Page 24 of Anice’s Bargain

James had to resist the urge to glance behind him to the woman he would soon wed, to witness her reaction.

Bernard let the silence drag out while his words settled over the congregation. “If any of you know cause of just impediment as to why these persons should not be joined together in Holy Matrimony, you are to declare it here and now.”

James did not have only one objection—he had several. But he remained seated in the hard-backed pew, resigned to the deafening quiet of the church, and his own inevitable misery.

* * *

Anice squeezedher clasped hands in her lap in an effort to remain silent. She didn’t want this marriage any more than the man she would have to marry. Aside from the woman who had remarked on her former betrothed, no one spoke a word.

Timothy. Anice hated the twist of her stomach at the mere thought of him. When their banns were read aloud almost five years prior, he’d sat beside her as a guest of the castle, contented with the announcement, as though suddenly the world was right.

James had declined joining her, from what she’d gathered from his exchange with Bernard, and now he did not so much as glance up at the balcony.

Bernard’s pause dragged on for some time, as though encouraging the congregation to protest. His pale eyes swept over the balcony and lingered on her, as if to say, “Now is your chance, my lady.”

But it was not her true chance. Bernard was deathly afraid of marauders, even more so than he was of Isla; however, he must realize that Anice’s sacrifice was integral for their survival.

When the silence had stretched too far, Bernard slapped his hands together. “Then there it is, the first of the banns.” He nodded and proceeded with his sermon.

Anice ought to have listened to his preaching, however, her gaze continued to settled on the head of wavy brown hair sitting higher than all others around him. James.

An uncomfortable hollowness echoed within her heart. She wished the woman had not mentioned Timothy. Wasn’t it bad enough that Anice was being forced to marry her greatest enemy? Did she now have to be reminded of her former betrothed?

The air held a clamminess that stuck in her throat and left her with a sense of suffocation. Bernard’s monotone voice droned on and on and on. She was glad she sat, for surely her legs would have given way if she’d been standing.

Anice remained in her seat after the sermon drew to an eventual close and waited for the room to clear so that she might light a candle for her mother. The same as she did most days after mass. She glanced down as James lifted his gaze to the balcony when rising from the pew. His stare hovered on her for a moment, long enough for her heart to suspend mid-beat, and then he was gone.

She made her way down the narrow stairway and to the front of the chapel. Her footsteps rang off the stone walls in the large, empty room, reminding her she was gloriously alone.

Except she wasn’t alone. Another figure bowed over the flickering flame of a candle. Her father.

He lifted his head at her approach. “Anice.”

“I came to light a candle.”

Her father eased himself up from his knees. “I wanted to speak with you.”

“Here?” Surely, the solar was a better place for a discussion.

He gave a good-natured smile. “Do not put on pious airs with a man who knows you better.”

Anice said nothing, as they both knew he was right.

“The banns appeared to go well,” he offered.

She did not want to think of the banns, or of how James had not bothered turning to look at her. “There were no protests.”

Her father nodded slowly, obviously mulling over an idea. “While he’s here, I want you to keep a watchful eye on your betrothed.”

“You want me to spy on him.”

The earl tilted his head in quiet confirmation. “We’d be fools to trust any of them, and you keep that forefront in your mind. See where he goes, who he talks to. Be with him at all times.”

“I’m to be his guard?” Anice asked with incredulity.

He gazed down at the flame and his jaw tightened. “Aye.”

She folded her arms over her chest, but it did not calm her heart’s rapid beat. “This is my punishment, I presume? For allowing him to remain here.”