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“But, Kat...”
“But me no buts, sweet coz. My mind is made up.”
Miranda cocked her head. “To what end?”
Throwing back her head, Kat laughed her first easy laugh of the day. “As to the end, I cannot say, for our game is not over yet.”
“Kat! How could you do this to Sir Brandon? He is the most handsome, kindest, sweetest-spoken man that ever has graced this castle. He will make you as fine a husband as any woman could hope for. And you make a...a mockery of his good intentions?”
Kat lifted her brows in surprise. Never before had she heard Miranda raise her gentle voice—and certainly never to her. How now? What goblin had stolen her cousin’s normal good wits? Could it be that piece of mischief who wore a blue bonnet and a red cloak? When Sir Brandon had brushed his lips across Miranda’s in a good night’s wish, what imp had he breathed into her? Miranda had all the marks of a first love about her. Kat swallowed back a small pang of envy. I wish I could feel that way about Sir Brandon myself. I need more time to grow used to him—like an eternity.
“Peace, coz.” Kat smiled at Miranda. “I mean no disrespect to my Lord Cavendish. He may be all that you say he is—and more,” she added quickly, when she saw that Miranda was about to protest again. “But let us not act in haste. Midsummer’s Day is still a few weeks away. Let us continue as we are. I must find out if there is any grain of truth to Fenton’s report of Sir Brandon’s drinking, gambling and dallying with all manner of women.”
“Fenton is a braying jackass,” Miranda stated as a matter of uncontested fact. She replaced the swan jewel around her neck, then regarded herself in the looking glass. “And you are right, Kat. This sweet bird nestles well upon me.” She sighed.
Miranda is besotted—or bewitched. I really must find her a husband-and quickly. Would that she could have mine!
“The devil take you, Jack! Wherever did you learn such sweet-toothed speeches as the ones you spouted like a water pump all afternoon?” Brandon poured himself a full goblet from the jug of burgundy that a serving wench had laid out for them in their chamber. The knights had been quartered at the top of the northeast tower overlooking the stagnant moat. Its foul odors wafted up on the evening breeze.
Brandon tossed down the tart ruby wine in one gulp. “All that treacle in one sitting went near to making me puke into my trencher.”
“Your Lady Katherine is an angel fair.” Jack threw himself into the large chair before the fire and dangled one leg over its thick wooden arm. “You should pay her more mind, instead of her cousin. After all, Lady Katherine is the one you are going to marry, you prowling tomcat. You had better not forget that fact. And pour me a cup of that before you drain the whole pitcher.”
“So my betrothed lady pleased you?” Brandon cocked one eyebrow as he handed his friend a brimming cup. “Tell me, if you can clear your palate of all that clinging honey, what is your honest opinion of my intended bride?” Brandon drank off another half cup, to wash down the unsettling word “bride.”
“As sweet a lady as ever walked upon the earth,” Jack murmured into his wine.
“Ha!” Brandon barked. “Does the devil speak the truth? Is this Sir John Stafford who instructs me in love? He, whom the whole court calls the Jack of Hearts? He that has wooed three times the number of maidens that I have ever met, and who has tumbled more women than even the great Royal Bull himself?”
Jack glared at Brandon. “You should know, my friend. We have shared a wench or two in our time.”
“Aye, but in my youth.” Brandon push aside those memories. Ever since the results of his indiscretions had come home to roost, he had been as celibate as a monk—almost. “Lay all posturing aside, Jack. What do you think of the lady?” He could not bring himself to call Katherine “wife” as yet. It stuck in the craw of his throat.
Jack regarded his companion with a serious expression. “I swear upon God’s holy book, Lady Katherine Fitzhugh is beyond peer. In a word, she is...adorable...sweet... virtuous...beguiling.”
“Those are four words, not one,” Brandon remarked. God’s teeth! What ailed the legendary Jack of Hearts? He meant what he was saying. Katherine’s relative youth had been a pleasant surprise, but “adorable” or “sweet”?
