The Shattered Rose Page 0,141

that, Raoul looked him in the eye and said, "I won't lose her, Galeran. I'll abduct her if necessary."

"I'd have to stop you."

"I'd try to make sure you didn't have the chance." But, his stance said silently, if it comes to blood, so be it.

Was this whole tangled affair going to end at sword's point after all? Not if Galeran could help it. He hadn't come through the war to lose all in a minor skirmish of the aftermath. "Why did she refuse you?"

"Some nonsense about my fidelity, and about traveling abroad."

"Hardly nonsense. Fidelity has not been your way to date. And would you rather have a wife who'd throw her common sense to the wind at the first touch of desire?"

Raoul grinned. "Sometimes, yes."

Galeran shared the smile. "Indeed. But it's no easy matter for some people to leave their home to live in a strange land. A girl like Aline, even if she had planned to marry, never planned to do such a thing. She would have married a man from a nearby estate."

"There's no choice in it, though. I've enjoyed traveling, but I've always intended to settle on my land in the Guyenne."

"Perhaps Aline would not care for the Guyenne."

"A person would have to be mad not to love the Guyenne."

"If people loved only the most pleasing corners of God's earth, we'd be in a sorry state. My friend, I think you have wooed and won Aline's heart, but you will not woo her out of her common sense. You'll have convince her head that she will be safe and happy in this strange soil, far from her family and friends, alone in times of trouble."

"She will not be alone. ..."

"You must convince her of that."

Raoul exclaimed, "Christ's crown, if only I were a better liar!"

"What?"

Suddenly rueful, Raoul said, "She asked me if I would be faithful to her while she made up her mind."

"You said no?" Galeran could hardly believe it.

"I didn't say anything. I was trying to be honest, Galeran! I was giving it careful thought. I haven't been celibate for a year since I first had a woman, and I had no intention of making a promise I could not keep. She didn't wait to hear."

"Can you make that vow now?"

Almost as if in pain, Raoul said, "If it's her price, yes."

Galeran shook his head, pushing off the cask. "It's not that simple. She has to trust you with her life. Almost literally. I suggest you put your mind to convincing her, for I assure you, she's not leaving England unless she goes willingly."

* * * * * Jehanne, propped up on cushions so she could lie on her front without pressing on her sensitive breasts, listened to Aline relate her adventures during her escape without actually mentioning Raoul de Jouray except in passing.

"You spent the night together in a bed?" Jehanne asked. It was a deduction, since Aline hadn't actually said as much.

"I slept!" Aline snapped.

"I'm sure you did."

"He didn't do anything . . . Well, almost nothing . . . He's amazingly restrained."

Jehanne worked at keeping a straight face. "You sound almost disappointed."

"Of course I'm not." Aline paced backward and forward, skirts swishing. "It's nice to know he can sometimes keep his weapon in its sheath."

"He seems to have acted competently in keeping you safe and getting into the convent. And I understand he spoke for me before the king."

Aline stopped. "I never said he wasn't competent."

"True. So, what holds you back from him?"

"Holds me back?" Aline asked with spurious puzzlement.

"If I'm any judge at all, the man loves you and wants to marry you. And yet you do not have the look of a happy couple."

"Would you marry half a world away?" Aline challenged.

"I'd follow Galeran beyond the ends of the earth, to heaven or hell itself."

""Yes, well . . . Would you have done that when you'd scarce known him a month?"

Jehanne laughed. "No, you have me there. But we were very young." Yet Aline was young, Jehanne thought. It was easy to forget that she was only eighteen and had lived, until recently, a protected life. "Perhaps it is wiser to wait."

"Wait! But what's the point in waiting? If he comes back in a year, will I know him any better?"

"You may know your heart better. It's been an intense time and he's tempting enough. But sometimes the fiery interest fades down to cinders with a little time and distance. Once, you know," she added with a grimace, "I thought