The Damsel's Defiance. Meriel Fuller
‘And who might you be?’ The Empress raised her arm, encased in a tight sleeve of the finest merino wool, to point imperiously at Emmeline. A slight sneer pulled at her lip as she looked toward Earl Robert for an explanation. Acutely conscious that all eyes in the chamber were upon her, Emmeline lifted her chin and took a pace forward.
‘I am Mam’selle de Lonnieres, my lady.’ Her voice echoed clearly around the chamber, and she cursed herself for appearing too bold. To her surprise, the Empress clapped her hands together, a smile lighting her round face as she turned to Earl Robert in excitement.
‘Aha! You have secured a passage to England, have you not?’
‘I have done nothing,’ Robert admitted, moving to stand close by the Empress’s chair, his hand on her shoulder. His pale gaze raked Emmeline’s slender figure, his mouth twisting with derision as he noted the roughness of her garments. ‘I overheard her say to Lord Talvas that she owned a ship.’
‘Then Fortune smiles upon us,’ said Maud, leaning forward. ‘Come closer, maid, that I may look upon you.’ She gestured with one heavily bejewelled hand.
Emmeline took two paces forward, curtsying as low as she dared. Maud seized her fingers excitedly, dragging her upwards. ‘When can the ship be ready?’
‘The ship is ready now,’ Emmeline explained. ‘It is only a matter of finding crew…and a captain. As the winter storms are upon us, it may be difficult to find willing hands…it may take more coin to persuade them.’
Talvas snorted behind her.
‘Coin I have plenty of.’ The Empress waved her hand dismissively in the air. ‘But we must travel as soon as possible.’
‘It would be advisable to wait until spring, my lady,’ Talvas countered, his voice emerging deep and low from somewhere behind Emmeline.
The Empress screwed up her brown-button gaze with distaste. ‘I can’t wait ’til spring, Talvas! Are you out of your mind? I need to travel to England now!’ Maud half rose from her chair, clearly agitated, her mouth compressed to a thin white line, before she collapsed back into the seat. At the window embrasure, the youngest child started to grizzle. ‘God in Heaven! Will that child never be quiet?’ Maud drew a hand across her forehead. ‘Am I to have no peace in my own chamber?’ Clutching one fist around the arm of the chair, she turned back to Emmeline. ‘Now, how much gold do you think you will need to be ready to sail in two days’ time?’
Emmeline held back from naming a figure. ‘There is another condition.’ She shifted uncomfortably under the Earl’s constant perusal, a coil of uneasiness snaking through her insides.
‘Name it,’ Maud said.
‘I wish to travel to England with you.’
The Empress gave a narrow, tight-lipped smile. ‘In truth, maid, I would be glad of your company. Most of my ladies are useless at travelling, and I would prefer it if they stayed with the children. You can come as my lady’s maid.’
‘I would prefer to come as your equal.’
Shocked, Maud leaned back abruptly in her chair. A hush fell over the room, as if the walls held their breath. A muscle jerked in the Earl’s sunken cheek.
‘You are bold for a maid,’ the Empress answered slowly, her mouth stretching to a terse smile. ‘But I admire your spirit.’ She shifted her regard to her half-brother, who hung over her chair like a shadow. ‘I like this girl, Robert.’
‘I like her, too,’ he responded. An uneven menace punched his tone. His fingers clenched around the top carving along the chair back, and he looked as if he could scarce restrain himself from openly licking his lips.
Maud switched her beady eyes back to Emmeline, the finely spun silk of her veil glistening in the candlelight. ‘Take care that you do not overstep the mark with me, young maid. I am not known for my kind nature.’ Her brown eyes narrowed. ‘Now, I can offer you twenty gold coins for your ship.’
Emmeline schooled her features to remain blank, to show no reaction to the offer. She had hoped to gain a little more. Slowly, she folded her arms over her chest, mimicking negotiation patterns of old. ‘I will need more than that to persuade Captain Lecherche and his crew. Let us say thirty.’ By naming a far higher price she hoped they would meet somewhere in the middle.
Earl Robert frowned, and bent over to whisper into Maud’s ear. Maud nodded, then shrugged. ‘We are somewhat at your mercy, mam’selle. But remember, as royalty I could have you thrown into the dungeon for insubordination and seize the ship in my father’s name. You are fortunate that I like you. Shall we agree on twenty-five?’
‘I will do it for nothing,’ Talvas moved to stand beside Emmeline.
Her head whipped round as his melodious tones broke her concentration. Fury plucked at her veins as she glared at the rounded curve of his muscular shoulder, the strong cords of his neck. ‘What in God’s name are you doing?’ she hissed, clutching at his forearm. Her mind struggled to comprehend his thinking.
He ignored her, his eyes on the Empress.
Maud clapped her hands, laughing. ‘Dear Talvas, of course! You can captain the ship…’
‘And I have a willing crew,’ he added drily.
‘I still need twenty-five for the hire of the ship’ gabbled Emmeline, aware that the deal was nearly lost. She wanted to kill Talvas!
‘Don’t push your luck, mam’selle,’ Talvas murmured. He brushed her clasping fingers away from his forearm. His words dropped over her like a steel net, as if he pulled on an invisible mesh, halting her speech.
The Empress folded her arms over her ample bosom, a faint glow of satisfaction on her face. She murmured to the Earl, before leaning back in her chair, exhausted, and closing her eyes.
Robert laced his fingers before him. ‘We can give you fifteen gold coins for the ship, mam’selle. Take it or leave it.’
She had to take it.
Emmeline scrubbed her slim white arms viciously with a soft linen washcloth, still fuming at Talvas’s offer to the Empress. How dare he interfere with her plans? He had effectively robbed her of ten gold coins, damn him! Ten gold coins…money that would have bought her mother and her much needed food over the lean winter months when La Belle Saumur would be unused, dragged high up on the beach for safety. But at least with the fifteen coins they would not starve and she still had managed to secure her own passage to England.
‘Shall I wash your hair now, mistress?’ Maud had sent one of her own maids, the docile Beatrice, to attend to Emmeline before the evening’s feasting.
‘Pardon…? Oh, I’m sorry, Beatrice. Aye, go ahead.’ As Beatrice poured a delicious stream of warm water over her loosened hair and down her back, Emmeline flexed the strained muscles in the back of her neck, rolling her shoulders forward to try and relieve the stiffness. Sighing, she tried to allow the heat of the water to steady her frazzled nerves, to temper her annoyance, to try to forget that man! But as she tipped her head back and Beatrice began to soap her scalp, vivid scenes of the day began to play exhaustingly in her mind; images that inevitably, inexorably, led to a pair of bright, disapproving eyes.
The wrought-iron door latch clicked upwards.
Emmeline’s eyes lifted to those of the servant, as her fingers drifted through the layer of sweet-smelling rose petals scattered on the surface of the water. ‘I don’t deserve this attention,’ she murmured.
‘No, you most certainly don’t.’ Talvas’s familiar tones cut across the chamber. Beatrice’s mouth widened to a large ‘O’. Emmeline criss-crossed her arms across her bosom. ‘Get out!’ she cried through gritted teeth, sinking down into the water, hoping—nay, praying that he couldn’t see over the high level of the wooden bath tub.
‘I came to see if you needed