Chapter Eleven #2
He turned to her fully, his smile breaking through. “I’ve been waiting my entire life to hear that.”
“Then let it be said,” she said, but quickly grew serious. “But you know that I bring nothing to this marriage but a small dowry. No lands, no titles. I am very sorry for that, truly. I must remind you because if you wish to change your mind, I would understand.”
He shook his head before she even finished. “You are worth more than any title or any lands,” he said. “I choose you for who you are, Mira, not for what you bring with you. And that’s how it should be.”
She was starting to flush again. “That is a sweet thing to say,” she said. “I shall try to always live up to it.”
Douglas reached out to take her hand with the intention of kissing it but caught sight of Isabel in his periphery and abandoned his plans.
Until he was plain with Isabel about his intentions toward Mira—fully plain—he wasn’t going to initiate any more public displays of affection.
The first one he did had backfired spectacularly on Mira, so he wasn’t going to risk it again.
Even if, this time, it was real.
“I know you will,” he said softly. The clamor in the hall was growing louder as more cleaning was attended to, so he knew he needed to let her get back to her task. “I’ll leave you to your work now. But I will see you tonight.”
He winked at her as he turned around, but she stopped him.
“Wait,” she said, grasping his arm to force him to pause. “There is something I must tell you about our visitors.”
“What of them?”
She seemed reluctant to continue. “One of them used to be a page here,” she said. “He was a young boy when he came and barely on the cusp of manhood when he left, but he used to be very… fond of me.”
He didn’t understand. “Fond?” he repeated. “He was your friend?”
She shook her head. “Nay,” she said firmly.
“Never a friend. He was a young boy who fancied me, and when I ignored him, he took to pinching my arse to get my attention. He was punished for it, but it did not stop him. Then he grew into a young man bigger and stronger than I was and he took to not only pinching my arse, but cornering me and trying to steal kisses. Frankly, he terrified me, but when he was sent to Kenilworth, my worries were over.”
Douglas understood now, and that glimmer of warmth in his eye quickly changed to something hazardous. “And now he’s back,” he rumbled. “How long has he been gone?”
“About seven years. Time enough to mature, I hope.”
“Or not,” Douglas said. “Mayhap I should have a word with him.”
Mira shook her head. “Do not,” she said quietly. “Please. I am certain I mean nothing to him any longer and he has probably forgotten about everything, so let us leave it at that. But I wanted to tell you so you knew that I used to know him.”
He patted her hand, still gripping his arm. “And I appreciate your honesty,” he said. “But I will be keeping my eye on this man. What is his name?”
“Raymond de Honiton.”
“Lord de Honiton’s son?”
“Aye. Do you know them?”
Douglas shook his head. “I have only heard the name,” he said, taking her hand off his arm but still holding it. “Swear to me that if he resumes his bad behavior you will tell me. Please, Mira.”
“But—”
“It is important to me.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. “Very well,” she said. “If it is important.”
He nodded and, forgetting his pledge against public displays of affection, kissed her hand then quickly left the hall.
Mira could sense something different in him, something tense and moody.
Far different from the Douglas she had become acquainted with.
But given that they had just declared their intent toward one another, she understood that he would be concerned with a man who used to harass her.
If the situation were reversed, she would most certainly want to know.
Picking up the broom, she resumed her work.
*
Across the hall, Astoria had seen everything.
She’d been pretending not to notice or even care that Douglas was in the hall, but she couldn’t help but watch the man.
She’d had several infatuations in her young life and Douglas was no different.
She was drawn to him, her thoughts only of him and the happy life they would have had together had Mira not come between them.
She was so focused on him that she clearly saw when Douglas gave Mira something, which must’ve been a necklace, because she’d put it around her neck.
That drove Astoria into fits of jealousy until Isabel snapped at her to continue the inventory on the fine pewter plates belonging to Axminster.
Startled she’d been caught staring, she quickly turned back to her work.
But not for long.
Something was happening in the kitchen that required Isabel’s attention, so the moment she departed through the servants’ alcove, Astoria headed toward the hearth.
Mira was bent over, sweeping out the last of the ashes from the corners while three servants worked with her to clean it all out.
Mira had soot on her hands and forehead where she’d bumped it against the fire back, and the moment she emerged from the hearth and stood tall, brushing her hands off on her apron, Astoria was in front of her.
Mira eyed her.
“What do you want?” she asked.
The tone was decidedly unfriendly. Astoria was looking at Mira’s neck, seeing a chain disappear under her bodice where she’d tucked the necklace away to keep it safe.
“What did Douglas give you?” she asked.
Mira had no time for her. “That is none of your affair.”
“Tell me or I will tell Lady Isabel.”
Mira focused on her then. “I do not care if you do,” she said. “My business is my own and you would be well advised to stay out of it.”
Mira wasn’t being a pushover, which only seemed to inflame Astoria. She wanted the girls she bullied to cower and weep. But not Mira. Astoria knew she’d get slapped again if she got too close, so she made sure to stay out of arm’s length.
“Did he give you a necklace to thank you for your favors?” she asked, sneering. “A gift for lifting your skirts?”
Mira had had enough. The servants were hearing this garbage, so she lifted her broom and whacked Astoria in the hip with the bristle end. Soot puffed up, getting on Astoria as she yelped.
“Go away, you liar,” Mira snarled. “Get away from me.”
Astoria was backed into a table by the broom and pushed it away.
Mira brought it up again, this time aiming for her head, and clipped Astoria in the neck and face.
Black soot puffed again, getting in her hair.
