Chapter 14 #3
Unused to Siaspar’s easy manners, the blacksmith’s wife was stunned to be treated like a lady at court and asked about a babe he shouldn’t even know about. Katherine looked at Siaspar, talking to her mother as naturally as if they had been old acquaintances, and something flipped inside her chest.
Her heart.
It was telling her in the only way it could that what she felt for this man was more than admiration and gratitude.
She was not in awe of him, she was not grateful for what he had done for her.
Or rather, she was all those things and more, and seeing him so at ease in her familiar environment made her realize that she had fallen in love with him.
Now that she knew the truth about her feelings, everything about him fascinated her anew.
His profile, in particular. The unruly hair, the straight nose, the sensual mouth, the strong neck, everything was perfect.
Had she not known how generous he was, she would still have been drawn to his beauty.
Had she been blind, she would still have been entranced by his manners.
As she was both able to see him and aware of his engaging personality, she had no chance.
From the start, she had been destined to fall in love with this man who, as well as being the most intriguing she had ever met, had also made love to her twice.
When she finally managed to tear her gaze away from him, her father was standing by the side of the cottage, watching her.
From the way he was cocking his head, Katherine guessed that her feelings for Siaspar must have shown on her face.
Her father, who knew her better than most people, would understand that she had fallen in love with her master, a man so above herself nothing could ever happen.
She reddened and lowered her head to the floor.
Her father cleared his throat and walked forward.
“My lord, you are right welcome,” he said, showing more aplomb than his wife. He seemed to think that a man who had won his daughter’s heart had to be a worthy individual who would not mind any faux pas he might commit when he addressed him. “How may we assist you?”
“I came to thank you for sending your daughter to work in Lady Malpas’ household. I believe it was your idea that she did so.”
“Yes. But it is us who should be thanking you for providing her with such a prestigious position. We understand that you asked her to become a lady in waiting of sorts.”
Siaspar waved the words away. “No, I should be the one thanking you because I doubt your daughter told you as much but she saved my life a few weeks ago.”
Katherine knew she had gone crimson. That was why he had wanted to come here, to tell her family about the rescue? He was right. She had not breathed a word of that terrible day to her family and she had never imagined that Siaspar himself would reveal what had happened.
“She saved your life!” her mother cried. “How so, my lord?”
“I got badly cut during a sword fight and she bandaged my wrist before I could lose too much blood. The rest of the assembly simply stared when I fell and I would have bled to death had your daughter not shown a presence of mind I believe you taught her.” Katherine was grateful that he had made it look like it had been an accident rather than an attempted murder she had only witnessed because she had been alone in his bedchamber.
This simpler version of the incident was less likely to cause trouble for her. “Didn’t she tell you?”
“No, she did not,” her father said pensively, making Katherine go redder. He seemed to read a lot in this unusual silence.
“It was nothing,” she mumbled. “Anyone would have done the same.”
“Perhaps, but they did not. You were the one who reacted in time and stopped the blood.” Siaspar pointed out. “And I am grateful. Had you not been there, I would be buried right now.”
At this, all the blood left Katherine’s face. From crimson she felt herself go deathly pale.
“Do not distress yourself so,” her father said quietly. “As his lordship pointed out, he did not die.”
By now, even her mother had noticed her unusual reaction. She glanced at her husband, who nodded imperceptibly.
“Katherine, could you come inside a moment? I need your help with the baby.”
Though this was an obvious ploy to speak to her alone and ask some difficult questions, Katherine had no choice but to follow her and leave the two men together.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked her mother, anxious not to be away for too long. What else would Siaspar tell her father? She wasn’t sure she was ready to find out.
“Never mind that! Oh, my poor, sweet daughter, you are in love with that man!”
The statement was so blunt—and so true—that Katherine could deny it. She fell onto the stool by the hearth. “I…I—”
“You cannot think of him like this! He is your master, a nobleman, and he is married for goodness’ sake!” Her mother was wringing her hands in despair. “Nothing good can come out of it.”
