LITMIR.BIZ

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tell you of my decision regarding that at a more appropriate time,” she said, without one ounce of genuine solicitude. “However, your brother has left me little time for tact. Madeline, I would not have allowed you to become a nun. Did it not occur to you that I was delaying because I was not certain of your vocation? The convent is no place for a woman of your temperament—”

      “My temperament?”

      Mother Bertrilde’s expression would have been a scowl if she was not so adept at smiling when she felt anything but happy. “You are demonstrating your lack of suitability at this very moment. You are not humble. You will not submit your will to obedience. You are much too interested in worldly things.”

      “But I—”

      “Therefore, Madeline,” Mother Bertrilde continued, “I would suggest you prepare to leave with your brother and abide by the provisions he has made for you.”

      “To further his own ends,” Madeline replied. How dare this reproving, unfeeling woman and her brother plan her life like this? She was no longer a child!

      “Whatever his reasons, it is your duty to obey.”

      “My duty is to marry a man I have never even seen?” she asked, venting her anger in sarcasm.

      “What other choice do you have?” Mother Bertrilde demanded, clearly unmoved. “I cannot keep you here against your brother’s will.”

      “Very well, I will leave,” Madeline said with a severity that did credit to the teacher standing before her. “If my piety and devotion and patience are to be rewarded by being cast out as if I were a leper, if you think I have no choice but to obey like some sheep, then I will gladly go—but not with my brother.”

      Still Mother Bertrilde remained unimpressed. “With whom do you intend to travel? I assure you, I will provide no escort.”

      “Then I will go without one.” Madeline took a step toward the heavy door.

      At last Madeline’s determined words seemed to penetrate the Mother Superior’s facade of stone. “You are speaking nonsense, Madeline,” she admonished. “You cannot leave here by yourself. Not only would you be acting like a common peasant, but you would surely be killed, if not suffer a worse fate. The lands hereabouts are full of thieves and rebels.”

      Madeline’s lip curled with haughty disdain. “What would be the difference, Mother, between being raped by an outlaw or by a man to whom I have been married against my will?” With that, she spun around and stepped toward the door, only to collide with a man’s broad, solid chest. Two strong hands reached out and pushed her back.

      Madeline stared up at the man whose dark eyes glared at her and whose lean, hawklike face was reserved and forbidding. Indeed, he was a taller, broad-shouldered, harsher version of herself, with-out the softness of femininity to smooth his rough edges. “Roger?” she gasped.

      “Madeline?” Roger de Montmorency, who was not known for the sweetness of his temper, looked over his sister’s head toward the black-garbed bulk that was the Mother Superior. “What is the meaning of this? She was to be ready to leave.”

      Mother Bertrilde, who was more known for her strict adherence to the rules of her faith than a soft heart, glared back. “I regret,” she said insincerely, “that your messenger was delayed. He only arrived this morning.”

      Roger turned to the nobleman standing behind him. He had iron gray hair and a careworn face, but there was youth in his eyes, and some sympathy, too. “Albert, find out what happened with Cedric. Then have one of the nuns gather up my sister’s belongings.” With a nod, the man moved to obey.

      “I am not going with you,” Madeline announced, crossing her arms and frowning.

      Roger looked at the sister he had not seen in so many years as she stood in the middle of the room. She was taller than he had expected, prettier, too, even in the plain habit of a nun. But those eyes, those angry, defiant bright blue eyes belonged to the Madeline he remembered, without a doubt. To think he had hoped that the nuns would have made her placid and pliable! “The arrangements have all been made. Prepare your things, Madeline,” he ordered. “We leave at once, for it will take some days to reach my castle.” He pulled a bag of coins from his belt. “This is to thank you for your trouble,” he said to the Mother Superior.

      Mother Bertrilde frowned reproachfully. “I suggest you keep your money and give it to a priest to say intercessions for your immortal soul, since I must remind you that this is a convent, and in this convent, it is I who tell the nuns what to do. Not you and not your men.”

      Roger de Montmorency was not impressed by the Mother Superior’s words or the angry expression on her face. He turned toward Madeline. “Come.”

      “I told you, Roger, I am not going with you. I will not marry at your order, and certainly not a man who is a stranger to me.”

      His sister’s anger made no impression on him, either. “I have not met Chilcott myself,” he said dismissively. “My overlord, Baron DeGuerre, wants our families to be united. You are my responsibility and you have no choice but to obey, in the same way that I strive to obey the baron. What my lord orders, I assure you, will come to pass.”

      “I will leave when I am ready,” Madeline insisted, “and I will go anywhere but your castle.”

      “Enough!” Roger bellowed. He had no time for arguments from Madeline or empty courtesies with the Mother Superior. His departure from his castle had been delayed, the torrential rains of early April had made the journey a nightmare and it was only a fortnight until the wedding was to take place.

      Abruptly he grabbed Madeline’s arms, pulled her toward him and threw her over his shoulder. “You are ready now and you are going to my castle.” He turned toward the door, then, ignoring his sister’s struggles, he glanced back at the Reverend Mother. “One of my men will wait until her goods are prepared for the journey. Good day.”

      Carrying his squirming sister as if she were a sack of grain, Sir Roger de Montmorency marched stoically from the room.

      “Roger, stop!” Madeline demanded as he carted her along the stone corridor and out into the convent’s yard. To add to her humiliation, Madeline caught glimpses of curious women whispering together like little clusters of birds. “Let me go at once!”

      Roger finally put her down. Flustered, Madeline straightened her belt and glared at him. “How dare you! How dare you treat me this way!”

      “I dare because I am your elder brother,” he retorted. “How dare you try to disobey me!”

      “You can’t simply order me to marry this Chilblain—”

      “Chilcott. And yes, I can.”

      Madeline became aware of the sudden silence and glanced around the yard. Several of the sisters were unabashedly staring, their eyes wide and their mouths open.

      Perhaps the best thing to do would be to wait until they were away from this place, where she could argue with Roger in peace. “We shall continue this discussion later, dear brother,” she said, smiling sweetly.

      His expression grew hard and was completely without sympathy. “There is nothing to discuss, Madeline. Not now, and not ever. I have given Chilcott my word that you will be his wife.”

      With that, he turned and left her standing in the courtyard while he bellowed for his men.

      * * *

      Dafydd was finally beginning to feel that he would not get caught and be condemned to death as a thief. At first, he had kept in the forest, riding parallel to the road, where the going was not easy. This morning, he had decided to risk the easier travel along the road, at least for a little while.

      He was even feeling somewhat happy for the first time since he had awakened to find himself weak and helpless in a Norman monastery. He had no clear idea how he had managed to get so far from the Welsh border.

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