Through The Leaded Glass (26 page)

Luca rolled his eyes while the other brothers
snickered.

“
A fortune-teller, Gregorio.
Blonde, tiny, dressed in pink. She approached me during the faire,
demanding to tell my fortune.”

“
Drabarni
? Alicia?” Gregorio
laughed. “I think not. My mother would spit coins to hear you call
her such. The woman knew no Rom, had no potions, nor knew the names
of any herb.” He stroked his chin with the devilish air that’d won
him so many hearts. “But she did look rather enticing in her
costume.”

“
Which was the only reason you
permitted her to stay.” Luca said.

“
Things never change, Gregorio,”
drawled another brother, Delán.

“
Why should they, eh?” Gregorio set
a gold chalice back on the shelf. “Women are women and she was
beautiful. Besides, when a beautiful woman appears in your arms out
of nowhere, who’s to question the gods?”

“
I need to question her,” Alex
said.

“
I’m sorry, my friend, but she’s
gone and I don’t know where she went.”

“
That’s because you didn’t question
her about anything,” another brother, Costa, grumbled from behind
them.

“
Why use a mouth like hers for
speaking when kissing is so much more satisfying?” Gregorio leaned
over to whisper to Alex. “Jealousy. It’s an ugly thing among
brothers.”

“
I hear you,
mulo
. Just wait
until love ensnares you,” said Costa. “Then your carefree days of
flirtation and stolen kisses will be put aside forever. I hope
whoever she is, she breaks your heart. Many times.”

“
Really, Costa, it is unkind of you
to speak of such things when Alex is missing his betrothed.”
Gregorio picked up a silver platter. “So if it’s not Lady Marston,
who are you planning to marry?”

He’d like to tell Gregorio the truth about
Kate, but there were some things even charm-using gypsies wouldn’t
believe. “Her name is Lady Katherine—”

“
Ah. It
is
Kate.” Gregorio
nodded. “Alicia wouldn’t tell me much about her.”

Silverio punched his arm. “That’s because you
never gave the woman a chance to speak.”

Gregorio smiled. “As I said, jealousy is an
ugly thing.”

“
So is your face.”

This could go on all evening; the brothers
were masters of insults.

Alex took the silver dish from Gregorio and
put it on the shelf. “What did Alicia say about Kate?”

“
Merely that she must speak with
her and that you were to help her do something. I offered to
provide assistance in your stead, but she said it could only be
you. She wanted to go to her, begged me to take her. Naturally, I
could not refuse such a beguiling creature, so we were to be off to
Shelton tomorrow, but, like a dream, she was gone when I
awoke.”

“
Which says so much about your
charms, brother,” said Delán, winning that round.

“
Speaking of charms.” Gregorio
retrieved one of the guards’ swords from the floor and studied the
blade. “I’d like to hear why your betrothed is here instead of in
your home, Alex. I suspect ‘twill be an interesting
tale.”

Nick headed out of the hall. “I’ll go see
what’s keeping Isobel.”

“
I’ll go with you,” said
Tris.

Nick scowled but didn’t argue.

Good thing because while Nick had faith in
Isobel, but as the minutes had passed and she hadn’t shown, Alex
had questioned if she could, indeed, be trusted.

A week ago, he would have said yes.

But then his life had changed.

Because of Kate.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Kate gripped her weapon as the servant leaned
against the opened door. Now was her chance.

She tiptoed toward the door. The servant
couldn’t see her in the darkness and by the time she did, it’d be
too late.

She readjusted her hold on the candelabrum,
lifted it higher… Almost there…

“
Kate?”

Kate?
That wasn’t a servant.

Isobel.

“
I’m so sorry, Kate. Please forgive
me.”

Sorry
was not what she’d
expected.

“
Sorry?” Kate lowered the weapon,
but kept inching toward the door. Two feet to go. “Don’t you think
that’s a little lame, Isobel? You’ve kept me locked in the dark for
hours. Ruined my life, actually, in ways you’ll never know, and all
you can say is you’re sorry? Just how long were you planning to
leave me in here?”

