Page 86 of The Herald's Heart
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Larkin cursed the weakness that made her ignore her assertion not to see or communicate with Talon again. She’d been packing her few belongings, when Cleve arrived at her chamber door babbling that Sir Talon had gone mad and only she could sooth the knight’s mind.
She hurried to the earl’s chapel, where Cleve said Talon was, and found him amidst a holy mess— candles, candlesticks, altar cloths, a censer, and other emblems of faith were strewn about the room.
“What on God’s earth are you doing?”
“Good morning.” He put down the candlesticks he held and drew her to the room’s only seat. “You were abed when I returned last night, and I didn’t want to wake you to tell you that Dame Margery has died.”
“I am sorry to hear it.” She shook her head. “But what has her death to do with the havoc you wreak here?”
Talon’s expression tightened. “I was with her before she died, and she told me ... she told me many things. The most curious was that I would only find what I desired most by searching the heart. She urged me to go to the chapel, to pray and search my heart there.”
“I don’t understand. The king will likely appoint you Earl of Hawksedge. You have the place you wanted, if you decide to seek dispensation from your vow. Why destroy a room on the ramblings of a sick old woman?”
Talon’s lips thinned, yet he clasped her hands still. “You force me to speak when I had hoped to surprise you.”
“Surprise me? With what, pray you?”
“The marriage box that proves you to be Lady Larkin Rosham.”
Larkin’s breath froze in her body. She scarce dared believe him. With the proof the box contained, her claim to Rosewood would be unassailable, and her claim to Hawksedge might be stronger than Talon’s. He could lose the home he’d wanted all his life, just to make certain she got hers. “Why would you continue to seek that?”
“Because you wish it.”
Larkin swallowed. She sat up straighter and looked him square in the eyes. He had to believe what she was about to say. “I ... I don’t wish it any longer. I told you yesterday that I would cease searching for that proof. If your word and mine were not enough to convince the king that I am Lady Rosham, then I would retire from the world.”
Talon frowned. “Let us have nothing but truth between us. You do not wish to retire from the world any more than I want to go on pilgrimage and dedicate my life to God.”
Her mouth suddenly dry, she swallowed. Could he mean that he wanted to rescind his oath? The only way to know was to give him the truth he asked for and trust him to do the same. “You are right. I do not wish to live my life as a nun. But it is also true that I no longer care if the marriage box is found.”
The look in Talon’s eyes sharpened. “I don’t believe you.”
She leaned forward. “If that box is found ’twill only cause more misery and heartache. Look what my obsession with it has done to my life. Look what misfortune that box caused my family. Look what it has done to us.”
Some emotion gleamed inside the sharpness in Talon’s gaze. “What has the box done to us, Larkin?” His voice strained with that same emotion, but gently, urging her to confide in him. Trust him.
She already knew she did, all she had to do was show him. “It has been a barrier between us since the day we met. I would have that barrier removed.”
“Aye, once the box is found, all doubt about your identity will be removed. You will have all claim to Rosewood and the greater claim to Hawksedge.”
“I will gain all, and you will lose all. That box must never be found. I’ll not allow you to put your happiness or mine at risk for something so unimportant.”
Talon sat on the floor, pulled Larkin into his arms, and kissed her. “I love you, Larkin Rosham, for the care you have of my happiness, but most of all for the woman you are, be you Liar Larkin, carter of Hawking Sedge, Lady Larkin Rosham of Rosewood, or Countess Larkin Hawksedge of Hawksedge Keep. I want to marry you, live with you, and love you all of my days. You, not your name, nor your place in this world. But we still have problems to resolve.”
Larkin kissed him then. “Aye, that we do, but they can wait. Take me to the solar, Talon. Make love to me, now.”
“But, the annulment of your marriage ...?”
“Is one of those problems that can wait. Please.”
He lifted her into his arms. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, and if you question my certainty once more, I shall clout you soundly.”
But he did ask her repeatedly, each time he roused from loving her, and her reply was always the same.
They drowsed in bed the next morning, enjoying the delicious contentment of being alone with each other. Talon nuzzled the hair from her ear. “We’ve been abed a full day. Do you think we should rise and face the world?”
