Page 52 of The Raven and the Rose
“Thank you, my lord.” She took a breath and asserted, “Naturally I shall be keeping Alice and Kate. I cannot manage without them.”
“Naturally,” he conceded smoothly. He smiled inwardly. Splendor of God, today she could ask for the earth, and he’d give it to her.
After writing a graphic letter to Joanna, she let Kate in on some of what had happened. “Ravenspur is sending one of his men to escort the bitch to Castlemaine. Dirk, I think, is his name. See to it for me, Kate. Watch her off the place. See that the man takes this letter to my mother.”
Kate watched her and knew she was nervous.
Roseanna exclaimed, “The day is melting away like snow in summer. It can’t possibly be time for the midday meal! Alice, I’ll need water for my bath early tonight. I shall have it before I go down to dinner rather than after. Also, I want you to gather my brushes and toilet articles together for me.”
Twice Roseanna went through everything that hung in her wardrobe. She had never had difficulty deciding what to wear; what was the matter with her today? She turned to her women. “For God’s sake, stop acting like I’m going to a funeral! Help me choose a gown for dinner and a modest bedgown for later. That scarlet one won’t do. I made rather a spectacle of myself in it last night.”
Alice brought out a white quilted bedgown. It was appropriately virginal. “Alice, will you be brave enough to attend me in Ravenspur’s chamber tonight?”
“Oh, I don’t think so, Lady Roseanna,” gasped the girl.
“Please?” cajoled Roseanna. “I’m afraid he thinks of Kate as rather a dragon. I’ll only need you for a moment or two to unfasten my gown and brush my hair.”
Kate said briskly, “Think of what she has to face. Don’t be such a coward!”
Roseanna went white around the mouth, and her knees caved in under her. “Oh, Kate, is it so very bad?”
Kate pursed her lips and shook her head. “’Tis different for everyone, but from what I’ve heard, a woman fares better at the hands of a man with experience. Untried youths make the worst bridegrooms in the world. ’Tis all fumbling and pain and over with before ’tis properly begun. Alice, don’t you dare faint again!” Kate admonished.
There was a knock upon the chamber door. “That must be Ravenspur’s man, Kate. Give him this, and go with him to see that they’re away from here before the midday meal.”
The day lasted a thousand hours for Ravenspur. Each one crawled past at a snail’s pace. His eyes never left the sky as he watched for dusk to descend.
Roseanna’s afternoon sped past, hastened by a lively altercation between Kate Kendall and Mr. Burke. It seemed that in his efficient way, he had transferred Lady Ravenspur’s belongings to the master’s bedchamber. He got a mouthful of venom for his effort.
“Mr. Burke,” pointed out Kate with the stubbornness of a terrier, “I and I alone see to Lady Ravenspur’s belongings.”
“Mrs. Kendall,” he pointed out with the sweetness only an Irishman could muster, “I’ve been steward of the Ravenspur castles for twenty years. The baron likes the way I do things. Kindly stand aside.”
“Put one foot across this threshold, and I’ll shove you on your Irish arse,” she threatened.
“’Tis easy to see how the master mistook you for a dragon,” he retorted.
“Mr. Burke, I’ve been insulted by experts. Don’t delude yourself that your pathetic little barbs will find their mark.”
“Because your hide, no doubt, like your skull, is as thick as that of a rhinoceros.” He smiled.
Kate Kendall snorted like a gored bull. “Manners— pigs have none!” Then she addressed the world at large. “Every nation has its vermin, and I suppose the Irish are ours! Well, Mr. Burke, you may smile, but we shall have the last laugh. For you and your exalted baron are laboring under the idea that Lady Ravenspur is moving to the master bedchamber permanently. Such is a misapprehension,” she said sweetly. “One night only, Mr. Burke, and since you insist on running errands, you may take this bedgown and these toilet articles. The rest stays here!”
Roseanna choked back her laughter. The two of them went at it like herself and Ravenspur. Her conscience smote her, however, when she glimpsed the look of despair on Alice’s face. The poor girl hated noisy scenes between people who were stubbornly arrogant and flamboyant, but it seemed the young girl was surrounded by nothing but such people. “Come, Alice, let’s visit Rebecca’s chambers. You need a dose of peace and quiet, and that’s probably the only place we’ll find it around here.”
Before the evening meal, Roseanna bathed and dressed in the most demure gown she owned. Then she bravely held her head high and joined her husband in the dining hall. His eyes caressed her, causing her heart to race at a frantic pace. She forced herself to breathe slowly so that she appeared cool and serene. She wore a silk apricot underdress with a high frilled neck and long, flowing sleeves. Over it she wore a deep amber tunic with a beaten gold girdle around her hips. Her hair was held back by a circlet of beaten gold.
Ravenspur’s fingers ached to touch her; he let them have their way. He brushed them across her girdle and said, “You have so many pretty things, Roseanna. I am at a loss what to give you for a present.”
“My mother designs jewelry, so I have a coffer filled with it.” She gave him a sideways glance and said, “You don’t need to give me presents. I will be satisfied if you pay me what you owe me.” Her shafts and barbs had begun.
His eyes crinkled with laughter, and he teased, “And I will be satisfied if you pay me what you owe me.”
She didn’t challenge his words but let them slip past as if they were unheard. She let her eyes roam around the hall; it was safer than looking at her husband. “Your captain—Kelly is his name? Is he related to you in any way? For a moment I thought he was Tristan.”
He grinned at her. “Not that I know of, unless he’s one of my father’s by-blows.”
For one brief moment she thought he was deliberately insulting her and she stiffened. Then she let out her breath as she realized he could not know she was the King’s by-blow. He was simply trying to shock her, so the last reaction she should give was shock. She pierced him with a glance. “Lechery runs in the family, then?”
