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The abbey was hours behind the in the west before Gavin spoke directly to Madelyne She seemed to have overco

When he leaned forward to speak into her ear, she straightened as if startled "Tell me, Lady Madelyne, how did you come to the abbey, and leave your father to believe you and your mother drowned?"

She was quiet for a moment, in a silence he had come to expect from her-as if she took the time to carefully measure her words in response to certain questions Her hands, stained from the boiled rose petals, clutched the pommel in front of her, and the corner of her veil flapped in his face as they jounced along at a brisk trot

"I do not kno that particular story came about-I was only ten summers, and there was much my mother did not tell me &039;Tis likely the man-at-ar"

"Escape?"

"Aye, &039;twas an escape froainst him as she drew in a deep breath "My father would fly into obscene rages when he prayed, and when he did, he oft beat and whipped my mother One can understand why she would seek to escape him and that lifeand of course, she would not leave ence of loathing for Fantin de Belgru hair Any h verily there werehis wife-she was his property and his to do with as he wished-but Gavin could not sto

Regardless, de Belgrume must have struck out at his wife once too often Yet, &039;twas not a co their husbands-for there were few places for a gentlelady to go And if a wohtfully returned to him

And, Gavin reh the eyes of a ten-year-old girl could be misconstrued and misunderstood If there was a man-at-arms who dared to assist in their escape, likely that man had a deeper, more intimate involvement with the lady of Tricourten than he should

Gavin&039;s mouth twisted and his chin jutted forward in remembrance of how it felt to be a husband who had been betrayed &039;Twas not any e as to hit his wife

But how did they come to the abbey, and what of the ain in order to speak over the sound of thu hooves and the ebullient conversations of his e to yank it from her head so that his vision would not be obscuredand so that he could see the color of her hair

Gavin sat back, upright, without asking his question The color of her hair? Froht come?

Then, as if that ard notion suddenly opened a gate of awareness, he became conscious that her round bottosand that her breasts rose and fell with the rhyth just above where his arms enclosed her sli, it would brush against her thighs

Jesu, the wohts, and spoke to Lady Madelyne-Sister Madelyne, he&039;d best re forward "And your mother? What befell her?"

"Mama died from a fever two autuhtest shift in her, a tensing, almost imperceptible

"Where do we travel?" Madelyne&039;s question, her first words to him that were unpro about why she changed the subject

"We are a day&039;s journey froht we shall sleep at a &039;s name to impress upon Madelyne the importance of her compliance, Gavin did not plan tohad planned to leave Westminster in the week since Gavin hi that the royal party traveled quickly and often unexpectedly, Gavin knew &039;twas more efficient to send word to Henry and await his instructions, rather than attempt to track him down As well, he&039;d not been to Mal Verne for nearly five ht or more to see how his steward fared

"Will we arrive anon? I fearweary" Madelyne pointed with a black-stained hand to the pair on the destrier that rode just in front of the woman called Patricka had slumped to one side in Clem&039;s ar Rule forith his knees, he approached them and called to his man "Do you wish to put her with so woman, whose face was upturned and her neck propped on Clem&039;s meaty arm

Patricka&039;s round, cheery face was slackened in sleep, and her apple cheeks jounced slightly with each pace of the stallion Her mouth, pursed into a berry-like swell of pink, parted just enough for a low snore to come forth, and her tip-tilted nose flared with each audible breath

"Nay, my lord There is no need to awaken the nance, as if his vanity had been bruised by Gavin&039;s suggestion that he could notwoman

"As you wish" Gavin raised an eyebrow, but forbore to coue ahead, and ill soon find our beds"

Madelyne forced her stiff legs toin such pain as she was, having spent much of the day in a saddle Her back hurt froht so that she would not brush up against Lord Mal Verne, and her arrateful, however, that he&039;d chosen a monastery for their place to rest, as she was in deep need of a chapel, and some moments of peace

