The Velvet Promise Read online

“Revedoune wants only the eldest son for his daughter,” Raine grinned. “Otherwise I would be more than willing.”

  “Why this haggling?” Miles said angrily. “You are twenty-seven years old, and you need a wife. This Judith Revedoune is rich—she brings an earldom with her. Perhaps through her the Montgomeries can begin to regain what we once had.”

  Alice was lost to him and the sooner he faced that the sooner he could begin to heal, Gavin decided. “All right. I agree to the marriage.”

  Immediately, Raine and Miles let out the breath they had not realized they’d been holding.

  Miles set his wine down. “I asked the messenger to stay. I’d hoped to tell him your answer.”

  As Miles left the room, Raine’s sense of humor took over. “I have heard she is only this tall,” he held his hand near his waist, “and she has teeth the size of a horse’s. Besides that…”

  The old tower was drafty; the wind whistled through the cracks. The oiled paper over the windows did little to keep out the cold.

  Alice slept comfortably, nude beneath a linen coverlet, filled with goose down.

  “My lady,” Ela whispered to her mistress. “He is here.”

  Drowsy, Alice rolled over. “How dare you wake me!” she said in a fierce whisper. “Who is here?”

  “The man from the Revedoune household. He—”

  “Revedoune!” Alice said as she sat up, fully awake now. “Bring me my robe and fetch the man to me.”

  “Here?” Ela was aghast. “No, my lady, you cannot. Someone could hear you.”

  “Yes,” Alice said absently. “It is too great a risk. Let me dress. I’ll meet him under that elm tree by the kitchen garden.”

  “At night? But—”

  “Go now! Tell him I will be there soon.” Alice quickly threw her arms into her bedrobe, a gown of thick crimson velvet lined with gray squirrel fur. She wrapped a wide belt about her waist and slipped her feet into soft leather slippers dyed gold.

  It had been nearly a month since she’d seen Gavin, and in all that time she’d had no word from him. But only days after their night in the forest, she had heard that he was to marry the Revedoune heiress. And now a tourney to celebrate the match was being cried from one end of England to the other. Every man of importance was being invited; every knight with any skill was asked to participate. At every word she heard, Alice grew more jealous. How she’d like to sit beside a husband such as Gavin and watch a tourney fought to celebrate her marriage. No such plans were being made for her wedding.

  Yet, for all she heard of the plans, nowhere could she hear a word about Judith Revedoune herself. The girl was a name with no face or figure to it. Two weeks ago, Alice had come upon the idea of purchasing a spy to find out about this elusive Judith, to find what she looked like, what Alice must compete with. She gave Ela orders that she was to be told when the man arrived, no matter what time.

  Alice’s heart was beating quickly as she ran through the path of the weed-choked garden. This Judith was an absolute toad, Alice told herself. She had to be.

  “Ah, my lady,” the spy said when Alice was near. “Your beauty outshines the moon in radiance.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

  He disgusted her, yet he was the only man she could find who had access to the Revedoune family. The price she’d had to pay him was outrageous! He was a slimy, oily man, but at least his lovemaking had not been so. Was any man’s, she wondered. “What news?” Alice asked impatiently as she hurriedly pulled her hand away. “Did you see her?”

  “Not…closely—”

  “Closely? Did you see her or not?” Alice demanded, looking straight into his eyes.

  “Yes, I saw her,” he answered firmly. “But she is heavily guarded.” He wanted to please this blonde beauty, so he knew he must conceal the truth. He had seen Judith Revedoune, but only from a distance, as she was riding away from the manor with her women. He wasn’t even sure which bundled figure was the heiress.

  “Why is she kept guarded? Is her mind not sound that she cannot be trusted to be free?”

  Suddenly he was afraid of this woman who questioned him so sharply. There was power in those cold blue eyes. “There are rumors, of course. She is seen by no one except her women and her mother. She has lived her life among them, and always she has prepared for the church.”

  “The church?” Alice began to feel some of the tension leave her. It was common knowledge that whenever a deformed or retarded daughter was born, if the family were rich enough, the creature would be pensioned and given to the nuns to care for. “Then you think she could have a weak mind or be malformed in some way?”

  “Why else, my lady, would she be kept hidden all her life? Robert Revedoune is a hard man. His wife limps from a time when he threw her down the stairs. He wouldn’t want the world to see that he has a monster for a daughter.”

  “But you aren’t sure this is the reason she is hidden?”

  He smiled, feeling safer. “What other reason could there be? If she were sane and whole, wouldn’t he bring her out for the world to see? Wouldn’t he have offered her in marriage before his sons’ deaths forced him to do so? What man would allow his only daughter to enter the church? Only when a man has many daughters does he allow that.”

  Alice was staring quietly ahead into the night. Her silence made the man grow bolder. He leaned closer to her, put his hand over hers and whispered into her ear. “You have no reason to fear, my lady. There will be no beautiful bride to turn the Lord Gavin’s head from you.”

  Only Alice’s sharply drawn breath gave any indication she had heard. Did even the most common of men know about her and Gavin? With the skill of a great actress, she turned and smiled at the man. “You have done well and you shall be…suitably rewarded.” She left no doubt as to the meaning of her words.

  He bent and kissed her neck.

  Alice moved away, hiding her revulsion. “No, not tonight,” she whispered intimately. “Tomorrow. Arrangements must be made so we can spend more time together.” She ran her hand under the loose tabard, along his upper thigh, and smiled seductively when his breath caught. “I must go,” she said with seeming reluctance.

  There was no hint of a smile on her face when her back was to him. She had one more stop to make before she returned to bed. The stableboy would be glad to help her. She would not allow any man to speak freely of Gavin and her…and this one would pay for his words.

  “Good morning, Father,” Alice said cheerfully as she bent to brush her lips against the cheek of the gnarled and filthy old man. They were on the second floor of the tower, a floor left open as one enormous room. This was the great hall: a room used for eating, sleeping for the castle retainers, and all the daily activities.

  She looked into her father’s empty cup. “Here, you!” she said sharply to a passing servant. “Bring my father more ale.”

  Nicolas Valence took his daughter’s hand in both of his and looked up at her in gratitude. “You are the only one who cares, my lovely Alice. All the others—your mother and sisters—try to keep me from my drink. But you understand how it comforts me.”

  She pulled away from him, hiding her feelings at his touch. “But of course, dear Father. That is because I alone love you.” She smiled sweetly at him.

  After all these years Nicolas still marveled that he and his ugly little wife could have created such a lovely girl. Alice’s pale beauty was a sharp contrast to his own darkness. And when the others raged at him and hid his liquor, Alice sneaked bottles to him. It was true—she did love him. And he loved her, too. What little coin there was, didn’t he give it to her for her clothes? His lovely Alice wore silk while her sisters wore homespun. He’d do anything for her. Hadn’t he told that Gavin Montgomery that she couldn’t marry him, just as Alice had told him to? Of course Nicolas didn’t understand why a young girl wouldn’t want to marry such a strong and rich man like Gavin. But Alice had been right. He picked up his refilled cup and drained it. She’d been right—now she was to marry