Part 31 (1/2)
”You know about the eclipse?” Bella asked, stunned. ”We're not as stupid as you think we are,” he snapped. One black stocking slipped off her foot. ”I didn't say anything about your being stupid. I said you're stubborn.” Bella bit on her lower lip, unable to tear her eyes from following the stroke of his hands as her second stocking went the way of the first. Her mind went blank. Her heart jumped erratically, mingling s.e.xual tension with fear, anger and puzzlement. She stuttered, ”Huh...how about this? The king of Bohemia is going to be led into the battle by his squire. They're going to die, side by side, along with all the rest of King Philip's n.o.ble knights and warriors. All of them. It's going to be a horrible ma.s.sacre for the French.” ”I shouldn't wonder.” Chandos' eyes never wavered. ”Charles of Luxemborg is as blind as a bat. He has no business on a battlefield at his age.” ”How can you just twist everything I say? Edward's going to win! A hundred years are going to pa.s.s before the French will recover from tomorrow's defeat. Come Sunday morning thirty thousand men are going to be counted dead on this very field.”
Chandos batted Bella's hands away as he reached for her last buckle, the thin belt at her waist that held her trews in place. ”Will you stop undressing me. I won't make love to you here. There isn't time for that and it's not what I came here for.”
”Who said anything about making love,” Chandos lied. ”I'm angry or haven't you noticed?”
”That's what I mean,” Bella replied with mounting desperation. ”We've got to settle this. Haven't you got
anything to say about thirty thousand dead men? I can't bear it if one of those dead is a nine year old boy
I love very dearly. Chandos, say something.” ”Oh, aye,” he growled something unintelligible as he whipped the narrow leather off of Bella's waist. She caught hold of the ties of her britches, glaring at him.
”What did you say?”
”I said, I pray G.o.d, I'm not one of them.”
He made her so mad with that comment that Bella shot back, ”Since Froissart claimed only one
Englishman gets to die, maybe it just ought to be you.”
”So be it. I will go to my G.o.d with a clear conscience, knowing I have done my best in each of my endeavors. And you, wife, shall have paid the price for your disobedience.” He caught her right wrist and rose to his feet, pulling her upright.
”Chandos! I am not going to let you beat me.”
”Wife, there is nothing you can do to stop me. The price of your rebellion is the forfieture of your freedom. Think back, lady. I said convent if you interfered in either the war or the way I am raising my sons. I happen to know there is a cloister less than an hour's ride from this valley. You cannot go there dressed in the clothing of a page.”
Bella struggled to break his grip. She was as helpless against his strength now as she had been when she turned around in the king's chair and shot her mouth off. That episode had only gotten her picked up like a sack of grain and deposited on his shoulder. ”Chandos! Will you listen to me?”
”No.” He opened the larger trunk and searched it quickly for a clean tunic and surcoat to clothe her more modestly in. ”Neither have you been listening to me. But that will change from this day forward.”
Bella diverted her attention to his grip on her forearm, prying his fingers off one by one. ”I've had enough of this insanity, you d.a.m.ned brute. Let me go.”
”No.”
Exhausted by the effort it took to give him perfectly good reasons for her being there, Bella took one more look at his face. He wasn't swayed in the least. Her own outrage was running pretty deep, too, but he had a d.a.m.ned funny look in his eye. ”What exactly do you mean, no?”
”No, Bella, means I won't let you go. My judgment is the one you will answer to in this life.”
Bella interrupted him again. ”You can't put me in a cloister. I've got to be here for Geoffrey all day tomorrow. Chandos, you're only doing this because you believe that I'm that other Bella whose been defying you for years. I'm not her!”
”No,” he said gravely. ”I am doing this because I told you that you were not to follow me to France. I made it clear what I would do if you disobeyed my order. That is the only crime I am considering. You, Bella, need to know that when I give you an order, you are to follow it to the letter of my law.”
”I'm not one of your soldiers!”
