Her Knight Protector Page 16

  He was fretful, a little flushed as his fever seemed to return. She guessed that his mind was wandering in the past so that he hardly knew whom he spoke to.

  ‘Yes, I promise that I shall marry only a good man, Uncle.’

  For a moment he was silent and then, when he looked at her again, she saw that his mind was a little calmer.

  ‘I have heard that you are under the protection of Sir Alain de Banewulf. The family is respected and I believe Sir Alain to be a good man. Will he marry you, Katherine?’

  ‘I— I do not know,’ she said. ‘We are friends and he has been good to me. Were it not for Sir Alain, I might be dead.’

  ‘Then I hope that you will find happiness with him. I have suffered for my sins, Katherine, and you see before you a miserable wretch who never knew a moment’s peace after he drove his sister away.’

  ‘Rest in peace, Uncle.’ Katherine bent to kiss his cheek. His skin was papery thin and dry to the touch, and the stench of neglect was on him. She thought of Lady Alayne’s sweet-smelling sheets, and the way she had been cared for when she was ill. ‘Will you let me send someone to nurse you, Uncle? It might be that we could ease your suffering.’

  ‘Nay, child. I shall not see you again. I have made my peace with you and may die now. Do not come again. Tomorrow my servants will take me home. I may live until we get there or I may die on the road. I care not either way. Go now, Katherine. You will hear soon of my death and the inheritance that is yours.’

  Katherine’s eyes stung with tears. She looked down at him sadly, feeling the waste of years, the pain and suffering he had endured because of a misplaced love.

  ‘She understood, Uncle,’ she whispered softly close to his ear and kissed him. ‘And she never ceased to love you.’

  She heard his sharply drawn breath, but turned and walked from the room without a backward look. The hurt went too deep, the regret too bitter to be washed away by the salt of tears. Perhaps if her uncle had sought forgiveness when she was still a child things might have been different. Had her father received what was owed him, he could have restored Grunwald and might never have set out on his travels. He might even have made friends with his wife’s brother.

  But it was too late for such regrets. She knew that her uncle spoke truly when he said that he would live only a short time. He would be fortunate if he died in his own bed.

  Alain was waiting for her in the hall downstairs, standing gazing out at the street where the revellers were still dancing and celebrating the King’s return, but he turned as she entered, his eyes searching her pale face.

  ‘It was hard for you. I should have been with you.’

  ‘Nay, for he spoke freely and he might not have done had you been there to witness his confession,’ she said and held back a sigh of regret. ‘I am merely sad at the wasted years and the unhappiness a foolish quarrel caused so long ago.’ She spoke of it as a mere quarrel, for she did not want to reveal her uncle’s shame at the moment, and because he had so sincerely repented, was truly ashamed of his wickedness, she was prepared to forgive him. Indeed, it was a terrible thing he had done, though driven by a love that went beyond what it ought.

  ‘Shall I take you home now, Katherine—to Banewulf?’

  ‘We shall talk as we return to our lodgings,’ she said and turned to thank her uncle’s steward before they left.

  ‘You will hear from me soon, my lady,’ he told her. ‘For I know my master’s wishes.’

  ‘Yes, thank you. I am not sure where I shall be in the near future—but a letter to Banewulf will reach me.’ He bowed respectfully to her and she took Alain’s arm as they went out.

  Alain looked down at her strained face as they gained the street and began to walk slowly back towards the market place. ‘Your inheritance has been restored to you?’

  ‘And much more, I believe. It seems that my uncle has been pleased to leave all that he owns to me as reparation for the wrong that he did my mother.’

  ‘You will be a wealthy woman,’ Alain said. ‘You must think carefully about the future, Katherine.’

