Song of the Heart - Alexa Aston Page 0,105
the grave is?” Garrett’s voice rang hollowly in the room.
Barth nodded wearily.
Garrett motioned his men-at-arms. Once again they surrounded Barth, whose pitiful sobs filled the room.
“Ash? Take three men and find Stephen. We’ll meet up in the outer bailey.”
He paused a moment and then said quietly, “I must see the grave. I must see it for myself.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The hour grew late. Much of the household had bedded down. Madeleine had comforted Edith as best as she could before the noblewoman excused herself and went to her room.
Madeleine left the solar and went downstairs, scanning the great hall for one of the guards that had accompanied Garrett.
Ashby came up quietly and took her elbow. He wore a weary expression across his usually jovial face.
“Where’s Garrett?” she whispered as he drew her away from the hall and those sleeping.
He led her outside, where the air was briskly blowing. A full moon hung low in the sky, its golden tones bathing the inner bailey in soft light.
“Did you find Lynnette’s grave?”
Ashby nodded. “Yes. It was just as Barth had described. Stephen put up quite a struggle and tried to break and run when we reached the site. Garrett sent him directly to the dungeon, even before we began to dig.” He shrugged. “Barth was quite helpful. Maybe he thought Garrett would go more easily on him if he cooperated.”
“What will Garrett do with them?”
“I wish I knew.” He scanned the sky as if he could find the answers painted across the stars. “He’s been so angry, so bitter, for so long. Now, it seems all the fight’s gone out of him.”
“Where is he, Ashby? I felt sure he’d come back to me.”
He frowned. “I don’t know. He supervised as the men dug up Lynnette’s body. He had her wrapped in linens and brought back inside the gates. He mentioned visiting with the priest. He wants a memorial mass first thing tomorrow for her soul.” Ashby wiped his hand across his brow, drawing her attention to the fatigue lines edging his eyes and mouth. “I thought after that he would come to you.” He took her hand. “You have done him a world of good, Madeleine. The change in him is so great. If he didn’t have you right now, I don’t know how he’d make it through these next few days.” He brushed his lips against her brow in a brotherly gesture. “Help him, Madeleine. Keep him sane.” He turned to go back inside. “Coming?”
Madeleine shook her head. “No. I’ll sit here on the steps and think a bit.” She waited for Ashby to depart. She now knew where Garrett was and intended to go to him.
She wrapped her arms around her for warmth, regretting that she hadn’t thought to bring a cloak with her. The wind picked up as she made her way across the meadow, awash in bright moonlight. The field felt so strange now, empty of the stalls and tents that the mummer’s troupe had brought. Summer solstice seemed so long ago.
She picked up her pace as best she could and crossed the length of the grassland. As she approached their rock, she saw Garrett’s silhouette in the moonlight.
He must have sensed her presence because he lifted his head and met her gaze. Even in the dim light, she could tell his face was ravaged with grief.
Wordlessly, he slid from the rock’s surface and met her, enveloping her in the warmth of his arms. He held her close for many minutes, no words necessary between them.
At last, he relaxed his embrace and cocked his head to one side and with a weary smile asked, “Will you never learn to put on a cloak?”
She half-laughed, half-sobbed. “I seem to have a knack of running into men with cloaks to spare.”
Garrett lifted her upon the rock and climbed up beside her, opening his cloak and wrapping the comforting fabric around them both. He smelled of the outdoors, the woods, the cold, and that very masculine scent she’d come to love. She felt utterly safe within his arms.
They stared over the empty field, neither breaking the silence that surrounded them.
“You know,” he finally said, “Lynnette was a gentle soul. Always kind to the servants. Always willing to please everyone.” His mouth tightened. “She didn’t deserve to die that way and lie in an unmarked grave all this time.” He paused. “I’m consumed with guilt, having thought the worst of her all these years.”
“I’m sorry, Garrett.” She pressed his hand. “You know none of this was your fault.” Madeleine wiped the single tear trailing down his cheek. “You’ve found her now. She’ll be buried properly. That’s got to be of some comfort.”
“Yes.” He sighed. “I must tell Lyssa. Mayhap you can help me with that. I want everyone at Stanbury to attend the mass tomorrow. We’ll bury Lynnette in the family plot afterward.”
“What of Barth? Stephen?”
“It’s out of my hands.” He shook his head. “The royal circuit court will decide their fates. They’ll be held in the dungeon until the court comes around the end of next month.” Garrett sighed in the darkness. “Thank God I have you, my love.”
Madeleine snuggled close to him, his warmth like a siren’s call to her body.
He pressed his lips to hers tenderly. “I may have fallen in love with you at this very spot,” he told her. “I remember that kiss as if it were yesterday.”
She shivered. She had wanted him that night more than anything—but she’d run away instead. Taking his hand in hers, she pressed a kiss to each finger. “I doubt I’ll run from you this time, my lord. You see, I love you with all my heart.”
Garrett gazed deeply into her eyes. Even with the ache for Lynnette’s passing in his heart, Madeleine had brought him complete happiness for the first time in his life.
“Before you, sweetheart, I was empty, but your music filled my soul with love. You are the song of my heart.”
About the Author
Award-winning and international bestselling author Alexa Aston’s historical romances use history as a backdrop to place her characters in extraordinary circumstances, where their intense desire for one another grows into the treasured gift of love.
She is the author of Medieval and Regency romance, including The Knights of Honor, The King’s Cousins, The St Clairs, and The de Wolfes of Esterley Castle.
A native Texan, Alexa lives with her husband in a Dallas suburb, where she eats her fair share of dark chocolate and plots out stories while she walks every morning. She enjoys reading, Netflix binge-watching, and can’t get enough of Survivor, The Crown, or Game of Thrones.
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