He felt a tug on his arm, and turned to find Margery smiling up at him through clenched teeth. “I didn’t like missing your wedding, James. I’m quite upset with you.”
He leaned closer to whisper, “Do not worry so, sweetheart. Everything is under control.”
“As if that’s all that matters,” she whispered back. “We need to talk later.” She stepped away and said aloud, “I’d like to dress for supper. Sarah, would you accompany me?”
“Oh do allow me,” Isabel said, walking forward.
James tried to think of a way to keep the two women apart. Who knew what plans were whirling through his wife’s devious brain?
Sarah wiggled her fingers. “Oh, Margery, do wait for us. I’m sure Lady Bolton could show us to our chambers, too.”
“They’re not ready yet,” James quickly said, watching as Annie went dashing down a corridor to move the most luxurious furnishings around. If only he’d had time to spend some of his newfound wealth.
Isabel led Margery up the main staircase, and James could only imagine the odor trailing after her. Sarah pouted and went to sit beside the hearth with her gaggle of ladies. Avery’s knights and traveling companions headed for a table where ale was being poured. But Avery himself faced James, his amused smile a grating annoyance.
“Finally a married man,” Avery said.
“Feels good to have the deed done.” James walked to the empty dais and poured a tankard of ale for his guest.
“And it was a long quest, as I remember.”
James leaned back against the table, sipped his ale, and studied his old friend. “Just the right amount of time to find the right woman.”
Once James had roamed the streets of London with Avery, getting into one scrape or another, and drinking their way out of it. It had been a dark, depressing time in James’s life, after he’d lost Katherine Berkeley. Avery had been a loyal companion until they’d begun competing for the same women.
Avery sat on a bench at the head table, and James had no choice but to sit beside him.
“So tell me true,” Avery said. “Did the girl really rob you?”
He had known this was coming, that someday he would have to face all his friends and acquaintances and explain his marriage.
“Of course she robbed me,” he said. “Trying to get my attention, you know. There’s a long history between our families that’s been hard to overcome.”
Avery sighed. “She does have great wealth, I’m told. That must make up for what she lacks. She is a rather monstrous woman.”
James had once thought the same thing himself, yet now he knew more about her. He found himself speaking words he hadn’t planned, through a clenched jaw and gritted teeth. “If you continue to disparage my wife, I’ll make you wish you still had a throat to speak out of.”
Avery raised both hands and laughed. “Very well, Bolton. I ask your forgiveness.”
~oOo~
Isabel had no idea where Margery’s bedchamber might be, but Margery did. Isabel followed her into a cold room she’d never been in before, with plenty of pillows, draperies, and tapestries. The girl hung her cloak on a peg, then threw open the shutters to let in some light. She slowly turned to face Isabel.
“ ’Tis good to be home,” Margery said.
Isabel folded her arms over her chest, raised one eyebrow and waited to see what Margery would do. Though the silence was long and uncomfortable, Margery’s gaze never dropped. She seemed to be assessing Isabel.
“I used to live here most of the year,” Margery said, “but since I’ve come into two manors from my brother, Reynold, I’ve been living there. Perhaps that was a mistake.”
“Why? Do you think you could have protected your brother from me?”
Was Margery trying to show Isabel how rich and happy she was, that she had two brothers she loved, and who loved her back?
Margery shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wish I would have been here. Perhaps I could have helped.”
Isabel felt anger surge through her. “Helped how?” she found herself saying as she advanced on the girl. “Could you have stopped Bolton from parading me in ropes before his people? Probably not. After all, I did rob him. Would you have stood over the pit he calls a dungeon, and thrown food down to me?”
Margery’s face blanched.
