Page 17 of The Raven and the Rose
“Lady Joanna eagerly awaits you in the hall. I’m sure she is better prepared for your visit today. I’ll show your men to their quarters.”
“Thank you, Castlemaine. I’ll visit your stables again before I leave.”
Joanna greeted Roger effusively. She was regally gowned in a deep royal blue tunic and underdress that attractively showed off her blue-black hair. She wore a jeweled posy cap, but no veil was in sight. Like Roseanna, she was inordinately proud of her hair and covered as little of it as possible.
Ravenspur bowed formally and without hesitation said, “Lady Joanna, before we discuss the betrothal, I wish to speak privately with Lady Roseanna.”
“Certainly, my lord.” She smiled brilliantly, wondering wildly whatever she was going to do. “Kate,” she called brightly, “inform Roseanna that Baron Ravenspur has arrived. Come, my lord. I will show you to your chamber. You know how long it takes young girls to complete their toilet these days.”
He knew immediately that something was wrong. It was unlike Joanna to be so fluttery. And the look she had exchanged with her servingwoman spoke volumes.
He was pleased with the richly appointed chamber she had plenished for him. Joanna immediately poured them two goblets of her best Chablis. As he sipped the wine, he was alert to the signs of her agitation as she made animated small talk. Finally, Kate Kendall arrived. Her plain features were set in grim lines. She parroted the words she had been rehearsing ever since she had been met with silence at the turret-room door. She was worried to death, in actuality; the child’s safety meant more to her than Joanna’s desire to save face in front of the baron. “Lady Roseanna begs to be excused today. Perhaps tomorrow,” she said vaguely.
Joanna’s lips tightened. “Go back and tell her she will not be excused, Kate. I insist that she come down.”
Ravenspur added, “Explain that I wish to have a word with her in private and that it won’t take more than a moment.”
The servant bobbed a brief curtsey and went on her hopeless mission. As soon as Roseanna learned that Ravenspur had returned and wished to see her, she hurriedly put on the maidenbelt. Her mischievous heart leaped, and her wicked juices bubbled with anticipation as she slipped into a fawn-colored underdress, exquisitely embroidered with stalks of wheat, that she’d purposely chosen because it emphasized the pallor of her skin. Satisfied with her ethereal appearance, Roseanna was ready to indulge in the very theatrics her mother had accused her of.
When Kate returned to her mistress, she said plainly and simply, “I can get no response.”
Joanna set her empty goblet down with a bang. “I’ll handle her,” she said with determination. Indeed, if Roseanna refused to open the door this time, she would send for Neville and have the door forced open. How dare her daughter show her up before the baron?
As soon as Joanna had left, Ravenspur turned to Kate Kendall. “What is upsetting you so much, ma’am?”
Flattered to be so addressed by such an exalted personage, she expelled her breath and proved the old adage that when under stress, women confess. “Oh, my lord, Lady Roseanna has been locked in her room all week without food.”
“Good God!” he exclaimed, and strode out of the room and up the staircase that led to the turret. Taking Joanna firmly by the shoulders, he removed her from the doorway. “I had no idea you would punish her, ma-dame,” he said coldly.
Joanna’s eyes widened in disbelief. “She is punishing me, sir, I would have you know!”
He pitted his great strength against the door by wedging his foot firmly beside the lock and kicking with all his might. At the first loud thud Roseanna fell to the floor in a very appealing faint. At the third kick the lock gave, and the door swung in to reveal the small, limp figure. Roger was on his knees instantly, his hands upon her body searching for signs of warmth and life. His fingers encountered the metal chastity belt. He raised condemning eyes to Joanna and said, “I would never have believed a mother could be this cruel!” He lifted the delicate girl and strode from the turret room down to his own chamber; Joanna followed him.
With eyes tightly closed and heart hammering wildly, Roseanna knew she had aroused his vow of knighthood to protect with his life a maiden in distress. Good God, she’d gone too far, as usual. Somehow she had to find a way to make herself unattractive to him.
Gently, he laid her upon his bed and chaffed her hands. He poured her a little Chablis and lifted it to her pale lips.
She opened her eyes slowly and said weakly, “Where … am I?”
“You wicked girl! Stop this play-acting at once!” demanded Joanna.
Ravenspur turned on her instantly. “Outside! I want to be alone with her.” His eyes blazed with such dark fire, that she dared not goad him further. She swept past him, taking Kate with her. Very well, Joanna thought angrily, the little wildcat could face him alone. They deserved each other!
“Roseanna, are you feeling strong enough to talk to me?” he asked.
Instinct told her that she would get more from this man by appealing to his chivalrous heart than by making demands.
“Whatever have you done to provoke your mother to such extremes?” he asked gently.
She allowed one tear to slip down her cheek. “It’s because we wish to dissolve the betrothal, and”—she spoke softly, but passionately—“because … I love—another.”
A frown came between his heavy brows. “Who?” he demanded; some of the gentleness had left his voice.
She shook her head woefully. “Alas, I cannot tell his name. He would suffer greater punishment than I.”
“Is this why she’s forced you into the maidenbelt?” he asked, his eyes holding hers.
He was no longer carrying her, but the closeness of his body to hers reminded her of his great strength. She lowered her eyes. She knew the question that hovered in his mind as if he had spoken it aloud, and she also knew that her fate rested on the answer she gave to that question. Suddenly, brilliantly, she knew how to free herself from this man, knew how to devalue herself in his eyes. “The maidenbelt was in vain. I am no longer a virgin,” she lied, and the intimate words stained her cheeks a delicate pink.
