Page 9 of The Raven and the Rose
“Brat!” he said, pulling a tress of her long, dark hair. She gave him a hefty push that sent him sprawling, then dashed off to the stables with Jeffrey in full pursuit.
Roseanna had chosen her gown with infinite care. It was a delicate shell pink that gave her a fragile air yet made her lips look like rose velvet. The four young people laughed the afternoon away beneath the willows that dipped their branches to the water. They had enjoyed the first plums from the orchard, and they had drunk both wine and cider. Eventually, Roseanna found herself alone with Sir Bryan.
She sat on a cushion and strummed her lute while he translated romantic verses written by a German poet. All at once, they looked up into each other’s eyes, and a moment later the book lay forgotten; Bryan closed the distance which separated them. He set her lute aside and slipped his arms around her. “Roseanna,” his lips murmured as she breathlessly received her first kiss. It was so exciting, she trembled against him. “I did not mean to frighten you,” he said low.
“You … did not,” she answered shyly. He was emboldened to repeat the kiss. She lay against his arm, enthralled at the love words he whispered.
“You are the loveliest maiden I have ever seen. I lost my heart the first moment I laid eyes on you.”
“I felt that way, too,” she admitted.
“Don’t toy with me, Roseanna. It will break my heart!” he said passionately.
Her eyes widened, “I’m not toying with you,” she said seriously. “I … love you.” She was flushed and breathless; her love was in her eyes, plain for him to see.
Then he threw himself upon the grass beside her, dejectedly. “It can never be!” he said miserably.
“Why not?” she asked, a crease furrowing her lovely brow.
“Your parents would never give such a prize to a landless knight,” he told her.
“But I have land in my dowry,” she pointed out.
“A woman’s attractiveness increases with the size of her fortune. You must be spoken for,” he insisted.
She put her hand out to him to reassure him. “When I was eleven I was betrothed, but he doesn’t want me. He has never come forward to claim me. He should have done so when I was fifteen. Now I am seventeen—at least a year older than most girls when they wed—so you see, the betrothal is just a formality that will be dissolved.”
Sir Bryan looked happier. “Perhaps there is hope, if all these years he has never claimed you. Who is he?”
“Montford, Baron of Ravenspur,” said Roseanna.
“Ravenspur!” He recoiled at the name. “He stands high in the King’s favor.”
Watching his face carefully, Roseanna asked, “Why do you look horrified?”
Sir Bryan hesitated, then blurted, “His reputation with women stinks to high heaven. He’s already had two wives; both are in their graves!”
“His wife died in childbed,” said Roseanna thoughtfully.
“The first one did, perhaps. The second one died under very suspicious circumstances. ’Tis rumored she was murdered—or worse!”
“Bryan, please, don’t be upset over this. My parents would never force me to wed a man I didn’t love.” She smiled into his eyes. “They have always given me my heart’s desire.”
He took her into his arms again and held her fiercely. “I’ll not let you go to him,” he swore.
She reached up a finger to smooth the frown from his brow; he took it and kissed it. “Pledge me your love, and I’ll be satisfied. For now,” he added.
“I pledge you my love with all my heart,” whispered Roseanna.
Jeffrey and Alice rode up, and their privacy was at an end. But before they parted, they pledged their love again, silently, with their eyes.
Roseanna was spending less time in the stables and more time indoors these days, her mother noticed with satisfaction. Her daughter actually asked Kate Kendall’s advice about housekeeping duties and was seen in the kitchens writing down some menus. When Joanna remarked on her new interest in womanly occupations, Roseanna said sweetly, “I will need to know these things when I become a wife.”
Joanna drew in her breath. “Darling, you won’t be devastated if the betrothal with Ravenspur comes to naught and is dissolved, will you?”
“Oh, Mother, of course not. I know it can come to nothing. I’m not naive enough to think he will ever claim me.”
“Then you will be happy if we look about and consider another husband for you?”
