Brenna gave a wry smile.
"There is no mystery to it. He overpowered me."
"No mystery?" The Frenchwoman handed the damp cloth to a serving girl, then began plumping the pillows about Brenna's head.
"Morgan Grey does not capture women; he eludes them. He has managed to evade the snares set by every eager woman at court." She gave a knowing smile. "And, cherie, there were many hoping to ensnare him.
Why, even the queen was rendered speechless when he presented you at court. I think, from the way he looks at you, that he desires you."
"He does not desire me." Brenna's voice trembled with intensity.
"He merely wishes to punish me."
"Punish? But why?"
"Because I managed to spoil his plans and elude him, delaying his return to England. He has brought me here to see me wed to an Englishman, so that my lands and holdings will then belong to his queen."
"And that is why he looks at you this way? I do not believe he brought you here to see you wed to another. I believe he would keep you for himself."
"Marriage to any Englishman would be horrible. But especially to that one. He is a cruel, vindictive man."
Madeline placed her hand over Brenna's. Feeling the tremors, she stared into her eyes.
"Do not be misled by the name he carries. The Queen's Savage is a soldier of the Crown, notorious for his skill in the art of battle. It is well known that entire armies fear him. But he has never shown himself to be cruel or vindictive."
"You do not know him," Brenna whispered, shivering.
"Though I am only in this country a few short years, I know him well, cherie." Madeline pulled the blankets around Brenna's shoulders.
"He is a rogue, and a man of great appetite." She smiled broadly.
"Great appetite. But I would trust Morgan Grey with all that I hold dear. He is a man above reproach."
Brenna felt a welling of tears and turned her head away. Was there no one at court who would take her side in this? Was she truly doomed to remain a captive of a man she hated, and to lose forever her land, her titles and even her name?
"Rest, cherie." Madeline brushed the dark hair from Brenna's eyes, then settled herself comfortably in a chair alongside the bed.
"I will sit here beside you while you sleep, so that when you awake, you' will not find yourself among strangers."
"Thank you." Brenna's lids fluttered as she blinked away her tears and struggled to focus.
The last thing she saw before she drifted off to sleep was the face of the lovely Frenchwoman who had shown her such kindness.
"There have been several--accidents since you have been away, Morgan."
The queen's head was high, her chin thrust forward defiantly.
Now that the others were dozing, and the servants had been dismissed, she allowed her voice to rise.
Morgan barely managed to mask the alarm he felt.
"Tell me about them."
"There was my personal groom. While riding a mount meant for me, the saddle fell, leaving him badly injured."
Morgan's eyes narrowed.
"Lord Windham suggests that the poor fellow lied to cover his laziness."
At the mention of the queen's trusted aide, Morgan's temper flared.
"Windham is a fool. What else has happened while I have gone?"
"The royal carriage. A wheel came off on our journey here to Richmond Palace. No one was hurt. The driver insists that it was an accident.
Still, my servant swore the carriage had been carefully inspected before our journey. "
"God in heaven. Is there more?"
Elizabeth shook her head.
"Nothing. Just--rumors."
"Give me names. Majesty. Who repeats these rumors?"
Elizabeth grew agitated.
"I do not know the names. A whispered word here. A hint of something there."
He leaned close, his hands on his knees.
"Whispers. Hints. These are not enough to call home an entire army.
You are not telling me everything. You have heard something."
The queen suddenly stood and stared out the window, hugging her arms around herself.
"I do not forget, Morgan."
"Forget what?"
"What it feels like to be marked for death." She shuddered.
"From the time I was a babe, I have known that even those who should be closest to me might want me dead. My own father bastardized me, then reluctantly reinstated me to the order of succession. My sister, Mary, banished me to the
Tower, and would have permitted my execution had any incriminating evidence been brought to bear. " Her voice lowered.
"And there was the mistreatment of my mother. Always I must live in the shadow of my mother's beheading."
"We live in a brutal age."