s head, Reynold forced the man to look at Katherine.

“He almost killed her today. Luckily she killed him. Is that how you treat the lady you would marry?”

James sagged slowly, the fight draining from his body. “You do what you will, Reynold. But I swear to you I did not know his true character.”

Reynold released his brother’s head and sat up, still pinning James to the floor with his body. The weariness on Reynold’s face almost broke Katherine’s heart.

“You lied to me—you lied to all of us,” Reynold said, his voice hoarse, his eyes bleak. “She came to you for help and you pretended—”

“Won’t you see reason? I thought I was protecting her.”

“Your protection was never worth much.” Reynold got to his feet and gave his brother a look of distaste. “All you ever cared for were your clothes and the appearance of your great hall. Oh yes, you wanted to protect Katherine—you were protecting her money.”

James slowly stood up and faced the three of them. “You believe I am that callous?”

Reynold crossed his arms over his chest. “What do I know of you, James? We were raised by different families, and I can see what kind of honor they instilled in you. You could not even tell us your true allegiance.”

James slammed a hand on the table and Katherine jumped.

“Damn your eyes, Reynold! You sat in the monastery and knew nothing of how the country was changing, how people talked. Anarchy was coming. They didn’t believe Richard any more.”

“And that enabled you to betray him?” The earl spoke for the first time. “You are not the man I dealt with honorably.”

“My lord—” James began.

“I will fight this contract I have with you.” His voice sounded tired but determined. “I will not allow you to take my daughter, after what you have done to her. If I have to bribe the pope himself—”

“It will not be necessary, my lord,” James said. He took his beaver hat in his hands. “I could not force Katherine to marry. I would not want…that.”

When he met Katherine’s gaze, his face was impassive, yet his eyes seemed to burn with remorse. She found she could not speak the cruel words she had intended.

“I will not marry you, James,” she said. “I could never trust you and I don’t love you.”

He lowered his head. “We never had the chance to love.”

“And that is your fault as well. I waited five long years for you, and you never came.”

“I was a fool.”

She barely heard the words.

“And now you love my brother.” James lifted his head. “Perhaps that is as it was meant to be.”

Katherine hesitated, dreading her father’s reac
tion. She relaxed when she felt him pat her hand. “Reynold has been willing to sacrifice his life for me. He appreciates my strengths.”
And inspired me to conquer my weaknesses
, she thought.

She found herself staring into Reynold’s eyes, hardly daring to imagine they could have a future together. “He believes in me.”

The earl released Katherine and faced James with his hands on his hips. “You will take the dowry.”

All eyes turned to him in astonishment.

“I will not,” James said in a harsh voice.

“I do not wish to see you at some future date making demands of my daughter, perhaps threatening her.”

Katherine had never seen such a cold, proud look come over James’s face. She suddenly saw him as he could be, and it saddened her.

“I refuse to be so dishonored,” James said.

Her father leaned into James’s face. “You will take the money in exchange for agreeing to break the betrothal. I must tell the priests something. And then, when you spend that money, you will, remember what you did to earn it.”

James straightened, his face grim. “I will never spend it.” He opened the door, then paused and turned to look at Katherine. “I’m sorry for what my stupidity did to you. If you need my signature, I’ll be with the king.”

When he left, silence hung heavy in the room. Katherine was too stunned to move, could barely draw a deep breath. She was no longer betrothed.
Her soul filled with hope as she looked at Reynold. When had this love for him grown to encompass her mind and heart? He was everything to her. Only he could fulfill all her dreams. Only he could laugh with her, love her, father her children.

Reynold stepped before the earl. “I know we still have tragedy yet to face, my lord, but I can wait no longer to speak. I wish to marry your daughter.”

The earl rocked back on his heels, fists on his hips. “Why does this not surprise me?”

Relief weakened Katherine’s knees and brought tears to her eyes. She would not have to disobey her father. She ran to hug him, whispering tearfully, “You have made me so happy.”

The earl patted her back, then released her. “Welles, until I have spoken to King Henry, I can make no promises.”

“Your blessing is enough for us. Allow me to accompany you, sir.”

The earl smiled. “I’d like that.”

Katherine took Reynold by the arm and looked up into his beloved face, free of guilt for the first time. She stretched up for his kiss. His mouth was warm and sweet, even chaste.

“For one’s future wife,” he murmured against her lips.

“I’ll expect more, much more,” she said. He embraced her and she felt as if she’d come home.

February 1486

“Y
ou are very lucky I am not big with child,” Katherine said to Reynold as she smiled at the wedding guests filling her father’s hall.

Reynold raised his goblet to the knights calling out a bawdy toast of good health. “And why is that, my sweet?”

“Because tonight would not be half so enjoyable. I would be fat.”

Reynold leaned into her face and gave her a leer. “I have waited six months for tonight. Be you fat or thin, I would ravish you. I did not fall in love with your belly.”

Katherine giggled then attempted a smile for her mother, who wore gray instead of black, perhaps to celebrate the nuptials.

“I am trying to follow your advice, Reynold, but it is so difficult to converse with my mother.”

“She is here, is she not, instead of cloistered in a chapel praying for my soul.” Reynold sighed. “My having fallen from the holiness of monastic life does not endear me to her.”

Katharine leaned into him. His brilliant blue doublet smelled of leather and man. “Can we leave now? I fear if I do not taste your lips soon…”

Reynold closed his eyes and whispered her name hoarsely. “Katherine. I promised your father a long feast. He has remained near to home since being pardoned by the king. I think he deserves a celebration in honor of his only child.”

Katherine ran her fingers lovingly across his smooth jaw. “We are married, my lord viscount,” she said dreamily, then, “Viscount! The audacity of you to hold such a thing from me.”

Reynold grinned. “You withheld your name, I withheld mine. Remember, I never thought I would use my father’s title again. But for you, I would be growing old in a ruined monastery.”

She smiled. “I did save you, didn’t I?”

“Too many times to count. But do not think you know everything about me. I still have a few mysteries you could unearth. Speaking of mysteries…” He attempted to peer down the bodice of her red brocade gown. “Is that an animal blocking my view?”

Katherine caught her breath, unable to take her eyes off his lips. “Ermine trim.”

“It must be removed,” he whispered, his breath on her cheek, his fingers stealing under her veil to touch her hair. “No more mysteries. ’Tis time to celebrate.”

He swept her up in his embrace and Katherine laughed aloud as the crowd cheered. She put her arms around her husband and never looked back.