Keeper of the Stone (30 page)

Smiling amicably his father remarked. “I could not help but notice you also appear to be very fond of her as well.”

Nathan met his father’s smiling glance.  He was not accustomed to discussing such intimate topics with his father, but he had no objection to the practice.  Besides, anyone with eyes in their head would be aware of his fondness for his wife.  “Yes, sir.  I am very fond of her.”

“I cannot tell you how pleased I am things have worked out so well for you, Nathan.  For every day of your young life you have worked harder for your desires than anyone I know. It pleases me to know you have been suitably rewarded for your loyalty to Duke William.”

“More than suitably rewarded, Father. William was more than generous with his behest.”

“Heaven’s Crest.  Is that not the name I hear is attached to your new estates?”

Nathan nodded.

“I admit I am surprised to find you still in London, son.  I would have thought you would have taken up residence in your new home at the earliest opportunity.”

“I am still a vassal of the king.  He has not yet released me from his service.”

“Ah, that explains it. I imagine your wife is anxious to return to her family home.”

“Very anxious.  She seems to think I should drop a hint in the king’s ear that perhaps he could hurry up and grant his permission for us to leave the city.”

His father laughed appreciatively at Nathan’s dry wit.  “Well she is very young after all, and by all accounts has been through a harrowing ordeal.”

“Yes, I try to keep that in mind,” Nathan agreed with a sigh, his eyes peeled on where his wife stood speaking with the queen.  A large circle of noblemen gathered around them, not close enough to interrupt the queen’s discussion with Rhiann, but no doubt in anticipation of their discussion breaking up.  Nathan wanted to go over there and forcibly remind his wife’s adoring audience that she belonged to him.  Instead he summoned one of his men to his side.

“Yes, my lord?”

“Go retrieve a shawl for my wife from our rooms.  I do not want her to catch a chill.”

The man nodded his assent and quickly hurried to do his lord’s bidding.  Nathan thought he should congratulate his soldier on his lack of expression in acquiescing to his baron’s command given his lord’s request was in complete opposition to his own experience of the temperature.  The soldier’s forehead was already beaded with sweat.  With so many people gathered in the hall and the large fires going strong, it was already hot as the blazes in the hall, and with the ale flowing freely and more and more arrivals streaming in through the entrance, the room was only likely to get warmer as the evening wore on.  Rhiann would have no need of the shawl he just ordered.

He turned to meet his father’s amused expression.  “That is the thing about precious treasures.”

“I fail to grasp your point.”  Nathan was in no mood for any more mysteries.

“When one has little, there is small concern of another man envying his possessions.  When one possesses a great fortune, an entirely new set of worries besets him.  And I am not only referring to the kind of wealth one carries in a pouch.”

Remembering Luke’s warning along similar lines, Nathan nodded but offered no response.  His father continued, “I have no doubt Nathan you will conquer any challenge you are confronted with.  You were born to be the master of your own lands.  No one is happier than you perhaps that you have realized your life’s dream.”

Distracted for a moment from the sight of the vultures surrounding his wife, Nathan turned to give his father his full attention. “Thank you, Father.  And thank you for making the effort to travel to London to offer your congratulations personally.”

“It was not my intent to thrust Lady Sara upon you in this rather awkward manner.”

Nathan had no doubts as to who was responsible for Lady Sara’s arrival.  “In the short time I have been married I have discovered some battles are simply not worth waging.”

His father laughed.  “Go rescue your wife, son, before some rascal takes it in his head to abscond with her.”

“He would be a very dead rascal.” Nathan replied then took his relieved leave of his father, thinking that was the longest conversation the two of them ever engaged in on a personal matter in Nathan’s memory.

Nathan couldn’t decide whether he should be pleased or furious with himself for suggesting Rhiann wear the red gown.  As much as he hated to see the eyes of every man on the room admiring his wife’s beauty, the red dress somehow seemed to lift her out of her grief, at least temporarily.  She sparkled more brilliantly than the most glittering jewels adorning the throats of the ladies in attendance.  Her bright smile and the sound of her laughter was a welcome contrast to the emptiness of loss he so often saw hidden beneath the brave front she presented to the world. 