Isobel spun around, just as Kate ran through
the open door. It’d be nice to lock Isobel in, but right now she
just wanted to get the hell out of here.

“
Please, Kate, wait.” Isobel
grabbed Kate’s skirt and followed her into the corridor. “I know I
did you a disservice. Please let me explain.”

Kate yanked the fabric free. “There’s nothing
you could say that would make what you did right.”

“
I know but I’d planned for
Alexander to come—”

“
So you could seduce
him.”

Isobel’s lips thinned and she nodded. “It was
wrong of me, I know. A bad plan that I had to improvise when you
arrived instead.” A tear slid from the corner of Isobel’s eye. An
effective ploy on members of the opposite sex, Kate was sure, but
it had no effect on her. “All I can do is beg your forgiveness for
a mother’s desperation.”

“
A mother’s desperation?” Kate
tightened her hold on the candelabrum—and her temper. She’d only
make the situation worse by braining the lady of the house, but,
oh, did she want to. “What would you know of a mother’s
desperation? A mother is exactly what I was trying to become, but
your little
detention
has put that in jeopardy. I’ll tell
you what a mother’s desperation is, Isobel. It’s worrying for
months at every action you do, how it’ll be seen by those making
the decisions. It’s preparing for your child’s arrival, only to
have that arrival determined by someone else’s whim. It’s wanting
to give all the love you have inside of you to that person and
raise her to have a wonderful life, but being unable to because of
fate conspiring against you.
That’s
a mother’s desperation.
And that’s what you’ve taken from me.”

“
I’m sorry. But you’ll have
children with Alexander. You’ll experience all of those things. And
I
do
understand. That’s why I needed to marry him. My
eldest, Elinor, is betrothed to a duke. One who will care for her,
not treat her harshly. But if I don’t marry Alex, the king will
marry me to Lord Wexham.” She shuddered. “He’ll deny Elinor’s
match. His pride is such that, as an earl, he won’t want my
daughter’s husband’s title to be above his. But Alexander doesn’t
care about such things. He’s an honorable man and favored servant
of the king. Elinor would have her match and I—”her voice
hitched—”I wouldn’t be sent to that… that…
man
.”

Isobel’s impassioned words reverberated along
the plastered walls of the corridor. Apparently the woman
did
know a mother’s desperation, but it then begged the
question, “So why let me go now?”

Isobel swallowed. “Because I cannot decide who
Alexander should marry anymore than I want someone to decide it for
me. I hope you can forgive me. It was for my daughter’s marriage.
And my… life.”

“
I still don’t get it, Isobel.
You’re giving up that easily? Why?”

Isobel licked her lips and looked away. “Lord
Caversham… Nicholas. He will offer for me. He feels we will enjoy
the king’s blessing, though I’m not as hopeful.” She cleared her
throat and straightened her shoulders. “But Alexander has made his
position clear and I find I’d rather take a chance on the happiness
Nicholas offers than dismiss it out of hand.”

That, Kate could understand. It didn’t help
her any, but she understood why Isobel had locked her
in.

She put the candelabrum on the floor. “I wish
you luck. I can’t say I forgive you for this, because you might
have cost me my own daughter, but I do understand why you did it.
I’d like a horse and an escort to return to Shelton
immediately.”

“
Of course.”

“
Isobel! Where in God’s name are
you?” Nick’s call echoed in the hallway. “You’ve been gone long
enough. Alex is worried and now he’s got gypsies with him. I’ll not
be able to stall him much longer. You better have come to your
senses.” He rounded the corner and stopped when he saw them. “You
did have her hidden here.”

“
Yes, she did,” Kate answered. “And
now I’ll be leaving.” She looked at Isobel. “With Alex.”

Isobel nodded. “I know. But perhaps you would
join us for supper? It is the least I can do after the harm I have
caused.”

