Cast Love Aside Page 7

  “Go ahead and kill me,” Erland said, managing to shrug in spite of his bonds. “Once I am dead, Lilianne will never find her precious brother's bones, and you English will lose by my demise whatever it was that you planned to demand as my ransom.”

  “Where is Gilbert?” Lilianne cried.

  “In a safe place,” Erland said, “where you will never find him. Or, if you do, it will be too late for that puny child.”

  “If it's Manoir Sainte Inge you want,” Lilianne said, sounding desperate, “you may have it. I'm sure Gilbert will give it to you in return for his freedom, and I know our father would agree, if he were still alive.”

  “But Paul de Sainte Inge is not alive, is he?” said Erland, sneering again, “and once Gilbert dies, my brother Paul's former property passes to me, as the sole male heir of our father's line. You, dear niece, have nothing with which to bargain.”

  “I do have bargaining power,” Magnus said. “We will discuss this later, Count Erland. For now, I leave you to consider your plight. I suggest you also moderate your attitude toward Lady Lilianne.”

  “Why?” Erland asked. “Lilianne matters not at all in my plans. She is a nonentity.”

  Magnus thought that Erland could not be more wrong. Lilianne's determination to locate and rescue her brother made her a force that her uncle should have considered very carefully, indeed. But he'd not tell Erland so. Better by far to let Erland underestimate his niece. Erland's distain for the girl might trip him up and, thus, make him vulnerable to the kind of persuasion that Royce was planning to use on him. Erland wasn't just a hostage for Desmond's safety and eventual release. As one of King Louis's secret agents, Erland was also a source of valuable information. Magnus did not doubt that Royce would find a way to extract most of that information from Erland before he was permitted to return to France.

  “I am going up on deck,” Lilianne announced to no one in particular. “If I stay here one moment more, I'll strangle him. I think you will all agree that killing Uncle Erland would be most unwise of me, at least for the present.” Not deigning to look at Erland again, she stalked out of the cabin.

  “I'll go with you.” Alice followed Lilianne through the door.

  “Remain here, William, inside the cabin,” Magnus ordered when the young man would have rushed after Alice. “Braedon, into the corridor with you, and keep watch on the door. I will see to the women.”

  “I need to piss,” Erland said in a loud voice. “If you don't untie me at once, you will have a foul mess to clean up.”

  “I'll find a bucket,” Braedon offered, and left the cabin.

  “Untie me,” Erland demanded again. “Do it quickly, you slow-witted fools.”

  “Sir William and Sir Braedon will assist you,” Magnus told him. “You will remain bound until we reach England.”

  “I will not tolerate being handled, or watched, by inferiors while I perform a personal function.” Erland sounded deeply affronted by the notion.

  “Very well, then. The choice is yours,” Magnus said with false pleasantness. “Allow these two gentlemen to help you, or soil yourself. Now, I must ask you to excuse me while I see to the ladies.”

  On his way to the ladder Magnus met Braedon returning with a leather bucket in hand.

  “I’m glad not all French nobles are like Erland,” Braedon said. “How can he be a successful secret agent if he treats his underlings with such contempt? Or is it just because we are Englishmen?”

  “Two good questions,” Magnus responded. “Speaking for myself, I'll be glad to turn him over to Royce.”

  A bellow of outrage issued from the cabin where Erland was being held.

  “I do believe the count is eager for this,” Braedon said, swinging the bucket. “I mustn't keep him waiting. Don't worry, Magnus; William and I will never loosen his bonds, no matter what he promises or threatens.”

  Magnus arrived on deck with his emotions seething. In addition to his impatience to see his brother released from French captivity so he could be free from any further obligation to either his brother or Royce, Magnus longed to help Lilianne. She was going to do whatever she could to find her brother, and she was likely to put her life in danger in the attempt. The thought of any harm coming to Lilianne smote Magnus like a sword thrust to his heart. The knowledge that he had no right to feel the way he did was even more painful than his fears for the safety of so brave and resolute a girl.