Despite the questionable gown, he noticed there was nothing the least bit flirtatious in her manner.  Unlike other women who seemed to delight in attracting as many admirers as possible to their sides, Rhiann was not forced to resort to any feminine wiles to lure devoted followers.  They were no doubt attracted as much by the aura of innocence she still retained, no matter the loss of her virginity, as much by her alluring beauty.

She spoke to the servants with the same kindness and respect she addressed the highest ranking noblemen with.  She didn’t court attention, but nor was she particularly daunted by it either.  He thought her comfort in the company was a far cry from their first evening as man and wife when she hovered close to his side and eyed everyone around her with suspicion.

He understood what was happening.  He was being given a glimpse of the woman she was before the loss of her family and he was suddenly overwhelmed by his good fortune.  A dark fear gripped him, the origin of which he couldn’t account for.  It was as if a black cloud dimmed the bright lights of the hall and for a moment centered over his wife.  He dismissed the foolish thought with an effort, but not before a cold sweat of fear passed over him.  No doubt his mind was reacting to all the warnings he was given lately to take great care of both his wife and his new lands. His new responsibilities suddenly weighed heavily on him, chief among them, his wife’s safety.

Rhiann felt the weight of her husband’s eyes on her and she turned her attention from the conversations swirling around her to find where Nathan stood alone at the other end of the hall.  He was staring at her with an intense expression on his face.  Rhiann was unable to discern if he was pleased or displeased with her.  He seemed to take her little joke over the gown in stride earlier.  She deliberately refused to cling to his side this evening.  She wanted him to know she could be an asset to him as his wife.  Her mother taught her the proper way to behave in company, and one of those ways was not to bother her husband with her constant presence when he was trying to conduct business with his peers.  Rhiann wanted Nathan to be pleased the king chose her for his wife.  Even though she was much younger than he was, she wished him to know she would not be a constant burden to him and that he need not concern himself with the worry she would embarrass him in company.

Their eyes met across the expanse of the room and as if an invisible magnet drew them together both of them began closing the gap between them. They met in the center of the room unaware of the attention they were drawing.

“Are you displeased with me, Nathan?”  Rhiann whispered, breathless at her husband’s close proximity.

“Should I be wife?”

“You said you would be pleased if I wore this gown, but I knew you probably would change your mind once you saw me in it.”

He laughed and allowed his eyes to roam appreciatively over his wife’s barely clad form and linger at the generous offering of full breasts the gown displayed.  He was aware of the quickening of his wife’s breath at his bold appraisal of her.  “The sight of you in the red gown pleases me very much Rhiann, but I think in the future you shall wear it for an audience of only one.”

“Yes, Nathan.” She blushed at his implication and the look in his eyes, and added in a breathless whisper.  “Do you think it would be all right if I returned to our room now?”

“Of course, Rhiann.  You are not feeling unwell are you?”

She was warmed by his obvious concern for her and admitted ruefully,  “No Nathan, I am just exhausted by the effort of trying not to fall out of this gown, and dropping my glance as inconspicuously as possible every few moments to make sure I haven’t.”

His loud laughter echoed around the hall.  “Apparently we both have a few regrets about your attire this evening, but I for one am extremely grateful to your sister.”

Rhiann smiled.  At a motion from Nathan one of his men approached them to escort her to their room.  Nathan forestalled her attempt to curtsey before him.  A little confused, she wished him good night and then thankfully left the hall.

Nathan spent the remainder of the long evening in the company of his friends and haunted by the sight of his wife’s full breasts nestled snugly in the red gown.  Even though he indulged his seemingly insatiable passion for his wife just hours earlier, he felt his body tighten in anticipation of the night ahead.  Hopefully the king would call an end to this seemingly endless revelry soon or Nathan would be rising before he was given the opportunity to turn the fantasies running through his mind into satisfying reality. He smiled at his wife’s remembered confession of her fear of falling out of the ridiculous dress.  He held his own breath in dreaded anticipation of the same event for the entire time she was present in the king’s company tonight, but he delighted in her innocent admission. 

