Chapter Four
Catarina stood outside the massive, intricately carved wooden doors, which led to Lord Ravensworth’s solar.
She smoothed her hands over her tunic and fanned out her veils.
Then, with a deep breath, she rapped gently on the door.
In moments, Sir Matthew, one of Henry’s favored castle guards, appeared and stepped aside for her to enter.
In the three years that she had been at Ravensworth, she could count on one hand the number of times she had entered her husband’s solar.
Her gaze passed over the carefully hung tapestries.
The candles appeared fresh, but she knew that was only because each day servants scraped away the wax drippings and evened out the candles’ height.
Henry was above all a stickler for order.
He had told her on many occasions that nobility was not found in lavish displays of wealth—it resided in the details, and Henry painstakingly arranged every detail of his world, from her wardrobe to how the stables were cleaned.
She rounded the corner and spotted two high-backed wooden chairs facing an imposing, rugged stone fireplace.
She squeezed her fists to keep from fidgeting. “My lord, I have news.”
He did not stand to mark her arrival as he would have done in the great hall nor did he lean over the arm of his seat to glance back at her.
“I did not call for you,” he said impatiently.
His curt response was no surprise. “My apologies, my lord. The news I bring is of the most urgent nature and ill indeed. It cannot wait until our morning meeting.”
Each morning before mass she met him in the great hall where she sat while he paced in front of her, reviewing his expectations for the day, which would include but not be limited to the menu she would give Cook and when she would be allowed to visit her son.
His hand appeared in her line of vision, impatiently motioning for her to come forward. She hurried toward him but froze when she saw who occupied the second chair. Rupert, with a smug smile playing at the corner of his lips, raised his cup as if to toast her coming.
“Close your mouth,” Henry said. “You look like a simpleton standing with your mouth and eyes agape.”
She closed her lips and forced her shoulders to relax before her husband could criticize her posture. “I would speak with you alone, my lord.”
Henry shook his head, his dark hair not daring to move out of place. “My brother is here at my request. I have important business that will not be delayed by some feminine whim. Speak now or I will have you escorted back to your rooms.”
Her husband thought little of the opinions of women, a fact he had never tried to conceal.
Rupert’s condescending grin widened. Fighting the desire to walk over to where her brother-in-law sat and toss his beer in his face, she squared her shoulders and gave Henry the news as he would have wanted it—direct and to the point.
“My father has committed treason and has fled Berwick with my sister.”
She waited for his reaction, but his face remained impassive. The same could not be said of Rupert. He jumped to his feet and thrust a finger in Catarina’s face. “This is an affront to the Ravensworth name,” he hissed.
Ignoring her brother-in-law, she kept her eyes trained on her husband who did not flinch at Rupert’s response. He simply gestured to the chair beside his. “Sit down, Rupert and calm yourself, or I will have you escorted to your room.”
Catarina contained the smug smile she wished to flash at Rupert. She knew she needed to proceed very carefully, and so she kept her eyes demurely trained on the floor in front of her.
“Where did you come by this news?” Henry asked her at length.
“A monk told me in the courtyard.”
“The same monk who arrived at Ravensworth this morning?”
A wave of guilt passed over her, thinking of Brother Augustine’s heroic intentions. Still, she had warned him. She cleared her throat before saying, “The very same.”
“Step aside,” he said to her, and then he stood, calling to Sir Matthew. “Find Brother Augustine and bring him to me.”
Sir Matthew hastened to obey.
“Is there anything else?” Henry said to her.
She nodded. “Brother Augustine told me the king’s men were likely to come here to search for them.”
He rolled his eyes. “Anything our infant son could not surmise on his own?”
She stepped back and curtsied. “No, my lord.”
“You may leave.”
She deepened her curtsy and turned on her heels and walked calmly from the room.
Leaving her husband’s solar unscathed, her concern shifted from herself to Brother Augustine.
She knew in her heart that he had only wanted to help, but she could not be certain Henry would regard the monk’s actions with the same tolerance.
At that moment, she made up her mind to intervene on the brother’s behalf if need be.
She owed him that much for his role in helping her father and sister.
She would wait in her chambers while her husband met with the monk.
When some time had passed, she would return to Henry’s solar.
Having made up her mind, she took a deep breath.
She would do her best to ensure that Brother Augustine left Ravensworth in no worse health than when he arrived.