Kate looked at Nick and Tris, and picked up
her skirts. “Gypsies? You said gypsies, right? Supper can wait.
There’s still time for me to find Alicia. Where are they? And
Tristan, are you okay?”

He rubbed the back of his head. “My pride is
the most injured. We weren’t expecting a fight inside her keep.
Thankfully you weren’t injured.” He held out his arm. “Come. I’ll
take you to Alex.”

Nick offered his arm to Isobel.
“Issy?”

Isobel linked her hands in front of her. “I’d
rather wait here, if you don’t mind.”

Kate couldn’t blame her. When she considered
everything from Isobel’s point of view, the woman hadn’t had many
options. Besides, now that Alex had the gypsies with him, maybe it
would turn out okay.

But what about leaving
Alex?

She couldn’t think about that now. She had to
find Alicia. At least, if she had the knowledge of how to return
home, then she could make an educated decision. Hell, maybe she
could even return home in time for her appointment, get Emma, then
come back. They could be a time-traveling family…

Yeah, like that wouldn’t mentally mess with
Emma and William.

But when she found herself scooped up in
Alex’s arms and being kissed senseless, she tried to come up with a
way to make it all work.

“
A-hem
.” An amused chuckle
and tapping boot interrupted them.

Alex slid his hands over the back of her head,
smoothing her curls down her back, and pulled his lips from hers
with a sigh. “Thank God you’re safe, Kate. When I found you
gone—”

“
A-hem
.”

Alex’s jaw tightened. He wrapped his arm
around her waist as they faced their
a-hem
-er. “Kate, I’d
like to present my friend Gregorio and his brothers, Costa, Luca,
Delán, and Pesha.”

“
Ah, my lady.” Gregorio whipped a
scarf from around his head and waved it in front of him as he
bowed. “A true pleasure to meet the woman who has so captured
Shelton’s hardened heart.” He popped up again in an instant, a sly
grin lifting the corner of his mouth. “I would never have believed
such a vision to exist—”he picked up her hand and kissed the back
of it, his black eyes gleaming with amusement—”had I not seen
Alex’s desolation when he thought you were lost to him.
I
would never have lost you.” He bestowed another quick kiss with a
dramatic waggling of his eyebrows.

Kate couldn’t stop a quick laugh. After the
last few hours, it was good to laugh again.

Alex, however, didn’t seem particularly happy
about it. He took her hand from Gregorio’s grasp and said a few
harsh words to the gypsy. The gypsy answered back and Kate thought
they were speaking Romany until she recognized some of the words.
But not many. It was English. Olde English. Which meant…

She looked at her hand. The ring was
gone.

She looked at Alex, then at
Gregorio.

Her ring glinted in his teeth.

Alex took it back. “Nicely done, my friend,”
he said as he slid it onto her finger. “Gregorio is a man of many
talents, Kate. Some useful and others…” He raised his eyebrows at
his friend. “More useful.”

If possible, Gregorio grinned even wider, his
dark eyes dancing. “Fear not, dear lady, for I would never touch so
precious a jewel that belonged to Alex.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “You have no shame,
Gregorio.”

“
Who wants to have shame when one
can have fun?” Gregorio took Kate’s hand and placed it on his arm.
“Come, my lady, you must explain to me how this man allowed you
from his sight. Were you mine, we would never be parted.” He turned
with her and headed toward the door. “Alex, I shall entertain your
betrothed while you deal with the lady of the castle. Lady
Katherine and I will wait for you in the bailey.”

“
The hell you will, Gregorio.” Alex
glared at Nick. “I want a full recounting, Nick.”

Nick shook his head. “It’s over, Alex. Ask
Kate. She’ll tell you.”

Alex didn’t care what Kate told him. He’d lost
her, thanks to Isobel. That he had her again didn’t negate what
Isobel had done.

He watched Kate walk with Gregorio, who, for
all his flirtations, would never harm a hair on her head. Nor touch
one either. Alex had implicit trust in his friend, for the code
that ruled the gypsy camp also ruled his life. One would never pay
court to another’s woman.