Page 3 of The Saxon Lord's Unwanted Bride
“No time,” Harald said. He tossed a coin to each of them. “I must return to Wildstorm.”
“To visit Roswyn?” Marlin pouted.
“Jealousy doesn’t become you, Marlin,” he said. “I care not for your sister, and she cares for none but herself.”
“Forgive her,” Marlin whispered. “Her husband does not satisfy her needs.”
Harald grunted. “Neither do I. I can tell when a woman’s pleasure is genuine; even yours.”
Marlin chuckled. “I could teach you how to pleasure a woman.”
“Are you eager for another coin?”
“No, my Lord. It would be a favor for a friend.”
“I’ve no desire to further the pleasures of women,” Harald said. “The last woman to take genuine pleasure when I rutted her, destroyed my life. I won’t be taken for a fool again.”
“Not even by Roswyn?”
He laughed bitterly. “Roswyn thinks I care for her, even though I’m to marry tonight.”
He silenced their protests with a wave of his hand.
“It’s merely a marriage of convenience to enable me to retain Wildstorm,” he said. “Honor dictates I shall remain faithful to her, however little I like the idea.”
“Then you must take pity on us,” Marlin said.
“My bride is a Norman wench, who I hear is past her prime, and deformed,” Harald said. “’Tis I who must be pitied.”
The trees thinned out on their return to the village and the drum of hoofbeats carried across the winter air. Harald spotted a party travelling towards Wildstorm; a cart laden with trunks and servants, and four men on horseback, flanking a carriage.
The bridal party.
Duke William’s words burned in his ears.
I expect you to hold your oath to me, Harald of Wildstorm. I’ve known the Morigeaux family for many years. Treat your wife well, or suffer the consequences. I will be eager to hear how she fares in your care.
Perhaps she’d been sent to spy on him.
He had sworn an oath of fealty to William. Covered in the blood of his enemies he’d knelt before his conqueror and yielded. Willian was a brilliant strategist and leader—a worthy victor and a man of honor.
But Harald would never forgive the suffering—the loss of lands, homes and dignity that his countrymen endured at the hands of the Normans. He could not forgive the horrors that invaded his dreams.
The losses his countrymen suffered came with a price. He would marry this woman being forced upon him, but nothing would induce him to love her.
* * *
“Cherie, we’ve arrived.”
Eloise woke to the sound of Papa’s voice and the carriage door opened.
“Come, little lamb. Lower your veil.”
Eloise complied. She was already wearing her bridal gown. At Duke William’s insistence she was to be married immediately. She took Papa’s hand and his eyes narrowed at how violently her fingers trembled.
“You’ve nothing to fear, little lamb. William himself says this Harald is a good man.”
“There’s no such thing, Papa, save you and dear Henri.”