  ‘Yes, indeed, my uncle begged me to marry only if the man I chose was kind.’ She felt heat in her cheeks and could not look at Alain, for she would not tell him what more her uncle had said concerning her marriage. ‘But that is for the future and not something that need concern us for the moment. I wished to speak to you concerning my father’s discovery. What do you think I should do with it? In truth, I think it a dangerous thing to own and would be rid of it if I can—but I owe it to my father to do what I am able to place it in the right hands.’ If only she knew where that was! She had thought long and hard and still had no clear decision.

  ‘For the moment it is safe enough in my father’s strongroom,’ Alain said and looked thoughtful. ‘I believe I shall speak to Ravenshurst and ask him if he has the notes and if he will accept payment for them. It can do no harm and may help us to come to a settlement of this affair.’

  ‘Do you think he would give them up?’ Katherine looked at him earnestly.

  ‘He must surely know by now that he is unlikely to get his hands on the cup,’ Alain said. ‘And I know that his estate is deeply in debt. It may be that he will bargain for the notes and documents—if he has them. Of course they could have been lost or destroyed.’

  ‘Yes, I understand that, but if he has them… I could pay him now,’ Katherine said. Her eyes were anxious as she gazed at him. ‘But I do not want you to put yourself in danger, Alain. I would rather throw the cup into a deep river than see harm come to you.’

  ‘I beg you not to think of it,’ Alain said swiftly. ‘If your father’s documents prove that it is indeed the cup our Lord used…it is too precious to be wantonly destroyed. Anyone who did that would be cursed forever. And rightly so. We may not lay this burden down, Katherine. It is our duty and our privilege to see this to the end.’ There was a fervent note in his voice and she guessed that this meant more to him than an idle gesture. Perhaps because of the loss of Jerusalem, which she knew had pricked him sorely.

  Katherine looked at him unhappily. ‘It is a heavy burden to bear. I have wished that my father had never discovered it.’

  ‘Where was it?’ Alain asked. ‘You have never explained that to me.’

  ‘No, for I do not know exactly. I know that it was buried in a plain casket of bronze, and that it was wrapped in layers of cloth, together with a faded parchment that told how one of Christ’s disciples had taken the cup. He had given it to a trusted friend for safekeeping, but it was stolen and then lost, lying undiscovered for years. Whoever wrote the words on that scrap of parchment did so many years later, according to my father. It was near Jerusalem that it was discovered, but only my father knew exactly where, though I believe it was some kind of tomb or catacomb.’

  ‘Did he write down all the details of his search?’

  ‘I believe he must have done so. He spent hours making notes, and, as you have seen from the fragment you have, they are very detailed.’

  ‘Then Ravenshurst has the key to this,’ Alain said. ‘Unless the notes have been lost…’

  ‘The casket was lost with my father’s baggage. He believed the cup would be safer with me, and I carried it in a small cloth bag beneath my tunic until my room was searched in Italy, and then I gave it to Maria. She kept it with her always until she returned it to me at Banewulf and I placed it in Sir Ralph’s strongroom.’

  Alain nodded his understanding. ‘Ravenshurst may have destroyed the papers in his frustration, but I think he has them still. He must understand the significance of what they describe. Why else would he have followed you thus far?’

  ‘I dare say that you are right,’ Katherine said and looked at him anxiously. ‘So you think we should try to buy them from him before we do anything else?’

  ‘Buy or steal them,’ Alain said and gave her a wicked grin that would have made her laugh had the matter not been so serious. ‘I have already sent men to following him, Katherine. He will k
now that his ruse of using men dressed to appear as brigands has not fooled us, and he will be waiting for our next move. I shall ask for a meeting on common ground and then we shall see…’ He hesitated, then met her steady gaze. ‘I had kept it from you but perhaps you should know that I suspect Ravenshurst’s men of trying to kill me.’

  She nodded as she accepted what she had always known in her heart. ‘I thank you for telling me, for I had suspected it before this.’

  ‘I think it best that you know the truth so that you may be wary in the future.’

  Katherine knew he was right. ‘And my uncle of Grunwald? What of him? Should I go to him for advice?’

