The Fourth Horseman by Sarah Woodbury Page A

of
Gloucester’s men.”
    Laughter bubbled in Gwen’s throat at getting
such an unexpected answer, and yet one which so perfectly explained
what she hadn’t understood before. “No wonder you feel so
comfortable here.”
    “ It is only because of my
father’s introduction that Lord Goronwy married my aunt in the
first place.” Mari gave Gwen a sheepish smile. “I’m not sure that
this was my father’s intent. He was very proud of his Norman
ancestry, and in introducing his wife’s brother to his Norman
friends, he sullied their bloodline.”
    “ And yet he married a
Welshwoman himself,” Gwen said.
    “ He did.” Mari shrugged.
“He loved my mother. I know he did.”
    “ I believe you.” Gwen bent
her head close to Mari’s. “If he hadn’t married her, he wouldn’t
have had you for a daughter.”
    Mari’s tears threatened to undo her again.
“My father died as the war between Empress Maud and King Stephen
was getting started.”
    “ I am so sorry,” Gwen said.
“May I ask how he died?”
    “ Drowned. They never found
the body,” Mari said.
    Gwen wanted to hug her friend, but the
stiffness in Mari’s shoulders told her to keep her distance. “You
must have been just a girl.”
    Mari nodded. “I came to live with Lord
Goronwy immediately thereafter.”
    Gwen could picture Mari, small and shy, not
yet grown into womanhood, faced with her outgoing cousin, who was
two years older and already attracting—and inviting—male
attention.
    “ This is all so much more
recent than I’d supposed. For some reason, I thought you never knew
your father,” Gwen said.
    “ I don’t talk about him,”
Mari said. “And since he left me nothing, Lord Goronwy doesn’t talk
about him either.”
    “ But you are here because
Lord Goronwy is landed, didn’t you say?” Gwen said. “Lands he
acquired when he married?”
    “ Yes. Uncle Goronwy and his
wife lived on the English estates she inherited. They have friends
among Earl Robert’s court, and Lord Goronwy takes pleasure in
remembering those times. Because his estates come through his wife,
it’s important that he stay on good terms with the
earl.”
    “ If your father introduced
your uncle to his wife, he must have been more than a knight, too.
Was he a nobleman in his own right?” Gwen said.
    “ Yes.”
    “ So … if your father was
one of Earl Robert’s men and your mother Lord Goronwy’s sister, I
don’t understand why you were left with nothing. Why don’t you have
a dowry—”
    Mari pushed open the door to Prior Rhys’s
room before Gwen could finish her sentence. Left out in the
corridor, Gwen took in a deep breath. Even as close as she felt to
Mari, she had skirted, and then overstepped, the boundary between
them. Although Gwen thought of herself as Mari’s friend and
believed that Mari viewed her in the same way, Mari was of the
superior social class. She’d terminated their conversation, as was
her right. Gwen was glad she knew more about Mari’s past, but she
wished she’d asked her questions more delicately.
    By the time Gwen had collected her thoughts
and entered the room, Mari had slipped onto a stool beside Prior
Rhys and was holding his hand. A woman Gwen didn’t recognize sat in
a chair in the far corner of the room, working silently on a
needlepoint square.
    Gwen tipped her head towards the door.
“Madam, could you excuse us? We’ll sit with him a while.”
    The woman curtseyed and left the room
without Gwen ever getting her name, which she supposed was her own
fault for not asking. Gwen hesitated for a moment, mustering her
courage to risk more conversation with Mari, and put a hand on her
friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I overstepped.”
    Mari patted Gwen’s hand. “Don’t be sorry.
I’m too sensitive, but I would rather not talk about my
father.”
    The cramp that had formed in Gwen’s stomach
at the tension between them eased. She squeezed Mari’s hand before
walking to the other side of the bed so she could