Susan Paul - The Bride Thief

“As a way of keeping you from harm, aye,” Hugh admitted. “Alex wanted me to find you a bride in the hopes that a wife might settle you down and keep you out of trouble, and I thought—having heard of what transpired at Briarstone with the duke’s advisor—well, I thought, perhaps, that he might be right.”

“I’ve told you what happened at Briarstone,” Justin said tightly. “Chris told you what happened.”

“Yes, well. Ahem.” The earl cleared his throat. “How was I to know that the fellow had been trying to rape one of the women there? He said you’d taken a sword to him because he wouldn’t pay for his pleasures, not that you’d taken a sword to him because he deserved to be gelded. And before you tell me that I should have taken the trouble to ask you about the matter first, I’ll remind you that it wouldn’t have done any good. Alexander wanted you wed, and would have used any reason to accomplish the goal. You know what he is.”

“You’re an earl now, Hugh, and no longer a mere soldier for the king. You outrank Alexander.”

“Ha! As if that has anything to do with it.” Hugh took up his goblet and drank deeply. Wiping his mouth with his fingers, he said, “I should like to see you try to stand against anything that our eldest brother decided upon. It’s about as simple a thing as hacking a stone’ mountain to bits with a dull blade. And I’ll tell you truly that I thought the idea had merit.”

“Did you?” Justin asked in a low tone. “Because you think I needed to ‘settle’?”

“Because I don’t want you to keep on as you have been, aimless and solitary. You’ve nearly made yourself into a hermit at Talwar, save those few times when you visited Chris at Briarstone. I realize that what you went through with Lady Alicia was painful—”

“You,” Justin said as he abruptly stood, “of all people, should know better than to mention her name to me.” He stalked toward the fire, restless, angry. “God save me,” he muttered, running his hands through his hair. “Was ever a man so cursed as this in his family?” He fell still, staring at the flames in the hearth. “I was content with my life. It was not my intention to wed.”

“Justin,” Hugh said gently, standing to join his brother by the fire. “I would never bring you harm apurpose. If I have done so by my deeds, then I pray you will forgive me. I would undo matters if I could, but you are the only one who can do that.”

Justin lifted his head sharply. “Undo matters?”

Hugh nodded. “Sir Myles wants Lady Isabelle back. Indeed, he has gone to Duke Humphrey and demanded her return.”

“Sir Myles may rot in Hell.”

“And so he may,” Hugh agreed readily. “I believe you’ve made your feelings more than clear about that, but unless you mean to slay him and end up being tried for the crime, that doesn’t answer the problem. He wants your marriage to Lady Isabelle annulled, and has said that if she is returned to him, he will yet allow you to marry his daughter, Lady Evelyn.”

The face Justin made told Hugh everything that he needed to know about the desirability of marrying Lady Evelyn. “Ah,” he said. “I see. Ugly, is she?”

“Nay, she is quite beautiful. Extraordinarily beautiful.”

Hugh looked at him curiously. “But you did not want her?”

His gaze held upon the fire, Justin shook his head. “Not after I saw Isabelle.”

“So it wasn’t simply to punish Sir Myles? Or Alexander and me?”

Justin’s smile tightened with keen unpleasantness. “Oh, yes, it was that, too. I wish you could have seen the look on your face when I told you who I had taken for my bride. Not the wellborn beauty you’d so carefully chosen, but the ignoble daughter of traitors.” He laughed. “’Twas worth all the trouble you put me through in London, I vow. I only wish Alexander could have been here, so that I might have seen his horror, as well. A precious Baldwin wedded to such a one. S’truth, I would have given Talwar away to see his face.”

“Justin,” the earl of Siere said in a calm voice, “if you’re saying that you married that delightful creature simply to make a jest of her, I am going to beat you senseless. And then I’m going to personally return Lady Isabelle to her uncle.”

“You may beat me, or attempt to, if you like,” Justin said with equal calm. “I would verily enjoy breaking a few of your bones at just this moment. But you will not take Isabelle anywhere. Not unless you kill me, first.”

The two men stared at each other before Hugh finally pulled away, walking back to his goblet of wine, which he picked up. “I’m relieved, brother, to know that you’re not quite such a fool as you sounded for a moment. Although how any man who saw Lady Isabelle could be, I don’t understand. She’s stunning enough, by the rood. That hair. And those eyes…” His drifting voice finished the thought. “Hardly the sort of female one would want to get rid of. Which makes me wonder why you’ve not yet made certain of your rights to her.”

Justin stiffened. “She is my wife,” he said.

The earl uttered a short laugh. “She is your bride. She is not yet your wife. You are singularly unable to lie, Justin, so please don’t weary yourself with trying to make excuses. I know what it is to be married to the woman you desire above all others, and separate bedchambers aren’t part of such a relationship. But heed me well. Unless you make Lady Isabelle your wife soon, Sir Myles will have every reason he needs to take her back. There is nothing that Alexander or I will be able to do to legally stop him.”

“You must find a way,” Justin said. “I took Isabelle by force to make her my wife. I will not also force her to share my bed until she is ready to do so.”

Hugh turned to face him. “Then you chance losing her.”

Justin’s expression hardened. “I cannot make a woman accept me against her will. When Alicia did not wish to…wed me…I…” He was embarrassed by the pain he heard in his own voice, and fell silent.

“You let her run, God’s feet,” Hugh finished for him, fingering his goblet consideringly. “It was not well done, I vow. Of either of you.”

“I am not like you, Hugh. If Isabelle will come to me, it must be of her own accord.”

“Then for all your brave words, brother, you may lose her. I’m not ashamed to admit that I bedded Rosaleen while I had the chance, before she could think long enough to say me nay. After that she was mine, just as I wanted, and no man could take her from me. If you wish to keep your Isabelle, then I advise you do the same.”

“I’ll keep Isabelle,” Justin assured him. “Never doubt it. But if you want the matter to be legal, you must be the one to make certain of it. Unless you wish me to kill Sir Myles?”

“Stubborn lad,” Hugh said wearily. “Nay, I do not want you felling noblemen to keep your good lady. And, as Alexander and I are the ones who decided to meddle in your life, I suppose ‘tis only fair that we do what we can to lend you aid.”

“Now we are at last in complete agreement.”

“You needn’t beat me over the head about it. I’ve spent the past month sleeping, eating and breathing guilt. Rosaleen’s made certain of it.”

“I must thank her, then,” Justin said impassively. “Now that we have an understanding regarding Robert’s ‘important matters,’ I will tell you that Isabelle and I will leave on the morrow. I have been away from Talwar too long, already, and Chris must get back to Briarstone, as well.”

“I’ll do what I can regarding Sir Myles and the duke—” Hugh began.

“Nay, you do what you must,” Justin corrected bluntly.

“Aye, aye, whatever I must, whatever Alexander must. Don’t worry o’er the matter. Only tell me what you want me to say to Sir Myles. He wants to know what you intend.”