Jack ignored the interruption. “And she is far younger than we were led to believe. In faith, we need to hang Scantling up by his heels when we return to court. He has played the fool with you.”
“Aye, he did, indeed.” Brandon stared moodily into the fire. “Methinks he wears a dagger in his words.”
Jack’s eyes softened. “Looking at the Lady Katherine, ’tis hard to believe that she has ever been bedded, let alone by two husbands. You are a lucky dog, Brandon, and that is no mistake.”
“Am I?” Brandon lifted one brow slowly. He didn’t feel particularly lucky. More like trapped.
“What do you mean?”
“The Lady Katherine. She is fair, she is fine, she is reasonably young.” He gave Jack a piercing look. “She may also be a witch.”
“Go, hang! If you were not nose deep in a crock of wine, I might take you seriously, and be forced to challenge you to combat for the lady’s honor,” Jack growled in a low, dangerous tone.
Brandon leveled his gaze at his friend. “Think, not with your lusting fancy, but with that brain God saw fit to give you, man. How do we know that who we saw today was the true lady?”
“You are horn-mad,” Jack observed. “And you speak with a voice soused in wine.”
Brandon leaned toward him. “Listen to me, clodpate. Perhaps Lady Katherine has conjured up an apparition, and she puts on this pleasing look of youth and innocence, as a woman would don a gown for a feast. Perhaps she fed you a love charm in your quince sauce, and thereby hangs the tale. In truth, I have known you to take many a woman merrily, but never have you taken one seriously.”
Jack stared at him for a moment, then grinned and shrugged. “Methinks you are the one who is charmed—by too much ale at supper, and too much wine in your cup now. On the morrow, all will be well when you reveal your true identity.”
Brandon cocked his head. “How now?”
Jack snorted. “Are you deaf, as well as thickheaded, my friend? Tomorrow, at the earliest convenience, we shall beg that sweet lady’s forgiveness for the foul trick we have played upon her. You will tell her the truth of your parentage. The game is up. ’Tis too cruel by half to deceive her any further.”
Brandon poured himself another cup, but this time he merely sipped the contents. Jack was right about one thing. By tomorrow morning, Brandon’s head would be thick and pounding from too much imbibing. But fall upon his knees in front of that whey-faced milksop who could barely stammer out two sentences together? Never! At least, not until he knew her better.
Fenton was a lying cur—of that, there was no doubt. But the flap-eared knave may have woven a warp of truth amid the woof of lies. Better to marry a dishcloth than a witch, if one had to get married at all. The devil take King Henry and his damnable matchmaking! The winsome face of Katherine’s fair cousin broke through the dark clouds of his musings. Ah, Miranda! Now there was a woman to cheer a man’s soul, and body. The Lady Katherine was watered-down ale compared to the zest of the strong brew he spied beneath Miranda’s plain garb. He had caught her secret appraisals behind her thick, lowered lashes. Thick enough to fan a man’s desires into a bonfire. ’Twas a shame Miranda was not his promised bride. He would not grow bored with her to warm him.
Getting up, Brandon stretched to his fullest height. “Tomorrow, you will still be Sir Brandon, and I shall attempt to do my best at aping the manners of his good friend, Jack Stafford.”
“But...what of the ladies?” Jack gabbled.
“’Tis the ladies I think upon every waking moment. Aye, they shall probably haunt me in my sleep, as well.” Especially the one who wears my poor cloak pin upon her creamy breast. Brandon shook himself. “Cheer up, Jack. I do not pronounce a sentence of execution, but one of merriment. You delight in talking. gibberish to the Lady Katherine, who—God only knows why—takes pleasure in your ramblings. And I...” Brandon grinned widely. “I shall pursue good Mistress Miranda.”
Jack punched his friend in the arm. “Oh, aye? And play a double false face upon your wife before you’ve even married her?”
