"But they are worth far more than the two hundred gold sovereigns that I owe you, my lord."
"True. This would seem a paltry sum for one as wealthy as the Lady Brenna. But I would be willing to hold the jewels until you can return to France and pay your debt to the lady."
Brenna felt the protest rise in her throat. She turned to Cordell.
"I.
cannot do this without Morgan's permission. I would feel that I had somehow betrayed his trust. "
"i understand, my lady." Cordell turned to face the man who would be judge and executioner.
Windham's voice was pure silk.
"Of course, if the jewels mean that much to you, my lady, that you would refuse to help a friend, I understand, too." He sighed, as if the matter were finished.
"I regret that I will be forced to go to the queen." His voice purred.
"I regret that Madeline will be shamed before her husband. And of course, a young woman as sweet and shy as Adrianna will never again be able to face Richard Grey. She is young, though extremely vulnerable.
He, of course, has already been severely damaged. The scandal could shatter their lives."
Brenna paled. She thought of her own sisters, and the fierce pride they had in their family honor. And then she thought of the first woman who had befriended her in this land. Madeline. And what of Adrianna and Richard? No one deserved love and happiness more than they.
"You will only hold the jewels, my lord? And when Cordell's debt is paid you will return them to me?"
"Have I not said as much?"
Brenna hesitated for a moment longer, seeing the light of hope that flickered in Cordell's dark eyes. She had not the heart to extinguish his last hope.
She started toward the door, determined to do the deed quickly, before she changed her mind. Within minutes she had returned with the velvet pouch containing the necklace and earrings.
"You will breathe not a word of this," she said, placing the pouch in Windham's hands.
His eyes glittered as he opened the pouch and felt the warmth of the diamonds and amethyst in his palm.
"My lips are sealed."
"And you," she said to Cordell, "will give me your word that you will never again gamble."
"I swear it, my lady." He fell to his knees and brought both her hands to his lips.
"I am your devoted servant for the rest of my life."
As Brenna made her way to bed, she felt a heaviness around her heart.
This had all happened too quickly. In her tired, overwrought state, there had been no time to reason her way through this, and now her mind was reeling.
There would be no sleep for her this night. As she settled herself beside Morgan, she drew close to him, hoping to absorb his warmth, his strength. She had helped a friend, but it gave her little satisfaction. She could not shake her eerie feelings about Windham.
The man was evil. And she had the frightening feeling that there was more to this than a gambling debt.
Chapter Twenty-two
t "V Iou look tired, lass." Richard's head came up from the rose he was tending.
"Aye. I did not sleep well last night." Brenna glanced around.
"Is Adrianna not with you?"
"Nay. She and her sister are visiting with the queen. I thought you would be with them."
"I sent my regrets. I have been searching for you." She licked her lips.
"You once said that if I desired to talk, you would be here to listen."
Richard placed the shears in his lap and leaned forward in his wheeled chair.
"What is it, lass? What troubles you?"
"Oh, Richard."
He saw the tears that welled up in her eyes.
"I cannot tell you without betraying a confidence. But I fear I have done a terrible thing. If Morgan learns of it, he will never forgive me."
"You, lass?" Richard took her hands in his and stared into her eyes.
"You are the best thing that has ever happened to my brother. You have brought back all the love, all the laughter, that had been buried beneath so much pain. Because of you, Morgan has learned to live again, and laugh again. And what is more important, trust again."
Trust. Brenna felt as if her heart would break from the pain.
"By helping a friend I may have destroyed his trust forever."
Richard leaned forward and touched a finger to her lips to silence her.
"Listen to me, Brenna. I had not thought it possible that Morgan would ever recover from the pain of his youthful marriage. What you have done for him is nothing short of a miracle."
"I do not understand. Why was he left so bitter and angry?"
"When a man is young and honorable, he believes that the whole world is the same. It is shattering to discover that some people are so shallow, or so cruel, that they have no regard for anyone but themselves."
Richard leaned back, feeling the sunshine warm upon his face.
"My brother was hardly more than a lad the first time he went to his marriage bed. No more than twenty. And she but ten and five."
"What was her name?"
A slight frown furrowed Richard's brow.
"She was the queen's cousin, Catherine Elder."