Forbidden Lady

He turned away. He would walk into the town and seek out Morgan of Hywell. It was for this he had come—and Melissa was promised to marry another. She had gone to her brother willingly and therefore must be happy with the marriage, despite the way she had looked at him.

‘Who were you talking to?’ Harold asked as he hustled her inside the inn, his fingers digging into her soft upper arm. ‘And what were you doing outside the inn?’

‘I went out for some air, because my head aches,’ Melissa said. ‘I am feeling unwell…’ She gave a little sigh and sagged against him, knowing that she must hold his attention until Rob had time to leave. If Harold had seen him he would undoubtedly have killed him. ‘I think I must rest here for a few hours, Harold. I may be sickening for something.’

‘If this is one of your tricks…’ Harold glared at her. ‘Do not try my patience too far, Melissa. I would as soon break your neck as look at you!’

Melissa smiled. ‘I know that you have no love for me, brother—but my father wants this alliance with Leominster. I should take care if I were you.’

She did not know why, but the brief encounter with Rob had lifted her spirits. He was still angry, she had sensed that, but while she lived there was still hope that she might see him again—and perhaps one day she could tell him the truth and he would no longer hate her.

‘I am glad to see you, Robert of Melford,’ Morgan Hywell said, and took his hand. ‘Now that Henry has set foot on Welsh soil I shall give you my affinity. I was doubtful that he would come, but he has and I shall give him my support. You will stay with us this night?’

‘Yes, thank you,’ Rob said. ‘It is good of you to offer, sir. I rode here in all haste as soon as the news arrived.’

‘I am glad to be with you at last,’ Morgan Hywell said. ‘And now, I would like you to meet the lady who orders my house for me—Mistress Alanna Davies. She is cousin to Owain Davies and was kinsman to the wife of Lord Whitbread.’

Alanna was a tall lady, quite stout and no longer young. She dressed in dark clothes and wore only a wimple to cover her hair—but Rob saw something in her face that seemed familiar, though he could not place it.

‘You are Owain Davies’ cousin, lady,’ he said. ‘He is with us in the cause and we are friends, for he once saved my life.’

‘I have not seen Owain for some years,’ Alanna said. ‘I was living then with my lady—but after she died I left the castle and came here…’

‘Whitbread threatened her and she was in fear of her life for some time,’ Morgan Hywell said. ‘But the years have passed and I daresay he has forgotten her.’

‘I have not forgot him or what he did to my lady,’ Alanna said. ‘But I must say no more for if he should hear gossip…’ She shook her head. ‘Come, I shall show you to your chamber, sir, because you will want to refresh yourself before we eat.’

Rob followed her upstairs. It was a substantial house, for Morgan of Hywell was a rich merchant and an important man in his town, which was why he had not been prepared to offer his support until he was sure that Henry Tudor had come. Now that he had, he would bring at least thirty men to their cause.

‘I trust you will be comfortable here, sir?’

‘I thank you yes.’ Rob detained her as she would have left. ‘You may trust me, lady. What did Lord Whitbread do to Melissa’s mother?’

‘You know her?’ Alanna’s face was wistful. ‘I have oft wished to see her—but it was impossible. You see, he knew that I had seen him leave my lady’s chamber—and that I suspected what he had done.’ Her eyes were dark with remembered horror. ‘He beat her so badly that she died of her injuries. He told everyone that she died of a childbed fever, but it was not so—he murdered her.’

‘May he rot in hell!’ Rob was angry. He knew that Melissa had often wished that she had known her mother, for she had told him as they walked together in the meadows: it had been a source of great grief to her. ‘One day he will pay for his many crimes, lady. I promise you that…’

‘I have often prayed that he might suffer for what he did,’ she said. ‘But I could do nothing…he would have killed me had I not run away. Perhaps I should have taken the child? I have often wished it, but then he would never have let me be.’

