Her cheeks flaming, Rose was swept away by her two ladies. Lady Emily, a woman past the first bloom of youth but still handsome, led the way, while Lady Blythe, younger and prettier, followed behind.
“What did he mean, Rose?” Lady Emily whispered as they ascended the stairs and walked along the upper gallery. “Since when have you been shy and retiring? Lord Dragon’s description sounds more like Starla.”
“Indeed, you seem unusually quiet today,” Blythe observed. “But who could blame you? ‘Tis a sad day for you, Rose. Being forced to wed Lord Dragon would render anyone speechless.”
“One day I will explain to you what actually occurred today,” Rose said. “Hurry. I do not want Dragon to come up before I am ready for him.”
Rose entered the solar and walked through the sitting room to the bedchamber that had once belonged to her mother and father. Emily and Blythe followed close behind.
“I have been married for many years,” Emily began timidly. “I will attempt to answer any questions you might have about… the wedding night.”
Rose’s expression turned fierce. “There will be no wedding night. As soon as you leave, I intend to bolt the door and open it to no one.”
“No one?” Blythe squeaked in dismay. “But Dragon is your husband. You cannot deny him your bed.”
“Just watch me,” Rose bit out. “Run along, both of you. You should not be here when Dragon arrives. I do not want you caught up in the middle of this.”
Emily’s soft brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully.“What is going on.Rose? Eric has told me a great deal about Lord Dragon. Were I you, I would not defy him.”
“Cedric says Lord Dragon has a mistress,” Blythe blurted out. “He heard gossip about them when he visited London with your father last year. Rumor had it that Lord Dragon intended to wed the lady before the king interfered.”
“Shame on you, Blythe,” Emily chided. ” Tis only gossip.”
“‘Tis true,” Rose said. “Dragon admitted there was another woman in his life. Tis not as if ours is a love match. The king ordered Dragon to wed one of Ayrdale’s women, and he had no choice but to obey.”
“Lord Dragon chose you instead of Starla, did he not?” Blythe said as if that meant something.
Rose knew better, but she kept that vital piece of information to herself. Unfortunately, the truth was bound to come out soon. Too soon, she feared.
“Go,” Rose said, shooing them out the door.“Worry not about me. I will be fine.”
Rose closed and bolted the bedchamber door behind Emily and Blythe and sat down on a bench before the fire to soak up the heat. She hugged herself, not really cold but shivering nonetheless. She did not know Dragon well enough to predict how he would react to her deliberate act of defiance, but she suspected he would be furious.
Dominic knew he was drinking too much but he could not seem to stop himself. The longer he sat and brooded, the more reluctant he was to breach his wife’s maidenhead. Yet… something inside him churned at the thought of the woman awaiting him in her bed. He wanted her, yet he did not want her. Her downcast eyes and bowed head should have pleased him. Submissiveness was a virtue in a wife, was it not?
But was Rose really submissive? He had a feeling that he was missing a piece of vital information. Once or twice during the evening, when Rose had deigned to look at him, he had noticed a spark of something provocative and challenging in her eyes. But before he could ascertain if he was imagining things, she had either looked away or lowered her gaze.
Raj, who was standing behind Dominic, must have noticed his master’s agitation, for he bent from a tremendous height to whisper in his ear.“Your bride awaits you, master. You should not drink too much lest your performance lack luster.”
“I am but arming myself for battle, Raj,” Dominic answered. “Think you my frightened little bird will welcome me in her bed?” He gave a rueful sigh. “Rose is a timid soul, unlike my passionate Veronica. I fear my cock will not rise to the occasion.”
“Perhaps you have not really looked at your bride,” Raj ventured.
Dominic gave a harsh laugh. “I wanted a submissive wife and I got one. Rose is frightened of me. Hell, she is afraid of her own shadow.”
“Why did you not wed her sister?”
Dominic sent Raj a look of utter astonishment.“Surely you jest. I prefer having my cock frozen in Rose’s cold sheath than to risk having it hacked off with the sharp edge of her sister’s sword. There is too much fire in the feisty one for my liking.”
Now it was Raj’s turn to laugh, and he did so with gusto. “Methinks you will live to eat your words, master.” He turned away. “I wish you a pleasant night.”
