Page 21 of Betrothal

“You had to interfere, Thomas. Had to plant doubt in my mind.” Geoffrey’s voice lowered in deathly calm, though he seethed with anger. He adjusted his hold on the dull red fabric, screwing it into a tight knot against Thomas’s chest.

“What are you talking about, Geoffrey? You are not making sense.” Thomas glared at him, though Geoffrey caught a flicker of fear in his friend’s eyes. Good.

“I went to Alyse to learn her choice because you thought it would be ill-advised.” Geoffrey leaned his full weight into Thomas, trapping him against the wall with no hope of escape. “Now, in trying to prevent one disaster, I have created another. She thinks I do not trust her judgment and has withdrawn from me. Christ, she may not even speak to me again. Everything I have worked for the past two days, the trust, the companionship, the regard, has vanished.” He shook Thomas roughly, like a terrier with a rat, and turned a cold eye on his friend. “And you are going to help me get them back.”

Thomas’s mouth twisted into a sneer. “Why does this matter so much to you, Geoffrey? The girl must wed you. What does it matter whether she comes willing or not to your bed? You are acting the lovesick fool!” He managed to wrest his tunic away and put some distance between them.

“Better a lovesick fool than a man incapable of feeling.”

“By God, Geoffrey…”

“Peace, Thomas.” Geoffrey put out a dismissive hand. “My regard for Lady Alyse is none of your concern. But the grief and mistrust I have brought down on my own head are, for you certainly had a hand in that.”

After ten years of friendship, how had they come to this?

An unwilling chuckle erupted from his lips, causing Thomas to glance at him suspiciously. “Two friends at odds over a woman,” he offered ruefully. “We sound like a tale from the Round Table.”

Thomas grinned at that, and the tension eased. “We do indeed. ‘Sir Thomas and the Lovesick Fool.’” He sobered. “My pardon, if my words have brooked a quarrel betwixt you and your lady. ’Twas not my intent.” He offered his hand and slowly Geoffrey reached out his as well. “So relate to me what has transpired and I will devise a plan of action to win back the regard of the fair Alyse.” His mouth turned up into a knowing smile. “For who knows better than I how to seduce a woman?”

Chapter 9

Alyse made an appearance at supper that night only because her duties required her to attend Princess Joanna. When seated at her accustomed table, she fidgeted, uncomfortable on the narrow bench. Nothing had seemed right since Geoffrey’s betrayal. She sighed and tried to pay attention to the tale Patrick was telling of his latest troubles with his horse. It did no good. She simply could not concentrate on anything other than her own plight with Sir Geoffrey.

Inconstant oaf. When he asked me to choose our knight and lady, I believed he understood how much of a helpmeet I could be for him. I would never have chosen someone ostentatious. If he knows anything about me at all, it is that I shun attention.

The servant brought her a trencher, filled with braised eels in a thick sauce. Alyse cringed and shoved it away, her stomach roiling. She reached for her cup of ale, but the thought of swallowing anything right now made her shudder. Between the smoky torches, the rank odor of the food and her own woes, there was little wonder her head had begun to pound. She would not have to feign illness to leave, as she had arranged with Maurya.

When the new musician, Gracias de Gyvill, recently arrived from Spain as a gift to Princess Joanna from Prince Pedro, began to play softly on the lute, she tried once more to drag her mind from her misery. His lilting melody soothed her and she relaxed a little.

Until an outburst of laughter from across the Hall made her jump and drew her attention to the table. But both her courtiers were absent tonight. Still, the sight of their usual haunt rekindled her ire against them.

She could not decide who had angered her most. Geoffrey’s betrayal stung mightily, but she believed him led astray by his friend. She was more than willing to heap blame on that conceited lord, whose earlier disregard incensed her anew. Bitter memories of Lord Braeton blatantly ignoring her at court functions flooded her mind, and she winced to think how she had tried to dally with him the few times they had conversed.

Well, she had gotten the better of him last night. She smiled for the first time that day at the thought of her banter with him. He had seemed more respectful of her after she had taken him down a peg. And appreciative. She recalled his appraising look after their exchange.

As if he saw me for the first time.

Alyse sat straight up on her bench. Had her spirited wordplay drawn his attention at last? Perhaps he had sowed seeds of discord between her and Geoffrey out of jealousy. Perchance he was angry that she had to marry another.

Too late.

She slouched again. She was betrothed to Geoffrey. Nothing could change that. Could it? Had she ever heard of a betrothal being broken?

She glanced around the room, recalling as much gossip as possible from the past months. Had there not been talk about Lady Mary Percy and Sir Roger Delaney? One person surely knew.

“Maurya.”

Her companion turned to her and shook her head. “’Tis too early to retire yet, Alyse. Wait a bit and I shall get John to escort you.”

“Nay, ’tis not that.” Alyse glanced at Patrick on her left and lowered her voice. “Tell me about Sir Roger’s betrothal. ’Tis no longer contracted, is it?”

Maurya met her eyes with a hard stare. “Do not think of it, Alyse. Your spat with Sir Geoffrey will blow away like a March wind. He is an honorable and chivalrous man. If you give him a chance, I believe he will make amends for his behavior.”

Alyse gazed back at her, undeterred. “They were betrothed, were they not? And now she is to wed another.”

With a sigh, Maurya turned all the way around until she faced Alyse. Her voice lowered and she glanced around with sharp eyes to see who might overhear. “Aye, she and Sir Roger were to be married in March. Their families had arranged the alliance years ago. But Mary is His Majesty’s cousin…” She paused, scanned the surrounding tables once again. “’Tis said the king wished an alliance with another noble family. The Delaneys acquiesced, of course. One does not gainsay the king.”

“So His Majesty could set a betrothal aside?”