Sir Roger gulped.
“The money I sent was enough to hire workers from the villages around here to assist in the repairs. What have you done with the money, Sir Roger?”
“As I told you, my lord, the funds were only sufficient to keep us clothed and fed.”
“I have remarked upon all the servants here. They are ragged and
My own mother was wearing a rag. If the money went for clothing, then who is wearing it?”
‘ «There was no reason for your dear mother to have new gowns, my , sjje is mad. she would not know it if she were wearing a new gown
or an old sack.”
Hastings said very quietly, “What happened to Lady Moraine’s
1 thes? I could find only rags in that small trunk in the chamber.”
“Who is Lady Moraine?” Hastings heard Glenda ask Sir Roger.
“That is the woman of whom you are so very fond,” Hasting said. “That is the poor madwoman with whom you are so very tender and loving.”
“Glenda simply did not know your mother’s name, my lord. It is
nothing more than that.”
“Where are Lady Moraine’s clothes?” Severin asked.
It was in that instant that Hastings knew. “Ah,” she said, in the mildest of voices, “I venture to say that perhaps her clothing is in one of the large trunks in the lord’s bedchamber?”
“Aye, that’s it,” Glenda said. “There was no reason for the poor dear mad creature to wear the gowns, so I removed them so she wouldn’t shred them.”
“I see that you are wearing one of them,” Hastings said.
“Oh no,” Glenda said. “I do not wear her gowns. The lady’s clothing was old and ugly.”
“I wish to see an accounting of the money I sent you, Sir Roger. Now.”
“There is no steward, my lord.”
“Then you will show me what records you have kept.”
Sir Roger rose slowly. He was sweating. “Indeed, my lord, I have n°t yet spent all the money. I have held it close. I have not spent it on needless things. I want to use it wisely. I am a cautious man.”
Severin rose slowly to his feet. He pushed back the lord’s chair. He °od there, tall, fierce, all in gray, his whip coiled about his hand, his ex-
pression unreadable even to Hastings. She fancied she could feel the fear rolling in waves off Sir Roger. She said not a word, just waited, watching her husband.
He strode to Sir Roger, leaned down, grabbed him about his tunic and pulled his feet off the floor. He didn’t release him. He said very qui_ etly, “You will fetch the money right now. You will bring what records you have kept. You will bring them here to me.”
He shook him, then released him. He turned to Glenda, who wasn’t looking quite so complacent now. “You will bring me all the gowns you own. Now.”
He didn’t touch her, just watched her scramble from the bench and run toward the stairs.
To Hastings’s surprise, Severin turned back to her and winked. “Soon,” he said. “Soon we will have this mess cleared up.”
Hastings suddenly remembered when she had first seen him standing in the great hall of Oxborough. He had terrified her with his stillness, his utter control. Ah, but now he was her husband, her lover. He had just scared two villains spitless and he had winked at her.
Her heart swelled.
1 K 9
(~* lenda wasn’t stupid. She had not left her gowns in the lord’s bedVJchamber. She knew the other servants hated her and thus would steal her precious clothes if they found them. She had kept them well hidden.
When she returned to the great hall with three gowns, several tunics, three shifts, and stockings, Severin merely turned to Hastings, who said, “I suggest, Glenda, that you bring the remainder of your clothes purchased with my lord’s money. If you do not, it will not go well with you.”
It was then that Glenda looked up at Severin, her blue eyes wet and bright with as yet unshed tears. “My lord,” she whispered, “there are naught but two more gowns. Please, my lord, I cannot go naked.” Her voice fell even lower. “I could please you, my lord, more than your lady does. She is a shrew with a loud voice. You wed her only to gain her father’s land and money. All know of the sacrifice you have made. I could ease your trials, my lord.”