Dominic frowned into his empty goblet, wondering whether he should fill it again or join Rose in their marriage bed. He knew he should consummate the marriage as soon as possible, and that delaying the bedding would only prolong the ordeal, but he hated the thought of deflowering a frightened virgin.
Heaving himself out of his chair, Dominic suddenly became the center of attention as his guardsmen offered lewd advice concerning the bedding.
“May your lance find the path to victory!” toasted a tipsy knight.
“You mean the path to ecstasy,” another laughed drunkenly.
“Here’s to hot blood and a stiff cock,” sang out another.
Dominic had heard enough. Turning on his heel, he marched resolutely from the hall. Suddenly his blood was racing through his veins and his heart was pounding. Anticipation goaded him as he took the stairs two at a time. The gallery seemed endless but he finally reached the solar. He strode through the sitting room toward the bedchamber. Mayhap, if he was lucky, he could revive that spark he’d seen earlier in Rose’s eyes.
Dominic considered himself a good lover; he knew it to be true, for Veronica and those before her had often praised his prowess. He could not count the times he had left his lovers swooning in their beds. How difficult could it be to arouse a virgin to passion? Dominic had never breached a virgin before, but women were women the world over, no matter their state of virginity. He would give Rose pleasure and leave her swooning despite her shyness and his own reluctance to bed a woman he did not want.
To his surprise, Dominic found that he was nearly running when he reached the bedchamber. Why was he so eager to bed a woman who did not appeal to him?
Dominic grasped the door handle and pushed inward; the door wouldn’t budge. He tried again. The door was latched from the inside. How dare she lock him out of her bedchamber! She was his wife, he was her lord; she could not say him nay.
She could not!
He rattled the latch. “Rose. Unlatch the door.”
Her voice was muffled by the thickness of the door.“Find another chamber, my lord. I have no intention of sharing my bed with you tonight. I need time to mourn my father.”
“Are you denying me?” Dominic roared through the panel.
“Indeed.”
“You cannot. I demand entrance.”
“You demanded that I wed you, and so I did.”
“I will not beg for what is rightfully mine,” Dominic bit out. “Are you going to open the door?”
“Nay, my lord.”
Dominic stared at the door in disbelief. The determined woman behind the door did not sound at all like the shy little Rose he had just wed. Had her sister’s warrior spirit found its way into Rose’s timid soul? A horrifying thought suddenly occurred to him.
Had he been duped into wedding the sharp-tongued twin? If so, he would have the last laugh, for the marriage would not be legal. He had married a submissive maiden named Rose and would accept no other.
His face set in determined lines, Dominic spun on his heel and returned to the great hall, where merrymaking was still in progress. He spied Sir Braden and stalked toward him.
“A word with you, Sir Braden.”
Sir Braden gave him a puzzled look.“What is amiss, my lord?”
“A great deal,” Dominic said tersely. “You attended the wedding, did you not?”
“Aye, my lord.”
“Whom did I marry? Lady Rose or Lady Starla? Do not lie, for I cannot abide liars.”
“You wed Lady Rose, Lord Dragon.”
“Are you certain? Even I could not tell them apart.”
“I have known them all of their lives, my lord. I could not possibly mistake one for the other. You wed Lady Rose.”
“Has Sir Eric returned from the convent?” Dominic asked, still not satisfied. Something was definitely wrong, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
“Nay, my lord. But Sir Cedric, Sir Eric’s lieutenant, is available to attend you.”
“Fetch him for me.”
Sir Braden hurried off and returned a few minutes later with Sir Cedric.“You wished to speak with me?” Sir Cedric asked.
“Aye. I will ask you the same question I asked Sir Braden. Whom did I wed? Lady Rose or Lady Starla?”
Sir Cedric gave him a startled look. “You wed Lady Rose, my lord. You announced your choice in the great hall, we all heard you.‘Twas indeed Lady Rose you took as your wife. Is there a problem?”
Still unconvinced, Dominic made a dismissive motion with his hand. “Go, both of you. Send Father Nyle tome.”
Dominic paced as he waited for the priest. When he arrived, looking like a ship under full sail, Dominic rounded on him. “Quickly, tell me the name of the woman I wed.”
Father Nyle looked at Dominic as if he had lost his mind. “Lady Rose, my lord. Have you forgotten her name already?”
“How do you know ‘tis Rose I wed and not Starla?”
