The Whispering Night by Kathryn Le Veque Read Free Book Online Page B

his thoughts. He finally stood up and began to pace.
"Derica de Rosa is no ordinary woman," he said softly. "If I
were the marrying kind, she is someone I would choose to marry."
    "And that is a bad
thing?"
    "Aye," Garren
whispered. "I have known the woman all of a day and already she haunts
me."
    "In what way?"
    "In a way that
makes me feel as if I cannot breathe every time I look at her."
    The Marshall was silent,
contemplating what Garren has so haltingly told him. "Then I think I understand,"
he said quietly. "At first you feared being married to a woman you hate.
Now you fear being married to a woman who takes your breath away and you fear
that your loyalties will be torn."
    "Something like
that."
    "I am sure this is
a foolish question, but do you think you could grow to love her?"
    Garren looked sick.
"Christ, I don't know," he hissed. "All I know is that the very
moment I lay eyes on her, one set of fears was replaced by another and with as
much attraction as I feel towards her, I am afraid that I cannot guarantee the
sanctity of this mission.  If she is a distraction to me now, God only knows
how I will feel about her a week, a month or a year from now."
    William fell silent as
the long moments ticked away. "I am not sure how we can break this
betrothal, Garren."
    "Therein lies the
confusion,” he said, agitated. “I don't want to break it, for all of the wrong
reasons. But I also do not believe I can perform to the best of my abilities,
which will greatly compromise me and the success of this task. Yet, I am sworn
to the king and to my vows as his servant. Never, in all of my years of
service, have I faced a situation like this and I find it bewildering."
    The Marshall stood up
from his chair, moving his weary body across the floor as he contemplated
Garren's situation.  As he saw it, there was only one way to deal with it.
    "You are my
greatest asset," he said. "You have never failed me. Yet I have also
never known you to act like an addle-brained schoolboy, which is exactly what
you are doing. Is this woman so attractive to you that she could ruin
everything you have worked to achieve over the past eighteen years? Is she more
important than your king and country? Is she so important that you would let it
all slip through your fingers to see John Lackland on the throne, running the
country into the ground? In one day, do you give your loyalties to a woman you
don't even know simply to sate your lust?"
    He was bellowing by the
time he finished. Garren remained characteristically cool, yet at the same
time, he felt ashamed.
    "It is more than
that, my lord."
    "What more could
there be?" he shouted. "By this foolish behavior, you have already
compromised your position. Do they, in fact, know where you have gone? Don't
you think they will discover that you're missing, run off liked a frightened
child?"
    "They know I am
gone. I told Bertram that I had business to attend to. He did not ask what it
was, and I did not offer.  All they know is that I shall return sometime in the
next couple of days and the wedding is set to take place on the sixth day of
this month."
    "Of course it will
take place," William hissed. "This is what we have worked for these
past months. Now, pull your head together; otherwise, we are all dead. Is this
clear to you? Stop allowing yourself to be led by your loins and think with
that clever mind I know you have. This woman is a tool of your trade and
nothing more."
    Garren's jaw ticked.
"You are correct, of course."
    "Indeed I am,"
William calmed. "Garren, I am not unsympathetic, but this entire
conversation is ridiculous. You're a knight in the service of the king.
Anything else is secondary, including any personal feelings you may have. While
I appreciate that you are communicating these concerns to me, my answer is the
same- you have a job to do. Do it, and do it well, and perhaps when this
madness is finished, you and Lady Derica may have a chance at some manner of
life together. She will