Page 118 of A Knight’s Vengeance

He closed the distance between them. “I did not expect to find you out here so late this evening. You are alone?”

A ghastly gleam lit his eyes. The stench of him hit her. He smelled evil. Elizabeth forced her lips into a polite, distant smile. “I told Mildred I would be gone for a moment. I needed a little fresh air. She is expecting me back.”

“You left your lover’s side for a night walk in the garden?” He smirked, revealing his chipped, stained teeth. “Why, beloved? To soothe your guilt?”

Her brow knit into a frown. “Guilt?”

“You fornicated with him while betrothed to me.”

Anger warred with her resolve to stay calm and composed. “Baron Sedgewick⁠—”

“Does that not press upon your conscience? Do you not wonder, even for a moment, how the sexual act would be with me?”

A shocked gasp jammed in her throat. “’Tis late. If you will excuse me⁠—”

“Hold.” He stepped closer, and his piggish eyes narrowed on her. “I see fear in your eyes.”

Over the sighing of the wind through the trees, her pulse thundered. She must not admit that she knew his clandestine plans. Fingering aside windblown hair, she said, “I am tired this evening. I bid you good night.”

Before she could bolt, Sedgewick grabbed her arm. “You lie with such sweetness, my love. I pray you are as sweet in our marriage bed with your legs wrapped around my thighs.”

Where he touched, her skin crawled. Revulsion boiled up in her before she thought to caution her words. “I shall never wed you. Never!”

“Such loyalty to de Lanceau. A pity he will die.”

“Murderer!” She gasped at the sudden, bruising pressure on her wrist. Struggling, she tried to free her hand, but the baron tightened his grip.

“So you did overhear. How much? Hmm?”

Denial burned on her tongue, but he would never believe her. She had already condemned herself by calling him a murderer. Now, she must goad him into revealing all of his plans, so that when she got free, she could stop him. “I heard enough to know I hate you.”

“As I hate de Lanceau for taking you from me. Aldwin’s bolt should have killed him, but the poison will finish the deed.” Spittle drizzled from the corner of the baron’s mouth and glistened on his chin. “I hope de Lanceau suffers pain in his last moments, just like his father.”

“How cruel!”

Sedgewick laughed. “Indeed, the squire said the same when I proposed that he shoot de Lanceau.”

“You… ?”

The baron studied her. “That startled you. You thought ’twas Aldwin’s idea to fire the crossbow? He soon warmed to my suggestion, though. Once I repeated Veronique’s sordid account of your rape and added a few perversions of my own, Aldwin begged to do it.”

“Aldwin is a man of honor,” Elizabeth bit out. “He would never agree to such treachery.”

“To avenge his lady’s tainted virtue?” Sedgewick sneered. “Aldwin lives and breathes chivalric drivel. Posed to him in the right way, the task appeared noble. A heroic feat, if you will, with the chance to win recognition from your father. Aldwin is an impulsive, ambitious lad. He was perfect for my purposes.”

“Why did you want Geoffrey dead? He had no grievances with you.”

“He touched you,” muttered the baron. “That in itself was enough. Yet, I expected the battle would come down to a duel between him and your father. I knew de Lanceau was the superior fighter, and I could not risk him claiming Wode.” The baron’s gleeful, lecherous gaze roved over her bliaut. “Those lands shall be mine. Through you.”

She shuddered. “By murdering my father?”

He wagged a plump finger. “I will not do it.”

“Coward! You shed blood with another’s hand.” She tried to wrench out of his grasp, but failed.

In the shifting moonlight and shadow, his smile turned brutal. “I do what is necessary to get what I want. Accept it. You will be my bride, Elizabeth. When your father dies soon after our wedding, all of his lands will fall under my control. I shall wield power in the county of Moydenshire.”

“Your logic is flawed, Baron,” she said through her teeth. “According to law, only first born male children can inherit.”