The eyes of Miles’s men went to their lord to watch his reaction—and no one dared laugh at his look of indignation.
The child sniffed again and twisted to look at Lord Miles. She gave him a smile, but when she looked at Sir Guy she clung to Elizabeth.
“There’s no reason to be afraid of him,” Elizabeth said. “He likes children very much, don’t you, Sir Guy?”
Sir Guy gave Lady Elizabeth a hard, assessing look. “In truth, my lady, I like children a great deal but they have little use for me.”
“We shall remedy that. Now, child, go with Sir Guy for your ride and bring back a star.”
The child, a bit hesitant at first, went to Sir Guy and clung to his head when he set her on his shoulders. “I’m the tallest girl in the world,” she squealed as Sir Guy walked away with her.
“I’ve never seen you smile before,” Miles said.
Elizabeth’s smile disappeared instantly. “I will reimburse you for the child’s dress when I am home again.” She turned away.
Miles caught her hand and led her away from his men’s listening ears. “The child was only a beggar’s.”
“Oh?” she said offhandedly. “I thought perhaps she was one of yours.”
“Mine?” he asked, bewildered. “Do you think I’d allow one of my children to run about in rags, with no supervision?”
She turned on him. “And how do you know where all your children are? Do you keep ledgers full of their names? Their whereabouts?”
Miles’s face showed several emotions: disbelief, some anger, amusement. “Elizabeth, how many children do you think I have?”
She put her chin into the air. “I neither know nor care how many bastards you have.”
He caught her arm, turning her to face him. “Even my own brothers exaggerate about my children so why should I expect more from outsiders? I have three sons: Christopher, Philip and James. And any day I expect to hear word of another child of mine. I am hoping for a daughter this time.”
“You are hoping—” she gasped. “It doesn’t bother you about their mothers? That you use the women, then discard them? And what of the children? They must grow up with the label of bastard! Outcasts because of some hideous man’s one moment of pleasure.”
His grip tightened on her arm and there was anger in his eyes. “I do not ‘use’ women,” he said through clenched teeth. “The women who have given me children came to me freely. And all my children live with me, are cared for by competent nurses.”
“Nurses!” She tried to pull away from him, but couldn’t. “Do you toss the children’s mothers into the street? Or do you give them a little money like you did Bridget and send them on their ways?”
“Bridget?” Miles searched her face for a moment. His rising temper calmed. “I assume you mean the Bridget who is the mother of my James?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “I will tell you the truth about Bridget. My brother Gavin sent a message to St. Catherine’s convent to ask for some serving girls. He wanted girls of good reputation who wouldn’t be tantalizing his men and causing fights. From the moment this Bridget entered our house she pursued me.”
Elizabeth tried to pull away from him. “You are a liar.”
Miles caught her other arm with
his hand. “Once she told me that she’d heard so much about me that she felt like a child who’d been told not to play with fire. One night I found her in my bed.”
“And you took her.”
“I made love to her, yes, that night and several other nights. When she realized she was going to have my child, I took a lot of ribbing from my brothers.”
“And you cast her out—after you took her child away, that is.”
He gave her a small smile. “Actually, she cast me aside. I was away for four months and she fell in love with Gavin’s second gardener. When I returned I talked with them, told them I’d like to have the child and would raise him to be a knight. Bridget agreed readily.”
“And how much money did you give them? Surely you must have offered some consolation to a mother giving up her child.”
Miles released her arms, glaring at her. “Did you know Bridget very well? If you did you’d know she was more interested in her pleasures than motherhood. The gardener she was marrying didn’t want Bridget or the child and later he asked for money for ‘what he was giving up.’ I gave him nothing. James is mine.”
She was silent for a moment. “And what of your other children’s mothers?” she asked quietly.
He walked away from her. “I fell in love with the younger sister of one of Gavin’s men when I was just a boy. Christopher was born when both Margaret and I were only sixteen. I would have married her but her brother sent her away. I didn’t know about Kit until Margaret died of smallpox a month after Kit’s birth.”