Chapter Eight #3
Derica stood up; she did not want to be rude and greet the woman on her backside. “Sister, it is an honor to meet you.”
Gabrielle moved into the light and Derica could see, immediately, that her eyes were sightless. “And you, Lady Derica. I have heard nothing but your praises for days. I feel as if I know you already.”
The nun’s hand was outstretched and Derica took it; it was tiny and cold. “I hope we will indeed get to know one another,” she said.
Gabrielle smiled. “I like her, Garren,” she said to her brother. “I can hear it in her voice. She will be good for you.”
Garren’s eyes twinkled as his gaze moved between his sister and Derica. “She has been that already.”
Derica smiled coyly, feeling the nun squeeze her hand tightly. “Fergus told me that when I came here, I was to ask for Sister Mary Felicitas,” she said. “Do you help run-away maidens by way of habit, then?”
Gabrielle laughed. “No, my lady. Just the ones my brother happens to be in love with.”
Derica looked at Garren with such an expression that he felt his heart leap strangely.
Though he had never said the words, surely she suspected his love for her.
It was the first time such emotion had been put into words, and he could see that it did not displease her.
He reached over and, taking Derica from his sister’s grasp, pulled her onto his lap.
She curled up like a kitten against him, all warm and soft and round in all of the right places.
“Now,” he said, though he was having trouble maintaining his train of thought with her sweet body pressed against him. “My sister and I have been talking and I would seek your approval of our conclusions. Firstly, I have had the sisters pack a bag for you to take with us.”
“Pack a bag? With what?”
“Three garments, my lady,” Gabrielle said helpfully.
“Though I know the standards of the garments are not what you are used to, still, they will be serviceable. We have given you two durable broadcloth dresses, plus a finer gown made from lamb’s wool and dyed a lovely shade of blue, I am told.
We have also managed to locate some calendula soap, plus a comb and a few other personal items. I hope it will be adequate. ”
“Considering I have nothing but the clothes on my back, sister, I am sure what you have given me will be more than adequate,” Derica said. “Your consideration is very much appreciated.”
Gabrielle smiled in response and Derica turned back to Garren. He was so warm and comfortable that she snuggled closer to him, allowing her nostrils to become accustomed to the musky, intoxicating aroma. He was heavenly.
Garren was becoming accustomed to her feel, too, far too quickly. He never wanted to let her out of his arms. But his mind was whirling with thoughts and he forced himself to continue.
“Secondly, I think It is best we leave this place tonight,” he said. “We have got several days travel ahead of us and the sooner we can get away from the de Rosa patrols, the better.”
“Agreed. Where are we going?”
“Wales.”
She pulled her face out of his neck, looking him in the eye. “Wales? Why so far away?”
“Simply because it is a safe place for us. ’Tis far away from your father and I believe it would be best for now.”
“And then what?”
“When their anger has cooled, we go to Chateroy.”
Derica thought on that a moment. “My father can stay angry a long time. It might be years before we can safely live at Chateroy. Even then, if we are discovered, I cannot guarantee that he will not lay siege in order to avenge me. He will consider me, after all, stolen property.”
“The lady is as smart as she is beautiful,” Garren winked at her. “But Chateroy is my home, and my inheritance, and I intend to occupy her as such in time. Besides, my father has so much money that who is to say we cannot buy your father off given time. For his troubles, so to speak.”
Derica shook her head. “You cannot buy my father’s pride or loyalty.”
“Then here is your choice; you may ride home tonight and beg his forgiveness and live your life in peace. Or, you can stay with me and spend the rest of your life avoiding your family. Well?”
He was half-serious, half-not. Derica cocked an eyebrow. “Will you let me think on it?”
“No.”
She scowled; he grinned. When he began to pepper her cheek and neck with kisses, and finally gentle bites, she squealed and began laughing. In the shadows of the room, Gabrielle cleared her throat softly.
“Temperance, my good knight,” she admonished her brother softly. “The lady is not yours yet in the eyes of God. Better to finish what is necessary so that you may be free to do with her as you please.”
Garren and Derica stopped their play, knowing she was correct. They had been so thrilled with the reality of seeing each other again that the larger formality had been momentarily pushed aside. The sooner they were married, the better for all concerned.
“I assumed we would find a priest on our journey to Wales,” Garren said. “I am not sure there is time at the moment to do this properly.”
“If there is time to play, there is time to wed,” Gabrielle said firmly. “Four miles to the north is a Jesuit monastery. I would have you become man and wife before you leave this place, Garren. I ask this of you.”
“Then let us send for a priest. I, too, am eager to claim this woman as my own in the eyes of God.”
Near dawn, Garren and Derica were married by a disheveled priest who smelled strongly of sacramental wine.
All of the sisters in the convent were witness.
The Mother Abbess even gave Derica a simple silver wedding band, the kind that the nuns received when they took their final vows and became brides of Christ. When Garren slipped the ring on her finger, she couldn’t remember ever having been so happy.
As the priest droned on in Latin, Garren and Derica lost themselves in each other’s eyes, feeling emotions they’d never felt before, elated that they were going to spend a lifetime together.
Upon their meeting a week prior, neither one of them could have imagined what their marriage would have truly become.
When they knelt for the final prayer and received the Blessing, Derica could hardly concentrate on what was being said.
All she could think of was her husband and the blissfully happy life they would have.
It never occurred to her that happiness would come at a price.