  He stepped through the hatchway to find the sky lightening toward a clear, windy morning. Against the golden-pink glow of dawn, Lilianne and Alice stood together at the rail. Lilianne turned as Magnus approached.

  “I apologize for threatening your prisoner,” she said. “I wish I knew of a way to convince Uncle Erland to tell me where he has sent Gilbert.”

  “So do I.” Firmly repressing a cold shiver, Magnus leaned against the rail. Seeking distraction from both his forebodings and his passionate desire to touch Lilianne, he allowed his gaze to rest upon the smudgy line across the horizon that showed where England was. Just two or three hours more, he told himself, and they'd be ashore at Hythe, where Royce's men awaited them. Royce had deemed the smaller port safer and more secure than Dover, which was the obvious landing site for a ship departing France from the vicinity of Calais. Dover was a favorite haunt for French spies. There were probably spies in Hythe, too, as there were in any English port, but with luck they’d have Erland out of the town and on his way to closely guarded imprisonment before any of his compatriots noticed him.

  “How can a man be so cruel to his own flesh and blood?” Lilianne burst into angry speech. “Gilbert is his brother's son.”

  “So are you Count Erland's flesh and blood,” Alice said. “Men can be cold and unfeeling where property is concerned. To a greedy man, family ties mean little. When the time suits him, Erland will cast you aside in whatever way is most advantageous to him.”

  “You sound,” said Magnus, “as if you speak from experience.” He looked more closely at Alice, noting her thin figure and her pale face, only faintly tinged with color by the rising sun. Nothing about Alice caught his manly interest, yet honesty and intelligent human warmth shone from her eyes. He thought she would prove a good and true friend, and he was glad Lilianne had her for a companion.

  “My father,” Alice told him, “was a minor noble, pledged in fealty to King Henry for the land he held in Normandy.”

  “You surprise me.” Magnus said. “I assumed you were French.”

  “My mother was,” Alice said. “When she died, Father decided to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, so he turned his estates over to my brother, Richard. He left me, and my dowry, in Richard's care. Knowing I longed for children and a kind man at my side, he charged Richard with finding a good husband for me when I was old enough.”

  “I can guess the rest,” Magnus said. “Once your father was gone, Richard decided to add your dowry to his own holdings.”

  “He sent me to the convent with nothing save the clothes I wore. I wept for days before I reconciled myself to being there. But I steadfastly refused to profess my vows, knowing I would be speaking lies and not truth. Secretly, I hoped to find a way to leave the convent. When Count Erland applied to Mother Abbess for a girl of noble birth to be a companion to his niece, I volunteered at once. I suspect Mother Abbess of being as eager to see me go as I was to be gone.”

  “I didn’t know any of this,” Lilianne exclaimed, regarding her companion with surprised interest. “Why haven’t you ever mentioned your family?”

  “It’s best not to speak of what is lost and can never be recovered,” Alice said. She added, finishing her story, “So you see, Sir Magnus, I do know how wicked men can be where property is concerned. From what I've observed of Count Erland during my short stay at Manoir Sainte Inge, I believe he covets Gilbert's estate.”

  “He won't get it,” Lilianne declared, smacking her closed fist on the railing for emphasis. “Never, so long as I live!”

  Alice's troubled gaze me
t Magnus's, and he guessed she was thinking along the same lines he was. If Erland wanted to continue using Manoir Sainte Inge as a base for his spying activities against the English, then young Gilbert was probably already dead.

  “What of your dowry, Lilianne?” Magnus asked, seizing on the first subject that came to mind to divert her from contemplation of her brother's possible fate. “Surely, your father left a portion of his holdings for you?”

  “He did, but it's gone,” she replied. “According to Uncle Erland, he was forced to hand that property over to my father's debtors. But I shall not go into a convent, no matter what Uncle Erland decides. Nor will I marry. I know there’s no chance of any man wanting me, not tall and ugly as I am, and with no dowry. I intend to live with Gilbert, and you may live with us, Alice, for as long as you want. You are the only friend I've had since Father and Mother died.”

