Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Gwenllian found Alexander in the rose garden by the eastern tower, pacing back and forth like an animal in a cage.
Despite his obvious anguish, relief flooded through her, because she had feared he would have left immediately upon discovering her in bed with his brother.
But he had not, which she forced herself to see as a sign that he would listen to her, understand what had really happened and why, and that all would be well.
As soon as their gazes met, however, she saw that it would not be as easy as that.
The black in his eyes was nothing less than a pit of despair, and this time, there was fury lurking in there as well.
She opened her mouth to speak, but at that exact moment, he made to walk past her and headed toward the stone archway that would lead him out of the enclosed garden and away from her.
Gwenllian acted before it was too late. She threw herself into the opening, blocking his exit, knowing that, however irate he was, Alexander would never push her out of the way.
Seeing that a retreat was impossible, he stormed back to the other end of the garden as if he could not bear being in her presence. Gwenllian ran after him, desperation churning in her stomach.
“Wait, please. We need to talk.”
“Talk?” He spat the word, then turned to face her. “Why? Should you even be here? I’m sure Hugh is waiting for you in bed, ready for more.”
Gwenllian recoiled, not knowing how to handle this Alexander. The cold, distant man who had told her they should never see one another again had cut her deep, this hot, scathing one was flaying her alive.
“You weren’t supposed to see us like this,” she whispered. “Why did you come back so early?”
She knew this was the wrong question as soon as the words left her mouth. She had made it sound as if she had hoped her betrayal would not be discovered. Horrified, she shook her head.
“I-I mean—”
“I know what you mean, thank you. And indeed, I imagine that you would have preferred for me not to know that you’d gone to fuck my brother as soon as my back was turned.”
“That’s not what happened!”
“Of course, it’s not. Forgive me for having thought as much after seeing you naked in bed with him in the early hours of the morning.
I’m sure there is another explanation for this perfectly normal state of affairs.
Perhaps you counted the number of doors wrong again and thought you were fucking me? We do look alike.”
Now he was mocking her. “No, it’s not—”
“I’ll tell you why I came back, shall I?
” Alexander answered, taking slow, deliberate steps toward her.
He had never looked more menacing. “You might as well know just how much of a fool I am. I came back, at breakneck speed, I might add, because I wanted to ask you to marry me. I thought that, even if I had been stripped of my home, I could find the courage to tell you what I had come to feel for you and what I wanted us to do.”
Gwenllian’s heart almost exploded in her chest. This was the last thing she had expected him to say. The most wonderful. The most terrible. Because it explained how deeply the supposed betrayal would have hurt him.
“You…want to m-marry me?”
“Wanted to marry you. Needless to say, I will not make an offer now.”
No. Had she ruined everything by wanting to ensure the future she’d hoped to have with him? And, apparently, she had been right to hope. Alexander was saying that he had developed feelings for her, feelings that had prompted him to make her an offer of marriage. It was too good to be true.
Except that she might have compromised everything.
“Please, Alexander.” She was frantic with the need to get through to him. “I swear nothing happened between Hugh and me last night, at least not what you think.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you after what I saw?”
Gwenllian made a helpless gesture. No, he could not be expected to believe her after what he’d seen. But he could at least listen to the full story before he made a decision.
“Yesterday afternoon, I overheard your conversation with your brother,” she started hurriedly, taking Alexander’s hands in hers.
To her relief, he didn’t snatch them away, even if he glared at her.
“I should perhaps say that I spied on your conversation, really. Forgive me, it was not well done of me, but I needed to know that everything would be all right.”
Fortunately, he didn’t appear bothered by her indiscretion.
“In other words, you heard his desire to spend the night with you. Is that why you decided to go to his bed? Because you were interested in him also, and you were glad to hear that he would not send you away if you joined him in bed? Was he to be your next adventure?”
Oh, no. Gwenllian was horrified. Alexander thought that she had jumped at the chance to bed a man she had wanted all along.
Why was it so hard to make him see what had really happened?
Her plan, which had appeared so brilliant the night before, started to look like the stupidest thing she had ever done.
“I decided to go to him for you!” she cried out, desperate to make him understand. “I could not stand to see you lose Audley just because you wanted to protect me. It was not—”
“Jesus, Gwenllian!” Alexander let go of her hands as if her skin had burned him.
And the heat of his fury, in turn, scorched her to her soul.
“How could you suppose that I would just accept your sacrifice? You are telling me that you sold your body to buy me a shelter, and you thought that I would be grateful for it? Well, I’m not.
I am horrified. Do you know what burden you have placed on my shoulders?
I cannot bear the idea that, because of me, you were—”
“No. I wasn’t. Hugh and I never slept together, I swear. He never touched me,” she cut in. “This is what I’m telling you. Please. You really need to hear what I have to say, what really happened.”
There was a tense silence. Then, to her relief, Alexander collapsed onto the stone bench behind him, as if he had suddenly been sapped of all his strength. That he dared to sit while she still stood showed her how affected he was.
“Let’s hear this.”
He sounded like a man steeling himself for the declaration announcing that he was about to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
Speaking in hurried, confused sentences, Gwenllian explained what she had done to convince Hugh that Alexander had agreed to the condition he’d been given. She kept to herself the most damning details, like the fact that he had torn her shift or mocked his brother’s supposed lack of vigor.
“When you entered the room this morning, I thought it was his squire coming back, which is why I pressed myself against him. I needed a witness in case Hugh started to doubt he had really bedded me.” She closed her eyes.