She was so unaffected. Another woman would have used the beautiful display to her advantage to try to wheedle some favor from him.  In fact he was on the receiving end of not a few women’s wiles ever since his wife left for the sanctity of his room. He noticed he’d been on the receiving end of such advances far more often lately.  His marriage failed to act as the deterrent he assumed it would to would-be mistresses.  As far as he could tell, the ladies themselves’ marriages apparently failed to present a particular deterrent to their pursuit of him either.  Regardless of his wife’s naïve assertion, he was under no illusion as to the reason behind such overtures.  He was a wealthy man.  He would have willingly indulged any request his wife made of him, no matter the number of days’ wages it cost him.  Instead his young wife spent the evening worrying over the extent of her immodest display.

“Care to share the joke, my friend?”

Nathan turned to find Bruce regarding him with a querying look on his face. Nathan merely shook his head.

“I cannot remember ever seeing you in such a good mood before, Nathan.  Your family’s arrival does not seem to have impacted it any.”

“My wife assures me my family’s only motive in traveling all this way was to congratulate me on my good fortune.”

Bruce grinned. “No doubt that was Lady Sara’s only intent in making the journey as well.”

Nathan shrugged.  He failed to share with anyone the extent of the ugly scene between himself and Lady Sara when he informed her he would be unable to marry her as he was already wed. Sara apparently spent the entire trip to England envisioning herself as the wife of a duke, though even if he was not already married, she would not have attained her vision even if their marriage did take place.  Nathan was awarded the former duke’s estates, not his title. 

Sara appeared loathe to relinquish her new imaginary status without at least a very ugly argument.  He didn’t feel the need to confide the truth to her that he already informed his father he would add a large sum to her existing modest dowry to compensate her for her loss.  The more she screamed at him about how much the stupid war stole from her, and how unfair it all was, the more he regretted his promised generosity.  Particularly in light of the fact, compared to Rhiann, Sara lost nothing more than her own inflated sense of self-worth. 

Nathan was gentleman enough to keep the unpleasant details to himself, so he merely shrugged in response to Bruce’s comment, and offered, “I believe Lady Sara thought we would be wed immediately upon her arrival in London, with the king and queen in attendance.”

“That’s not all she thought, Nathan, and she’s making no secret of how you misused her and broke your commitment to her to marry Lady Rhiann.”

Nathan’s attention was caught by Bruce’s deliberate choice of words.  “Is Lady Sara slandering my wife?”

“After today I believe any lady of the king’s court will think twice about challenging your wife.”

Nathan knew Bruce was referring to Rhiann’s scene earlier with the Saxon woman, but just because his wife was capable of issuing a much needed set-down when the situation demanded it did not excuse the culprit in the first place. “That was not what I asked.”

“Everyone’s ignoring her claims, Nathan.  The entire court is well aware of Matilda’s fondness for your wife.  Believe me Lady Sara is doing herself no favors in carrying on as she is. Most of the women have begun avoiding her completely.”

Nathan belatedly realized his father was apologizing earlier this evening for more than just Sara’s arrival in London.  Apparently she was making a fool of herself in the process.  As far as Nathan was concerned she was welcome to continue doing so as long as she left his wife out of her idiocy.

“I think, my friend, the king did you an even greater favor than you perhaps recognized previously.”

Nathan was struck forcibly by Bruce’s comment.  If the king had not arranged his marriage to Rhiann, Nathan would be even now making preparations to marry Lady Sara.  Or perhaps the deed would have already been accomplished.  He had not been completely forthcoming with Rhiann about the extent of his commitment to the other woman.  While there was no formal betrothal for the reasons he gave his wife, there was every expectation on both sides he would wed Lady Sara as soon as the war was over. 

He felt his heart quicken in his chest at the thought of his narrow escape. He could be looking forward to Lady Sara waiting in his bed tonight instead of Rhiann.  His mind went over again the unpleasant scene between them.  A near escape for sure. “Indeed, you speak the truth.”