  “How did your mother die?” Magnus asked.

  “In childbirth, six years ago. The baby died with her,” Lilianne answered softly. “It's a common event.”

  “Not at all common to the children she left behind,” Magnus said, seeing the way she was blinking as if to banish tears she didn't want to shed in front of others. He set sympathy aside, making himself press her further, wanting answers from her that would prove, or lay to rest, a growing suspicion. “And your father? What happened to him?”

  “He was thrown from his horse while hunting at Morvan, four years ago,” Lilianne said. “His neck was broken. Gilbert and I saw him afterward, laid out in the chapel there. It was dreadful. Gilbert couldn't stop crying.”

  “You were at Morvan when it happened?” Very firmly, for the sake of eliciting information that could prove useful to Royce, Magnus closed his mind to the thought of Lilianne trying to comfort her weeping brother and concentrated, instead, on the awful possibilities suggested by Erland's character as he knew it.

  “We were all visiting Uncle Erland at Morvan,” Lilianne said. “Shortly after Father was buried, Uncle Erland escorted Gilbert and me back to Manoir Sainte Inge, saying we should continue to live in the home we loved, and that he would live with us, because King Louis had confirmed him as our guardian. But Uncle Erland was never kind to us after Father died.”

  Magnus stared at the water, unable to speak for rage. Silently he cursed all men who took advantage of dependent women. What choice did a girl without a dowry have, except to enter a convent and be a servant there? Or, to continue to live with the same male relative who had robbed her, and still be reduced to the status of a servant? No wonder Lilianne was so determined to live unwed with the brother she loved, who, presumably, would treat her decently.

  “I know what you're thinking,” Lilianne said.

  “Do you?” He risked a glance at her, hoping she wouldn't see his anger at his fellow men in his face, or hear it in his voice.

  “You are thinking that Uncle Erland had something to do with my father's death. I've thought of it, too, because if anything dreadful happens to Gilbert,” she said, her words crackling with emotion, “then Uncle Erland will own everything my grandfather divided equally between his two sons before he died.”

  “I am thinking,” Magnus said, “that your uncle ought to be whipped for trying to make you believe you are too ugly for any man to want you.”

  He heard her catch her breath in surprise, but he couldn't look at her again. If he did, he'd put his arms around her and swear to keep her safe for the rest of her life. It would be a false oath for, as a landless knight, he lacked the means to protect her, or to offer the rank amongst the nobly born that she deserved. All he was able to do for Lilianne was make a solemn promise to himself, to speak to Royce about her welfare.

  “Stay here on deck,” he ordered the women. “No one will bother you. I’m going to see how Count Erland is faring.” With that speech, which sounded far more abrupt than he intended, he turned from the rail and left them. He was careful to keep his back to Lilianne and his eyes straight ahead until he reached the hatch.

  Chapter 6

  “This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me,” Alice said. She and Lilianne were still standing by the rail of the Daisy, where they had remained after Magnus left them an hour or so earlier.

  “You do seem to be recovered from your mal de mer,” Lilianne remarked, smiling in spite of her continued worry for Gilbert’s sake.

  “Until the day when my brother sent me off to the convent, I spent my entire life at home,” Alice said. “Being released from there to join you at Manoir Sainte Inge was a reprieve from perpetual imprisonment and I was grateful to Count Erland, until I understood what kind of man he is. But this – this is freedom!” She flung out her arms as if to embrace the Narrow Sea as well as the rapidly approaching cliffs of southeastern England.

  “I shall never return to that dreary convent,” Alice declared. “Nor am I likely to see France again. With the sea to keep us apart, my brother has no more power over me.”

  “How will you live in England?” Lilianne asked. “Where will you go?”

  “I'll think of something. I will stay with you so long as you have need of my company for propriety's sake, and I would like to meet this Lord Royce whom the men speak of so respectfully.”

  “Neither of us will have any choice about that,” Lilianne said. “You heard Magnus. He considers us his prisoners.”

