A Dishonorable Knight - By Morrison, Michelle Page 0,69

He glanced over his shoulder, relieved to see Bryant leaving the meeting room. "I...I promised Elena I would buy her a new gown."

"A what?" Morgan's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Cynan told me that you attended Lady Elena when she was ill in her room for several days. Did you take advantage of her? Damn it, Gareth, she's not a simple country girl you can seduce and then forget about! Have I taught you no better than that?"

Gareth was stung. "Da, how many times have I seduced any innocent girl and abandoned her? Of course I didn't take advantage of Elena." Well he didn't, he thought, she kissed him first and nothing actually happened! "’Tis just that she's been through so much and she's used to having more than one dress. So I thought it was the least I could do," Gareth argued defensively. "May I have the money or not?"

"Of course, lad, of course." Morgan pulled a leather pouch out of his shirt. "You'd better take it all. It will cost a fortune to have a dress made in a day or two."

"Why a day or two?" Gareth asked. He thought they could spend at least a week in Aberystwyth before returning to Eyri Keep.

"Wait until we're alone with Lord Stanley for me to explain."

Gareth looked from his father to Stanley who was just saying goodbye to the last two men in the room other than Gareth and his father.

"Morgan, I assume this is your son?"

"Yes, Lord Stanley. This is Sir Gareth. He has of late served in Richard's court and could prove valuable if your lordship wishes to go ahead with our earlier idea."

"Is he in agreement?"

"I'm quite sure there will be no problem," said Morgan.

Gareth, increasingly confused and irritated that he was being spoken of as if he were not present, broke in. "Excuse me Lord Stanley, father, what am I agreeing to?"

"Why don't you sit down," said Lord Stanley, "and we will answer all your questions." When Gareth and his father had made themselves comfortable, Lord Stanley turned to Morgan. "Shall I explain or would you care to?"

Morgan sat forward and said abruptly, "Gareth, we would like you to return to Richard's court and try to discover any plans he may have regarding Henry's attack. See if you can discover how much he knows of our plans."

Gareth stared at his father with disbelief. "You want me to spy on him?" Morgan looked distinctly uneasy, but Gareth pressed on. "I am a knight of Britain. Is it not enough that I have forsworn to protect the king's life with my own? Should I now have to spy on the very man I am sworn to protect?"

Morgan gazed at Gareth understandingly, but Lord Stanley slammed his hands on the table and stood up, addressing Morgan.

"What is this man doing here, Morgan? Why are you wasting my time with someone who is still committed to that murdering--"

Gareth's fury rapidly matched Stanley's and he broke in, "I do not stand for Richard! But I do stand for Wales and England and by my knightly vows must defend their king."

"Enough!" Lord Stanley bellowed. "Your are either for Richard or against him. If you are for him, you would not be here. If you are against him, you will do anything in your power to bring about the end to his treacherous reign!"

"But it’s not that simple!" Gareth argued.

Lord Stanley clenched his teeth and threw himself back in his chair. Before he could say anything else, Morgan spoke up. "Why did you not tell me about these reservations in the privacy of our own home, Gareth?"

Gareth could tell his father was upset, but he could not shake the feeling that serving as a spy was the ultimate disgrace. Since allowing Cynan and Bryant to talk him into coming to Wales, he had been struggling with his mixed emotions. He did not think Richard was the king he should be, and what little he knew of Henry Tudor led him to believe he would make a better leader. But having only been a knight for little more than a year, the solemn promises he had made in his knighting ceremony were still fresh in his mind. He had promised not to forsake the trust of his sovereign, nor to bear arms against him. Now he was decided to do both of those acts. That he should also have to spy...

"It is not that I have reservations about the rightness of Henry Tudor on the throne.