Chapter Seventeen
Gaston was right. It was bad. The envoy, a fat little man with a nasty attitude irritated him from the word go, and he delivered the king’s message with great flourish. Gaston knew he had gone pale after he read it.
“So you see, my lord, the king supports Sir Guy’s wishes that his wife join him in his captivity. Of course, the church supports the rights of a man to have his wife returned to him. Sir Guy is terribly concerned for Lady Remington’s safety now that you occupy his keep.”
Gaston struggled to maintain his composure. He would have liked nothing better than to wrap his hands around the man’s throat, dump him on the road somewhere, and say he never received the missive. But it would only delay the inevitable a bit longer, until another envoy was sent.
“Sir Guy only mentions his wife joining him. What about his son? What about the rest of the family? Are they to be left in my charge?”
“Sir Guy feels that the only true danger is to his wife, as the spouse of an enemy. He does not believe you will harm the young boy,” the fat man sat heavily in a silk chair. “The missive I carry for the lady is her husband’s explanation of his request. May I, then, deliver the message in person?”
Gaston’s face was impassive as he stood by the hearth, his thick arms crossed in front of his broad chest. “Sir Guy’s reasoning about his son makes no sense. Surely I would harm a male heir over his wife. Why does not he want the boy?”
The priest blinked. “You have harmed the lad?”
“Of course not,” Gaston returned smoothly. “But Sir Guy’s request is illogical. Why would he ask that his wife join him in jail? The Tower is no place for a lady.”
“On the contrary, my lord, Sir Guy’s accommodations are quite adequate,” the man eyed Gaston a moment. “Why are you reluctant in this matter, my lord? Have you, in fact, already harmed the lady and her son and you are therefore reluctant to admit it, lest you provoke your king’s anger?”
Gaston snorted. “Henry would rather slit his own wrists that become angry with me, as you well know. And I will refuse Guy’s request that his wife join him. Lady Remington is serving as my chatelaine and I depend on her greatly. She is of far more use to me here than locked away with her husband.”
The priest’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You cannot refuse the request. As papal liaison, I hold the authority of the church to return Lady Stoneley to her husband. As you well know.”
Gaston did not react to the challenge, but his eyes darkened into stormy, swirling orbs.
“And I hold the supreme authority in Henry’s military circle, not to say Mt.
Holyoak. You are foolish, priest, to imply that your power exceeds mine.
If I wish Lady Stoneley to remain, then remain she will until Henry himself wrests her from these walls. ”
The priest swallowed, the first waver he had shown in the confrontation. “You would go against the church?”
The words suddenly echoed in Gaston’s head. If he wanted the cooperation of the church in Remington’s annulment, then it would not be wise to dig his heels in like a stubborn mule. He would have to comply, but it would be on his terms.
He turned away from the priest, his mind working calculatedly.
The only logical thing he could do was to obey the missive and allow Remington to go to London.
But; he would escort her and he would seek audience with Henry to make sure she was kept away from Guy until the annulment could take place.
He would tell Henry everything and hope the man was grateful enough for Gaston’s loyalty to grant him his heart’s desires.
He turned back to the envoy, watching beads of sweat appear on the man’s forehead. Aye, he would comply. But he would kill Guy Stoneley before he would allow Remington to be confined with him in the Tower.
“Nay, I would not go against the church,” he replied finally. “I shall summon Lady Stoneley so that you may deliver her husband’s message.”
He would summon her personally so that he could tell her beforehand what the missives contained.
Fact was, he was still reeling with shock and disbelief as he made his way up to her rooms. Not that the request itself was unbelievable.
On the contrary, there was nothing strange about a man requesting his wife and certainly nothing unusual that the king supported the request. Henry had no idea of the situation and thought he was doing the merciful thing.
The church was merely along as a neutral party, to make sure the request of a prisoner was enforced.
No one in his or her right mind would deny the church.
He hit the family’s wing with purposeful boot falls, his heart constricting with pain.
Things were certainly not working out as he had planned, but no matter; he could work with it.
After all, everything would work out in the end the way he had planned, so it did not matter what road he took to get there.
Remington was standing by her wardrobe, inspecting one of her surcoats closely.