“I know. But… I can’t help it. I love him.
” Saying the words out loud was a liberation and felt like a condemnation at the same time.
Her mother was right; the odds were stacked against them.
The scullion and the lord. The English villager and the Welsh warrior.
The maid—supposedly—and the married man.
They were doomed three times over. “I cannot help but love him. If you knew him, you would—”
“Dear God in Heaven! Do not tell me he has taken you to bed?” Her mother was aghast but thankfully she did her best to keep her voice down. It would not do for their conversation to be overheard.
“He… It’s not what you think, I swear.”
“So he has. Oh, Katherine!” This was no more than an appalled whisper. “You are ruined.”
“Please, it is not what you think,” Katherine repeated, standing up. She could not let her mother imagine Siaspar as a mighty nobleman sating his lust with all the servants he could find. There was so much more to their story than this. “Siaspar is not—”
“Siaspar!” The Christian name resounded in the room with the force of a clap of thunder. “Don’t be so na?ve as to think you were the first or will be the last to be used in that way.”
“I was not used, he—”
“What else could it be? Or are you telling me he came to your bed out of the love he bears you?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Are you carrying his child?” Her mother now sounded close to fainting. “Is that why you’re both here? To tell us—”
“It’s not. I’m not.”
“Has he promised you anything?”
“No.” Katherine was at a loss. How could she make people understand that what had happened was not as damning as it appeared, or even Siaspar’s fault? “But I am telling you, he is not to be blamed for what happened.”
“Then you are,” her mother said slowly, as if afraid to understand. “You were the one who went to him. This is worse than I—”
“Stop, it’s not like that! I am not a…” Katherine blushed furiously at the idea that she had to convince her own mother that she was not a whore. “And he is an honorable man, generous and utterly selfless.”
“Of course he is, that is why he took your maidenhead and dressed you up like a peacock so he could parade you around as his mistress without being mocked for taking his pleasure with a dirty servant.”
“He is a good man,” Katherine insisted, getting angry now.
It pained her even more to hear Siaspar’s character being reviled than it had hurt her to hear her mother accuse her of unseemly behavior.
And it displeased her to see her so ready to assume the worst. Didn’t she know her daughter better than that?
“If he was not a good man, why would he have come here for no other reason than to thank a blacksmith for having sent his daughter to work for him?”
“Well, considering what happened between you, I bet he is mighty glad you went to—”
Fortunately for her sanity, Katherine never got to hear the rest of the sentence for at that moment, the blacksmith in question walked through the door, alone.
“Where’s his lordship?” his wife asked, eyes narrowing.
“Gone.”
“Gone?” Katherine was incredulous. Siaspar had left her behind without a word of goodbye. What was the meaning of this sudden coldness?
“He said that Katherine was never to work for his wife again.”
Two gasps followed this declaration, one of outrage, one of disbelief.
“He dismissed me? Just like that?” Katherine croaked, the pain of this betrayal burrowing deep into her gut.
“Yes, just like that,” her mother answered, pleased to have been proved right so unequivocally. “What did you expect? He’s taken all he wanted from you and now he’s sending you away.”
“He had his reasons for doing so,” the blacksmith interposed with a raised hand.
“I do not doubt it,” his wife commented bitterly.
“And you, Matthew Robertson, are a coward. How could you just let him go? Had he been a lad from the village and not a mighty lord, I wager you would have demanded an explanation for his callous treatment of your daughter. Do you know what he did to—”
“Petronilla, calm down. I will not—”
“Stop it, please!” Katherine shouted, coming to stand between her parents.
She could not bear to have them arguing when her heart was breaking.
Siaspar had dismissed her with unfathomable coldness, and this when she had been telling her mother that he was different, not the selfish nobleman she imagined.
It hurt beyond bearing. It seemed that she had been wrong.
He was not different from the others. He had used her, and discarded her.
Except… If this were true, his behavior of the last few weeks didn’t make sense.