The Velvet Promise Read online

  She paused a moment. “I tell you this to show you that I understand the way he has a hold on you. So did my husband. I know the power Gavin has over you, for my own marriage was the same. I can’t say it was love, and I can’t say yours is.”

  They sat quietly for a moment, both staring at the glowing charcoal.

  “And now I rescue my husband as you rescued yours,” Judith said. “Even though yours lived to beat you again, and mine will return to another woman.”

  “Yes,” Helen said sadly.

  “Did having a child matter?”

  Helen considered. “Perhaps if the first ones had lived, but there were three dead, all boys. Then when you came, and you were a girl….” She didn’t finish the sentence.

  “Do you think it would have mattered had the first one lived and been a son?” Judith persisted.

  “I don’t know. I don’t believe he beat his first wife, who gave him sons. But he was younger then.” She stopped abruptly. “Judith! Are you with child?”

  “Yes. Two months gone.”

  John jumped to his feet in a clatter of armor and steel sword against stone. “You have ridden all this way and you are with child!” he demanded. He had been so quiet the two women had forgotten his presence. He put his hand to his forehead. “Hanging will be too good for me. Lord Gavin will torture me, as well I deserve when he hears of this.”

  Judith was on her feet instantly, gold eyes blazing “And who will tell him? You are sworn to secrecy!”

  “How do you plan to keep this a secret?” he asked with heavy sarcasm.

  “When it must be known, I plan to be far away from this place.” Her eyes softened. “You wouldn’t tell, would you, John?”

  His expression didn’t change. “Don’t try such cajolery on me. Save it for that fish of a man, Walter Demari.”

  Helen’s laugh interrupted them. It was good to hear her laugh, a sound too seldom heard in her unhappy life. “It does me good to see you like this, my daughter. I was afraid marriage might tame you and break your spirit.”

  Judith wasn’t listening. John had heard too much. She had said too many intimate things in his hearing; now her cheeks were beginning to stain red.

  “No,” John said, with a sigh. “It would take more than a mere man to tame this one. Don’t plead more, child. I will say nothing of what I have heard unless you ask me to.”

  “Not even to Gavin?”

  He gave her a worried look. “I haven’t seen him yet. I would give a great deal to know where he is being held, if he is well.”

  “Judith,” Helen said, bringing their attention back to her. “You have yet to tell me why you are here. Did Walter Demari send for you?”

  John sat down heavily in the chair. “We are here because the Lady Judith said we must come. She does not listen to reason.”

  “There was no other way,” Judith said as she too sat down again. “What have they told you?” she asked her mother.

  “Nothing. I was…brought here after Robert’s death. I have spoken to no one for a week. Even the maid who empties the chamber pot doesn’t speak to me.”

  “Then you don’t know where Gavin is kept?”

  “No, I gathered from your words only just now that he too was held. What does Lord Demari hope to gain?”

  “Me,” Judith said simply, then lowered her eyes before briefly explaining Walter’s plan of annulment.

  “But there can be no annulment if you carry Gavin’s child.”

  “Yes,” Judith said as she looked across her mother to John. “That is one reason it must be kept secret.”

  “Judith, what will you do? How do you expect to save yourself, Gavin, Joan and your husband’s man from this place? You are no foil for stone walls.”

  John grunted in agreement.

  “I don’t know,” Judith answered exasperatedly. “I could see no alternative. At least now I have a chance of getting you out. But first I must find Gavin. Only then—”

  “Did you bring Joan?” Helen interrupted.

  “Yes,” Judith said, knowing her mother had some idea.

  “Tell Joan to find Gavin. If there is a man to find, she can do it. She is little more than a bitch in heat.”

  Judith nodded.

  “And now, what of Walter Demari?” Helen continued.

  “I have seen him only a few times.”

  “Is he to be trusted?”

  “No!” John said. “Neither he nor that henchman of his can be trusted.”

  Judith ignored him. “Demari thinks I am beautiful, and I plan to be beautiful as long as it takes to find Gavin and make an escape.”

  Helen looked down at her daughter, so lovely in the glow of the coals. “You know so little of men,” she observed. “Men are not like account books, where you add the figures and they give you a manageable sum. They are all different…and much more powerful than you or I.”

  Suddenly John rose and looked toward the door. “They return.”

  “Judith, listen to me,” Helen said quickly, “Ask Joan how to deal with Walter. She knows a great deal about men. Promise me you will follow her advice, and don’t let your own thoughts sway you.”

  “I—”

  “Promise me!” Helen demanded, her hands holding her daughter’s head.

  “I will do my best. It is all I can promise.”

  “Then that must do.”

  The door burst open and no more words were spoken. Joan and one of the castle maids came to fetch Judith so that she might prepare for supper with his lordship. She hastily bid her mother good-bye, then followed the women, John close behind them.

  The fourth floor contained the ladies’ solar, a large, airy room, freshly cleaned with new rushes on the floor, new whitewash on the stones, almost as if a guest had been expected. Judith was left alone with her maid, John outside, guarding the door. At least Walter trusted her enough not to assign a spy to her. Joan brought a basin of heated water to her mistress.

  As Judith washed her face and hands, she looked at Joan. “Do you know where Lord Gavin is kept?”

  “No, my lady,” Joan said suspiciously. She was not used to being asked questions by her mistress.

  “Could you find out where he is?”

  Joan smiled. “I am sure I could. This is a place full of gossipmongers.”

  “Will you need silver to get this information?”

  Joan was shocked. “No, my lady. I will but ask the men.”

  “And they will tell you just because you asked?”

  Joan was gaining confidence. Her lovely mistress knew little beyond running estates and keeping accounts. “It matters much how a man is asked.”

  Judith wore a dress of silver tissue. The skirt parted in front to reveal a wide expanse of deep green satin. The sleeves were large and bell-shaped, draping gracefully from wrist to halfway down the skirt. The sleeves were lined with more green satin. Her hair was covered with a matching French hood embroidered with silver fleurs-de-lis.

  Judith sat down on a stool while Joan arranged the hood. “What if a woman wanted to ask something of Lord Walter?”

  “Him!” Joan said heatedly. “I would not trust him, though that Sir Arthur who dogs him is not ill-favored.”

  Judith whirled to face her maid. “How can you say that? Arthur has such hard eyes. Anyone can see he is a greedy man.”

  “Lord Walter is not the same?” Joan pushed her mistress’s head back around. She was feeling rather superior at the moment. “He is just as greedy, treacherous, brutal, and selfish. He is all of those and more.”

  “Then why—?”

  “Because he is always the same. A woman would know what to expect from him, and that would be whatever suited his needs best. You could deal with that.”

  “Then Lord Walter is not the same?”

  “No, my lady. Lord Walter is a child, yet a man. He changes with the wind. He will want a thing—then, when he has it, he won’t want it anymore.”

  “And this would pertain to women also?