“It’s late. You must return to the
camp.”
She looked up, startled. Gavin towered over her, his gray eyes dark in the fading daylight. His expression was closed.
“I don’t know these woods,” he continued. “There may be danger.”
She stood, her shoulders back. “That would suit you, wouldn’t it? A dead wife is surely better than a dishonored one.” She lifted her skirts and strode past him.
He grabbed her forearm. “We must talk, seriously and without anger.”
“Has there been anything else between us except anger? Say what you must—I grow weary.”
His face softened. “Does the burden of the child tire you?”
Her hands flew to her stomach. Then she straightened, her chin up. “This baby will never be a burden to me.”
Gavin looked across the water, as if he struggled with some great problem. “For all that has happened since, I believe you meant well when you gave yourself into Demari’s hands. I know you have no love for me, but your mother was held also. For her alone, you would have risked what you did.”
Judith nodded, frowning slightly.
“I don’t know what happened after you came to the castle. Perhaps Demari was kind to you and you needed kindness. Perhaps even at the wedding, he…offered you kindness.”
Judith couldn’t speak as her bile rose.
“As for the child, you may keep it and I won’t set you aside, as perhaps I should. For if the truth were known, maybe some of the blame is mine. I will care for the child as if he were my own, and he shall be given some of your lands to inherit.” Gavin paused and stared at her. “Do you say nothing? I have tried to be honest…and fair. I don’t believe you could ask for more.”
It took Judith a moment to recover herself. Her teeth were clamped together when she spoke. “Fair! Honest! You don’t know the meaning of those words! Just look at what you’re saying. You are willing to concede that I came to the castle for honorable purposes, but after that, you insult me horribly.”
“Insult you?” Gavin asked, bewildered.
“Yes! Insult me! Do you believe me to be so baseborn, that I would give myself freely to a man who threatened my mother and my husband—for before God, you are that! You say I needed kindness! Yes, I do, as I have never had kindness from you. But I’m not so shallow as to break my vows to God for a little thoughtfulness. Once I broke such a vow, but I won’t do so again.” She looked away, her face warm with memory.
“I have no idea what you mean,” Gavin began, his own temper flaring. “You talk in riddles.”
“You hint that I am an adulteress. Is that a riddle?”
“You bear the man’s child. How else can I say it? I have offered to care for the baby. You should be grateful that I don’t cast you aside.”
Judith stared at him. He didn’t ask if the child was his. He assumed that Walter’s words were the true ones. At her wedding, Judith’s mother had said that a man would believe the lowest-born serf before he believed a woman. It was true. And if Judith denied sleeping with Walter? Would he believe her? There would be no way to prove her words.
“You have no more to say?” Gavin demanded, tight-lipped.
Judith glared at him, speechless.
“Then you agree to my terms?”
Well, she would play the game his way. “You say you give my child my lands. You sacrifice little.”
“I keep you! I could set you aside.”
She laughed. “You could always have done so. Men have that right. You keep me while you desire me. I’m no fool. I would have something more than just an inheritance for my child.”
“You ask payment?”
“Yes, for coming to you at the castle.” The words hurt. She was crying inside, but refused to show it.
“What do you want?”