  “Nonsense.” Alice spoke briskly. “His speech was for Count Erland's benefit, so he'd think we came along unwillingly and stop blaming us for his capture. But neither of us was unwilling, and you know it.”

  “How could I ever have imagined that you were a quiet, unadventurous mouse of a person?” Lilianne asked, regarding her companion with wonder.

  “You’ve only known me for a short time,” Alice reminded her. “Tell me, what do you think of Sir William?”

  “I've hardly thought of him at all. He seems nice enough, and very polite.”

  “You mean, he doesn't order us about the way Sir Magnus does,” Alice said with dry amusement. “William is something more than merely nice. He’s quite wonderful.”

  “Alice, do be careful. You still know little of men. Don't forget the way your brother treated you. And don't forget how Sir William tied you up.”

  “Only because I bit him. No, I won't forget what he did to me, or what Richard did, either.” Alice spoke with great assurance. “I know what I want, and I intend to have it. Did you know that William is captain of Lord Royce's men-at-arms at Wortham Castle? He tells me he has hope of a fine promotion in the near future.”

  “I can guess what you’re thinking. But these men are involved in a dangerous enterprise.” Lilianne didn't know exactly what the enterprise was, but she had overheard enough of Magnus's conversations with his companions to fear it wouldn't end when they turned her uncle over to Lord Royce. Lilianne was afraid all three of them would be killed before they were finished. She sighed, thinking of Magnus's warm mouth on hers and his hands gently caressing her breasts.

  * * * * *

  The sailors hadn't even finished tying up the Daisy at Hythe before Braedon came on deck to usher the women off the ship. Their departure was accomplished so quickly and quietly that Lilianne was sure no one on shore had noticed them. At that early hour few people were at the waterfront to see passengers hastening down the gangplank.

  Close behind Braedon and the two women came Magnus and William, supporting their prisoner, who was covered by a voluminous cloak with the hood drawn well down over his face. When he jerked his head, trying to shake back the hood, Magnus quickly pulled it forward again. But he wasn't fast enough to prevent Lilianne from seeing the gag that kept her uncle from calling out for help. Erland's angry gaze met hers for an instant, and she shuddered at the hatred she saw in his eyes.

  The troop of armed men who waited for them weren't prepared to accommodate women.

  “We have extra horses in case any go lame,” the leader told Magnus, “but we brought them because we cannot allow any d
elay.”

  “We won't delay you.” Lilianne promised. “I can ride astride. As for Lady Alice,” she paused and looked a question at her friend.

  “Lady Alice will ride pillion behind me,” William announced before Alice could say a word.

  The thongs binding Erland's feet were removed so he could walk and ride, but his wrists were still tied behind his back. With a great show of awkwardness he mounted the horse intended for him. No one indicated any sympathy toward him. With Magnus holding the reins of Erland's horse and the men-at-arms riding close on either side as well as before and behind him, he was escorted out of Hythe.

  Lilianne, Braedon and William followed. Alice seemed perfectly content to ride with her arms around William’s waist, and William frequently turned his head to speak with her. Lilianne decided to leave them alone and not interfere.

  “Where are we going?” she asked Braedon.

  “To Richton Castle. It's well inland, so Erland can have no hope of rescue from France and Royce will see to it that he doesn't escape on his own. Nor will Erland be able to send a message out of Richton. The castle has kept political prisoners and prisoners of war secure in the past; it will do so again now, until we exchange him for Sir Desmond,” Braedon told her.

  “Will King Louis agree to an exchange?”

  “Royce must think so, or he wouldn't have sent us to Manoir Sainte Inge to issue our invitation to Erland.” Braedon's blue eyes sparkled and his grin flashed as if he was enjoying the memory of his recent adventure.

  “So,” Lilianne persisted, her thoughts on how to learn where Gilbert was being held, “you expect Uncle Erland to be returned to France and set free there?”

  “Eventually.” Braedon’s smile deepened. “It won’t happen for several months, though. Possibly, not for years. Negotiations between kings always take time.”

  “Meanwhile,” Lilianne exclaimed, “my poor brother languishes in some unknown spot.”