‘I thank you for telling me,’ Rob said. ‘I can tell you that your lady’s child is to be married, though I amnot sure that is of her own choosing…’ He could not shake the look he had seen in her eyes from his mind; it had begun to haunt him, for he had sensed that she was in distress.

Alanna nodded and went out, leaving him alone. He was thoughtful for he had remembered Melissa’s words. He had been too angry to listen to her at the time, but now they had come back to him.

You should know that I shall only ever love one man.

Had she meant to say that she loved him? Rob frowned as he thought it over. If she meant that…but he would be a fool to believe her. She had sworn that she loved him and would marry him—but then she had driven him away with words intended to cut him to the heart, as they had. Her father had not been in the room. If he had forbidden the marriage there had been nothing to stop her telling him so. He could recall her every word, remember the proud way she held her head, the coldness in her eyes as she told him that she did not wish to see him again.

Why would she have done that if she loved him?

‘Wait one moment, sir,’ Alanna came to him as he was about to mount his horse the next morning. ‘I have something I must tell you…’

‘Something you wish me to tell Owain perhaps?’

‘Yes. It would be best if he knew what I saw—though it is only a suspicion. I cannot swear to the truth of it, but I have thought…’ She raised her head, looking at Rob. ‘I know that I told you my lady was murdered—and it is true that he beat her. She sent me on an errand the next day, and when I returned he told me she was dead…but I think I may have seen her since then.’

‘Where?’

‘In the Isle of Ely, at the shrine of Saint Ethelreda,’ Alanna said. ‘It was Ethelreda who began the great Cathedral there and they say she has the power to work miracles. I went there with Morgan who made the pilgrimage to pray for his son…and a woman came up to me. She pressed a lily into my hand and then walked quickly away.’

‘Did you see her face? Did you know her?’

‘I did not notice her until she gave me the lily, but I recall that her head was clothed in shawls that covered her face and she was dressed shabbily. I thought nothing of it until later, and by that time she had disappeared—but that particular lily was always Elspeth’s favourite.’

‘And you thought it was her because of the lily?’

‘Yes, I began to believe so as I thought about it. I asked Morgan to make inquiries in the Isle of Ely and he has, but nothing has come of it.’

‘The evidence is slight.’ Rob frowned for it was unlikely that the woman could have been Melissa’s mother.

‘Yes. I have done nothing more for I thought I must have been mistaken—but I think Owain should know.’

‘Then I shall tell him,’ Rob said, and smiled at her. ‘This has lain on your conscience for years, has it not?’ She nodded. ‘Very well, you may rest easy, for I am sure that Owain will do what he can. He is very loyal to Melissa.’

‘And not only Melissa,’ Alanna said, standing back as Rob mounted his horse.

As he rode away, Rob wondered what she had meant by her last remark.

Melissa awoke from her dream. It had been so pleasant, for it was of the time when she had first met Rob. In those early days she had not thought of anything but the pleasure that came from seeing him smile at her.

He was so handsome, his eyes so bold and filled with laughter. She had never been teased and had hardly known how to respond to him, but she had loved him…she had loved him from the first.

She was sure that he had loved her then. They had walked together hand in hand, often saying nothing but just content to be together. Sometimes he had taken her up on his great horse and they had ridden for hours at a time, his arms about her, her head back against his chest…just as they had after he had saved her from those rogues.

A sob rose in her throat for she had felt his anger that day, and known that the gentle loving knight she had known was gone forever. In his place was a man with cold eyes who looked at her as if he hated her.

Yet she would still have begged for his help at Shrewsbury if she had not feared for his life and that of Rhona. And despite his anger, she believed that he would have given it—as he had that day in the forest.

The tears trickled slowly down her cheeks, because she had loved him so much, so very much…and now he hated her. She touched the small jade heart he had bought her at the fair, which she had hidden inside her gown next to her own heart. It was all she had left of the happiness that might have been hers…a trinket and her memories.

They were approaching their destination and unless she could think of some way to delay their journey, she would soon be the Marquis of Leominster’s wife!

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