”Count yourself lucky, then. If you were one of my soldiers, you'd have already been hung. Best you learn now that as my wife your vow of obedience is more important than fidelity.”
”Where I come from wives don't have to make vows of obedience any more. That is an archaic infringement upon a woman's personal liberties. On top of which, John Chandos, I am not your wife!”
His eyes positively glittered diabolically as he intoned, ”You're in my time, woman. Here, vows count and obedience is the root of all that is honorable.”
”I know that!” Bella didn't want to have to resort to using karate to cripple him. ”Can we talk this over, please? I mean, it isn't fair for you to use rules against me that I'm not familiar with.”
”Fair?” He nearly choked on that word. ”I'll give justice. That, lady, is more than you deserve.”
”Chandos, please, please, don't make me hurt you!”
”My lord Chandos! I beg forgiveness for intruding, but I must speak to you at once!” Someone with a very strong voice shouted just beyond the fabric walls.
”Oh G.o.d,” Bella whispered, struggling to retain control of her own hands against the determined press of Chandos' insistent grips. She thought he wasn't going to respond to whoever was out there hollering to wake the dead.
”My lord! Can you hear me? I must speak with you, this moment!”
”What is it?” Chandos growled a response. ”And you'd better have good reason for interrupting me, Your Highness.”
Bella wilted against Chandos' chest. She didn't recognize the voice. She didn't have to guess as Prince Edward ducked inside the tent and straightened to face John Chandos' wrath.
”Forgive me, Lord Chandos. Truly, I had no desire to intrude upon your privacy at this moment. I only do so at the express order of my father. You are to attend him at once in his oratory. I am to remain here with Lady Chandos until you return. I give you my word, my lord, the lady will not escape from my sight.”
From the look on Sir John's face Bella thought he was going to tell Prince Edward that both he and his father could sail gaily off to h.e.l.l before he'd answer any summons. His grip bit deep into flesh and bones of her wrist as John glared at the prince. All at once he released her.
Bella sank into a mortified heap atop the trunk. Sir John stalked out of the tent without another word.
Talk about being saved by the bell. Bella choked on her own tongue and doubled over, coughing. Honest to G.o.d, there were ten, maybe twenty thousand men all within hearing distance and not so much as a peep of a cricket could be heard once she got hold of her coughing and quieted herself.
Humiliated beyond belief, she cast a glance up at Prince Edward and didn't know what to say. If he'd come in ten seconds later, Chandos would have been on the floor, writhing in agony. Bella didn't even want to think what that would have done to Sir John's pride...much less his body. Hurting him was the last thing she ever wanted to do.
Prince Edward looked as embarra.s.sed as Bella felt. Bella swallowed, wet her lips and said, ”I guess I owe you a debt of grat.i.tude.”
”Don't thank me, lady,” Young Edward said plainly. ”Thank my father if the plan works. He did not care for Sir John wasting his energy and his temper on the eve of a battle over marital affairs. Best you pray that the ruse works.”
”Thanks anyway.” Bella staggered onto her feet, shaken and disturbed, but seeking her control. She crossed to the tent opening, but as she lifted the flap, Edward's hand gripped her wrist.
”Lady Chandos, I gave my word to Sir John that you would be here when he returns. Do not make me regret having done so.”
”I just want to see if Geoffrey is nearby.”
”All the pages have been ordered to bed. Sir James' camp is high on the far hill. Geoffrey sleeps there.”
”I see.” Bella let the canvas fall back into place. She turned around, staring at the enclosing walls, lost and out of place, unable to fathom Lady Chandos' motives for anything. No wonder Sir James hated her so. Why would the woman have dishonored her own husband? Dazed, Bella stumbled back to the low cot. She sat there, exhausted and very, very confused.
”Lady,” Prince Edward cleared his throat, drawing Bella's attention back to him.
”What?”
”Do you give me your word to remain sequestered here, I shall give you your privacy. Perhaps, if you made better use of your lord's cot, he might be discouraged from seeking more vengeance upon his return.”