Chapter Eleven #4
“Not with Caroline present. What you do when she is at Wellesbourne and you are out and about is your business. But while she is here with you, I would expect you to honor your vows to her. If nothing else, to preserve the woman’s dignity.
She has tolerated far too much of your roving ways and has never said a word.
The least you could do is show her a measure of respect while we are in London. ”
Mark did not back down. “You may give the orders on the battlefield or within the family, but when it comes to my marriage, I draw the line. You will not order me about in my own marriage.”
“I will say no more,” Matthew growled. “But I will tell you this; if Caroline comes to me in tears because of your lack of discretion, you will hear from me and it will not be pleasant.”
Mark shook his head. “You have been married two weeks and you think to lecture me? You are the last person that I would take marital advice from.”
“My marriage seems to be starting far better than yours did.”
“Give it time. You have had a woman or two in your bed during your visits to London.”
“Not while I was married.”
Mark suddenly jabbed an angry finger in Alixandrea’s direction.
“By the law, if not by the law of God, you have been married to that woman for ten years and I know for a fact that you have bedded many a wench during that time. In fact, you cavorted quite seriously with Mena for a solid year without regard to your betrothal. So think not, brother, to lecture me on the sanctity of marriage when you smashed yours into the dirt for many long years and did so happily. Your self-righteousness makes me sick.”
Alixandrea and Caroline, by now, were listening.
With Mark’s raised voice and Matthew’s body language, it had not been difficult to hear or see what was going on.
Alixandrea took the full brunt of Mark’s last sentence, vicious and stormy as it was.
He may as well have physically struck her; it would have done far less damage.
Alixandrea’s gaze traveled between her husband and Mark before silently, with dignity, making her way back over to the carriage that sat parked along the edge of the avenue. Without a hind glance, she climbed inside and closed the door. With tears in her eyes, Caroline followed.
Matthew stood there a moment before closing his eyes, sickened by what his wife had heard, knowing the heated words had devastated her. He could not muster the strength to become angry with his brother; Mark had said nothing that was untrue.
Wiping a weary, remorseful hand over his face, he followed his wife’s path back to the carriage. Looking in the cab window, he could see Alixandrea seated with her head hanging down. He could not see her face, but he could only imagine her expression.
“Alixandrea,” he said quietly. “Mark was angry with me. He spoke… out of turn. If I could take back his words, I would surely do so simply to ease your heart.”
Her slender shoulders shrugged. “It is of little matter.”
It wasn’t of little matter and they both knew it. “I am truly sorry if your feelings were hurt,” he said. “Had I known he was going to explode at me, I would have stopped him before his words could reach your ears.”
Her head came up and he was struck by the pain in her bronze eyes. He tore his gaze away from her long enough to look at Caroline.
“Will you leave us a moment?”
Caroline obediently climbed out of the cab. Matthew helped her to the street. He then climbed into the carriage, causing the thing to lurch dangerously under his weight. He was far too big to be in it. But he wasn’t about to leave Alixandrea like this.
“Nothing he said was a surprise to you,” he sat across from her, gazing into her pale, sorrowful face.
“I cannot change the past, much as I would like to. But it was wrong of Mark to throw it in your face like that. He’s angry with me, and because of it, he is trying to get back at me by hurting you. ”
She inhaled a long, deep breath. Her eyes moved to her new ring and she toyed with it, absently. “So her name was Mena.”
“Aye.”
“So now the reason has a name.”
He sighed. “I told you that the reason no longer exists. I meant it.”
“Were you in love with her?”
“I thought so at the time.”
At least he was being honest. She could not fault him that. “Did you want to marry her?” she asked.
He lifted an eyebrow thoughtfully. “Strangely enough, not particularly. I thought that I was too young to marry. I did not want to marry anyone.”
“Especially me.”
“Especially you.”
A tense hush fell over them, each lost to their own thoughts. Matthew was praying she would forgive the distress and Alixandrea was struggling to do so.
“We’ve known such joy over the past few days, Matt,” she said softly.
“I suppose I would like to think that we have both waited all of our lives for this time. I know I did. But I am also well aware that you did not. Hearing her name spoken… it was a bit of a shock. It somehow made her more human, not just a faceless, nameless ghost from the past.”
He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.
“I have said it before and I will say it again. I was a fool. Mark was right; I treated our betrothal horribly. I disrespected all that it should have stood for. I did not want to marry you and it was my own personal rebellion to live loosely before the bonds of matrimony could tie me down.” He reached out, gently taking her hands and holding them tightly.
“But do you know what? I was wrong. I was so wrong that I cannot even begin to comprehend what a complete idiot I was. Though the past cannot be erased, I will make you this promise for the future; I swear on my oath as a knight that I will never stray, that I will never disrespect you, that I will always be kind to you, and that I will love you for the rest of my life as deeply as any man has ever loved a woman.”
Tears suddenly spilled over in her eyes as if a bucket had been dumped.
They literally coursed down her cheeks. Matthew moved to sit beside her, taking her into his arms and ignoring the extreme rocking of the carriage.
He held her close, his lips against her forehead as she wept softly against him.
“No tears, love,” he murmured. “We have much happiness ahead of us. I swear that I will do my best to always give you joy.”
She looked up at him, her cheeks wet, and he pulled his thumbs across her face to dry the tears. “You do give me joy,” she whispered. “And I will love you too, until I die.”
He smiled faintly at her, warmed by her words, warmed by the moment between them.
Whatever feelings had been developing between them had now come full circle, anchoring deeply into their hearts, never to be cut loose.
He did not care what his brother thought; he adored the woman and would be plain about it. His grin broadened.
“I do love you,” he murmured.
“I love you, too.”
He laughed softly before kissing her, so deeply that she had to pull away from him so that she could take a breath. He continued to kiss her, every part of her face and flesh that his lips could come into contact with.
“I will tell you this every day, so you had better become used to it,” he murmured.
Her hands were on his face, his neck, as he forcefully kissed her. “It will never become tiresome, I assure you. Tell me with every breath you take and I shall be glad to hear it.”
“Then do not let Mark, or anyone else, remind you of my horrid past. It is of no matter. All that matters is that I am your husband now and I worship you.”
She nodded, overwhelmed by his attention, and he finally pulled away. He sat a moment, gazing at her.
“Do you know that I have never seen such a sweet face?’ he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
She simply grinned at him, her lips red from his furious kisses. Matthew finally climbed out of the carriage and mounted his charger. He did not replace his left gauntlet; the hand and the ring remained exposed to the world the entire way back to the Tower.