The Unconventional Maiden (15 page)

‘I am grateful for that, but what am I to do now?’ asked Beth in a despairing voice, gazing into his eyes that shone like steel in his filthy face. ‘My business is destroyed.’

‘We’ll get the person who did this,’ he said harshly. ‘It was no accident. I saw a woman running away from the building.’

‘A woman!’

‘Aye, an extremely tall woman and I was reminded of the description of the figure who went into your father’s tent in France.’

‘I had almost forgotten about her,’ said Beth, collecting her wits. ‘Or had we decided that it was a him in disguise?’

‘Whoever it was, for now they have escaped us,’ said Gawain, helping her to her feet. She swayed against him and he lifted her high against his chest. ‘You need to rest.’

‘But I am filthy dirty and in no state to sleep between the sheets,’ she muttered. ‘Where are Jane and the other servants?’

‘They’re around somewhere,’ said Gawain. ‘Do not be worrying about others right now. Just rest against me.’

Beth obeyed him, closing her eyes but she could not ignore her senses as he carried her inside the house.

The air was hot and the smoke seemed to have permeated everything. ‘We can’t stay here,’ said Gawain.

She lifted her head and stared into his face as she clung to him. ‘But where can we go at this time of night?’

‘We’ll sleep in the open air.’

A throaty chuckle escaped her. ‘You would take me into the country?’

‘Aye, I will take you to my boat.’

She looked at him, surprised. ‘I had almost forgotten we had travelled from Smallhythe in your boat. Will we not need blankets and pillows? And what about clean clothes and how will you find the way?’

‘Questions, questions, Beth! Does that inquisitive mind of yours never stop?’ he teased. ‘Trust me.’

‘All right, I will trust you,’ she said, giving him a serious little smile. ‘You do realise that it is unlikely that you will ever find a suitor for me now that I am without a dowry.’

‘You sound almost pleased.’

‘Every cloud has its silver lining. We’re alive and while there’s breath in me, I will rejoice that we both survived such a terrible calamity,’ she said in a lilting voice.

He could only be glad that she felt like that right now. Of course, later she might feel differently.

More than two hours must have passed by the time they had sailed upstream by moonlight, passing the riverside residents of the bishops of Exeter and Bath and Wells that lay beyond the city walls until they had
left even the Palace of Westminster behind. The sun was rising over the river in a ripple of apricot and gold when Gawain furled the sail and used a weighted line to test the depth of the water before dropping anchor. Beth had dozed off in the stern of the boat, but now he roused her before going over the side with a rope and wading to the grassy bank where several trees provided some shelter.

Beth stifled a yawn as she watched him from red-rimmed eyes. ‘Where are we?’ she asked.

‘Our own little paradise,’ replied Gawain, his teeth white against the dirt on his face as he smiled at her. ‘You stay there and I’ll come back for you.’

‘It does not look very deep.’ She clambered over the side and after a moment’s hesitation released her hold on the boat. The chill of the water caused the breath to catch in her throat, but as she waded towards him she felt laughter bubbling up inside her. ‘I never imagined myself doing this a few hours ago and saying what I am about to say. What a wonderful morning!’

Gawain’s eyes flashed blue fire. ‘We are both filthy, our clothes are ruined and yet you are happy.’ He threw back his head and laughed joyously.

She twinkled up at him. ‘Aye, because we are together and it does not matter if our garments are wet.’

‘No, but they will be unpleasant against the skin if we leave them on for any length of time,’ he murmured, holding her gaze.

The breath caught in her throat. ‘Then I will take mine off, although, I deem I will need help with my
fastenings.’ She gazed down at her hands. ‘I should have thought to put on gloves.’

Gawain paused in the process of unfastening his shirt and gently took her hands between his own. ‘Why did you not say earlier how badly blistered they were? You should not have been passing pails with them in this condition.’ He raised her palms to his lips and kissed them before dipping them into the water.

It was cool and soothing and a sigh escaped Beth. ‘Do you swim?’ she asked after several moments.

He nodded. ‘I don’t suppose you can?’

She shook her head. ‘It would indeed have been a miracle if my father had thought it important that I should learn to swim, but I would like to float on the surface.’