“Humph, I should know. I baptized them and have watched them grow to womanhood. Starla is the pious twin, the dutiful daughter, always on her knees in the chapel. Rose should have been born a man, for she has none of her mother’s or sister’s gentle ways. Is there aught else you wish, my lord?”
“Nay, Father, you may go,” Dominic said gruffly. He refused to admit that he had been duped, for he still wasn’t sure what had happened. Perhaps Rose did need time to mourn her father, and mayhap he was imagining things, but he was sure as hell going to find out.
Rose awakened the next morning refreshed after a good night’s sleep. She did not dwell overlong on Dragon’s reason for giving up so easily last night, for if she did, she would be too frightened to face him this morning. But now that her mother and sister were safely sequestered, she could be herself.
Rose unlatched the door and walked into the sitting room, where a maidservant was engaged in building a fire in the grate. Rose greeted Tyra pleasantly and asked for food and a bath. Lady Emily arrived with a tray a short time later.
“He is gone,” Emily whispered, pulling Rose aside so the servants carrying the tub and bathwater into the chamber would not hear.
“Who is gone?”
“Lord Dragon. He left before Prime. I was on my way to Mass when I saw him ride out.”
“Did he go hunting or hawking?”
“I know not. Lord Dragon and that foreign giant who guards his back left together.”
“Do you know where Lord Dragon slept last night?”
Rose wanted to bite her tongue after she asked the question. She cared not where or with whom Dragon slept. She had no intention of letting him bed her.
“Did your husband not sleep in your bed?” Emily asked.
Rose’s chin angled upward. “I refused to open the door to him.”
“God’s toenails, Rose, are you mad!”
“Mayhap, but I cannot be with a man I do not know. Dragon does not want me, he never did. He is the king’s lackey. I cannot like a man who serves the king who murdered my father.
“Where do you suppose Dragon went?”
“Cedric of Waverly said Lord Dragon was acting strangely last night. He questioned Sir Braden, Father Nyle and Sir Cedric about your identity. Why do you suppose he did that?”
Rose feared she had gone too far last night. Denying Dragon his rights had been something Starla would have been too frightened to attempt. She squared her shoulders. Fortunately, there was naught Dragon could do to remedy his mistake. He had announced his intention to wed Rose, and the priest had blessed their union. Furthermore, Starla was beyond his reach. Rose would be the one to feel the brunt of Dragon’s wrath, but she could handle it better than Starla.
“Rose,” Emily prodded. “What have you done?”
“There was a bit of trickery involved,” Rose admitted.“I guessed Dragon would not wed a shrew when a saint was available, and his choice of bride proved me right. Starla and I changed places. He selected the woman he thought was Rose but who was really Starla. I merely pretended to be submissive during the wedding ceremony so Dragon would not become suspicious. Dragon did indeed wed Rose, the real Rose. Now Starla is in the convent and beyond his reach.”
Emily turned deathly pale.“Blessed Virgin save us all,” she muttered. “I would not want to be in your shoes when Lord Dragon realizes he wed the wrong sister. Think you he will seek an annulment?”
“It would please me if he did, but ‘tis unlikely. The king ordered him to wed one of Ayrdale’s women, and so he has. Fear not, Emily—I will survive. Starla is where she belongs. That is what really matters.
“After I eat and bathe, I will join you in the great hall,” Rose said.“There is much to be done. I should meet with the steward and go over the list of stores on hand. We are feeding more mouths than we anticipated and will probably need to set aside more supplies to see us through winter. Michaelmas is the time for candle making and slaughtering and preserving. I will require everyone’s cooperation for those tasks.”
Lady Emily hurried off, leaving Rose to her bath, her food and her morbid thoughts.
As usual, the hall was a beehive of activity. Rose glanced about the chamber and noted that Dragon’s men were mingling with Ayrdale’s personal guardsmen without the animosity one would expect, considering the circumstances of Dragon’s appearance at Ayrdale. Nay, her beloved home was no longer Ayrdale. Dragon had renamed it Dragonwyck, lair of the Dragon Lord.
Rose spied Sir Cedric and hurried over to speak with him. “Has Sir Eric returned?” she asked.
“Nay, my lady.”
“And Lord Dragon? Did he mention his destination to you when he rode out this morning?”
“He said naught to me, my lady. Lord Dragon and his foreign servant left before prime. Mayhap he went to inspect his demesne.”