“I wish I had spared you the sight. I really thought you would come back to find him gone and me in possession of the signed deeds to Audley. I expected you might be unhappy, but I did not expect…this.”
Silence followed her declaration. Then Alexander stood up, not looking at her.
“I will go talk to Hugh.”
Was he a fool for listening to Gwenllian and giving her a chance after what he had seen this morning?
Maybe not. Alexander had always prided himself on being a fair man, and there had been such earnestness in her voice that he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d not been mistaken.
Her plan, ludicrous and risky as it had been, had the ring of truth.
Besides, he knew her well enough not to doubt that she would have attempted anything to help.
One way or the other, he needed to get to the bottom of this, because too much was at stake.
He found his brother in the bailey, standing by his horse.
The animal had been saddled, and Hugh was wearing spurs on his boots, indicating that he was ready to leave.
This only stirred Alexander’s anger anew.
Was the bastard really intent on leaving like this, without talking to him first?
Without letting him know what he had decided with regards to Audley?
“Alexander. It’s a lovely day, is it n—?”
“Fuck the weather. Are you leaving, then?”
“What does it look like? I’ve got everything I need to win Lady Elizabeth’s father’s approval.” He patted his chest. Presumably, he had retrieved the deeds to Throckmorton Castle from the table where he had thrown them the evening before. “And I’ve done all I wanted to do.”
With those words, he grabbed his crotch and gave a little squeeze. Alexander almost slammed his fist down his brother’s throat, but he forced himself to remain calm. If he were to find out what had happened last night, he needed Hugh to be able to talk.
“You might have to wait to see your little Welsh guest. I’m afraid I rather wore her out. She went back to bed after you left.”
It was clear that he, at least, was convinced that Gwenllian had spent the night under him, and that she had enjoyed herself. One of them was lying, but which one?
Alexander gritted his teeth and steeled himself to ask the question.
“You are satisfied your condition has been fulfilled, then, and are ready to sign the deeds to Audley?”
“Absolutely. The lady made it worth my while. She likes nothing more than to be tamed, doesn’t she?”
Despite Hugh’s satisfied smirk, hope surged within Alexander, tempering his anger. She likes nothing more than to be tamed. This certainly didn’t sound like what a man who’d just bedded Gwenllian would think. She was not the passive kind of lover. Rather the opposite, and he should know.
“Mm,” he said noncommittally. He would not discuss what she and his despised brother had done—or not done, as the case may be—in bed. All he was interested in was establishing what exactly had happened, because he was starting to suspect that Gwenllian might be telling the truth, after all.
“She’s perfect,” his brother added. “A rare find. I might try to find myself another Welsh woman. Does she have sisters, by any chance?” Not satisfied with Alexander’s lack of reaction, he was trying to provoke him.
But the declaration gave Alexander an idea. Could he trick his brother into admitting that Gwenllian had not slept with him?
“Yes, she’s perfect.” This, at least, was no lie. “Pity about the purple stain marring her inner thigh. But I suppose it could have been worse. At least it’s not visible when she’s clothed.”
Something like panic flashed through Hugh’s eyes.
Evidently, he did not remember this. With good reason.
There were no stains anywhere on Gwenllian’s body.
Not that Alexander would have minded; it would not have made her less perfect in any way.
But he needed to force his brother to say something that proved he had indeed spent the night senseless, that he had not, in fact, possessed the woman he was boasting about bedding.
“Aye,” Hugh finally agreed with a wave of the hand. “Pity about the stain. But there are ways to avoid looking at it. Once she’s on her hands and knees, you can’t even—”
“Yes,” Alexander barked.
Dear God, one more word out of the man’s mouth and he would not be responsible for his actions.
Now that he was certain Gwenllian had told him nothing but the truth, he was eager to get rid of his brother and go back to her, to thank her for what she had done, and order her to never, ever again attempt such folly on his behalf—or anyone else’s.
“Anyway,” Hugh said, turning back to his horse. “You held your part of the bargain, so now that I have signed your piece of paper, I will leave.”
“Not so fast. Where is the paper in question?”
“In the great hall, on the table.”
And Alexander was supposed to take his word for it? Well, he did not. He took the gelding by the bridle to stop his brother from going anywhere until he was satisfied and called out to his squire, Edward, who was talking to the groom by the stables.
“Go get the piece of parchment on the table in the hall,” he instructed. “Bring it to me immediately.”
“Of course, my lord.”
Hugh gave a throaty laugh. “God, you’re a distrustful bastard, are you not?”
“Can you blame me?”
“No, I cannot. But to tell you the truth, I was having second thoughts anyway. Throckmorton is a much bigger castle, much more suited to a man of my consequence. If you hadn’t agreed to let me bed your woman when you did, I would not have bothered. Not that I regret it, mind you.”
Alexander didn’t rise to the bait. He cared nothing about Hugh’s taunts, he cared only about one thing. Seeing the blasted man ride through the gate.
Edward was soon back with the deeds to Audley.
At the bottom was a flowery signature. All was in order.
The castle was now his. He barely felt the faintest flicker of excitement, however.
The confirmation that Gwenllian had not had to endure the touch of a man she didn’t want meant a lot more to him.
“Now, listen. It is my turn to add a condition to this agreement.” Releasing the gelding, he glared at his brother. “After today, I don’t want to ever see you again.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t.” With a snort, Hugh climbed onto his horse. “Goodbye, Alexander.”