“I am sorry. I am not given to fainting. The journey was long.”
She felt his fingers lightly touch her arm and she tensed. He released her, a slight frown marring his forehead. “There is much we have to say to each other, my lady. Your arrival was . . . unexpected. But first, I will leave you to rest and regain your strength.”
“I am sorry,” Kassia said again. “There was no time to give you warning. Please do not blame my father. He sought only to protect me.”
“Doubtless he did,” Graelam said dryly. He picked up her hand and gently slid his ring back on her third finger. “Your nurse, Etta, is squawking loudly outside for her baby. Shall I bring her to you?”
Kassia’s head throbbed, and she blinked rapidly to keep his face in focus. “What will you do?” she asked.
“That, my lady,” Graelam said, standing to stare down at her, “will be most interesting to see. I but hope that you will not become a widow just as I believed myself a widower.”
He turned with those words and strode across the chamber to the thick oak door. He did not look back at her.
Kassia was aware of Etta bending over her, gently soothing her brow with a damp cloth. “Rest, my baby,” she heard her nurse croon softly, and she willingly obliged.
Graelam left his chamber thoughtfully. Lord, what an ungodly mess! Never, he thought, for as long as he breathed, would he forget his first sight of Kassia, standing beside Guy, holding herself so straight, fear dilating her huge eyes. Yet she had come, bravely. Nor would he ever forget the sight of her quietly crumbling, all life gone from her. Nor the feel of her slight body in his arms as he carried her to his chamber. His wife, he thought, shaking his head. A scrawny girl, no larger than a child, and now she was his responsibility. He gave another spurt of laughter. He had, after all, succumbed to Maurice’s arguments, and done himself in! He pictured her face again, so quiet in repose, for he had studied her carefully before she had regained consciousness. He had wanted to feel anger, to rage at her, but when she had finally awakened and he saw the deep uncertainty in her eyes, he had felt compelled to treat her gently. He was a fool. What in God’s name was he to do? He had ignored his gloating sister-in-law and the moaning Joanna, and carried Kassia out of the hall. He supposed, as he took the final step into the hall, that he would rather face an army of infidels than this group.
8
The thread of flame from a single candle broke the darkness. Kassia blinked, stared a moment into the flame, remembering quite clearly everything that had passed since her arrival at Wolffeton.
“How do you feel, my baby?”
Kassia smiled wanly at the sound of her old nurse’s soft voice. “Alive, Etta,” she said, “alive. Is it very late?”
“Nearly ten o’clock in the evening. You slept for six hours. I have food and mulled wine for you.”
Kassia slowly pulled herself up and Etta quickly came to place pillows behind her head. “What I really want,” she said, staring at her dirty fingernails, “is a bath.”
“First you eat,” Etta said firmly, “then I will have those lazy sluts bring you hot water.”
“Lord Graelam,” Kassia said, hearing the thin thread of nervousness in her voice, “where is he?”
To her surprise, Etta laughed. “Ah, your lord! What a man that one is!”
“What do you mean?”
“I will tell you while you eat. I kept the victuals warm over a small brazier. This great keep will vastly improve with you as mistress, my baby. The food is barely edible, and the servants do naught unless Lord Graelam is about.”
“You are too stern, Etta,” Kassia said, but the pork was clearly stringy and overcooked.
Etta regarded her young mistress with a worried eye. She had been raised in the midst of people who loved her and obeyed her because they loved her. But Wolffeton was vastly different from Belleterre. “Tell me now, Etta,” she heard Kassia say. “What happened whilst I slept?”
Etta eased her bulky frame into the one chair in the large chamber. “Well, after I was certain that you were all right, my baby, I slipped into the hall below. I have never heard so many people arguing at once in all my life! And the screeching from Lord Graelam’s betrothed!”
Kassia felt a surge of guilt, but it was tempered with the anger she had felt at the insults that lady had hurled at her. She sipped at the warm wine. “I hope her heart is not broken.”
“Ha, that one! Lord Graelam should kiss your feet, for you saved him from a wretched existence. As to the other one, well, we shall have to see.”
“What other one?”
“Lady Blanche, Lord Graelam’s sister-in-law.”
Kassia frowned, wondering if her wits had gone begging.
“Lord Graelam, I discovered from one of the servants, was married before, a long time ago. His wife’s half-sister came to Wolffeton some three or four months ago to live. Why, I don’t know.” Etta shrugged. “She did seem quiet enough and qui
te the lady during all the shrieking and arguing. Eat the potatoes, my lady,” Etta added, her eyes upon Kassia’s trencher.