her head and then helping with her gown, lacing it up with fingers made clumsy by their haste, and then fastening a braided silk belt around her hips. She sat on the bed as they gartered her stockings at the knees, while Uracca undid her night plait and tried to brush out the tangles. When they brought over a polished metal mirror, Berengaria felt a pang of disappointment, for she’d planned to wear her best gown for her first meeting with Richard, not this rather plain one of blue wool. She was debating with herself whether she had time to change into the green silk with the violet sleeves when a knock sounded on the door.
As one of the women hurried over to open it, Berengaria reached for a wimple and veil. “Tell the servant that I will be ready soon, Loretta.” This was not how it was supposed to be, she thought, a flicker of resentment beginning to smolder. But at that moment, Loretta cried out that the queen herself was at the door. Berengaria gasped, forewarned by a sudden premonition. There was no time for the wimple, but she managed to cover her hair decently with a veil before Loretta opened the door and Eleanor entered, with Richard right behind her.
“You must forgive my son’s bad manners, child. If I did not know better, I’d think he had been raised by wolves.”
Eleanor’s reprimand was nullified by her indulgent tone. Later, Berengaria would remember and realize that Richard could do no wrong in his mother’s eyes. Now she had no thoughts for anyone but the man striding toward her. She quickly sank down in a deep curtsy, lowering her gaze modestly, for well-bred young women were expected to be demure and self-effacing in the company of men. But then that rebellious glimmer sparked again, and, as Richard raised her up, she lifted her chin and looked him full in the face.
If he thought her boldness displeasing, as men in her country would have done, he hid it well, for he was smiling. “My mother is right,” he said lightly, “but for once I have an excuse for my bad manners. What man would not be eager to see his bride?” He kissed her fingers with a courtly flourish, and then pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand.
His breath was warm on her skin and Berengaria felt an odd frisson go up her back. He was as handsome as she remembered, but she did not remember being as intensely aware of his physical presence as she was now. How tall he was! She had to tilt her head to look up into his face, and as their eyes met, she found she could not tear her gaze away. His beard was closely trimmed, his teeth even, his lips thin but well shaped, his eyes the color of smoke. But a crescent-shaped scar slanted from one eyebrow into his hairline, and the hand still clasping hers bore another scar, this one zigzagging along his thumb and disappearing into the tight cuff of his sleeve. She wondered how many other battle scars were hidden underneath his tunic, and then blushed hotly, shocked by her own unseemly thoughts.
“I’d forgotten what a little bit of a lass you were,” Richard said, and she gave him a quick sidelong glance. He did not seem disappointed, though, for he was still smiling.
“And I’d forgotten how tall you were,” she said, returning his smile shyly. “Not as tall as my brother, of course, but then no men are . . .” Worrying that she was babbling like Uracca, she let the rest of her sentence trail off. Richard had turned toward his mother, saying that he’d never seen another man as tall as Sancho, and she took advantage of his distraction to take a backward step, for she was finding his close physical proximity to be rather unsettling. It seemed safer to concentrate upon his conversation with his mother instead of her own wayward thoughts, and she glanced toward Eleanor. What she heard was disappointing, for Richard wanted them to leave Reggio as quickly as possible, and she’d hoped to have time to change her gown. But it would never have occurred to her to object, and she murmured her assent when Richard asked if she’d soon be ready to depart.
Eleanor had reassured Richard that little unpacking had been done because of their late arrival in Reggio the night before, and a glance around the