  ‘I think we should wait a little longer for his reply to my father’s letter,’ Alain said. ‘To make the journey to France for no good reason would be foolish until we have settled with Ravenshurst. You must certainly see your uncle, but there can be no hurry.’

  ‘No, I suppose not,’ Katherine agreed. ‘After all, I do not know if my uncle still lives…’ The memory of Philip of Rotherham’s wasted body was fresh in her mind. It was possible that her father’s brother was also dead. ‘And if your father has written to him, he may have good reason for not replying. Perhaps I should wait until he agrees to see me.’

  Alain’s eyes dwelled for some moments on her face. In truth, he was growing less and less inclined to part from her. He hardly understood this feeling inside him, but knew that it was unlike any he had experienced for a woman before this. Sometimes, when she had that teasing smile in her eyes, his body burned for her and he longed to make love to her, but at others, when she seemed vulnerable, he knew an overwhelming desire to protect her from all harm. It was a new and strange sensation, one that he had not experienced before.

  Was the feeling he had for Katherine the love of which the troubadours sung? He had thought it merely a myth, a poet’s dream of Utopia. Lust was a fleeting need that burned to ashes all too soon, but romantic love was a far sweeter thing. If that truly existed, if he might find it with Katherine…ah, then he would be fortunate. Sometimes he believed that he did indeed feel something special for her, and that he needed nothing more of life than to live with her in content as Stefan did with his wife and family—but at other times the restlessness was still strong in him. Why could he not be content? Surely he had seen enough of wandering?

  ‘We shall return to Banewulf with my mother and Marguerite,’ he said. ‘I should like the chance to spend a little time with you, Katherine. It seems that there has always been something to take me from you since we came to England. Now that Richard is secure there is little for me to do for the moment and I shall spend some time at Banewulf with you and my family.’

  Katherine gave him a tremulous smile, her heart beating faster as she saw the expression in his eyes. When he looked at her that way she could almost believe that he loved her as she loved him.

  Chapter Eight

  ‘We go home tomorrow,’ Elona said as she and Katherine sat together in the warm sunshine, watching her twin sons playing tag in the gardens. The sound of their voices as they shouted and laughed at some mischief was a joyous sound and made Katherine wistful. Would she ever know the joy of a family of her own? ‘We have been away for longer than we intended and Stefan has business that needs his attention. I shall miss you, Katherine. I wish you will not go to live in France with your uncle, but stay here with our family.’

  There was a naughty gleam in Elona’s eyes, which made Katherine blush, for she knew what was in the other’s mind, and indeed, these past ten days since their return, Alain had seemed to be paying court to her. His smiles for her had been warm and merry, his words teasing but delicately laced with innuendo that she could not mistake, especially since he had written her more love poems.

  ‘I must visit my uncle of Grunwald soon,’ Katherine told her. ‘It is only right and proper that I should, but I have been very happy here.’

  Sometimes she tried to remember her life at Grunwald, but it seemed distant and far away. Even her travels with her father had faded into memories that were softer and sweeter for time. In her heart she knew that she wanted to stay here at Banewulf until she was wed and then go with Alain to his own manor—but did he really mean to ask her to be his wife?

  Something made her look up at that moment, and she saw that he was walking their way, clearly intending to join them. Her heart beat faster. How could she hope that he would love her? He was all that a knight should be: tall, strong, clever and handsome. He could surely take his pick of women for his wife, and there were many far more lovely than Katherine.

  Since their return from Winchester he had left off his soldier’s garb of short tunic and braes and was wearing a longer gown of rich material such as he had worn for the King’s celebrations. She noticed that he was rubbing his arm, and guessed that it was sore after his exercise, for it had not quite recovered from the arrow wound. He had spent some hours training with his brother that morning, and she and Elona had watched for a while, amused by the contest. The two brothers were well matched and delighted in trying to best one another, though they were as true friends as you might find.

