Jenna Jaxon - Time Enough to Love 03 Read Free

vows of matrimony could not be great. And ’twas rumored his marriage to Alyse had never been consummated. Did that not signal his disinterest in her? She might have been Thomas’s wife, aye, yet in that one way she remained his beloved alone. He had actually believed Thomas would not care overmuch what they did. An almost deadly error on his part.
    And as a result of that blunder, Alyse would have nothing to do with him.
    She snatched her hand back and plumped down abruptly opposite him on the cushioned seat. Thomas entered the conveyance, shot her a curious look, and sat beside her. Resisting the urge to slam his fist into the carriage wall, Geoffrey motioned to the driver, and they set off on the brief ride to the castle.
    “Has our baggage been sent ahead, Geoffrey?” Thomas asked as they started down the docks.
    “Aye, as far as I know, it has all gone ahead.” Thank Christ Thomas saw fit to speak civilly to him. “Have you been assigned your chamber yet?” He spoke to Thomas, but his gaze strayed to Alyse as he waited for her bid in the conversation.
    Her silence continued as she peered out the window.
    She should at least speak to him politely when in company. Their state of affairs had seemingly been resolved, and her husband bore him little ill will. Did she not know he had no intention of repeating their indiscretion? His true feelings for Alyse had changed not at all; however, he would die before revealing that to anyone.
    He believed that he could, in time, resign himself to his marriage with Mary. She was a quiet woman, overwhelmed and fearful of him in the days after their wedding, yet she had served him dutifully, with strict obedience. Not what he had wished for in married life…but mayhap if he stopped expecting her to be Alyse, he would be happier with his wife. Their circumstances of late had actually improved, owing to Mary’s raised spirits over her elevated status in the princess’s household. An elevation that had come at Alyse’s expense.
    Had she grieved the loss of her status? She had borne much in the past month. As had they all. He glanced at Thomas, who took her hand and laced their fingers together absently, a deft movement that spoke of the intimate connection between the two.
    Geoffrey suppressed a sigh. He understood, though he had not been told, that Alyse was now Thomas’s wife in fact as well as name. The change in Thomas almost immediately after his confinement with Alyse began spoke loudly of it. His friend had become tranquil, even lighthearted. Where previously there had been great tension, now only…contentment. What that heralded sent anguish through him as though devils stabbed him with red-hot pitchforks. Attempts to persuade himself ’twas only the natural course of events provided cold comfort at best.
    But he still longed to speak with Alyse. Just to hear her voice.
    “No, Geoffrey,” Thomas replied, after a sharp look at Alyse, who did not seem to be attending the conversation. “We know naught of our quarters yet.”
    “I believe I can help you, for they are quite close to mine. I will show you where they are as soon as we reach the palace.” Geoffrey glanced at Alyse, still wishing to engage her in the conversation. “All the ladies-in-waiting have been housed close to the princess. Indeed, I believe you are to be housed in the corridor closest to Princess Joanna. Between her apartments and ours.”
    Alyse continued to look out the windows as though enraptured by the narrow streets of Bordeaux. She remained silent, though the fine skin around her eyes tightened with strain.
    It was becoming a battle of wills that he would win, by the rood! He would make her speak to him. Mayhap a bolder tack was needed.
    “Lady Alyse.” He looked squarely at her, addressing her alone for the first time since leaving her on the bow of the ship eight days before. “How do you find the port town of Bordeaux? You seem to have been entranced with it since we left the