The Lord's Forced Bride

‘It is an insult,’ Lady Gifford declared. ‘To be forbidden the court when there is a royal wedding! I should be permitted to take my place with the other ladies in the cathedral. Surely I have been slighted enough?’

‘I am sorry, Mother,’ Andrew said, smothering a sigh of impatience. ‘But you brought your punishment on yourself. If you had been more circumspect, it would not have happened.’

‘You take against me when it is Lord Melford you should blame for all our troubles!’ she cried, her eyes flashing with temper. ‘That man stole our heritage and I shall never forget or forgive!’

‘That is not true, Mother,’ Andrew told her. ‘Lord Melford told me that he had made recompense for our loss when he sold the lands—and you have never spoken of this to me. The money was mine, not yours.’

‘I needed it to keep body and soul together until you were old enough to win favours from the King,’ she said, looking reproachful. ‘You know my husband was extravagant. How was I supposed to live?’

‘You should never have wed him,’ Andrew said coldly. ‘Be warned, Mother. The King has lost patience with you. He says that if you dare to come to court, he will have you imprisoned.’ He saw the anger and frustration in her eyes. ‘You must remain here on your estate and be thankful that you have your freedom.’

‘Freedom when I am a prisoner on my estates?’

‘It is better than being a prisoner in the Tower, madam.’ Andrew gave her a hard look. ‘I, too, am losing patience. You will stay here as you are bid—and you will make no more petitions to the King. If you do, I shall not try to help you. You will receive nothing from me. You have wasted your fortune on a scoundrel and must learn to live as befits your income.’

‘You are an unkind, ungrateful son!’

‘For what should I be grateful, Mother?’ His harsh stare made her look away. ‘You gave me little enough affection when I was a child—and I have made my own way in the world while you squandered what belonged to me on that rogue you married. Be thankful that I do not demand you return what Lord Melford paid you!’

‘I could not! It has all gone…’ She held a hanging sleeve to her eyes to wipe the tears. ‘You are so cruel to me, Andrew.’

‘I have been patient with you too long, Mother. You must obey the King or accept the consequences.’

‘Very well,’ she said. ‘If you cared for me at all, you would marry a rich wife and invite me to make my home with you in comfort.’

‘No, madam,’ Andrew said. ‘I may marry in time, but she will be a soft, gentle woman I can love—and you will not be welcome in my home.’

‘Unnatural son!’

‘If I am, you have made me so,’ Andrew replied. ‘If you had ever thought what your bitterness was doing to us as a family, it might have been different. It is hard to forgive you for bringing that man into this house. He destroyed your reputation, ill treated the servants—and wasted your fortune. You showed me no warmth or love, and can expect nothing now.’

‘Go then and leave me to my solitary life,’ she said. ‘One day you will be sorry for what you do now!’

Andrew bowed his head, turning to leave her standing there alone. She had gone too far and he would leave her to reflect on her foolishness. If she ceased her petitions to his Majesty and lived quietly on her estates, he would not see her go short of the comforts of life, but she must learn her lesson before she drove the King to carry out his threats.

Catherine looked at her father anxiously. She had been summoned to his bedchamber, where he lay propped against a pile of feather pillows. His cough had eased a little, but she could see that the fever had pulled him down. It was obvious that he could not take his family to London.

‘Are you feeling a little better, Father?’

‘Yes, at last,’ Rob said and frowned. Melissa was right. Catherine was a dutiful girl and she deserved a treat. ‘Your mother and I have been talking about this visit to court and we have decided that we shall send you to London. I have already taken a house for us, and Lady Anne Shearer will be a chaperon for you at court. She is to attend the wedding and you may go with her. Harry will accompany you to London, and he will be with you until after the wedding. Lady Anne will keep you with her once he leaves—and I should be well enough to join you in a couple of weeks or so.’

‘Lady Anne is to chaperon me at court?’ Catherine stared at him in surprise. Lady Anne Shearer was a good friend of her parents, particularly her mother, though they had not visited each other of late. ‘Are you sure it would be no trouble to her, Father?’

She could not keep the excitement from her voice, because she wanted so much to attend the celebrations for the union of the King’s eldest son to the Spanish princess!

‘Am I truly going, Father?’ she asked, her green eyes bright with happiness. She had never been as far as London in her life! ‘But what about my brother—and you? You have both been so ill.’

‘Your mother says that Richard has turned the corner and will recover, and I shall be better soon. We should all have liked to come to London with you, but that is not possible. However, your mother wishes you to have your treat, Catherine.’ Rob smiled as he saw the pleasure on his lovely daughter’s face. She was very like her mother in some ways, though her hair was much redder and darker than Melissa’s, and her eyes were a deep green. At times like these when she was emotional they were almost the colour of emeralds. ‘I understand that this is a disappointment for you, Catherine, but your mother must stay with Richard and I am not yet well enough to travel.’

‘I know that, Father,’ Catherine replied. ‘I should have liked Mother to come with me, of a certainty I should, but I know she could not leave my brother or you. She would never leave any of us when we were ill.’

‘You are a good girl,’ Rob said giving her a fond look. ‘Your mother thought it might upset you to know that you must be chaperoned by our friends when you expected to have your family about you, but you have taken it sensibly.’