‘It would be a pleasure to help you do so,’ said Gawain.

‘You will not let me go?’ she asked tentatively.

A laugh broke from him. ‘What a question to ask! I will not let you go, love,’ he said, his voice a caress.

He reached out and began to undo the fastenings on her gown. His fingers brushed against her bosom and he heard the breath catch in her throat. Should he be doing this when so many questions needed answers and their future hung in the balance? he asked himself as he eased her gown down over her hips, taking her chemise with it.

‘You will wed me if you are able?’ she whispered. ‘Even though I would be content to be your lover if not?’

‘I will have you for my wife,’ he replied, tossing
aside the doubts that would assail him. They sank into the water and he brought her against him and kissed her sooty face.

‘I do not like coming to you dirty,’ she said, her eyes closed.

‘The dirt will wash away.’ He smiled and kissed her eyelids and then her throat and then his eyes took in the delicious curves of her breasts. Lowering his head, he caught one of her nipples between his lips and sucked. She gasped and her eyelids flew wide.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Do you not like it?’

‘I did not say that.’

‘No, you want us to be really clean.’ Without more ado, Gawain released her, stripped and waded back into the water until it was deep enough to immerse himself fully.

Beth watched, enchanted by the sight of his muscular nakedness in all its comeliness before the water swallowed him up. She waded towards him, then suddenly the bottom fell away beneath her feet and she screamed. Instantly he was there beside her and lifting her against his chest. The next moment he was swimming on his back with her floating on top of him. She gasped as her chin touched his shoulder and then she swallowed a mouthful of water and coughed. Gawain begged her pardon and turned her over so that she was on her back. Beth’s fear of the water abated and she closed her eyes, enjoying the silky feel of it against her skin, but more than anything, she loved the sensations
roused within her by the feel of his body supporting her. But this first such experience of floating in the water did not last long and soon he swam with her towards the shore, until she was able to stand up and climb out of the water onto the grassy bank.

He had heaved himself into the boat, but after a few moments, he joined her on shore, carrying a couple of blankets and drying cloths. Neither could take their eyes from each other. He spread one of the blankets on the dew-sparkled grass and then brought her close to him and wrapped her in the drying cloth. He begun to rub her briskly until her skin tingled. She stilled his hands before placing her arms around him and kissing him on the mouth.

Afterwards, Beth could not remember how they came to be lying on the blanket, but she would never forget the strength of his arms or the hunger of his kisses that was savage in its intensity. Her desire for him to possess her spiralled out of her control as his touch roused in her sensations that demanded release. When he took her it was with a passion that swept her beyond all reason or resistance and she clung to him, her need for him as urgent as that which she felt in him for her.

‘Gawain,’ she gasped.

‘Hush, Beth, this is no time for talking,’ he groaned.

‘I know. It is for lovemaking,’ she whispered, allowing herself to be swept away on waves of such ecstasy that she thought she might die from the wonder of it.

She fell asleep in his arms with the blanket wrapped around them, all thought of the fire forgotten.

When Beth woke she had no notion of how long she had slept. Gawain’s eyes were shuttered and he appeared perfectly relaxed. She broke off a blade of grass and tickled his face with it. He opened his eyes and gazed up at her and then at the sky before sitting bolt upright. ‘You must get dressed,’ he ordered.

‘Of course I must, and so must you. You do have some clean garments for us?’ she enquired. ‘I have no idea what happened to our other clothes. I deem they must have floated away.’

He reached out a hand and closed it on her breast and brought himself against her. ‘I care for you, Beth, more than I have the right to say at this moment. I should not have allowed what took place between us to happen until I could have called you wife.’

‘It is too late for regrets now,’ she murmured against his mouth.

He could not resist kissing her. Despite his words he was reluctant to break the spell that had bound them earlier. ‘I only regret that you do not wear my ring and bear my name.’ He sighed. ‘We must go.’

