Page 77 of Hers To Command
Ranulf flushed, but otherwise betrayed no emotion other than his normal self-confidence. “I knew you weren’t going to be pleased, but I thought, since I was writing to Nicholas anyway, and he’s going to be involved in this because you are, whether you think so or not, I’d ask. I’m not nearly as proud and stubborn as you, and if there’s somebody who’s likely to send me aid when I need it, I’m bloody well going to ask for it. Besides, half the men in the garrison already believe your brother’s on his way, so why not request a few men to add to our forces? I don’t know where Roald found the money, but he’s got some expensive men in his company.”
“I’m glad you did. I hope he does send men. We need them.”
Ranulf looked completely taken aback for one brief moment. That expression was replaced by a relieved smile that was just as brief before his features settled into their usual wry demeanor. “Thank God you’ve got some sense at last.”
There was something else Ranulf had said that puzzled Henry. “Some thought Nicholas was already coming?”
Ranulf hastily got to his feet. “Oh, you know soldiers—always making things up. Always hoping some friendly force will arrive in the nick of time and save them doing any serious fighting.”
Henry wasn’t fooled. Ranulf’s uncharacteristic haste told a different tale. “Who said Nicholas was coming? You?”
It seemed impossible, for Ranulf was not given to reassuring lies, but itmightbe true.
“No!” Ranulf replied, obviously appalled. “I wouldn’t do something like that unless I was certain it was true. I wouldn’t want to raise false hopes, only to have them dashed and the men disheartened.”
“Who then?”
Ranulf shifted his feet, then started sidling toward the door like a merchant trying to back out of a bad bargain. “It doesn’t matter now, since his men may indeed be on the way.”
Regardless of the pain it caused him, Henry pushed himself up into a sitting position.“Who?”
Ranulf struggled inwardly for a moment, but started back toward the bed. “Mathilde.”
Stunned, Henry fell back against the pillows, then winced with pain.
“If you promise to sit still and stay calm, I’ll tell you why she did it. As I said, she’s quite a marvel.”
Henry nodded a very little, enough to show that he agreed to sit still, and that Mathilde was a marvel.
Ranulf pulled up the stool and sat down. “The night after you were injured, she told the guards at the postern gate she was going to meet Nicholas and his men. I gather she told them that so they’d let her go out.”
She’d lied about Nicholas so she could go out of the castle—by herself?And with Roald and his men in the village?
“You said you were going to keep calm,” Ranulf noted. “If you get too agitated, I’ll have Giselle give you a draught to make you sleep.”
“I’ll be calm,” Henry promised, even though he knew it wouldn’t be easy, given what Ranulf was telling him.
“It seems, my friend, that she went to Roald and demanded he surrender.”
Henry simply couldn’t believe it. She had lied to the guards and gone out of the castle, by herself, to demand Roald surrender?
“Shocking, I know. Outrageous, even, but true. She went to the village all by herself, told him his attempts to take the castle were useless, you were quite unharmed and he might as well give up.”
Now that he’d had time to consider, Henry could see her doing it, her gaze resolute, her eyes shining with resolve, her hands clasped in the sleeves of her gown. And yet…“He didn’t.”
Or Roald’s men wouldn’t be trying to undermine the wall.
“Sadly, no.”
There was something that, knowing Roald as he did and what he was capable of, didn’t make sense. “He let her come back?”
Ranulf didn’t meet his gaze. “Not exactly.” He raised his eyes and smiled. “She fought her way free. Quite a woman.”
There was more to it. “What happened?”
“She got back safe and sound, so there’s no need to trouble yourself—”
Henry’s good right arm shot out and he grabbed Ranulf’s forearm, gripping him tight. “Tell me everything.”