  ‘So this is where you are hiding yourselves,’ Alain said with a teasing look at them. ‘What mischief are you plotting now?’

  ‘I was telling Katherine that we go home tomorrow,’ Elona said, and then, with a lift of her head, ‘Also that she should not think of going to live with her uncle in France.’ Her eyes gleamed with mischief.

  ‘It was to bring Katherine news of her uncle that I sought you out,’ Alain said and frowned as if he were not best pleased about something. ‘I have news for you at last, Katherine.’

  ‘Then I shall leave you alone to talk,’ Elona said and rose to her feet. She called to her sons, bending to say something to them that set them laughing and running ahead of her towards the house.

  Alain sat down on the bench beside Katherine. ‘I thought you would wish to know that we have had three messages this morning—all of them concerning you.’

  ‘Three messages concerning me? I did not realise I had become so important,’ Katherine said and laughed softly.

  ‘The first and saddest is that Philip of Rotherham passed away at his home the same day that he arrived there. His steward has written to say that he will keep all in order for you should you wish to visit the property that is now yours. And he will prepare an inventory of all your uncle’s wealth so that the lawyers may sign it and be satisfied that everything is as it should be.’

  ‘My poor uncle,’ Katherine said and made the sign of the cross over her breast. ‘I pray that he may rest in peace.’

  ‘Amen to that,’ Alain said, an odd look in his eyes. ‘So you are wealthy in your own right now, Katherine. Your uncle has not appointed a guardian for you—but I dare say your uncle of Grunwald is your guardian under the law. And that brings me to our next communication.’

  ‘You have heard from Uncle Robert?’

  ‘His steward writes to say that your uncle is from home but will write to you when he returns.’

  ‘Away from home so many months?’ Katherine wrinkled her brow in thought. ‘Does that not seem strange to you?’

  ‘I have discussed it with my father and he agrees with me that it sounds as if something may not be as it ought. It may simply be that your uncle does not wish to be bothered with his brother’s daughter or perhaps he has been on a long journey somewhere…’ Alain rubbed his arm, then became aware of what he was doing and stopped. ‘My arm has not quite recovered from the arrow wound, but it is merely a nuisance. I think we were wise to delay your journey, Katherine.’

  ‘Yes, for if my uncle was not there…’

  ‘We do not know what we should find,’ Alain agreed. ‘So that brings me to my last message, and this is perhaps the most significant. Ravenshurst has asked for a meeting in London. He pretends to be unsure what my letter meant, but says he has managed to rescue something that belongs to you.’

  Katherine’s eyes to
ok fire. ‘That must mean that he has my father’s notes! And it sounds as if he may be prepared to bargain for them.’

  ‘Yes, I am certain that it does,’ Alain said and smiled as he saw her excitement. He did not know how it was, but she seemed to have become a woman in a matter of weeks, and a lovely one at that. When he looked at her now it was almost impossible to remember the small brown child she had been when he rescued her from Ravenshurst’s men. Gazing into her face, he had a sudden and urgent desire to kiss her, and without really knowing what he did, he reached out to touch her cheek with his fingertips. She did not draw back, but continued to sit gazing up at him with those brilliant eyes. He reached out for her, drawing her into his arms, his lips seeking hers in a kiss that was soft and gentle and only gradually deepened to passion. Yet when he let her go he found that he was shaken. He spoke from the heart, his doubts fleeing in that moment. ‘I believe I have fallen in love with you, Katherine…’

  She pressed her fingers to her lips and he saw that her hand was trembling. Then she clasped her hands together and raised her head proudly. ‘I think you merely tease me, sir,’ she said. ‘For how can you love me? I am not beautiful or clever…’

  ‘Hush, Katherine.’ He pressed a finger to her lips and smiled at her tenderly. ‘You wrong yourself, sweet Kate. You have a quick, clever mind, and though you are not beautiful as the world defines beauty, you are certainly lovely to me.’