‘I know.’ She gazed about her, all her senses alert in a way they had never been before. She could hear the plop of a fish and the breeze ruffling the grass and the chirp of a bird, smell the fragrance of a late-flowering wild rose and the smoke that still tainted her hair and part of her longed to stay in this place for ever. She wished that she could express the depth of her feelings
for him, but the words stuck in her throat. She so hoped that he loved her. She was certain that she loved him, but perhaps it was best that she kept that to herself right now. With an abrupt movement she stood up and, with a blanket wrapped round her, waded out to the boat.

He followed her, thinking of what they must face when they arrived back in Pater Noster Row, wondering what to do that was best for her. ‘You cannot stay in your house as it is, Beth. You must return to Raventon Hall.’

She glanced at him. ‘I do not wish to be packed off to the country and leave everything for you to deal with here if that is your intention.’

‘It is dangerous for you in London and I wouldn’t be able to protect you all the time if you insisted on staying here,’ rasped Gawain, frowning.

‘Don’t you believe that danger stalks you, as well?’

‘Aye, but I am a man and can protect myself.’

‘Can’t I go with you wherever you go?’ she pleaded.

He shook his head. ‘I need to go to Winchelsea and I am best going alone.’

‘Why do you go there?’ she asked, unable to conceal her curiosity.

He told her about his conversation with Master Quedgeley and how he planned to speak with Mary and the man she claimed to be her husband. ‘I must do this. If all goes the way I wish, then I will bring the children to you at Raventon, then visit the Cardinal and hopefully he will declare my marriage null and void
and we can wed. Of course, it might take some time, but eventually I will marry you,’ he said emphatically.

Beth believed he meant what he said, but she had other matters on her mind, as well. ‘I understand what you are saying and I will be patient. But in the meantime, what about my business? We have one press, but to get it working we need to find somewhere to work from and I do not have the funds to rent another building and there are items we will have to buy and the men’s wages to pay,’ she said, almost despairing. ‘I doubt I have enough money deposited with the bankers to deal with all of these things.’

‘I will provide you with the necessary money,’ assured Gawain, squeezing her hand.

She gnawed on her lip. ‘I do not like taking money from you.’

‘Then accept my offer to buy more shares in your business,’ he said insistently.

She hesitated. ‘In the circumstances I seem to have no choice. At least you will be able to buy them dirt cheap.’ A wry smile twisted her mouth.

He frowned. ‘I am not out to make money out of your misfortune, Beth. I will give you a good price for them. We could set up shop downstairs in your house until we can rebuild again. It is only a matter of cleaning the place up, finding a carpenter to get benches made and buying what else is needed after we’ve moved what we already have in.’

‘You make it sound so simple, but I know it won’t be.’

He nodded. ‘But it will be done.’

‘And the first printing will be of Nick Hurst’s journal,’ she said firmly.

‘You’re telling me that was not destroyed?’

‘If Master Stanton did as I ordered and placed it and the manuscripts I gave him in the iron chest, then all is safe,’ said Beth, smiling.

‘Then the sooner we get back to Pater Noster Row and check that out the better,’ said Gawain, his spirits lifting.

Beth’s eyes were wet with tears as she surveyed the blackened ruin that yesterday had been a thriving business. ‘I will arrange to have the site cleared in no time,’ said Gawain, putting his arm around her shoulders.

‘It just makes me so sad,’ said Beth, easing the tightness in her throat. ‘It would have broken my father’s heart to see it so.’

‘Look on the bright side, sweeting—the building we will raise will be a much better one. It will be of brick and with the latest glass windows and the roof will be of slate,’ said Gawain.

Before she could comment they were interrupted by Jane saying, ‘Mistress Beth, there you are! We did wonder what had happened to you?’

Beth wiped her eyes and smiled at her maid. ‘I beg pardon if we have caused you concern, but I could not sleep in the house as it was so Sir Gawain and I removed somewhere else. Did you stay here, Jane?’

‘Aye,’ said the maid, ‘I wasn’t going to allow looters to get in whilst you were away, but it isn’t suitable for you as it is, Mistress Beth. Cook and the girls
went home, but Sam’s been here, wishing to speak to Sir Gawain. He was real angry when he saw what had happened. He went away again, but said he’d be back shortly.’

‘Good,’ said Gawain. ‘I have much to say to him. If you’ll excuse me, Beth.’ He strode on ahead into the house.