The Holding - Book 1 in The Medieval Knights Series by Claudia Dain Read Free Book Online

was many years ago, was it not? Do you mean that he did not return?"
    "Nay, he returned with news of my father's death, but felt the need to journey to Canterbury on a pilgrimage of his own some months ago. He has not returned."
    And Godfrey could sense in her manner that she did not expect him to. The situation was most unusual; no house could function long without a priest. Cathryn's manner, always so urgent in her dealings with him before, was now abrupt and slightly evasive. It was odd indeed.
    "I have yet to ask, but who shall the mass be for?" he asked, looking for more solid ground.
    Looking down at her clasped hands for the space of a heartbeat, Cathryn answered softly, so softly that Godfrey could barely make out the words: "For someone held dear by me."
    Godfrey might have had difficulty hearing her heartfelt words, but William heard her clearly enough. Her choice of words did not please him. She was an orphan; who could hold place in her sheltered and innocent heart? There was just one acceptable answer: no one.
    Aware of his presence, Cathryn drew slightly away from Father Godfrey and faced William. Her urgency over the funeral mass would have to wait until after the ceremony and the signing of the contracts; it was for that very reason that she was eager to be finished with the formality of the marriage contract. William le Brouillard was lord of Greneforde; Henry had decreed it. He was in possession of Greneforde. That Greneforde was his was an accomplished fact. The marriage ceremony would merely be the seal on an already finished document.
    She faced him with neither relief nor urgency, but with the calm control and lack of emotion that he now associated with her. Could anyone be "dear" to such a bloodless woman? She had no word for him, no sign of recognition; she only noted his presence and turned away to hasten the steward in providing wine. Her movements were supple, graceful in a way that reminded him of meadow grass, and, despite her cool demeanor, he found pleasure in watching her move. Her silk-entwined plaits swung as she moved, the pale golden strands capturing the light of candle and fire.
    Godfrey had been right: she was a beauty. She was as the troubadors described beauty: slim and small and fair, and though her eyes were dark instead of the expected blue, he thought her beauty the more highly charged for it.
    And she had not noticed him, not really noticed him, not as a maid watched a man she wanted. William twitched the edges of his magnificent mantle in suppressed annoyance. He could not remember the last time he had been so ignored by a woman, especially since it had never happened before. In all the years of his life, even during his gangly years of almost manhood, he had never lacked for women's sighs when he was near and groans when he left. Running his hand over his jaw, he adjusted his mantle with a brisk swipe of his hand and straightened his spine. With a curt bow, he accepted the goblet of wine that Cathryn handed him.
    Rowland watched William bury his irritation and, correctly guessing the cause, smiled as he accepted a goblet from Lady Cathryn's hand. He was suddenly quite pleased that there were no wars to distract him; life at Greneforde watching these two in their silent sparring would prove entertaining enough.
    "Let us begin, Father," William ordered gently, "that we the sooner conclude and feast at the table so richly prepared for us." He politely nodded to Cathryn, wondering if she would seek to delay the matter.
    She did not.
    "To this marriage I bring," she began softly, "Greneforde Castle, encompassing land twenty leagues north, ten leagues east and west, and bordered by the river Brent to the south; also Blythe Tower, eight leagues distant from Greneforde's western boundary." Looking first at Father Godfrey and then at William, she added without apology, "I have not been to Blythe Tower and do not know in what condition you will find it."
    William nodded and said, "When I