Candle in the Window Read Free Page B

began.
    “Rollo is your stepfather’s heir, and a
good man who cares for ye, but he’s just married and in
training for his knighthood. He manages your mother’s lands.
He is so busy that something could happen to ye and it would be a
month before he knew. Or longer. He avoids Lord Theobald at all
costs. And Dudley studies for the Church. After Clare there is only
Blaise, and he’s four. He’s attached to your new
stepmother, and your dear mother’s teachings are no good to
him.”
    “Make your point, Maud,” Saura murmured
drily.
    “M’lady, don’t ye realize? Your
brothers aren’t…ye’re teasing me,” Maud
accused.
    “You do twist the knife a bit, my dear.
We’ve refused to discuss my imminent demise for a reason.
There were no choices. Now Lord Peter offers me an alternative to
thiswretched existence and my unreasoning
reaction is to snatch it with both hands. Do you know how long it
has been since I was beyond the boundary of this little castle? The
seasons pass and I languish here, paying with the money from my
lands for the privilege of keeping house for a drunken sot. Still,
I wonder if you can convince my stepfather.”
    “Aye,” Maud agreed. “Theobald
will not let her go, just for spite.”
    “Let me talk to your stepfather.” Lord
Peter grinned in anticipation. “I’m a rich man, a
powerful man. He’ll pay heed to me one way or another. If he
fails to see that having a connection in my household would add to
his consequence, perhaps the threat of a summer siege would move
him to sense.”
    Maud laughed out loud. “That’ll make
the sorry lout see reason.”
    “I wish I could hear it,” Saura said.

“Well, if you can convince Theobald, and if sober,
conservative Maud thinks I should go, then go I will.”
    Maud answered with a glimmer of humor. “Ah,
m’lady, I never planned to go haring off with this gentle
lord without references. I shall check Lord Peter’s
reputation with his servants.”
    Saura reached out and caught Maud, sliding her hand
down the arm to Maud’s hand. Lord Peter watched the grace
with which Saura lifted the old maid’s gnarled hand and
kissed it fondly.
    That was what he wanted for his son. That ease of
movement, the ability to judge the limitations and adjust. She had
to come. She had to. William was desperate and dirty and lost. He
needed direction, and this accomplished girl was the one to guide
him. Lord Peter decided to rush the defences. “I’ll
give you my wife’s apartment—a private chamber with ahuge hearth. We keep fires burning day and
night. Burke is close to the coast, and I have many ells of
material from France we bought for William’s late wife, Anne.
You’d be welcome to them.”
    “Bribery isn’t necessary, Lord
Peter.”
    “We’ll want to take Alden, too, Lord
Peter,” Maud interrupted firmly. “He’s Lady
Saura’s man and her mother’s before her.”
    “As you wish.” Lord Peter nodded at his
ally. “My home is three days’ ride from here, and the
snow is deep, but I would gladly buy a cart.”
    Saura winced. “I can ride, sir, on a leading
rein, and I assure you I prefer the motion of a horse to the hard
bumpings of a cart.”
    “I go to arrange both at once.” Lord
Peter rose hastily.
    “Wait!” Saura commanded, holding out
her hand. “The snow is deep.”
    “Dress warmly and pack all your clothes, Lady
Saura. As soon as the storm weakens I must go. Burke is my primary
keep, stronger than the others, but even so I worry about William,
alone and in the dark. He’s helpless in a way you cannot
imagine, still endowed with strength and determination but unable
to find a way to proceed.”
    “Do you want me to pity him, my
lord?”
    “Yes, pity him. He has always been clear and
direct, full of hearty laughter and great rages. Now his rages are
unrelenting and self-directed and his laughter has disappeared.
Please, Lady Saura,” Lord Peter took her hand in his
trembling grasp, rubbing his calloused fingers