Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine (reading an ebook TXT) 📕

her. "You've sent her off with Tim Heacham, knowing he'd give his right arm to sleep with her. "

Bet kept a tight rein on her anger. "Jo doesn't sleep around and you know it. "

"She told me about it, Bet. " He gave her a look of withering contempt. "She bragged about it. "

Bet stared at him. "Who is it?" she whispered.

His knuckles went white as he clenched his fists. "Richard, " he said softly. "His name is Richard. "

She stared after him as he turned away out of the gilded swinging doors. Already the seat next to hers had been taken and someone was hovering waiting for hers. "Richard?" she repeated in a whisper. "Christ Almighty, Nick! Richard is a ghost!"

She took a cab back to the office, paying the driver with shaking hands, then she caught the elevator up to her office, not even hearing the cheerful banter of one of her colleagues as he got in beside her.

In her office she slammed the door and reached for the phone. The number Jo had given her was scribbled in the back of her address binder.

She bit her lip as the phone rang, hitching herself up onto" the desk. "Mrs. Griffiths?" she said at last as the number was answered. "Please, I must speak to Miss Clifford. Is she there?"

"I'm sorry. She and the gentleman have left. " The Welsh voice rang out loud and clear in the quiet office. "Going on to Raglan, they were. "

"Raglan?" After putting down the receiver, Bet stared at it blankly. "Dear God, I hope it's a long way away. "

She stood up and walked across to the window, gnawing her thumbnail as she stared down at the broad glitter of the Thames. In spite of the heat of the afternoon she was feeling very cold.

Tim was gazing up at the massive gray ruins of Raglan Castle. "I'm glad your friend Pugh told us to come here, " he said in awe. "It's magnificent. " Then he glanced at her sideways. "But you don't have to tell me. It's not your castle. "

Jo laughed softly. "It was too long ago, Tim. Of course everything has changed. Let's stay out here on the grass— just for now. "

He looked longingly over his shoulder at the castle. "Why don't I go away? I could leave you to it, while I explore. " She nodded. "Good idea. "

He looked down at her fondly as she knelt on the mossy grass, then, camera in hand, he turned away and strode up the steep bank toward the enormous walls.

Jo closed her eyes. Her hands were shaking slightly as she tried deliberately to empty her mind. The castle grounds were silent. The air was heavy, the sky soft with deep black cloud. It was very hot. She forced her eyes open slowly, staring down at the grass, feeling the heat and her exhaustion overtake her, suddenly fighting sleep.

Tim was coming back. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw him walking toward her, tall, loose-limbed. She frowned. It was too soon; it should have taken him hours to go around the castle and she wasn't ready. Behind him she saw a flicker of lightning dance for a moment behind the majestic walls of the castle, lighting up the windows as though candles still burned there against the black of the sky. Then she heard the music of a harp.

Chapter 24

Matilda was standing resting her hand on the stones of the new high wall of Radnor Castle. It seemed strange that she could look out at the Welsh tents all around the castle, a sight she dreamed of with dread for so long, and yet know them to be friends. The red prancing lion flag of Prince Rhys flew gaily in the cold wind near them, as she looked down at her small daughter, who stood shivering at her side, her fur-lined mantle whipped open by the wind.

"Well. " She smiled. "To think my little girl is to be a princess. "

Tilly uncharacteristically groped for her mother's hand, giving rather than seeking comfort. "I like Lord Rhys. He sent me a necklace of crystals. " The child gazed out toward the tents and pavilions encamped around them in the valley, her eyes shining. "And I'm to have a white pony with scarlet harness and John Spang, the prince's fool, has promised me two puppies from his own bitch. I like him. "

Matilda was staring at the heavy cloud that hung over the encircling mountains, her heart heavy as Tilly prattled on. Then she stooped and kissed the top of her little girl's head. "You'll be happy in your new home, Tilda. Lord Rhys will be a kind father. " Her voice broke at the word, and she fiercely blinked back her tears, turning her face away.

"Can I go and play with 'Sbel and Margaret now?" The child was itching to run off, uncomfortable as she sensed her mother's tightly controlled misery, not understanding.

Matilda forced herself to smile. "Of course, darling. Run along. Ill come and kiss you good night later. "

She did not let herself watch the small head as it darted from her side and ran down the stairs inside the thick wall.

Instead she turned back to watching the bleak hills beneath the threatening sky.

It was not until very late that she took a candle and climbed slowly, her heavy blue kirtle gathered in her hand, to the little girls' bedroom high beneath the stone roof of the main keep. Tilly was already asleep, worn out with excitement, in the big bed that she shared with her sisters. Matilda tiptoed toward the bed and saw Eleanor, the children's nurse, sitting in the shadows beside the dying fire. The girl was sobbing quietly into her apron.

Matilda stopped, her heart beating fast. "What is it, girl? Why are you crying?" Her voice was sharper than she intended.

Eleanor jumped and raised a reddened face from her lap.