Medieval Ever After by Kathryn Le Veque, Keira Montclair, Emma Prince, Barbara Devlin Page A
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recruit them into my service.”
Tate pursed his lips in agreement, thinking of his aggressive blond-haired twins that were almost as big as their eldest brother. “Arabella is three and chatters like a magpie, and now baby Dane rounds out the bunch. My wife is going to hunt me down if I do not return home soon to help out with the brood.”
Stephen grinned at the thought of the Lady Elizabetha de Tobins Cartingdon de Lara, known to everyone as Toby, tracking her husband down like a bounty hunter to return him to Forestburn Castle. Fortunately for Tate, she was very busy with six children and hadn’t the time to break away, but knowing Toby as they did, Stephen would not be surprised if she found a way. She was, if nothing else, a very determined woman.
“Enough of Lady de Lara,” Edward waved his hands irritably, refocused on Stephen as the man found the right piece of bread. “I want to know about Lady Pembury. Is it really true that she has been living at Jedburgh since eleven years of age?”
Stephen picked up a piece of cloth used to cover the bread and carefully wrapped his wife’s meal in it. “True enough, it would seem,” he replied. “It also seems that the nuns have educated her well. She can even read and write both Latin and French.”
“Truly?” Edward looked surprised. “A woman with an education. Shocking.”
Tate lifted an eyebrow at him. “Elizabetha can read and write.”
Edward made a face as if the entire idea horrified him, thinking of his own young wife who was well versed in most courtly things excluding the ability to read. He liked it better that way. Beside him, Tate rose on his big legs and stretched his muscular body wearily.
“Come along,” he said to Stephen. “After you have fed your wife, I would have you show me the progress on the collapsed walls. I am uncomfortable with our vulnerability at the moment. The Scots may be defeated but they are not dead. I should not like to be caught unaware.”
The two knights left Edward in the hall as they made their way out into the sunshine. Being July, and near the river, gave the air a heated, sticky quality that made wearing armor increasingly uncomfortable. Tate rubbed at his neck where his mail grated against his sweaty skin. To the east, they could hear the buzz of the insects as they lay fat and lazy in the moist river grass.
“So I take it that you did not tell Edward everything I told you last night about Lady Joselyn and her reasons for being at Jedburgh,” Stephen muttered as they crossed the mud.
Tate continued to scratch his neck. “I did not,” he replied. “If you want him to know, then you will tell him. That kind of information will not come from me.”
“Do you plan to interrogate her about the soldier who raped her?” Stephen asked. “You know your men better than I. Perhaps you will recognize someone based on her description.”
Tate nodded. “I will ask her when the time is right,” he said, eyeing Stephen as they neared the keep. “Did you tell her what you did for her mother?”
Stephen cleared his throat softly. “There was nothing I could do for the woman.”
“That’s not what I meant. Did you tell her that you personally built the coffin she lies in, which is why you did not return to her last night? That is the reason you did not return to consummate the marriage and for no other reason than that. Moreover, you prayed over the woman for hours. Did you not tell her that, either?”
“I did not.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I did not do those things so she would admire or revere me. I did not do them for glory. I did them because they needed to be done and because it was right that I should do them.”
Tate sighed faintly, slapping Stephen on a big shoulder. “I know,” he said in a low voice. “But she might like to know that her new husband is capable of such compassion. You are an accomplished man with an amazing spirit, Stephen. She might like to know that as well.”
They
Tate pursed his lips in agreement, thinking of his aggressive blond-haired twins that were almost as big as their eldest brother. “Arabella is three and chatters like a magpie, and now baby Dane rounds out the bunch. My wife is going to hunt me down if I do not return home soon to help out with the brood.”
Stephen grinned at the thought of the Lady Elizabetha de Tobins Cartingdon de Lara, known to everyone as Toby, tracking her husband down like a bounty hunter to return him to Forestburn Castle. Fortunately for Tate, she was very busy with six children and hadn’t the time to break away, but knowing Toby as they did, Stephen would not be surprised if she found a way. She was, if nothing else, a very determined woman.
“Enough of Lady de Lara,” Edward waved his hands irritably, refocused on Stephen as the man found the right piece of bread. “I want to know about Lady Pembury. Is it really true that she has been living at Jedburgh since eleven years of age?”
Stephen picked up a piece of cloth used to cover the bread and carefully wrapped his wife’s meal in it. “True enough, it would seem,” he replied. “It also seems that the nuns have educated her well. She can even read and write both Latin and French.”
“Truly?” Edward looked surprised. “A woman with an education. Shocking.”
Tate lifted an eyebrow at him. “Elizabetha can read and write.”
Edward made a face as if the entire idea horrified him, thinking of his own young wife who was well versed in most courtly things excluding the ability to read. He liked it better that way. Beside him, Tate rose on his big legs and stretched his muscular body wearily.
“Come along,” he said to Stephen. “After you have fed your wife, I would have you show me the progress on the collapsed walls. I am uncomfortable with our vulnerability at the moment. The Scots may be defeated but they are not dead. I should not like to be caught unaware.”
The two knights left Edward in the hall as they made their way out into the sunshine. Being July, and near the river, gave the air a heated, sticky quality that made wearing armor increasingly uncomfortable. Tate rubbed at his neck where his mail grated against his sweaty skin. To the east, they could hear the buzz of the insects as they lay fat and lazy in the moist river grass.
“So I take it that you did not tell Edward everything I told you last night about Lady Joselyn and her reasons for being at Jedburgh,” Stephen muttered as they crossed the mud.
Tate continued to scratch his neck. “I did not,” he replied. “If you want him to know, then you will tell him. That kind of information will not come from me.”
“Do you plan to interrogate her about the soldier who raped her?” Stephen asked. “You know your men better than I. Perhaps you will recognize someone based on her description.”
Tate nodded. “I will ask her when the time is right,” he said, eyeing Stephen as they neared the keep. “Did you tell her what you did for her mother?”
Stephen cleared his throat softly. “There was nothing I could do for the woman.”
“That’s not what I meant. Did you tell her that you personally built the coffin she lies in, which is why you did not return to her last night? That is the reason you did not return to consummate the marriage and for no other reason than that. Moreover, you prayed over the woman for hours. Did you not tell her that, either?”
“I did not.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I did not do those things so she would admire or revere me. I did not do them for glory. I did them because they needed to be done and because it was right that I should do them.”
Tate sighed faintly, slapping Stephen on a big shoulder. “I know,” he said in a low voice. “But she might like to know that her new husband is capable of such compassion. You are an accomplished man with an amazing spirit, Stephen. She might like to know that as well.”
They
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