Brandon massaged his arm. “Nay, not that. But to seek out what truth lies behind Kat’s smile. Do not look so strange at me, Jackanapes. While at supper, I heard her serving wenches call her that name under their breath.”
“Mind how you call the fair lady to her face, or you’ll have me to answer for her,” Jack rumbled.
Brandon took pleasure in returning his friend’s hamfisted punch in his sword arm. “I shall record that warning in my book of memory, Jack-of-all-trades. And I shall study that page every day for sweet friendship’s sake. My word upon it.”
Jack tottered toward the bed. “How long do you plan to continue this mummery?”
“No more than three weeks,” Brandon answered in a soft undertone. “I mean to enjoy my last moments of freedom until my wedding day. After that, my fate will be sealed, come rack or ruin.”
“And a sweet good-night to you, too,” Jack replied, just before he fell face first amid the bedclothes.
Chapter Five
The arrow flew across the green velvety lawn and embedded its shaft in the red heart of the straw-filled target. Its fletching of gold and red feathers vibrated with the shock of impact.
“Bull’s-eye, Sir John! I win yet again!” Kat regarded her missile with supreme satisfaction. “I am most amazed that Sir Brandon boasted of your skill at archery, my lord, for you have yet to come within an inch of me.”
A devilish look of some secret amusement stole into the depths of Sir John’s brilliant blue eyes. Kat’s heart turned over in response.
“I fear my prowess has been much overrated, Mistress Miranda,” he murmured, a sly smile curving his lips. “Methinks I have forgotten the wager. What do I owe you this time?”
“The golden ribbon from your left sleeve, Sir John, to match the others I have already won.” Kat smiled, though her lips trembled as he drew nearer to her.
“Faith, mistress, if we continue to shoot at yon target, I shall not have a lacing left to hold my apparel together. By the rood, all my clothes will fall to your feet.” Untying the satin ribbon, he held it out to her. “You would not wish to see me so...at one with nature, would you?” he murmured as he drew closer still.
His steady gaze bore into her, daring her to answer his scandalous suggestion. The idea of him standing stark naked before her both startled and fascinated Kat. She blinked her eyes, to banish the wanton thought, then she tugged the ribbon from his hold. As their fingers touched, a dizzying current raced through her as if her blood had suddenly begun to boil. She laughed to cover her nervousness as she fumbled to tie her latest prize around her wrist.
“Perish the thought, Sir John. Our weather here is most unpredictable. You might find you’d catch a sudden chill, if you were thus exposed to our varying winds.”
Sir John took the ribbon from her shaking fingers. He tied it in a love knot over her pulse point, then bent his head and sealed the knot with a featherlight kiss. “Perchance you might find it in your heart to keep me warm?” he whispered, the gleam in his eye turning to blue flames.
Kat’s heart danced a lively galliard as his lips softly grazed her tender flesh. A hot flush stole into her cheeks. She must not faint!
“Larks and sparks, Sir John!” Kat flicked a nonexistent piece of fluff from her peach-colored sleeve. “I am not used to such fine speech as yours. Please tell me, at King Henry’s court, what do the ladies wager, if not for some article of clothing?”
Sir John chuckled as he straightened up. “His Grace is most generous with all the ladies, Mistress Miranda. In the evening after the supper has been cleared away, he gives each lady a small bag of silver coins for gaming at cards.”
Kat’s eyes widened. “His Grace is very generous. And you? Do you also wager with the king’s bounty?”
Laughing, Sir John adjusted his green velvet cap over his sleek blond hair. “Nay, innocent Miranda, I must provide my own coins.”
“Ah,” Kat said thoughtfully. This turn of the conversation offered her the opportunity to test another part of her nephew’s vivid description of her betrothed.
