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

"Nick!" She threw herself at him and clung to his arm. "Nick, please, I'm sorry. I really am. I won't mention her again. "

"I am going back to London tomorrow anyway, Judy. To Jo. " Nick's face softened slightly as he saw her stricken expression.

"But she doesn't want you. She keeps telling you she doesn't want you. "

"Whether she wants me or not, I want her. " He spoke with enormous force, his eyes hardening.

Judy felt a sudden shiver. He was looking not at her but through her. She backed away from him. "I believe you're as crazy as she is, " she whispered. "You can't force a woman to love you. "

He stared at her, his attention fully on her again now. "Force her?" he echoed. "I won't have to force her. " He laughed grimly. "I must go. Don't worry about your bill, I'll settle it. I'll see you soon, Judy. " Gently he touched her cheek—still reddened from his slap—then he turned and left her alone.

Judy did not move. She stared around the room. The crumpled copy of the Daily Mail was still lying on the pillow where Nick had left it. She sat down, smoothing the page, and began to read slowly and carefully, taking in every word.

Sam was standing with his back to the window, his arms folded, listening as, hesitantly, Jo began to talk. Matilda had regained her strength slowly after the birth, but the day came at last when, accompanied by Sir Robert and four armed horsemen, she mounted for the first time the little bay mare William had given her. They rode out of the castle and turned northeast, following the rocky bed of the Honddu through a field silver and green with ripening oats and plunging almost at once into the woods.

"Llanddeu is up there, my lady. " Sir Robert pointed up a hill to their left. "About three miles, I reckon. We'll go there when you're stronger if you like. " But Matilda shook her head. Gerald had gone to St. David's now, confident he was to be its new bishop, and Llanddeu had lost its interest.

She was amazed to find how stiff she had become, but she gritted her teeth and pushed the bay into a gallop behind Sir Robert as they followed a well-worn track through the heavy, dusty woods. They had slowed again to a trot when suddenly Sir Robert pulled to a rearing halt in front of her and drew his sword. "Stop, " he shouted. The four men with them closed around Matilda protectively at once, their swords raised and ready. She could feel herself shaking with fear, and the mare plunged nervously away from the horse next to her, sensing the danger. But, straining her eyes, she could see nothing in the heavy greenery all around them. She could hear nothing but the thudding of her own heart.

"What? What is it?" She looked around wildly.

"See, a rope. " Sir Robert had dismounted. With one slash of his sword he severed a rope that had been tied across the track at the height of a man's neck as he rode on a horse. It fell, green-stained and invisible, into the grass at their feet.

"If we'd been going any faster or if I'd been distracted, it would have had us all off our horses. " Sir Robert hit the undergrowth with the flat of his sword. "See, here. The rogues have gone. They were hiding behind these bushes. They must have fled before we arrived. They could be anywhere in the woods by now. " A broken area of trampled greenery showed where several people had been crouching behind the thick holly.

"Were they robbers?" Matilda was still trying to soothe her horse, stroking the sweating neck, wishing she herself weren't shaking quite so violently. She knew it was as much exhaustion as fear, but nevertheless she felt weak and frightened.

Sir Robert nodded silently. He had stopped to pick up the rope and was coiling it over his arm. "Outlaws of some kind, I'll be bound. I'll have a word with Sir William. I doubt if the Welsh would set up a trick like that if they were after reprisals. No one knew which way we were coming. " He swung the rope over his saddle and remounted.

Matilda noticed he didn't sheathe his sword.

"Reprisals?" Her heart began to hammer again at the word.

"That's right. They're bound to come some time. " He turned his horse. "We'll go straight back, my lady, with your permission. I was a fool to come out with so few men. In future when you ride, I will see to it that you have a full escort. "

She followed, relieved to be cutting short the ride. The thought of Welsh reprisals had become remote in the months at Brecknock, distracted as she had been by the baby and by William's arrival with all his men. The Welsh she had met in the county of Brycheiniog were friendly toward her. None had seemed to bear any grudge. She shivered. Outlaws. They must have been outlaws of some kind, bent on robbery. She refused to let herself believe that they were men from Gwent.

Nevertheless, it was a relief to be back inside the castle. Although William sent search parties out to hunt for the men who had set up the rope, no trace of them was ever found. They had melted into the forest as silently and efficiently as if they had never been.

"That was foolish, to ride so far the first time out after the baby, " Sam said softly. He had seated himself next to Jo again. "But if you are well enough to ride, you are well enough to resume your wifely duties. "

Jo drew in her breath sharply. "It is too soon, " she whispered.

"No, " Sam said, "it is the right time. Look at me, my lady. Open your eyes and look at