AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nay.” His head popped up. “You’ve got it all wrong. Lord Emery favored me. I was his Captain of the Guard. He gave his daughter’s hand to me in marriage, but he passed away before we could say our vows. His funeral took the place of the wedding. Lady Catherine was distraught. Her mother had died years before and she had no siblings. Her father was everything to her.”
“I see.”
“I was to inherit the castle at his death. That is, since I would be his daughter’s husband.”
“But you weren’t.”
“Nay, not yet. I was also to become the High Sheriff of Durham. But then Sir Gregory arrived with a bishop from Somerset as well as the pope.”
“The pope?” she asked, sounding confused. “Whatever for?”
“That’s what I wanted to know. They were supposedly here because of the death of Lord Emery. But the next morning, Sir Gregory sent me to the bishop’s room to fetch him for the main meal. I found the man hanging by his neck from a rope attached to the rafters. He had been murdered.”
“Murdered? How awful. And you were blamed for it?”
“I immediately used my dagger and cut the man down. Sir Gregory and the pope entered just as the bishop fell into my arms. Of course, it didn’t look good for me.”
“I suppose not.”
“Sir Gregory was able to convince the pope to have my title stripped and to excommunicate me from the church.”
“But didn’t you get a fair trial?”
“Nay. It seems our weasel, Sir Gregory, had already convinced the king to give him the title of High Sheriff instead of me.”
“I can’t believe my cousin did that.”
He felt jolted for a moment until he remembered that King Richard was Maira’s cousin. “To make matters worse, Lady Catherine had returned the jeweled dagger to me that morning. It was my betrothal present to her. A stone was loose and I was going to fix it for her. Lady Catherine loved that dagger and everyone knew it. She took it with her everywhere. Sir Gregory knew about it, since he would visit Lord Emery often. Well, without thinking, I used it to cut down the dead bishop.”
“And why should that matter?”
“Because when Sir Gregory saw the dagger in my hand, it made it obvious I had been with her the night before.”
“And had you?” Maira crossed her arms over her chest.
“Of course I had. She needed comforting. Her father had just died. Besides, I was her betrothed. But Sir Gregory spun more webs of deceit, convincing the pope that before Lord Emery died, he promised Lady Catherine as well as the castle to him.”
“I am so sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I was. You see, I bedded Catherine right before that happened. So when Sir Gregory married her and found out she wasn’t a virgin, he beat her.”
“How awful!”
“I was banned from the castle and sent away with nothing but my squire at my side. And Will came with me of his own accord.”
“Then Sir Gregory truly did steal everything from you.”
“Aye, he did.” Jacob got up and walked slowly over to Maira. “But he will not have you, Maira. I won’t let that cur treat you badly. Please, don’t marry him.”
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of marrying Sir Gregory.”
“I am nothing like the High Sheriff nor will I ever be,” he said, hoping she would see him for the man he used to be, not the man he was now.
“Of course you’re not. I believe you,” she said, seeming as if she needed a little convincing. He pulled her into his arms, kissing her once again.
“Jacob, when you kiss me I feel weak in the knees,” she whispered.
“I feel the same way,” he told her, taking her face in his hands and kissing her deeply, not able to pull away. He only meant to make her heady, but before he knew what happened, he was laying her back on the bed and his hand was sneaking up under her gown.
