The Black Lyon by Jude Deveraux Page B

yourself?" Ranulf made the question seem like an accusation.
    "I will find a way to slip away to the garden. You will meet me there?"
    "I could not deprive you of your beloved guests."
    "Please, my Ranulf, I do not know the cause for your anger. I pray you to tell me that I may not displease you more."
    M ore words were impossible, for just then the band that played from the balcony surrounding the Great Hall tripled its sound and the room filled with loosely clad dancing girls. The guests roared their approval, and the tables were quickly cleared so the guests could join the dancing.
    The dances fit the temperament of the people, now filled with drink and food, for they were rowdy, energetic and romping.
    Lyonene found herself flung from the arms of one man to another. She was breathless from the fast-paced dances.
    "So now you have sold yourself to be a countess." It was Giles, Sir John's son, and by the color of his eyes, he had been drinking heavily.
    "Release me, Giles! How dare you come here in this condition!"
    He held her wrists and pulled her into a dark window seat set in the six-foot thick stone walls. "You are the one who dares!
    What does your new husband say of us?"
    "Of us?" She was incredulous. "There is naught to say of us. I have known you since we were children, 'tis all." "What of our talk of marriage?"
    "Our talk of marriage was about who we would marry, and when. We did not speak of marriage to each other." "Did you not know I always meant my wife to be you?" "Giles! You are hurting me!" He did not loosen his grip. "You have had overmuch to drink. Go home and sleep, but do not say more of these false things to me."
    "False! You call my love for you false? What is it you love most about him, his gold or his earldom? Does it please you to be a countess?"
    Although it hurt her toe through the soft leather slippers, she kicked his shin with all her might. The surprise made him relinquish his hold enough that she escaped him. She near ran to Ranulfs side.
    "Do not say to me you grow tired of the attentions of so many guests who have fallen to your charms."
    She turned on him and curled her upper lip in a snarl, then left him. She made her way to the door of the hall and went below to the cold winter garden. The coldness of a dark stone bench felt good, for her temper boiled in her.
    Her wedding day! M eant to be a most happy occasion, it had turned into a disaster. A husband who had changed into a scowling stranger, a childhood friend turned to a drunken madman. She wished with all her heart she could ride away and leave them all.
    "So, you cannot bear his presence even for one day. You have paid a high price for your silks and velvets." "Do not come near me, Giles, What you talk of is nonsense. I have never loved you or ever thought to marry you. I marry Ranulf because he is a good and kind man, for no reasons of wealth."
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    "You say to me the Black Lion is good and kind when all of England knows of his character? Next you will tell me he is a laughing boy who loves you well."
    "I tell you naught of my husband." She turned back to the castle, but he caught her wrist. The slap she placed on his cheek made his ears ring. She picked up her skirts and began to run, but his sobs stopped her. Giles had once been her friend and now she could not bear the terrible sounds of his pain. She turned back to him.
    "Giles, do not take on so. I did not know of your feelings for me. You have ever been my friend."
    He grabbed her arms, his head lightly resting on her shoulder. "I have always loved you, always."
    She patted his arm lightly, but pressed him away.
    "A most touching scene." They both turned to Ranulf, who stood a few feet from them, and the hate in his voice made her blood freeze.
    An ugly laugh came from Giles. "So, you are the husband, the wondrous earl who can buy himself any bride he chooses. You may think you have won her, but she will always be mine. Do my words reach you? She is mine!"
    Lyonene did not