Chapter 16 #2
Hooves were heard not long after, and all too soon Alexander found himself staring into his brother’s dark eyes, so similar to his own.
He’d heard the comment enough times to ignore that the two of them were the spitting image of one another.
Everyone kept telling him as much, as if thinking he would enjoy hearing of the family resemblance. He did not.
Hugh dismounted and planted himself in front of him.
“Alexander.” The slap on his shoulder was more akin to a blow, as usual. The man had always enjoyed impressing his physical superiority over his younger siblings. Unfortunately for him, when Alexander had become a man, he had grown to match him in height and build. Still, the old habit remained.
“Hugh.” Alexander could not bring himself to offer words of greeting he didn’t feel. “What are you doing here?” he asked instead, taking the parchment from his tunic. “The letter I just got said you would arrive on the morrow.”
“Oh, that. I changed my mind as soon as the messenger had been sent.” Hugh shrugged, as if it were hardly relevant. “You don’t mind, do you? But why should you? I can do as I please. After all, Audley is mine.”
Yes. Didn’t Alexander know it? Every time they met, Hugh reminded him that he was only here because he graciously allowed it.
As a younger son without any inheritance, he was at the mercy of Hugh’s generosity.
Still, he was doing better than Roger, who still lived at Hotwell, the family seat, totally dependent on his brother’s goodwill and even Colin, who was constantly given tasks usually more suited to a steward.
“Audley is yours, I’m only looking after it for you,” Alexander agreed. For now. But in the morning, they would discuss a way to change that and make his position more secure. “And your visit is quite propitious. There is a matter I would like to discuss with you.”
“Yes, yes, of course. All in good time. I’ve just arrived.” Another slap to the shoulder, even harder. “So, how have you been, then? Fucked any stable boys lately?”
Jesus.
Alexander stole a glance at Gwenllian, whose eyes had understandably gone wide at the question.
“I’ve never done that, never will.”
“So you keep saying.”
“Yes.” So why did he insist? “Let me introduce you to Lady Gwenllian,” he added, glad she was here to provide a distraction. Just like with Colin the previous year, her presence might help him bear with his insufferable brother.
“Lady what?” Hugh guffawed, causing Alexander to grit his teeth further. There had been such contempt in that word. “That’s an unusual name, is it not?”
“It’s not so unusual in Wales, where I’m from,” she answered with the aplomb he had come to love, sweeping a quick curtsy.
“Wales. Ah, I see. You must be the woman Colin mentioned. Weren’t you here last year also, when he visited?”
“I was.”
“Well. My brother must have taken a liking to you if you lasted a whole year. I’ve never known him to bother with a woman for more than a few days. But I cannot say I blame him. You are lovely.”
Every hair on Alexander’s body stood on end when Hugh gave Gwenllian an appraising, heated glance. He knew that glance. And he hated it.
Gwenllian had rarely been more ill at ease. Not only was the man looking at her as if he were about to devour her, but his presence had transformed Alexander into a different man, tense and remote.
He had told her the previous year that he didn’t get on with his brothers, and she could see that he had not lied.
Not that she blamed him. Colin had been despicable.
This one, Hugh, the eldest, appeared to be vile, looking at her as he would to a potential conquest, reminding Alexander, as soon as he’d arrived, who was truly master of Audley, asking him whether he had fucked his stable boys.
Where had that odd question come from? She dreaded to think what the third brother, Roger, would be like.
Not that she thought she would ever meet him.
It was already an amazing coincidence that she had met two of them.
Amazing and unfortunate. Still, if her presence could help Alexander bear the visit, she was glad to be here.
“I’m hungry,” Hugh said slowly, and Gwenllian had the absurd impression he was not talking about food. She resisted the urge to shuffle closer to Alexander, who had gone as stiff as a lance.
“Let’s go eat, then. My lady, will you join us?”
The look he threw her was almost pleading. Her heart went out to him, and she congratulated herself on her decision to come to Audley today of all days.
“Thank you, I will.”
She accepted his arm, and together, they led the way to the great hall.
It struck her that, in that moment, she looked like she was mistress of the place, welcoming a guest on her husband’s arm.
