“Sshh,” she quieted him, placing her fingers to his lips. “I could have stopped you.”
He combed his fingers through her hair. “No, I fear nothing could have stopped me tonight. One look at you and all was lost. Damnation!” His tone was fierce. “I will force the bishop to make good on my petition. I must. I cannot imagine spending a lifetime in limbo without you, my love.”
She bit her lip, holding back her tears, and once more swallowed her guilt. She, too, wondered how she could spend the rest of her days on this earth without Garrett’s touch. She felt certain she’d burn throughout eternity for her actions this night but the transgression had been worthwhile. Nothing would ever compare to these hours she’d spent in his arms.
“So, my lord,” she asked with a trembling voice, “since we have become intimate, mayhap I should know more about you.”
“What do you wish to know, my sweet?”
She lay a hand on his chest. “Everything.”
He sighed. “I was raised here at Stanbury by Edith and Ryker, a man so wicked he should have sired devils with tails and horns.”
She gasped. “You shouldn’t speak of your father so, Garrett.”
“Why not? He never loved me or my mother.” He grew quiet for a moment. “He did love my brother, Luke, but he died before reaching manhood.”
She squeezed his hand, wanted to comfort him for the sorrow she heard in his voice.
“Luke died of the fever. I prayed for God to take me instead, but He had other ideas.” He paused. “Luke was good at everything. He could fell a deer better and faster than anyone at Stanbury. He would have been a terrific soldier had he lived to maturity, so natural was he at swordplay and in the saddle. I worshipped him, followed him around like a pup, drove him nearly insane.”
Garrett seemed miles away so Madeleine left him to his memories. Finally, he spoke again. “Ryker was eventually poisoned by one of his women. He always had several mistresses. Never tried to hide anything from my mother. Marva was afraid Ryker was ready to replace her and so the bitch poisoned him. Told him in front of all present in the great hall just after he’d taken a few bites. He lived long enough to run his sword through her before he collapsed and died. All as my mother and I watched.”
Madeleine shivered.
“Sorry, my love. I should speak of more pleasant things.”
They lay in the dark as he told her of his estate, his house in London, and of the horses he bred that many nobles bought from him. Then he began to speak of wine. “My family owns estates in Bordeaux, which is in the south of France. The weather is pleasant and we grow grapes that produce Merlots and Sauvignons. I’d never taken much interest in them before, although Ryker made sure I learned about wine and spoke rudimentary French.”
A sudden chill froze Madeleine’s heart. Somehow, she knew what he was going to say. Her father had only rarely mentioned the absentee English landowner of the vineyards their family tended and always referred to it as Stanbridge land. Madeleine guessed that Garrett’s family surname was Stanbridge—and that he was her father’s employer.
“I traveled to Chateau Branais, near the Garonne River, only last year for the first time. I spent time there with the man and his son who manage the estate for me. They’ve done so for years and they do an excellent job. Why,” and she could hear amazement in his voice as he put it together, “their name was Bouchard, just as yours is.”
“Papa told me that it’s a common name in France,” she replied quickly. “Much as Baker is in England.”
He seemed excited. She could feel it in the sleek muscles that rested next to her. “But the wife, I can’t remember her name, she bore a resemblance to you,” he exclaimed. “Madeleine, I might have stumbled across some of your distant relatives!”
She was thankful that it was the dead of night and the light of the candle had long flickered out. If he could have seen her face, he would see her unraveling as he spoke.
Madeleine tried to keep her voice calm. “That could certainly be a possibility.” Thoughts of home coupled with her nagging fear of Henri discovering her here at Stanbury brought a deep uneasiness to the pit of her stomach.
“We will visit these Bouchards when we marry, sweetheart. I would love