Page 23 of Love, Remember Me

"Madame." He made her a most courtly bow. His face was grave.

"Sir." She curtsied, even as a shiver rippled up her back. His voice was deep and musical. There was a mysterious quality to it. His stern, handsome face set her heart to racing.

"Oh, do dance with Varian, Nyssa," Cat begged. Then she was gone to find her own partner.

"It is said you are not a gentleman, my lord. I am told by Lady Marlowe that to even speak with you endangers my reputation," Nyssa said boldly, regaining her composure.

"Do you believe her?" he asked dryly. She could hear the amusement in his wonderful voice. Still, his face remained serious.

"I think that Lady Marlowe, who is my aunt's dearest friend, is a gossip who thrives on scandal," Nyssa answered him slowly. "Yet within every scandal there is a grain of truth. Still, if we are in a public place, and surrounded by the entire court, I cannot quite see how you might compromise my reputation. Therefore, my lord, if indeed you are asking me to dance, I accept. To refuse you would be unthinkably rude." She curtsied to him again.

He took her hand, and she felt the warmth of his grasp pulse through her. They joined the lively country dance already in progress. A second dance followed, but when the music had finally ceased, Nyssa's uncle, Owen FitzHugh, was suddenly at their side.

"Nyssa, my dear, your aunt wishes to speak with you." He took her arm in a firm grip. "You will excuse us, my lord?"

The Earl of March bowed, a faint, sardonic smile upon his handsome face. "Of course, my lord," he said softly, "if you insist." He then turned and walked away.

"How could you!" Nyssa demanded of her uncle, stamping her foot for emphasis. "You have embarrassed me before the entire court!"

"My darling girl, I have full faith in your ability to handle your own life, but your aunt, egged on by Adela Marlowe, has not. Save your outrage for Bliss and her bosom friend."

"I will," Nyssa said ominously, and pulling away from her uncle, hurried across the floor to where the two older women sat.

"Nyssa!" Bliss said before she might even speak. "Have you not been warned aboutthatman? Why, if Lady Marlowe had not seen him dancing with you, I can but imagine what would have happened."

"Nothing would have happened!" Nyssa retorted. "Little harm can be done to my reputation in a banquet hall full of people. You have embarrassed me greatly. I was introduced to the Earl of March by his cousin, Mistress Howard, one of my fellow maids. I could scarce refuse his invitation to dance under the circumstances, could I?"

"Dear sweet child," Adela Marlowe said, "an innocent such as you cannot possibly know the sort of man Lord de Winter is. Remember that you have been sent to court to find a suitable husband. No gentleman of good breeding will want to enter into a match with a woman of dubious repute." She smiled in what she believed was a kindly manner, but it seemed more supercilious to the younger woman.

"Madame," Nyssa said, her eyes dark with anger, "how dare you presume to lecture me on morality and manners? You are my senior in years only. I outrank you both by birth and position. Were I as foolish a peahen of a creature as you seem to think me, perhaps your interference would be of some value. I am not foolish, however, and I am mortally offended that my aunt would have been so influenced by you as to forget that I am my mother's daughter. I know well how to behave in polite society. You allude to some unsavory scandal in Lord de Winter's past, yet you do not elaborate. As far as I am concerned, the Earl of March is a pleasant gentleman, and an excellent dancer. As for me, I am a maid of unblemished virtue. If you have anything else to say on the matter, then do so. If you have not, I will thank you to rein in your wild imagination and not interfere in my life again!"

"She must be told!" Adela Marlowe declared dramatically to Bliss. "My conscience will not allow it otherwise."

"What must you tell me?" Nyssa demanded, her tone almost mocking.

"This man you insist upon defending,andwith so little true knowledge of his history," the older woman said, "this man is an admitted debaucher of innocence. He seduced a young girl, and when she found herself with child, he would not own up to his responsibilities. The poor young creature killed herself. Will you defend such a man now, my fine young lady?"

Nyssa was shocked, but worse, she felt like a total fool. Yet how could she have been aware of such a terrible thing?

Still, she was irritated at Adela Marlowe, who now looked at her with the light of righteous triumph in her eyes, a small smile of victory upon her lips. Nyssa wanted to wipe that smile from the woman's face.

"You, madame," she said in scathing tones, "are the most vicious gossip I have ever encountered." She was pleased to see the woman wither beneath her assault.

"Nyssa!" Even Bliss, noted for her temper, was astounded at her niece's outburst. "You must apologize to Lady Marlowe this instant!"

"Rather I think Lady Marlowe should apologize to me," the girl snapped. "And you also, Aunt Bliss." Then she turned on her heel and hurried away to find her friends. Her heart was beating violently in her breast. It was not that she was enamored with Lord de Winter, for until this moment she had known virtually nothing about him. But she bitterly resented being treated like a child by her aunt and Lady Marlowe. She was seventeen now!

Adela Marlowe took several minutes to recover from her shock. She was white about the lips. "Never in my life have I been spoken to in such a fashion," she gasped. "If that girl were my charge, I should beat her black and blue, and then send her home to her parents. She is totally out of control, Bliss, and will come to a bad end, mark my words!"

"Nyssa was rude, I agree, Adela, but 'twas you who encouraged me to be overprotective of her. I forgot that she is not that kind of a girl. She is intelligent, and has quickly learned the ways of the court. She knows the stakes involved, and will not allow her reputation to be ruined. Besides, she loves the new queen, and delights in serving her."

"I suppose her large dowry will smooth over any tittle-tattle," Adela Marlowe said nastily.

THEtime had come to put the king and queen to bed.

"Fifteen hours of night," Henry grumbled. "The next time I wed with an ugly woman, it shall be a midsummer's eve wedding, on the shortest night of the year instead of a long winter's night."

"The next time he weds, "murmured the Duke of Norfolk meaningfully to Cromwell.

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