For a moment, the illusion was very real, dizzying even, so vivid that it was hard to dismiss.
It felt almost like a vision, a glimpse into the future. But how could that be their future?
She and Alexander would never marry. He had made that abundantly clear, and anyway, Audley was not even his, as his brother had so scathingly pointed out
A table was soon set up in front of the hearth and dishes brought.
It was as if the servants had been preparing for the visit, but she knew Alexander had only received the news of his brother’s impending arrival a moment ago.
But she shouldn’t be so surprised. Just like his father and uncle, he was such an efficient administrator, and he treated his people so well that they were ready to do his command at all times.
“What brings you here then?”
Hugh made a vague gesture of the hand. “What is it with you and your inability to make the most of the moment, brother? I’ll tell you all that tomorrow.
For now, let us enjoy this beautiful evening, this tasty food and this even more delicious company.
” He raised his cup high in the air. “To you, my dear Lady Gw—Gwendolene.”
She tilted her head in acknowledgment and took a sip of her own drink. What was the point of correcting him? The less she talked to him, the better.
He sat back into his chair and proceeded to pile his trencher high with all the food he could find. Alexander, she noticed, had made no move to help himself.
“So, two of the bones are reunited tonight,” Hugh observed a moment later, his mouth full of pie. “I should have brought Roger with me. Then we would have made half a skeleton. Bones… How apt a name, because isn’t that what this family is? Dead?”
With that, he threw his head back and started to roar with laughter, pie juice dripping down his neck.
Gwenllian leaned in to Alexander. “What did he say? What bones? What skeleton?”
Alexander rolled his eyes. “Ignore him, he’s being an idiot, as usual. But I think you understood that from the question about erm…me and the stable boys?”
“Yes.” Not for a moment had she thought to believe there was any truth in the claim that he bedded his stable boys.
The rest of the meal was just as excruciating and seemed to go on forever. Gwenllian only talked when absolutely necessary and did her best to avoid looking Hugh straight in the eye.
“Well, I will admit that this hard ride has quite finished me,” he declared at last, stretching with exaggerated slowness.
Though physically he looked a lot like his brother, his manners were so different that the effect they produced on her was the complete opposite.
Alexander made her blood heat. This man made ice go down her veins.
“I will use the room in the middle of the corridor above, naturally,” Hugh announced, getting up.
“Naturally.”
Though the room was his own, Alexander didn’t protest. It was clear that he would not rise to his brother’s baiting. Gwenllian guessed that he only wanted to be rid of him. After another hard slap on the shoulder that would have sent a lesser man to the floor, Hugh took his leave.
A moment later, the door closed, and Gwenllian was alone with Alexander, at last. Of a common accord, they went to the chairs set in front of the crackling fire.
“He’s gone for the night. Thank God for that.” Alexander ran a hand over the back of his neck. “And tomorrow we will find out why he has come.”
We will find out. It was as if he assumed she would be here to hear the result of the discussion. Her heart started to beat frantically at this mark of trust.
“Don’t you have any idea why he’s come?”
“No. And I dread to think. Though, for once, his visit might prove useful. There was something I wanted to discuss with him.”
Alexander closed his eyes and rolled his head back.
In that moment, he looked like a man who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Quietly, while his eyes were closed, Gwenllian went to place herself behind him.
She had to act quickly, or he would stand up and stop her. But she wanted to help him.
Placing her hands on his shoulders, she started a slow, soothing massage. She could tell he wanted to ask her to stop but found her touch too pleasurable. Good. That was exactly the point.
He groaned, then forced himself to say, “Gwenllian. You shouldn’t be doing that.”
“Hush. I will do what needs doing. And my name is Gwendolene, remember?”
A long sigh. “I’m sorry for that. But believe me, it is better the man doesn’t pay too much attention to you.”
No. This, she could well believe. “He’s not the most pleasant of individuals, is he?”
An understatement if ever she’d uttered one.
“He’s not. I warned you about my family last year, remember? Colin is just an irritating fool, but Hugh could actually be dangerous.”
Yes, she had already concluded as much. It was not just the aggressive way in which he’d slapped his brother, but there was an undercurrent of malice in everything he said. He reminded Gwenllian of a snake about to strike.