Chapter 9
“Make camp outside the walls. The girl and the Saxon will stay within,” Henry told his men as soon as he left his bride in the courtyard.
Nothing had changed but the words spoken by a man of God and the vows they had made, and yet, to Henry, everything had changed.
The Lady Elisande belonged to him now. She was his wife. His.
“Congratulations!”
“Hear, hear!” his men said, lifting their swords into the air.
“Thank you.”
“We will take care of everything—have no doubt,” Sir Geoffrey said from behind him. “You should rejoin your bride.”
“We ride at dawn.”
Geoffrey nodded. “What of the girl and the cart?”
“They remain. We will collect her after she has had time to recover from the journey and can handle a second one.”
“And the Saxon?”
“He can return from whence he came.”
“And your lady?”
“What of her?”
“Does she not need rest?”
“She can rest behind the safety of the manor walls with us protecting her.”
“We’re leaving so soon? Without Hilda?” Elisande asked from the priory gate.
It was a conversation Henry hadn’t intended to have with her yet, but that didn’t seem to matter.
“Can we not stay a few days and return together?”
Henry turned to face her. “Come with me.”
He held out his hand and waited for her to take it. Once hers was within his, he closed his grip and drew her into the garden the monks kept.
Henry sat on the stone bench. “Sit with me,” he said.
Elisande sat beside him. He hadn’t lied when he said she was beautiful. From the first moment he’d seen her face in the solarium, he had been awestruck by her beauty and his luck.
“My orders from the king were to secure the manor and its lands.”
“And you have.”
“Not until we return.” He turned her hand over in his. “If I could give you rest here and proper time to recover, I would. But I cannot. Three days, Elisande. Give me three days more, and you can rest.”
“And what of Hilda?”
“I will arrange an armed escort to bring her and Brother Benedict to the manor when she has recovered.”
“And Alger?”
Henry’s teeth clamped together at the man’s name upon her lips. “He is no longer your concern.”
“But I have known him since—”
“No longer your concern,” he repeated.
“Sir Henry—”
“He is a Saxon who fancies himself in love with my wife. He gets to keep his life, as long as it is away from you.”
Lady Elisande did not like his answer, he could tell.
“He helped me. With Hilda—”
“And he gets to ride away, in any direction he chooses. You cannot ask more of me than that, Lady Elisande. It would not be wise to do so. Do we have an understanding?”
“Your generosity has exceptions, it seems.”
Henry couldn’t help but smile. “You took vows before God, binding yourself to me until death. That I take seriously, my lady. You are beyond his reach. I think I am being generous by letting him live, knowing he would gladly have fled with you and kept you for his own.” Henry paused.
“Besides, if you are honest with yourself, you feel nothing but friendship for that man.”
Elisande looked surprised by his pronouncement. “How do you know?”
“You don’t look at him the way you look at me. Especially when I’m naked and you think I cannot see.”
She sucked in a breath as her mouth dropped open, and Henry’s smile grew wider.
“How dare you,” she whispered.
“Speak the truth? You and I both know it. There is no reason to deny it. As you told the monk, you believe I will make a fine husband.”
Her hackles were up, and he had an idea of what would shift her mood.
He had not kissed her in front of the priest. He had removed his gloves for the ceremony to hold her hands. With his bare hand, he cupped her cheek.
“You were right, my lady. For you, I will make a fine husband.” He stroked his thumb across her lips. “Let me kiss you to seal my vow.”
Her tongue wet her lips and bumped his thumb. “I’ve never …”
“Fear not, my lady. ’Tis just a kiss.” He lowered his mouth, brushing his lips across hers.
With one hand, he pulled her closer, before he remembered where they were.
Her soft breath on his lips made him loathe to end the brief kiss, but until they were not sitting out in the open, on holy ground, anything else would have to wait.
He pulled back. “Until this evening, my lady.”
“This evening?” She blinked, a blush staining her cheeks.
“Don’t worry; I’ll make sure you sleep soundly and comfortably. We will make a tent at the wall. We will have as much privacy as can be had under the circumstances.”
Her blush spread to her chest. “I suppose I cannot expect you to wait another three days until we have actual walls?” She paused and looked into his eyes. “How did you know I watched you at the stream?”
His smile stretched his cheeks. “You were not subtle, my lady. Practically drooling.”
“I was not!” she gasped with a laugh.
“Perhaps only when you caught sight of my derriere.” He leaned in. “Fear not, my lady. I didn’t mind. From now on, I am as much yours as you are mine.”