A few others were thrown on the bed. She was clad in a luscious pale topaz silk that brought out the magnificent color of her eyes and hair.
A pretty gold headband held her hair off her face, showing off the sweet oval shape.
He softened visibly at the sight of her, so terribly sorry for what she was going to have to go through.
Her head came up and she smiled as he entered the room. He returned her smile.
“What are you doing?”
“Inspecting these surcoats for wearability come the winter,” she said, suddenly looking irritated.
“It all started when I changed my surcoat not a few minutes ago. Suddenly, it looked as if all of my surcoats were wearing poorly and then I realized I had seen a few of them on Rory. Do you know she has been wearing my dresses to impress Patrick?”
He shrugged lazily. “That may be so, but she cannot do them justice as you can.”
“What a terrible thing to say, Gaston. Rory is a lovely girl with a splendid figure.”
“True enough, but she still cannot compare to you.”
She smiled shyly, hanging a dress back in the cabinet. “You say that because you love me.”
“I say it because it is true,” he said frankly. “What do you think attracted me to you in the first place? ’Twas your beautiful face and magnificent figure. You were wearing this surcoat.” He reached onto the bed and fingered the emerald satin.
She fingered the dress. “You remembered?”
“I will never forget as long as I live,” he said quietly, eyeing her a moment. “Angel, I have come from my meeting with the envoy. I am afraid the news is not very favorable.”
She took a deep breath, lowering her gaze. “What is it? Henry is releasing Guy, isn’t he?”
“Nay, not that. Apparently, Guy has convinced Henry that Mt. Holyoak under my occupation is a dangerous place for you. Pleading for the king’s grace, he asked that you be brought to him in the Tower and the king has agreed.
The church is here as a liaison between Guy and myself to insure that the request is carried out. ”
She looked at him a moment, shock written all over her face. “Guy wants me… with him in the Tower?”
“Aye,” Gaston replied gently. “I have no choice but to comply, angel, but believe me when I tell you that you shall never see Guy. I plan to escort you to London and furthermore intend to delegate you to the wardship of the church until this matter is taken care of.”
Her brow furrowed as his words settled in. She was absolutely spinning with the news and found it difficult to grasp his calm statement. “Guy wants me with him?”
Gaston sighed; she had not heard much, if any, of what he had just said. He took her in his arms, but she was stiff with shock.
“You are not going to be with him, Remi, but I have to bow to the church,” he said against the top of her head. “Especially if we want their cooperation with your annulment. I shall take you to London as requested, but I will forbid any contact between you and Guy. Do you comprehend me, love?”
She nodded jerkily and he held her back so he could look in her face. “Do you really?”
Her wide, frightened eyes gazed back at him. “I will not have to see him?”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” he said softly, his heart aching for her. “But even if you do have to speak with him, I will be by your side. I promise you that. Tell me you shall be brave, angel. For me.”
She swallowed hard, her face twisting with pain and fright. “I shall….I shall try. But why does he want me with him? Why can he not leave me here?”
“Who knows, angel,” he sighed, holding her tightly. “Why the man should suddenly decide after a year that he cannot live without you is beyond me, but I do not know the facts for certain. All I know is that he has expressed fear for your safety now that I occupy his keep.”
“What about Dane? What about my sisters?” she pulled back sharply, searching his face.
“He only requested you. Thankfully, the rest of your family can remain safely here.”
She fell back against him, gaining some control over her shock. “Oh, Gaston, I am going to be ill.”
He rubbed her back gently. “Not just yet. The papal envoy demands to see you to make sure you are whole and sound and I told him I would bring you to him. After you meet with him, we can both become ill together.”
Honestly, she was handling the news much better than he thought she would. He had expected hysterics and was pleasantly surprised that she was able to control herself. Now that he had delivered his message, he almost felt more out of control than she did.
“You won’t leave me?” she begged softly.
“Not ever,” he said. “I am so sorry this had to happen, Remi. It never occurred to me that Guy would do this.”
“I did not even know such a thing was allowed. I thought once he was a prisoner, that all of his rights and privileges were taken away,” she said with a hint of regret.