AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With each damning word, she felt smaller and smaller. Of course she no longer had standing or position—the failed rebellion had seen to that. There was no reason for him to marry her. He desired her, but didn’t want to marry her. He didn’t even want her to stay after the year was done.
She hadn’t even realised that she had hoped for something like a loving marriage. She had been so naive in building dreams. Somehow, she thought they’d go on this like this for ever when all along he’d been planning this to be a short-term thing. She felt used and betrayed. She had thought what they shared was special and unique and that he felt it in the same manner that she had.
‘Thank you for making your position clear,’ she choked out around the increasing lump in her throat.
‘I didn’t want you to harbour any false hope.’
‘That is my concern.’ She kept her head up and her face a careful mask. Silently she was pleased that she’d had so many years of dealing with Egbert and knew how to conceal her emotions. Right now, she wanted to scream and shout at him that he was being unfair. He had demeaned her and what they shared.
‘And you need not worry. I would hardly install a wife here while you are in residence.’
Edith drew in her breath sharply and counted to ten before she trusted her voice. Install a wife? He made it sound like he was offering her a huge favour. She’d hope that as a courtesy to this unknown woman, she’d be gone. ‘That is supposed to keep me sweet? You will make sure we have ended before you marry.’
‘It is the best I can offer. I will see you have nothing to fear for the future either.’
She winced as if he had slapped her.
Brand frowned. What did she want? His head on a silver platter? He had behaved honourably. He could have allowed her to have illusions, but it was better to have the truth. It was hardly his fault that some day he would have to marry and produce an heir. He would never humiliate her in the way his mother had been humiliated. ‘You will do as I say, Edith.’
‘We have an agreement, Brand, and I will honour it. I expect to be released when my year is up.’ Each word was clearly enunciated.
‘So where will you go?’ he asked through clenched teeth. ‘Where will you find refuge? Who will take you? I will see you safe and settled. You can have a small cottage with a little land. I intend to be generous, Edith.’
‘That is my concern!’ Edith glared back at him, her hands balled into fists. ‘When I go, I’ll no longer be your problem or in need of your generosity. Perhaps I will go to Wessex. I have some distant relations there. Or maybe to a nunnery on the coast where my second cousin twice removed is the abbess. But I won’t stay here, hanging around like a bad smell.’
Brand raised an eyebrow. ‘Two places at once?’
‘I haven’t decided.’ Edith’s cheeks flushed. ‘It depends on many things. When the time is right, I will know where I will go. You never said that I had to decide immediately. You are seeking to change the terms. That is not allowed, Brand.’
‘I should have some input,’ he said with icy politeness. ‘There might be other considerations—a child.’
‘You should have nothing! The trouble with you is that you want everything and give nothing in return.’
With great difficulty, Brand swallowed his inclination to shout. If he gave vent to his anger, Edith would have won. He concentrated on taking slow even breaths. Edith was impossible. When she had calmed down, she’d see that he had offered her the truth, rather than the pap of a lie. She should see that he respected her enough to give her honesty rather than sweet meaningless nothings.
He was in no hurry to marry and he’d never have a situation like his father had. But he’d not offer false hope. A year was a long time. Brand refused to think about how empty his life would be without her and how much he looked forward to waking up with her by his side or sparring with her with words. The solution would come to him. Edith would listen to reason.
‘When the time comes, I will lead the party that provides you with safe passage,’ he said when he trusted himself to speak reasonably. ‘You will have to tell me some time.’
‘When that day comes, I will inform you of my destination, but it will be far from here.’ She turned on her heel and started to stride away.
‘I didn’t give you permission to go.’
‘Do I have to ask?’ She stopped and made a mocking curtsy. ‘Very well, may I go, your lordship?’