Catherine smiled at him. She would not let him see that she was nervous and disappointed with the arrangements, because she knew he would think her ungrateful. Robert Melford could sometimes seem harsh and stern; it was something in his manner and perhaps the terrible scar that marred one side of his face. Catherine had often wondered about the scar. She knew that it no longer gave her father pain, though occasionally she would see him tracing it with his forefinger, and when he did so there was such an odd expression in his eyes.

Catherine adored her father, even though she sometimes felt he was unapproachable. She would never have dared to ask him about the scar or how he came by it. She had once mentioned it to her mother, but Lady Melford had just shaken her head and said it was something best forgotten.

‘It is so good of you and Mother to arrange this for me,’ Catherine said. ‘Are you sure it will not inconvenience Lady Anne?’

‘As you know, I was summoned to the celebrations for the betrothal of Prince Arthur, and therefore at least some of the family must go,’ Rob said. ‘I had planned that your sister, Anne, should accompany us, but she is too young to be presented at court and will do better here with your mother. You will have your brother and your friends, and that must be enough for you, Catherine.’

‘I shall do well enough if I have my twin.’

‘Yes, there has always been something special between you two. Your mother remarks on it.’

‘When he is not here I feel as if a part of me is missing, but I know that Mother feels much the same when Harry is away.’

‘Harry was our first-born,’ Rob said. ‘Your mother holds a special place for him in her heart, as she does for all of us—but he was the first to fly the nest. She is proud of him, because he is making his way in the service of the King and he brings nothing but lustre to our family’s name, Catherine. I too am very proud of him.’

‘Yes, Father. I know,’ Catherine said a little wistfully. She had often wished that she might have been born as a son so that she too could add to the wealth and lustre of the family fortunes, but as a woman she could do nothing other than as she was bid. She understood that her part would be to wed to advantage, and she had recently overheard her parents talking about her marriage, though she did not as yet know the name of the man they had selected to be her husband. However, she was an obedient girl, for she had no reason to be otherwise, and she believed she would be happy to obey her parents’ wishes in the matter. ‘I am proud of Harry, too.’

‘That does not make me less proud of my lovely daughter,’ Rob said, understanding her change in expression better than she might have guessed. ‘You will please me by making a good marriage, Catherine.’ He nodded his approval. ‘Your mother and I wish you to be happy and we have decided that you might be suited with Lady Anne’s second son, William.’

‘Oh…’ In her surprise Catherine was unable to mask the shock her father’s words had given her. She did not know William Shearer well, but she remembered him as a boisterous youth who had pulled her hair the last time they met. For some reason a picture of another man flashed into her mind—the man she had first seen wrestling at the fair. ‘If it is your wish, Father.’

Rob frowned as he saw the expression in her eyes. ‘It is not decided, Catherine. Your mother would never agree to a forced marriage, but we have cherished the idea that our two families might be joined. However, you will meet him in London and we shall see what you feel then.’

‘You are so good to me!’ Catherine said and ran to the bed, bending down to embrace him.

Rob patted her back and put her from him. ‘None of that, girl! Go to your mother now. I believe she has some work for you.’

Catherine nodded and left him, making her way through the Hall to the stair that led to her mother’s favourite day chamber. As she expected, she discovered her mother working at her needlework, her sister, Anne, already sitting on a stool close by. Catherine believed her youngest brother to be upstairs in bed, and as she entered, Lady Melford got to her feet, clearly impatient to leave.

‘There you are, Catherine. Your father has told you the news. I hope you are not too upset?’

‘I wish you could come too, dearest Mother,’ Catherine said. ‘But I know that you must stay here with my brother and Father.’

‘Yes, I must. However, I did not wish you to give up your treat,’ Lady Melford said, smiling at her. ‘Now sit with your sister and help her with her sewing while I go up to Richard.’

‘Yes, Mother,’ Catherine said and moved her stool to her sister’s side. She reached out for the piece of needlework her sister had been working on. She saw at once where the stitches were wrong and used the little knife that hung from a silver chatelaine at her waist to cut the silk and remove it. ‘You make your feather stitching this way,’ she said, showing her sister how to work the intricate stitch.

Anne was looking at her oddly. ‘I heard Father say that you are to marry Will Shearer,’ she said. ‘Is it true, Catherine?’

‘I believe it is what Father wants,’ Catherine said, a slight frown coming to her face. ‘But I am not sure. I was hoping…’ She shook her head, because her dreams were fanciful. She had seen the stranger only briefly at the fair, again in the village when he had spoken to her, and leaving their house. She was unlikely to see him again, and yet she could not help feeling that she would like to meet a man who was as strong and handsome as he had been. But she did not imagine he was truly interested in her—he had merely been flirting. Besides, his visit had seemed to distress her mother for some reason. She must put him from her mind. ‘If it is my father’s wish, I shall try to obey him.’

‘I wish it was me going to London,’ Anne said, an envious note in her voice. ‘I should like to be married…’ Something flashed in her eyes and for a moment she stared at her sister as if she hated her.

‘In two years Father will think of arranging a marriage for you,’ Catherine told her.