Lord Liar Part 40

But Ranulf made no move to a.s.sist her to the backless curved chair that faced Henry.

"My liege, I would present Lady Aldyth, daughter of my father's castellan of Sherborne."

Aldyth made an awkward attempt at a curtsy, but the prince forestalled her with a hand. Rising, he brought the chair over behind her and murmured in perfect English, "Sit, please, my dear lady."

His switch from Norman French to English made her blink in astonishment.

"You are surprised to hear me speak the tongue of the English people whom I would rule someday. But why so? Of all the sons of the Conqueror, I am the only prince born in that foggy land."

"I--I speak French, your grace." She felt it necessary to remind him.

"Of course, I have already heard you do so," he told her, "but I wanted you to feel at ease."

She felt the force of his charm like a warm ocean wave. No wonder he had held her beloved's allegiance. But she reminded herself that this very charm had made Ranulf wary of trusting him with her ident.i.ty.

He leaned back and studied her, his gaze as piercing as that of his gyrfalcon.

"Of course..." he murmured, speaking to Ranulf.

"How could I ever have been so blind7 Oh, I thought her rather a delicate lad, to be sure, but how could I have missed those long eyelashes... that sweetly curt ted throat...." His gaze roved lower, musing Aldyth to blush, the heat spreading up from the neckline of her un- dergown.

Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s still felt strange, released from their binding, and she could see that the prince's eyes lingered on them.

"My prince, I'm sure an explanation is necessary as to why I deceived you about Lady Aldyth's gender," Ranulf interposed from his position behind her chair. Henry chuckled.

"Not at all, my lord. I was beginning to worry about you actually, thinking my elder brother's... differences... might have rubbed off on you, while all the time you found it t.i.tillating, I'm sure, to have such a secret. By day, to the world, she was your page Edward, seeing to your comforts as any well-trained page boy would. At night, in the privacy of your bed--ahem!

She saw to, shall we say, other comforts?"

Aldyth sensed Ranulf stiffening behind her.

"Your grace, the lady has plighted her troth to me. We are to marry."

Henry looked nonplussed for only a moment, then backed away, hands raised, palls outward.

"So, my lord! Why don't you just come right out and say it-- " Take your lecherous eyes off the lady, for she is minel' See how easy it is? Oh, and my congratulations to you both," he added with a grin.

"Thank you, your grace," said Ranulf, still sounding somewhat strained.

"I know myself to be very fortunate that the lady honors me with her love."

"Indeed," Henry countered dryly.

"You were going to tell me why you felt it necessary for such a winsome lady to accompany you dressed in the rude clothing of a page?"

Aldyth felt Ranulf had borne enough of the blame. '"Twas not entirely his idea, my lord. I fled to him--actually, to court--dressed as a boy in an effort to elude my betrothed."

"Your betrothed? You have two of them?" Henry questioned, mused. He sat back down.

"Say on, dear lady. This better and " I found out on the eve of my wedding that my betrothed, Turold of Swanlea, was a brutal man whom I could not marry. I fled him and came to court, where my brother Warin was a page to my lord. "

"You then appealed to Lord Ranulf's chivalry to help you? You must have been known to one another, since your father is his father's va.s.sal," the prince commented, making a tent of his fingers and regarding her over them.

"Not right away," she admitted, then blushed anew as she added, "we had quarreled the last time we had seen each other, before I became betrothed.

I... I felt I should not reveal to Lord Ranulf who I was."

Henry clapped his hands together gleefully.

"There's more here than you're telling me, I'll warrant. But keep your secrets. Tell me, though, my lady, how long did it take Ranulf to discover your s.e.x? Did he see the truth with his own eyes, or did some spiteful wench have to tell him, as Desiderata did to me?"

"He saw it rather swiftly on his own, your grace," Aldyth said with a shy glance behind her at Ranulf.

"He has a keen " As I do not, it seems. "

"But I knew her, my liege," Ranulf put in from behind her, beginning to sound more relaxed now that no reprimand had come from Henry.

"One does not forget the face of the lady one loves, even though she disguises it by butchering her tresses and affecting a gruff voice."

Ranulf's words warmed her, and she allowed herself to smile.

"And you took her with you to Rouen dressed that way?" Henry asked, clearly interested in the rest of the story.

"Yes, my liege. As I told you when I came, my squire and Lady Vivienne were with me then, but I did not tell you the lady was never mistress.

such. As for Aldyth and I, well, we did not. There were still misunderstandings between us, and I could not appear with two lemans, after all. "

"Why not?" Henry asked baldly.

"I have, lots of times-- even in the same bed at the same time. I recommend it, as a matter of fact. Oh, excuse me, my lady," he told Aldyth, looking genuinely ashamed.

"Forgive my wayward tongue.

I forgot myself again. "

"But I have not your grace's endurance," retorted Ranulf, sparing Aldyth the necessity of a reply.

"Nonsense. But you're the wiser, I'm certain. And when did you clear up these... misunderstandings? I a.s.sume not on the road between Rouen and the Cotentin, since your lady was introduced to me as Edward."

Ranulf cleared his throat, obviously at a loss. "This afternoon, your grace," Aldyth said.

Henry broke into delighted laughter.

"So when Desiderata blundered into your, shall we say, moment of intimacy, that's what you were doing? Clearing up your misunderstandings?" He slapped his thigh.

"My lord, she's delicious. In truth, I envy you."

Aldyth felt her face grow as hot as the coals in the nearby brazier.

The thought that the cour an had apparently described the way she had been lying atop Ranulf, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s--aye, her whole body--bared while he buried himself in her, made her sick with embarra.s.sment. "Nay, dear lady, do not blush for what is good and natural--even magical--between a man and a woman.

And I regret that spiteful b.i.t.c.h Desiderata ruined the moment for you, d.a.m.n her red head. She'll never bother either of you again, I swear it. I'll keep her out of sight for the remainder of your time here, I promise. Please say you'll forgive me, Lady Aldyth?" he pleaded, flas.h.i.+ng her a smile so little-boy earnest she could not help but smile back.