“And my Lord Cavendish?” She glanced over her shoulder at the other couple farther down the archery range. Her eyes narrowed. Surely Sir Brandon need not hover so close behind Miranda, as he helped her draw back her bowstring! And why was her cousin giggling in such a wanton manner? What jest had the man whispered into her ear? Or was it more than a jest? Remember, coz. he is supposed to be marrying me. The thought did not cheer Kat.
“What about my Lord Cavendish?” echoed Sir John, who also regarded the pair. His eyes darkened to a deeper blue. “He seems to find your cousin...most entertaining.”
“Aye,” Kat snapped. She turned away from the loving scene before she said or did anything to betray their mse. I really must have that serious talk with Miranda tonight, ere she finds herself bedded before I am wedded!
“We were speaking of Sir Brandon,” Sir John reminded her, clipping his words, like the gardeners clipped the hedge of yew trees.
“Aye. Sir Brandon.” Kat ran her tongue across her lips. “Tell me, does he gamble much?”
Sir John lifted one brow as he smiled down at her. “Define ‘much,’ Mistress Miranda.”
Playing with the ribbons that she had so recently won, Kat twined the satin streamers through her fingers. “Does my Lord Cavendish wager large amounts of money when he is at the card table? Forgive my boldness, Sir John, but as Katherine’s cousin, I must be concerned with her welfare. Therefore I ask you plainly. Does Sir Brandon lose much in gambling?”
Behind them, Miranda’s giggle rose half an octave, accompanied by the richer tones of Sir Brandon’s laugh. Sir John glared over Kat’s head at the two. “Sir Brandon may lose his shirt and the skin under it, if he does not take more care in the future,” he muttered, more to himself than to Kat. His darker mood passed when he glanced down at her again. “But in answer to your question, Sir Brandon is an excellent player of all manner of games.” He leaned closer to her. “And, Mistress Miranda, I speak from very close association.”
His warm breath, mint scented, fanned her face. Another wave of giddiness swept over Kat. It must be the weather. Perchance the wind bore some strange pollen to make one feel giddy in the middle of the afternoon.
“Just so,” she murmured. Mayhap she needed a tonic. She must speak to Sondra about that later. “And you swear that my cousin need not fear that Sir Brandon will spend her fortune at cards and other wagers?”
Sir John placed his hand over his breast. “Upon my heart and soul, I do swear...for him, that is. My...friend comes from a wealthy family in Northumberland, and he is well provided. Cards do not hold him in their thrall, as they do many others—such as your cousin’s knavish nephew.”
Kat cocked her head. “How now? I...and my cousin have not heard this tale before. Pray, enlighten me, Sir John.”
Another giggle pierced the warm afternoon. Sir John curled his lips in disgust. “Let us walk the garden paths, Mistress Miranda. I fear that so much billing and cooing between yon lovebirds is very distracting to my thoughts.” He offered her his arm.
“Gladly, Sir John.” Kat slipped her hand around his elbow. Under his green velvet sleeve, she felt the strength of his muscles. For a moment, she imagined herself enfolded in his strong embrace. Her mouth went suddenly dry.
They passed through an opening of the yew hedge into the intricate knot garden. The crushed shells of the pathways crunched under their feet as they paced out the geometric design of the trimmed boxwood plantings.
“You spoke of Fen...young Sir Scantling, my lord?” Kat prompted, after the archery range was out of sight and sound.
“Aye, mistress. Pardon my bluntness, but he is an asshead.”
Sir John’s muscles tightened a little under Kat’s fingertips. She wondered what the young fool had done to incur the wrath of so noble a lord as Sir John.
“You may speak plainly with me, my lord. I am not being wooed for my wedding day.” Not yet, thank God!
“You should be,” Sir John muttered under his breath. Then he cleared his throat and continued in a louder tone. “Scantling plays nightly at cards, dice or any other wager the courtiers might devise. Once he even bet upon the outcome of a louse race!”
Kat missed a step. Sir John’s hand steadied her. “By the book! Do you speak of a race between bugs?” she gasped.
