Page 46 of Feathers in the Wind
Alone together, Perdita and Denzil stared at each other.
‘You played your part well,’ Denzil said at last.
Perdita reached for the table to steady herself. She took a deep breath. ‘You’re a coward, Denzil Marchant.’
‘Absolutely,’ he agreed, bowed and was gone.
Perdita sank into a chair. The events of the last few weeks had turned her world upside down and a hundred conflicting emotions surged in her mind. A tear escaped, dribbling down her cheek, and as the strain of the interview with Louise took hold, she laid her head on her arms and allowed the tears to fall.
She started at a light touch on her shoulder, jumping to her feet to face Joan.
‘Excuse me,’ she managed to say as she dashed at her swollen eyes.
‘Are you going to tell me what really happened?’ Joan asked. ‘Just as well Adam can’t see you now.’
Perdita sniffed and dashed at her swollen eyes. ‘Why?’
‘Some women like Louise can cry and still look perfect. You’re not one of them.’
Perdita managed a smile. ‘He should be safely in Warwick by now.’
Joan picked up the key Perdita had laid on the table. ‘How did you come by this? I thought Denzil had it.’
‘It was Denzil who freed him. I just took the blame.’
‘Denzil?’ Joan’s eyes widened. ‘It would seem I have misjudged my nephew. He does still have some of his own will left.’
‘Up to a point.’ Perdita snorted and then closed her eyes. ‘You should have seen her, Joan. If she could have struck me dead on the spot she would have done so.’
Joan drew in an audible breath and nodded. ‘You have made a formidable enemy in Louise, I’m afraid.’
‘Adam is gone, and I,’ she faltered. ‘I am to wed Simon so there should be no further need of her enmity.’
‘Ah yes, Simon,’ Joan said. ‘He seems to have become somewhat lost in the events of the last few days. Tell me, Perdita, do you love him?’
Perdita hesitated a fraction too long. ‘Of course I do. How can you ask? Now excuse me. It was a long night and I feel the need to rest.’
‘Of course you do,’ Joan echoed Perdita’s assertion as Perdita walked from the room.
* * *
As if hehad been summoned, Simon returned a few days later, claiming a few day’s reprieve from his duties with Lord Northampton.
Perdita regarded her betrothed with critical eyes. His drawn and troubled face worried her. It was not just the physical changes that troubled her. Each time she saw him all his confident optimism seemed to have further leeched from him.
‘Simon you’re becoming quite thin,’ she remarked, attempting to keep her tone light.
‘The food can be a little scarce at times.’ He shrugged and looked around his own pleasant parlour. ‘I heard you had an unwelcome guest.’
‘Unwelcome?’
‘That man, Coulter.’
‘He’s Joan’s nephew and he’ll never be unwelcome in her house, whatever the circumstances.’
Simon flushed and drew a weary hand over his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Perdita. It is a strange world we are living in. Bess tells me he escaped his brother’s clutches? Some story about Prince Rupert?’
Perdita nodded. ‘Indeed. The prince came in person. It would seem they had served together in Germany.’