Astoria screeched and kicked out, catching Mira in the knee with her foot, but Mira whacked her again with the broom.
She did it twice, but in doing so, she came closer to Astoria, who was starting to slap out with both hands to fight back.
One hand managed to grab Mira’s left shoulder and part of her dress.
Unfortunately, the chain was there and Astoria grabbed that as well.
She meant to tear Mira’s clothing but ended up breaking the chain instead. It came apart in her hand.
And Douglas saw all of it.
He’d come back into the great hall because he knew Isabel was there and wanted to ask her a question about security for the visitors.
He hadn’t seen Eric in the central bailey, so he sought out Isabel’s advice, but instead he had walked into a fight.
Mira was hitting Astoria with the business end of a broom while Astoria was slapping back at her.
Concerned, he headed in their direction about the time Astoria got hold of the necklace and yanked.
The chain came off in her hand while the cross pendant fell down through Mira’s clothing.
That was still trapped in her bodice, leaving Astoria standing there with a golden chain in her hand.
“Stop!” Douglas roared.
Both Astoria and Mira came to a shocked halt at the sound of his loud and angry voice. They froze as he marched up on them, grabbing Astoria by the wrist and prying the golden chain out of her grip. Still holding on to her wrist, he glared at the young woman.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded, holding up the chain for her to see.
Astoria was terrified. “I… I did not mean to break it,” she stammered. “But Mira… She attacked me!”
“I did no such thing!” Mira said, but she was so angry that Astoria broke the necklace that she kicked the girl, as hard as she could, in the thigh. “You attacked me first!”
Douglas put himself between the pair as Astoria began to weep. He still had hold of her wrist, but he handed the chain back to Mira, who was also beginning to weep. Before he could comfort her, however, he fixed on Astoria.
“I want you to listen to me and listen well,” he said in a low voice. “Are you listening to me?”
Crying, Astoria nodded. “A-aye.”
“Good,” Douglas said. “Now, this rage against Mira is going to stop now. Do you understand me? You seem to think that there could have been some kind of romantic entanglement between you and me, and you hate Mira that she has disrupted your plans. Is that right?”
On the spot, Astoria was horrified. “I—I never said that!”
Douglas shook his head. “Nay, you did not, but ever since I have made my affections toward Mira known, you have gone out of your way to be cruel and vindictive to her,” he said.
“Now you have broken a gift I have given to her. I can only assume it is out of jealousy, so I want to make something very clear to you. Never, since the day I met you, have I had any inclination toward a romance with you. Ever. You are petty, small-minded, mean, and stupid. I have never said that to a woman in my life, but I will say it to you. Your ugliness on the inside leaves you ugly on the outside. You are jealous of a woman like Mira because you know you will never be like her, but that is your misfortune. It is not Mira’s, nor is it mine.
Your ugliness is of your own making. Am I making myself clear? ”
Almost everyone in the hall was hearing this, Helen and Davina included.
They were witnessing something that Astoria had needed for a very long time—a proper scolding.
Douglas didn’t raise his voice and he wasn’t threatening, but the message was clear and Astoria was so horrified, so embarrassed, that she could hardly speak. All she could do was nod.
Barely.
But it was enough for Douglas.
“Excellent,” he said. “I am telling you, quite plainly, to leave Mira alone. If you do not, then I will ensure you are sent away for good.”
With that, he let go of her wrist and pointed to the other side of the hall.
Astoria got the message, holding the wrist that he’d gripped and limping away, an exaggerated gesture because Mira had kicked her.
As she moved back to the area where she’d been tending the plate, the other girls there moved away from her like she carried the plague.
Everyone had heard the scolding, and no one moved to comfort her because she had deserved it.
They all knew it. Douglas watched her return to her task before turning his attention to Mira.
She was holding the chain with tears on her cheeks, and he sighed sadly, reaching up to wipe the moisture from her face.
“No need to weep, love,” he said softly. “I will have it fixed right away. It will be as good as new, I promise.”
Mira sniffled. “She was so nasty,” she said. “She asked me if it was a present for lifting my skirts to you.”
He grunted with regret. “I am sorry,” he said. “She is simply jealous. I’ve seen women like her before, and they always suffer greatly from their own foolishness. I would not worry over her any longer.”
Mira continued to sniffle as she nodded her head and Douglas reached down, taking both of her hands and kissing them sweetly. When she looked up at him, he smiled to be of some comfort before finally taking the chain from her.
“Let me have the pendant,” he said. “Where is it?”
Mira pointed to her waistline. “In my clothing, somewhere,” she said. “I will keep it safe if you simply get the chain fixed.”
“Very well,” he said. “I will go first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you.”
He winked at her. “You are welcome,” he said. “But I am sorry I have to do it.”
“Me too.”
“Will you be safe if I leave you now?”
He dipped his head in Astoria’s direction, and Mira nodded. “Of course,” she said, wiping away the last of her tears. “I have been dealing with that girl for a few years now. My trusty broom and I will keep her at bay.”
He grinned but was precluded from replying when Isabel came back into the hall, shouting to the girls because they didn’t appear to be working. Douglas caught sight of the woman, tracking her as she headed across the hall.
“Go back to work,” he told Mira quietly. “I must speak to Lady Isabel.”
Mira suspected why. She didn’t stop him.
She turned back to the hearth—but not before she saw Douglas intercept Isabel and begin a quiet but intense conversation.
As she finished with the last of the hearth, she heard quite distinctly when Isabel went straight to Astoria and began to chastise her angrily.
The sounds of Astoria weeping brought great relief.
Finally, the girl’s reign of terror would be over.
Or so Mira thought.