Chapter 24 #3
“Perhaps because of the accusation you just leveled at me? I know I’m not the trustworthy, upstanding knight you are.
But I’m no thief, and I didn’t have anything to do with the disappearance of that gold.
Angelet will confirm it. I couldn't have brought along so much treasure, even if I did steal it. Which I didn’t. ”
“You might have hid it somewhere.”
“There were nearly a dozen other people with the cortège. Someone was always awake—because I set watches. There’s no way I could have spirited the chest away, snuck the key from Angelet to unlock it, unchained the whole mess, removed the money, refilled it with rocks, rebound it, relocked, and hauled it back alone, without someone seeing.
And who in the world would be dumb enough to hide a cache of treasure in a countryside he barely knows?
I’d be better off tossing it into the sea. ”
“All right, I believe you.”
“You do?”
“You’re not the type of man to leave something that valuable behind.”
Rafe sighed. Even when he was exonerated of something, his worst traits got brought up. “Ask the lady. She’ll tell the same story.”
“Cecily insists that we don’t distress her while she recovers, so I haven’t brought it up.”
“Speaking of her recovery, can I see her at some point? She always seems to be asleep when I try.”
“Well, a crossbow bolt to the chest is no small matter. It’s amazing the bolt didn’t pierce a lung, or her heart. She’d be long buried by now. So don’t begrudge her a nap.”
“I don’t begrudge her anything. I just want to see for myself.”
“Speak to Cecily,” Alric said. “One thing I’ve learned is that it’s unwise to ignore my wife when she’s made her wishes clear.”
As it happened, Cecily found him first. Rafe had gone to the top of the outer wall, the one facing the eastern woods. He was enjoying a moment of peace, simply looking out over the greening woods, when the lady of the manor joined him.
“Did you miss Cleobury?” she asked, surveying him rather than the scene.
“Occasionally.” Every day, but he wouldn’t tell Cecily that. “Thank you for letting me stay. And for caring for Angelet.”
“Did you think I’d turn the poor woman away?”
“I knew you couldn’t. That’s why I risked the ride here.”
“You did risk quite a lot for the lady Angelet,” Cecily noted. “I want to discuss that.”
“You do?”
“You’ve seduced her, haven’t you?”
Rafe glanced at her. “You’ve grown blunt.”
“I’m not the innocent girl I once was. I know much more of the world, and I know what you’re like…what you’ve always been like when it comes to women. You see one you enjoy and then charm her to you, with no thought of what comes after. So you’ve done to Angelet.”
“No,” he snapped. Then, before he could stop himself, he hedged, “Not exactly.”
“How do you not exactly seduce a woman?”
“It was…are we really going to talk about this, you and me?”
“You’re in my home, Rafe. You once served my father. You once betrayed my husband and my family. And now you quail at a little crude talk? What did you do to her?”
“Nothing she didn’t ask for.”
“That’s no defense, if you persuaded her to ask.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said. “Not at all.”
“Then what was it? If you played with her heart simply to tumble her into a bed once or twice, it proves you’ve not changed and you’ll never change. You’ll be the same selfish knave you showed yourself to be years—”
“I’d die for her,” he said, louder than he intended.
Cecily’s eyes widened as the words fell between them.
“I’d die for her,” Rafe repeated, more calmly. “In fact, I was attacked multiple times on her account. If things had gone a bit differently, it might have been me with a wound in my chest. Sorry to disappoint. Again.”
“You love her?” Cecily asked softly.
“I’ve never been in love,” he said, shrugging off the suggestion. “I protected her because that’s what I was hired to do. That’s all I meant. Anything more would complicate things, and they’re complicated enough as it is.”
“You’ve slept with her, though,” Cecily guessed.
“Dear God, what’s it to you if we have? She’s a widow. She was no innocent for me to ruin. We both wanted something. If there was a seduction, it was entirely mutual.”
“So it might have been, but the consequences are not equal! What if she bears your child?”
“No.”
“That’s your defense? A simple denial? That’s—”
“She had one son, and that is all she will ever have. She told me she can no longer bear children.”
Cecily suddenly put a hand to her mouth, her cheeks reddening. It wasn’t hard to guess why. Cecily’s rounding belly made her current state obvious. She must have chattered away of her hopes to Angelet, who naturally would have said nothing to destroy the happy mood.
“Whatever is between Angelet and me is our problem,” Rafe said.
“But now you’re both here,” Cecily countered. “And I insist that until you both leave, you treat her as a lady, not one of your conquests. Your reputation at Cleobury is damaged enough. Don’t make it worse.”
“Thank you for reminding me,” he muttered.
“Was there a chance you’d forget?”
No, not till he died. One more reason to get out of Cleobury as soon as humanly possible.