Page 9 of The Saxon Lord's Unwanted Bride
Harald grunted, reverting to the Saxon tongue. “The wench is soft in the head. Perhaps the Normans employ halfwits as servants to ensure their subservience.”
The woman’s smile disappeared.
“She’s very beautiful,” Edwin whispered. “Many men hereabouts will be eager to bed her—myself included.”
“Aye, brother,” Harald laughed. “A good hard fuck is what we both need.”
“You should be generous, brother, and leave this one to me.” Edwin said. “I wonder at her mistress bringing her here—a lady doesn’t wish her servants to be more comely than she, and this one is exquisite.”
The woman frowned slightly but did not move. She watched them as a hunted animal watches a predator, waiting for its next move.
“She’s exquisite indeed,” Harald replied, sighing. “And to think. William has saddled me with a deformed hag instead.”
The woman stood still, her only visible reaction a slight clenching of her fists and narrowing of her eyes, as if in pain.
Two servants approached from the side of the garden, not noticing the men. Harald recognized Mona, but the other must be one of the Norman servants. Mona dropped a curtsey.
“Are these the herbs you requested my Lady?”
The woman turned her gaze from Harald and smiled at Mona before speaking in perfect English with a trace of an accent, her musical voice softening the Saxon tongue.
“Aye, thank you Mona. Chamomile, and if I’m not mistaken, spearmint also. ’Twill do very well.”
“Shall I brew the infusion for Lord Harald?” Mona asked.
“Nay, Mona,” the woman said. “I’ll see to it myself, if you’ll show me to the kitchens.”
The woman turned her soulful gaze to Harald.
“That is, of course, if my husband will permit me to take my leave.”
Mona and the other servant gasped as they turned and recognized Harald.
Harald nodded to his wife. She smiled at him, then dipped a curtsey. The women set off toward the kitchens. Lady Eloise’s musical voice rang out as she conversed with Mona in fluent English.
Edwin let out a shout of laughter and thumped Harald on the back.
“So, you’ve found your wife,” he said. “Perhaps you need that ale now to recover from the encounter. A woman such as she—beautiful, learned—ha! You have my envy, brother. Such a gem is wasted on you.”
Harald scowled. He ought to hate his wife—she was the penance to be suffered in return for keeping Wildstorm. But William had sent him a prize.
He shrugged his shoulders before following Edwin back inside. Treasure or burden, she was his to do with as he pleased.
Chapter 3
After delivering the herbal infusion to her husband, Eloise spent the day in the kitchens, familiarizing herself with her surroundings. During the afternoon she heard him training outside with his men, his voice unmistakable. His laughter boomed across the yard as he spoke to his men in their Saxon tongue. But when she ventured to join them, he scowled at her, then returned inside. He wanted as little to do with her as possible.
What had he called her?
A deformed hag.
So, the rumors about her had reached his ears. Would she ever escape her past?
She fingered the scarred flesh on her arm and closed her eyes, but she opened them swiftly as once more the image burned into her mind—dark curly hair surrounding a handsome face, twisted with lust for power. Clear blue eyes full of hatred, teeth bared…
Her husband may detest her, but there were worse men Papa could have given her to.
Far worse.
