Chapter Eighteen #2
Saxilby continued. “Upon learning that we hold you at Conisbrough, St. John sent another missive to inform me that he is returning to Conisbrough now that Babylon is secured and that he is bringing the Lady of Babylon with him.” Saxilby’s gaze lingered on Kenton.
“I would assume you know Lady Thorne, le Bec.”
Kenton’s calm demeanor took a hit. “Of course I do,” he gushed before he could stop himself.
He was suddenly wildly curious as to why Nicola should be coming to Conisbrough, electrified by the news.
But not wanting to look like a fool, he struggled to calm himself.
“Why would Lady Thorne come to Conisbrough?”
Saxilby shrugged. “Why do women do anything?” he asked, a somewhat snide rhetorical question.
“Women get it into their minds to do something and they do it. You are not married, le Bec, and would not understand this, but women are unpredictable and even mad at times. According to St. John, Lady Thorne wishes to see the man who held her and her family captive. I would assume she wants to berate you or take a stick to you. But have no fear; if she wants to beat you, I will not let her.”
Kenton’s mind was racing with the possibilities, the reasons, behind Nicola’s arrival.
But the more he thought on it, the more something became quite clear to him.
Whatever happened, whatever reason she had, her appearance would end the feelings he had for her.
He was in love with the woman, that was true, but after what she had done, after the words she had said, he was convinced she held no such feelings for him and it was therefore foolish for him to hold any feelings for her.
He was positive she was coming to Conisbrough to tell him what a fool he was and how much she hated him.
Odd how only moments before, he was wallowing in memories of her, but now that he knew she was coming, he felt a sense of closure approach.
He felt defensive, as if he wanted to protect himself emotionally.
He wasn’t entirely sure he liked that feeling, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Nicola must be coming to tell him what she really thought of him and he would have to accept it.
Whatever she said, he would have to accept it.
And he would have to move on with his life.
“She is not a very big woman,” he said after a moment, trying to pretend her visit meant nothing to him. “I am sure I could defend myself.”
Saxilby watched the man, noticing he would not look at him. He thought it rather odd behavior from the usually mannerly le Bec. “Mayhap,” he said. “I knew her husband, Gaylord. Did you know him?”
Kenton shook his head. “I knew of him but I did not know him personally,” he said. “He is dead, you know. He is buried in Babylon’s chapel.”
“Did Lady Thorne tell you this?”
“I saw his body myself.”
Saxilby nodded but there was something ominous on his mind. “You did not desecrate the body, did you?” he asked fearfully. “Is that why she is coming to Conisbrough? Because you destroyed the body?”
Kenton shook his head. “We destroyed his crypt to identify the body but the body itself was left intact,” he replied. “We did not damage it.”
Saxilby grunted. “I see,” he said. “Well, then mayhap Lady Thorne wants to curse you for smashing her husband’s tomb, although I cannot believe that to be the case.
He was a very unpleasant man, you know. I am not entirely sure how much his wife knows about his activities, but it is said that there are a few Thorne bastards running about in Yorkshire. The man had more than one mistress.”
Kenton looked at him, then, not particularly surprise at what he was hearing but he naturally felt disgusted on Nicola’s behalf.
She had never mentioned anything about Gaylord’s life or practices, and especially not rumors of bastards.
It would have been a shameful thing for a wife to admit but it was more than possible that she didn’t even know.
Still, what a terrible thing for such a proud woman.
She didn’t deserve that. She deserved a husband who would ply her, and only her, with his attention.
“I would not know of this,” Kenton finally said. “All I can tell you is that Gaylord Thorne is, indeed, dead.”
Saxilby nodded, standing up wearily. “I have heard that as well,” he said. “Months ago, I was told. Any idea how it happened?”
“A fever, I believe.”
Saxilby accepted Kenton’s reasons. He had no reason not to and no reason to believe that the truth was much more horrific than Kenton made it out to be.
His own son killed him, Kenton thought, because the man was beating his mother.
Kenton would keep Nicola’s secrets even if she had betrayed him.