&039;Twas after theiraffair, much plainer than that which had been served at Lock Rose Abbey-and after seeing that Tricky had slumped off to sleep in the women&039;s quarters, that Madelyne had slipped from the room to find the chapel One of the elder monks had pointed it out to her earlier, and now she crept like a wraith to its sanctuary

Candles burned, filling the air with the slow over the s to her knees on the hard stone floor-preferable than the wooden kneelers for keeping herself awake at this late tiht to find the words of prayer

But, for the first time in her life, she could not find them

Instead, she knelt, there in the presence of God, cloaked in her certainty that He heard and knew her randoes and reflections

Had it only been this morn that she&039;d risen, as if it were any other day? Here, now, she found herself in the coth and awed her with his control and authority-and who escorted her to the presence of the king

She wondered how Anne fared, and if she worried her daughter would betray her presence A tear stung her eye as she remeo with her, but Madelyne, knowing how fragile her parent was, and that she was still haunted by the nightmares of her husband&039;s abuse, had insisted that she remain at the abbey Yet Madelyne would not have prevailed if Mother Bertilde hadn&039;t intervened and insisted that Anne remain Madelyne was relieved, for she knew her mother&039;s constitution was not the heartiestand she did not wish to worry about her ed whatever it was that awaited her at the king&039;s court

What did it ? Verily, he could not mean to send her back to her father A sudden fear squeezed her middle Why would he not? What other reason would there be that he ordered her to attend him? Nausea roiled in her stomach

Dear God, I prithee, do You not send inhave mercy on me! Suddenly, the words came with fervor, and Madelyne opened her eyes to look up at the wooden crucifix and prayed

Her thoughts shifted then again And this manthis man who took her, who had somehow identified her Heavenly Father, protect me from him I will make my promise to You, speak my final voith no further delay if You see fit to return me to the Abbey

Even as she prayed these platitudes, Madelyne knew she had to put aside the strange, bubbling feelings that Gavin of Mal Verne evoked in her He could ht to her

In sooth, she had no desire to feel for him, to live in his world The Abbey allowed her the freedoh cloistered And now, this man threatened the path that she had followed for a decade,in her life with his power and coet the ads of the controlling, all-powerful hold aneed to know him had intervened quietly and subtly, and now Madelyne feared she would be lost

Her hand shook as she re in her belly as she sat encased in his arainst him with perfect rhythht The smell of leather and the unfamiliar scent of ered in herthe reins in front of her

Madelyne took a deep, shuddering breath She could not allow herself to feel this way Any eht but her own naivete, and was bound to be naught but a weak battering ra man

"What sin could you have co you here such a late hour?"

Madelyne whipped her head around as her heart leapt into her throat &039;Twas as if her thoughts had conjured up the man, and now he stood just in the doorway of the chapel Her liuilt at being caught thinking of him, she pulled herself to her feet with slow, deliberateher hands into the sleeves of her gown to hide their tre "Nay, &039;twas not a sin about which I spoke to God," she lied,that she had yet another reason to seek a confessional anon "&039;Twas for the soul of men like yourself, who have the hearts and lives of a warrior, and live only by bloodshed and power, and who destroy the lives of others without thought" She spoke flippantly, carelessly, of her own situation, so as to seem undisturbed But when she saw his face blanch, she realized she had struck him as if with the self-same sword he carried in his belt

His face hardened, and in the flickering light of the chapel, it settled like stone in an ominous mask, and for a moment, she was afraid Then, she saw the pain under the steeliness in his eyes, and she closed her eyes briefly as her fear settled

"Oh, ht that I came to draw you froht that I chose todestroy your life, as you have stated so bluntly"

"I did not mean to offend, my lord," she spoke quickly, unable to hold back the honest response to his obvious hurt The first tie in that stony expression "I truly do pray for your soul, and that of others like you"

A bitter laugh grated in the stillness "Aye, reat need of such concern"