Gavin rode back to the hunting party quickly. He had been gone a long time, but he hoped no one had missed him. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks that Judith hadn’t seen him kissing Alice. No amount of explaining in the world would have pacified her. But all that was over. As difficult as it had been, he had told Alice, and now he was forever free of her.
Gavin saw his wife ahead, swinging her lure to bring her tiercel back to the perch. Suddenly his desire for her was boundless. He urged his mount forward until he was almost galloping by the time he reached her horse. He bent forward and jerked the reins.
“Gavin!” Judith called as she grabbed the pommel of the saddle, her tiercel flapping its wings in fright.
The people around them hooted in laughter. “They have been married how long?”
“Not long enough,” came the reply.
Gavin stopped both horses when they were some distance away in a secluded glade.
“Gavin! Have you lost your mind?” Judith demanded.
He slid from his horse then lifted her from hers. He didn’t speak to her but began kissing her hungrily. “I was thinking of you,” he whispered. “And the more I thought of you, the more my need…arose.”
“I can feel your need.” She looked about her. “This is a pretty place isn’t it?”
“It could be prettier.”
“Yes, it could,” she answered as he kissed her again.
The sweet outdoor summer air added a great deal to their passion as did the slightly naughty idea that they were doing something somewhere they shouldn’t. Judith giggled when Gavin made a comment on King Henry’s numerous children. He stopped her laughter with his lips.
They fumbled with each other’s clothing hurriedly and made love as if they’d not seen each other for years. Later, they cuddled close together, wrapped in warm sunlight and the delicate scent of wildflowers.
Chapter Twenty-Six
ALICE LOOKED OVER THE HEADS OF THE MANY MEN around her to the slim, blond, handsome man leaning against the wall. He had a pensive expression on his face that she recognized as that of someone in love. She smiled sweetly at a man nearby but Alice didn’t really hear him. Her mind was completely on that afternoon, when Gavin said he was in love with his wife. She watched as Gavin held his wife’s hand and led her through the intricate steps of a dance. It didn’t matter that Alice had several young men at her feet. Being scorned by Gavin only made her want him more. Had he sworn he loved her still, perhaps she would have considered one of the many marriage proposals offered to her. But Gavin had rejected her, and now she knew she must have him. Only one thing stood in her way, and that she planned to remove.
The young blond man stared at Judith with fascination, his eyes never leaving her. Alice had noticed him at dinner when he looked up at the high table, not even blinking as he stared at Judith. Alice realized that the woman was too stupid to even be aware of an admirer, for Judith’s eyes never left Gavin.
“Will you excuse me?” Alice murmured demurely and dismissed the men around her as she walked toward the man against the wall.
“She is lovely, isn’t she?” Alice asked, gritting her teeth against the words.
“Yes,” he whispered, the word coming from his soul.
“It’s sad to see a woman such as that so unhappy.”
The man turned and looked at Alice. “She doesn’t look to be unhappy.”
“No, she makes a good show, but the unhappiness is there.”
“You are Lady Alice Chatworth?”
“Yes. And you?”
“Alan Fairfax, my beautiful countess,” he said as he bowed and kissed her hand. “At your service.”
Alice laughed gaily. “It is not I who need your service, but the Lady Judith.”
Alan looked back at the dancers. “She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he whispered.
Alice’s eyes glittered like blue glass. “Have you told her of your love?”
“No!” he said, frowning. “I am a knight, sworn to honor, and she is a married woman.”
“Yes, she is, though most unhappily.”