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

to her husband's side. William, for his part, flung out his arms expansively at the sight of his visitor and embraced him.

"I heard you'd arrived. How is Reginald behaving in your service? Moll, help me with my tunic. Where are the pages?" He started to shrug the heavy garment off his shoulders. "My God, I'll be glad when this spell at Hereford is over. Being sheriff is all very well, but dispensing the king's justice becomes wearisome after a while, I can tell you. I need some fighting to loosen up my bones again. "

Richard grinned. "I heard about your extra duties, William. My congratulations. I see you are a man to be reckoned with now throughout the land. "

William beamed, holding his arms out for the new tunic that Elen had brought to him. "I think you might say so, " he agreed. "I think you might say so. "

When William returned to his duties in the court room the following morning, Matilda and Richard ordered their horses and their hawks and rode out of Hereford toward the southeast into the great forest of Aconbury. The leaves were everywhere turning to russet and gold and the horses' hooves brushed through the rustling carpet, stirring the bitter scents that teased the nostrils and caught at the back of Matilda's throat. Richard rode slightly ahead of her, his eyes screwed up in the frosty glare, but after a while he reined back alongside her.

"Tell me, how have things been, my dear?" he said quietly. "Have you heard any news of your little Tilda?"

Matilda's heart lurched. Did Richard know? Had he ever guessed that her strange silver-haired daughter was his? She swallowed the lump in her throat with an effort and, summoning a smile, she managed to nod. "Gerald saw her in the spring. I am a grandmother, Richard. " Her eyes sparkled suspiciously for a moment and Richard found himself fighting the urge to touch her hand. "She has a little son, " she went on. "Rhys Ieuanc, young Rhys, after his grandfather, God rot him!"

Richard searched her face for a moment. "Rhys took Mallt's castle in the end, of course. "

Her face tightened with anger. "As you say, he returned after the last of the snow with no warning and with such a strong force there was no time for the constable to summon aid. William had gone to fight in Aberteifi with Will—Rhys agreed to spare the castle only if they abandoned the campaign in his lands and came back to Hay. "

"And he agreed, " Richard said quietly. "I could not understand why. It seemed unlike William. "

She smiled ruefully. "Whoever understands William, my dear? He is a law unto himself. "

There was a long silence as the horses walked slowly on, then Richard spoke again.

"I came to Hereford with a proposition which I hope will please you. I must put it to William, but I should like your views. It touches us very closely. " His eyes were fixed on the gilded leather of the rein in his hand. She followed his gaze, noting absentmindedly how thin his hands had become, the joints slightly accentuated. "I should like my daughter, little Mattie, to marry one of your sons. If you agree I think William might find the match acceptable. "

She didn't answer for a moment. The sun's rays breaking through the thick treetops of the copse into which they had ridden fell across the party, throwing a gold veneer onto the horses' coats. At the heels of her mare an excited dog suddenly began to bark, and was at once silenced by an angry command from a huntsman behind them. There was a lump in her throat when at last she spoke.

"I should like that, Richard. Above all I should like that. " She paused again. "You were thinking of Reginald, I suppose? Have they formed an attachment to one another? That is good. Giles anyway plans to take Holy Orders after Oxford and then Paris. But Reginald—oh, yes, I am sure that William would approve of a link with the house of Clare for

Reginald. " She looked up at him and smiled. "Yes, it's what I had hoped for, Richard. We have plans for the two girls, of course. Margaret is to marry Walter de Lacy and William is hoping for an alliance with the Mortimers for little Isobel, but marriages for the other two boys have not yet presented themselves. I think"—she dropped her eyes, almost embarrassed—"I think William is becoming very ambitious, Richard. I think he has set his sights very high for the future. "

Two days later Richard left. Matilda was standing in her solar, giving orders to her steward, when Elen brought him in. He was already dressed for the road.

"My lady, " he said formally. "I come to take my leave. "

Her hand clutched involuntarily at the quill with which she had been checking the lists before her. It was a moment before she could look up. "Must you leave so soon, Lord de Clare?" Behind her the steward bowed and left the room and she was conscious of Elen rounding up the ladies who had been at work with their sewing near the fire. In moments the place was empty but for themselves.

As the heavy door closed behind the last of them he caught her hands in his. The pen fell to the rushes as he raised them to his lips. "I don't know how long it will be before we see each other again. "

"Richard!" she whispered in anguish. She clung to him blindly, raising her lips to find his as her eyes filled with tears. "I thought growing older would teach me sense, " she murmured. "I thought at least it would be easier to bear as time went on. "

He held her so tightly she could hardly breathe. "It will never grow easier, my darling, never. That is our punishment for a forbidden love. " His lips