Sir John’s lips twitched, and his eyes twinkled azure fire. “Aye, I do. And he lost even that one! He has the most rotten luck, and poorest judgment in the entire court. Your cousin is obviously not aware of it, Mistress Miranda, but she has been taken out of pocket for a great deal of money by that king of shreds and patches. Gambling is a sickness with him, and one that he will not throw off. He will beggar Lady Katherine’s entire estate within a twelvemonth, unless I can...” Sir John pressed his lips into a thin, hard line.
Kat gripped his sleeve, bunching the rich material between her fingers. She found it extremely difficult to make disinterested conversation. God shield her! What a dithering fool she had been! How Fenton must have laughed each time she sent him yet another letter of credit to her goldsmith on London Bridge!
“Mistress Miranda?” Sir John murmured in her ear. “You have turned quite pale. Forgive me for being the bearer of bad tidings.”
Kat shook her head. “Nay, Sir John, have no fear on my account. You do not know it, but you have done me a good service. I am in your debt. ’Tis better that you tell me of Fenton’s perfidy, than to tell my cousin. She is a gentle creature, and would likely faint at the news.” Kat looked up into Sir John’s eyes, warmed by the depths of concern she saw there. “I am made of sterner stuff.”
“So I perceive, sweet Miranda.” He leaned over her, blotting out the late afternoon sun. “And I salute you for it.”
Brushing his lips against hers, he took her wholly by surprise. His kiss imparted a velvet warmth that left her mouth burning and her body quivering for more.
“Sir John,” she murmured, standing on tiptoe.
“Aye,” he growled. His lips nibbled her earlobe. “‘Tis a name I wear like a hat on a holiday, but ’twill suffice for now. Let me drink from you again, and we’ll take tomorrow when it comes.”
“Aye.” She sighed as his large hand cupped her face, holding it gently. His touch was almost unbearable in its tenderness. Not once in thirteen years of marriage had she ever been caressed like this. Closing her eyes and parting her lips, she rose to meet him.
His mouth recaptured hers, his kiss more demanding this time. His tongue traced the soft fullness of her lips, then grew bolder as it explored the recesses of her mouth. Gathering her in his arms, he held her close, gently rocking her back and forth as he deepened his kiss. Kat drank in the sweetness of his mouth with a reckless abandon she had never known before. Bright colored stars danced behind her closed eyelids. She tried to remember to breathe.
Brushing her lower lip, Sir John slowly released his hold upon her. Kat shivered as his warmth left her.
“I am fortune’s biggest fool, sweet Miranda. Pray, pardon me.” Turning on his heel, he left her standing in the middle of the path.
Squinting into the lowering sun, Kat watched his tall figure striding toward the stables. She touched the place his teeth had grazed her skin. By our larkin! What folly had she done? Her breathing slowly returned to normal, though she did not yet trust her knees to carry her back to her chambers. The memory of his kiss burned on her lips.
“Nay, Sir John, you are not the greatest fool in Bodiam today,” she whispered. “I claim that title for myself alone.”
Let tomorrow come! My betrothed may kiss like a candied carrot, but this moment with Sir John will remain mine forever.
“On such an evening as this, one might spy Cupid disguised as a firefly, flitting among your flowers, fair Katherine.” Sir Brandon gave his lady’s hand a little squeeze as he helped her settle herself on one of the stone benches in the far corner of the garden.
Miranda trembled at the sound of his rich, mellow voice. He smelled of mint, wood smoke and some other scent that was his alone. The combination made her feel quite giddy. “Perchance Cupid will attend the wedding day.” Placing her hand over her breast, she closed her fingers around the swan pendant. She clutched it as if it were a talisman.
“I...I thank you again for this lovely gift, Sir Brandon. Ka...that is, my cousin teases me much, and says that she thinks I even sleep with it at night.”
“Would that I could sleep with you at night.” Sir Brandon’s lips hovered dangerously close.
