Velvet Angel Read online

  “Your Montgomerys did that,” he said hoarsely as he strode past Elizabeth and Alice.

  They buried Brian that afternoon but Roger didn’t reappear. Elizabeth planted roses on the grave and shed tears for both her brothers.

  Alice hounded Elizabeth mercilessly, screeching that the Montgomerys should die for all they’d done. She was fascinated by lamps full of hot oil and waved them around maniacally. She said Elizabeth’s child would be born with the mark of Satan and would be cursed for all eternity.

  One by one, the male guests left the bereaved and somewhat insane household and Elizabeth was left alone with her sister-in-law.

  In early March a messenger wearing full regalia came from the king.

  It was a day before the men Elizabeth sent out could find Roger where he’d been—alone in a shepherd’s stone hut. He looked to be a skeleton of himself, his cheeks gaunt under a beard, his hair long and dirty, his eyes wild and frightening.

  He silently read the message in Elizabeth’s presence, then tossed it into the fireplace.

  “Tell the king no,” he said calmly before leaving the room.

  Elizabeth could only gasp, and wonder what message the king had sent. With as much calmness as she could muster, she dismissed the king’s men and sat down to wait. Whatever Roger had refused to do would no doubt soon be known to them when the king heard of the refusal. She put her hand on her growing belly and wondered if her child would live to worry about being called a bastard.

  Chapter 14

  SIX DAYS AFTER THE KING’S MESSENGER HAD COME AND gone, Elizabeth was alone in the garden. She had not seen or heard from Roger in days and Brian’s death was making Alice lose what sanity she had. It wasn’t that the woman cared for Brian but it was the fact that a Montgomery had killed him. Elizabeth thought of this Raine with hatred.

  A shadow moved across her path and involuntarily she gasped before looking up—into the dark, intense eyes of Miles Montgomery. His eyes contemptuously swept her up and down, made note of the ivory satin of her gown, the double rows of pearls, the blood-red ruby at her breast.

  Elizabeth felt she wanted to drink in all of him, that she couldn’t get enough of him. There were dark, faintly yellow shadows under his eyes and he was thinner. Obviously he wasn’t fully recovered from his fever.

  “Come,” he said hoarsely.

  Elizabeth didn’t hesitate as she followed him through the garden and into the forest park of the Chatworth estates. Supposedly these boundaries were guarded, but somehow Miles had entered undetected.

  He didn’t speak to her, didn’t look at her and it wasn’t until they reached the two waiting horses that she realized what was wrong: He hated her. His rigid body, his cold eyes all screamed it.

  She became rigid herself when they reached the horses. “Where are you taking me?”

  He turned toward her. “The king has ordered us to marry. Your brother has refused the order. If we disobey, both your brother and I will be declared traitors and our lands confiscated.” His eyes touched on the ruby. “You need have no fear. After the marriage I will return you to your precious brother, but even you would not like to have all the things that mean so much to you taken away.”

  He turned away from her. Elizabeth tried to mount her horse but her long skirt and trembling body made that impossible. Miles came up behind her and, touching her as little as possible, flung her into the saddle.

  Elizabeth was too stunned, too much in a state of shock, to even think as they set off quickly to the north. Her eyes were so dry they burned and all she thought of was the way the horse’s mane whipped in the wind.

  They halted less than an hour later on the outskirts of a small village, before a pleasant little house beside a church. Miles dismounted, didn’t look at her as she struggled to get down from her horse.

  A priest opened the door to them. “So this is the lovely bride, Miles,” he said. “Come along, I know how impatient you are.”

  As Miles strode ahead, ignoring Elizabeth, she ran after him, caught his arm. The look he gave her as he glanced from her hand to her face made her breath catch. She dropped her hand. “After this is over, could we talk?” she whispered.

  “If it doesn’t take too long,” he said coolly. “My brother is waiting for me.”

  “No,” she said, trying to regain her dignity. “I’ll not keep you long.” With that, she gathered her skirts and walked ahead of him.

  The marriage was over in minutes. There were no witnesses from either family, only a few strangers who the priest knew. For all the feeling either participant put into the words, they could have been negotiating a grain contract.

  When they were pronounced man and wife, Miles turned toward her and Elizabeth held her breath. “I believe we can talk in the vestry,” was all he said. Chin up, Elizabeth led the way.

  When they were alone in the room, he lazily leaned against the wall. “Now you have your chance to say what you want.”

  Her first impulse was to tell him where he could spend the rest of his life but she calmed herself. “I didn’t know of the king’s order that we marry. If I had I would not have refused. I would do a great deal to settle this feud.”

  “Even to sleeping with your enemy?” he taunted.

  She gritted her teeth. “Roger has been very upset at Brian’s death.” For a moment her eyes flashed fire.

  Miles’s nostrils flared. “Perhaps you hadn’t heard that Raine survived your brother’s poison.”

  “Poison!” she gasped. “Now what do you accuse Roger of?”

  “Not Roger,” Miles said. “Your brother Brian poisoned Raine.”

  “Well, Brian certainly paid for the attempt! I hear Raine is a large man. Did he enjoy tearing my slight brother apart? Did he enjoy hearing Brian’s frail bones snap?”

  Miles eyes hardened. “I see that once again you have heard only one side. Did Roger say Raine killed Brian?”

  “Not in so many words, but…”

  Miles came away from the wall. “Ask him then. Have your perfect brother tell you the truth about who killed Brian Chatworth. Now, if you have nothing else to accuse me of, I must go.”

  “Wait!” she called. “Please, tell me the news. How is Sir Guy?”

  Miles eyes turned black. “What the hell do you care? Since when have you cared about anyone except your treacherous brother? Guy nearly died from your brother’s arrows. Perhaps he should practice his marksmanship. Another inch and he’d have reached Guy’s heart.”

  “And Kit?” she whispered.

  “Kit!” Miles said through clenched teeth. “Kit cried for three days after you left but now he won’t even allow Philip’s nurse in the same room. The nurse’s name is Elizabeth.”

  “I never meant…” she began. “I love Kit.”

  “No, Elizabeth, you don’t. We were nothing to you. You repaid us all for holding you against your will. You are, after all, a Chatworth.”

  Her anger exploded in her. “I’ll not stand for more of your insinuations! What was I supposed to do when my brother held a sword at your throat? Should I have stayed with you? He would have killed you! Can’t you understand that I left with him in order to save your ungrateful life?”

  “Am I supposed to believe that?” he said, low. “You stand before me dripping pearls, wearing a ruby that costs more than all I own and tell me you followed your brother in order to save me? What has made you think I’m stupid?”

  “Tell me then,” she shot back, “what should I have done?”

  His eyes narrowed. “You claim your brother loves you so much, you should have told him you wanted to stay with me.”

  She threw up her hands at that. “Oh yes, that would have worked so well. Roger no doubt would have resheathed his sword and gone home docilely. Roger’s temper is second only to yours. And, Montgomery, how was I to know you wanted me to remain with you?”

  He was silent for a moment. “My wants have always been clear. I hear you have been sleeping with many men lately. I’