Just because she created a wrong didn’t mean he had to match her.
He had more sense, and decency, than that.
He had more respect for the woman than she had ever shown him.
“Come along, le Bec,” Saxilby broke into his thoughts.
He knocked on the door and pulled it open when the guards on the other side threw the bolt.
“Let us walk this vast complex and speak on things that do not involve warfare. I have a farm outside of Norwich, by the way. I breed war horses. Do you know much of horses?”
Kenton nodded. “I know enough.”
“Then we will talk about horses for the time being,” he said, leading Kenton from the room. “Soon enough St. John will be here and his conversation will not be so pleasant. He will want to know things. You had better prepare yourself.”
Kenton didn’t care about Brome St. John’s arrival.
He was only concerned with Nicola’s arrival and why she was coming, what she had to say to him.
He was eager to see her but on the other hand, he was wary to see her.
God, he should hate her. He should utterly hate her for what she did.
But he couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it.
Was he too forgiving or was he just foolish?
Truthfully, Kenton had no idea. Perhaps he was neither.
Perhaps he was simply in love.
Stupid, but in love.
*
Babylon
Nicola was in the three small rooms she shared with her family.
Her sons, as well as the serving women, were watching her shuttle things from the wardrobe to her bed where she had an open satchel.
Conor was watching her, too. Several days after his near-death beating at the hands of Conisbrough soldiers, he was up and moving quite ably.
And he never left Nicola’s side, not for a moment.
St. John had permitted it even though he didn’t believe that Conor had been Gaylord’s knight.
There was just something about the relationship dynamics between the lady and the knight that were off somehow, leading him to believe that all was not as she was telling him.
Nicola knew this. She could see the doubt in St. John’s eyes when it came to Conor, but to his credit, he never said anything.
He permitted Conor to escort Lady Thorne about in a fortress that was full of unfamiliar soldiers.
Nicola was grateful for St. John’s generosity and she was further grateful that the man was polite enough to keep her informed about what was happening where it pertained to le Bec and Warwick.
He’d sent a missive to Conisbrough several days ago asking for the status of Kenton, and had received word back that Kenton was, in fact, alive and at Conisbrough.
The news had brought tears to Nicola’s eyes although she refused to let anyone see that reports on Kenton le Bec made her emotional, so the tears of relief she had shed for him had been done later in the privacy of her rooms. The realization that Kenton was alive had been overwhelming for her, overwhelming in the sense that she was vastly relieved and deeply happy.
But the realization he was also a prisoner frightened her.
She was gravely concerned for him. More than anything, she was desperate to see him.
After St. John received the missive informing him that Kenton was, indeed, at Conisbrough, Brome immediately made plans to depart Babylon and return to his garrison.
He’d been away from it for weeks now and was anxious to return, which worked in Nicola’s favor since she was eager to go with him.
With a schedule that had them departing at dawn the next day for Conisbrough Castle, Nicola spent the evening in her chambers, packing her satchel, while Conor stood at his post by the door and the boys, with too much pent-up energy, were running through the rooms chasing each other.
“But… I do not understand, my lady,” Janet said as she helped Nicola pack. “Why must you go to Conisbrough, too? You are not a prisoner and it is not your home. Why is Sir Brome taking you with him?”
The servants, as well as her sons, were in the dark regarding the reason for her traveling to Conisbrough.
Nicola had purposely kept any information of Kenton from them, mostly because she was feeling guilty enough for what she’d done and she also wasn’t one to share her private life with those who served her, so she’d simply kept quiet about it.
Her serving women knew enough about her feelings for Kenton, whether or not she wanted them to, and she’d reached the point where she simply didn’t want to speak of him or share anything about him.
At least, that had been her mantra for the past several days, ever since they had spoken of the confrontation between Wellesbourne, de Russe, and Kenton regarding Kenton’s failure to comply with Warwick’s orders.
Therefore, in the past few fragile days, nothing about Kenton le Bec had been mentioned to either the servants or to the boys.
Nicola simply didn’t speak of him at all.