Page 37 of Love, Remember Me

"Take your wife to bed, Varian, and make a woman of her," the duke said coldly, and then he was gone.

"Ohhh, he is the most arrogant man!" she fumed.

"He is," her new husband agreed, "but he is also brilliant, and loyal to his family." He took her by the hand. "Come along now, sweetheart. We do not want to be discovered by anyone in our nightclothes wandering about the palace. There will be speculation aplenty about our marriage as it is. I know a shortcut back."

"Back to where?" she asked him as they hurried along, hand in hand.

"To my grandfather's apartments, where we have our bedchamber," he told her calmly. "I have some good red wine, and we will toast our union, as no one else has bothered to do so for us."

Nyssa suddenly realized that her feet were cold. They made a faint little slapping noise as she hurried along next to Varian de Winter. She wondered if his feet were cold too.She was married. She was a bride. How had it happened? She had to know!They reached their destination, and as the door closed behind them, she whirled about.

"Tell me now, my lord! Tell me how I came to your bed tonight, and why? There can be nothing between us until I know," Nyssa said.

"I will never lie to you, Nyssa," he said seriously. "The cordial Lady Rochford brought to the Maidens' Chamber tonight was laced with a light sleeping draught. It was believed that you were possibly too deep in the king's favor. Once his union to Queen Anne is undone, he will be required to marry again. It was feared that you might be his choice."

"Feared by whom? The Duke of Norfolk?" she demanded. "My dreams have been snatched from me, and I wish to know for certain who the thief is, my lord."

"You are right in naming my grandfather," the earl answered her. "There is another whom he thinks will make a more suitable wife for the king." Varian de Winter sighed deeply. "Thomas Howard is an ambitious man. Ambitious for himself, and ambitious for his family, Nyssa. I do not always agree with him, but I owe him my loyalty, and I love him despite all his faults. My mother was his bastard, yet he raised her lovingly, and saw to it that a good match was made for her despite her accident of birth. She died shortly after I was born, yet Grandfather did not desert me. He came every year to Winterhaven to see me. He always remembered my birthday and Twelfth Night with gifts. When I was six, he took me into his own household to raise. He is not always kind. Sometimes he is even cruel. But I love him even as he loves me. Can you understand that, sweetheart?"

"So because of Howard ambition," Nyssa said angrily, "I have had my dreams torn from me! All my life I dreamed of the man I would marry, and the wedding we would celebrate with our happy families in attendance. I would wear a gown of white satin, silver tissue, and pearls. There would be flowers in my hair. Papa would give me away in the same church where my father formally married my mother." She brushed the tears from her eyes.

"There would be a great feast on the lawns ofRiversEdge," she continued. "All my family would be there: my grandparents, my aunts and my uncles; my cousin, Mary Rose, would attend me, along with some of the littler cousins. We would dance, and Violet, my old nurse, would weep, foolish creature. And my bridegroom, my lord—he would be a man who knew and loved me. A man I loved. A man my family would respect. Now I will have none of that because your grandfather believed the king lusted after me. Thomas Howard has a more suitable candidate than Nyssa Wyndham for Henry Tudor's bed and crown. My reputation must be discredited in the king's eyes to serve Howard ambition. God damn you for it, Varian de Winter! And God damn your grandfather as well!" She burst into tears.

He reached out to draw her into his embrace, but Nyssa jumped back like a scalded cat. "Do not dare to touch me, my lord! I hate you! You and your family's overweening ambition have destroyed my life!" She angrily wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

"Destroyed your life? How have I destroyed your life?" he demanded. "By marrying you? Who else would have had you under the circumstances, madame?" This was not going at all as he had anticipated.

"Thecircumstances," Nyssa answered him coldly, "were not of my making, my lord. How easily you forget it."

Varian de Winter drew a deep breath, then said to her, "The day you came to Richmond, and I stared so boldly at you across the Great Hall at Hampton Court, I fell in love with you."

Nyssa gasped with surprise. Then she replied, outraged, "How dare you say such a thing to me! A man in love with a woman does not compromise her reputation as you have done mine."

"I love you enough that I allowed my grandfather to use me in this wild plot of his lest another be chosen to disgrace you, Nyssa," he told her. "Do you think the great Duke of Norfolk cared about what happened to you? My grandfather cared nothing for your fate. When he first brought this scheme to my attention, I tried to dissuade him. When I was unable to do that, I agreed to aid him when he threatened to choose another. I thought his design wrong for many reasons, but what if he had chosen a man of low degree to ruin you? Then your reputation would have been truly destroyed. Had you been caught with a guardsman, there would have been no one to marry you, despite your wealth. Instead, this sudden marriage between us will be but cause for good gossip which will shortly die away, particularly as I mean us to leave court. If we are not here, then something else will distract the gossips." There! Certainly he had explained it so that she would understand, and he had admitted his love for her. He held out a hand to her, but Nyssa slapped it away.

"Now I see the crux of it," she said scathingly. "Your grandfather has managed to forward his plans and gain you a rich wife in the bargain. I am not surprised, my lord, that you agreed to aid him in his wickedness. Who else would have me?Rather, who would have you? Your reputation is so black that no decent parents would entrust their daughter in marriage to you, a man who deserted his mistress and caused her death. Only by deceit could you gain a respectable wife, sir!" Nyssa glared at him furiously. This was certainly not how she had imagined she would spend her wedding night; but then this was not how she had imagined she would be married either.

To his credit, he did not lose his temper, although it was near to boiling over. Yet she was correct in many ways, and he could not blame her for his past. "I told you that I would never lie to you, Nyssa. What I am about to tell you is the truth, but it must be kept secret, for so it has always been and must remain. Will you agree to keep what I say between us, madame?"

Nyssa nodded slowly. She was curious as to what he would reveal to her. Having had her say, she felt her anger beginning to drain away, for she was a practical girl. What was done was done, and there was nothing that could change it. "I will keep your secret, my lord, unless, of course, it is treasonous. If that is the case, it would be better not to tell me."

"There is no treason involved," he said quietly, and then he offered her his hand once again. "Come, madame, let us sit by the fire while we continue our discussion. I find I am growing cold, and surely you must be."

She nodded and slipped her fingers into the hand he offered, which then closed firmly over hers. Leading her across the room, he drew her down into his lap even as he sat himself in a large, tapestry-backed chair. Startled, Nyssa struggled a moment to regain her feet.

"Nay, madame," he told her, his grip upon her firm. "I have a tale to tell, but it will be told my way, and I would have you here in my arms as I tell it. Cease your attempts to escape me, or," he threatened softly, "I will be forced to take stronger measures."

"What measures?" she demanded.

"I shall spank you," he said calmly.

Outrage flooded Nyssa's being. "You would not!"

"Tempt me not, madame," he warned her.

"You are most hateful," she replied, but she was quiet in his lap now. "Spank me, indeed! I am not a child."

Varian de Winter restrained himself from smiling. Nay, he thought to himself, you are not a child, Nyssa. You are the most delicious armful I have ever held, and I long to possess you.

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