Page 36 of Slippers and Thorns
Ella shook her head to clear it and directed her steps to her door. She couldn’t clean Hartford Castle, and she couldn’t clean Reineggburg if she wasn’t there. But she could clean her own quarters with whatever she had available. She could organize every possession she owned. It was a workaround, but it would suffice.
CHAPTER 16
Michael
Y
ou cannot place regulations on the money-lenders,” the guild leader protested. “The guild is responsible for managing its members.”
“Then you should do a better job of keeping them in line,” growled one of the claimants. “These five are taking advantage of hard-working people!”
Michael tuned out the argument as he glanced up at the old grandfather clock sitting next to the far wall. He should have been on his way to a meeting with the captain of the royal guard half an hour ago, but the last dispute had turned out to require much more than its allotted time – mostly because the two sides insisted on re-hashing the facts about every five minutes. He didn’t understand why his father hadn’t already cut them off and handed out a ruling.
“I have yet to hear solid evidence to support your claims,” the guild leader sniffed. “Opinions do not carry weight.”
The claimant slammed his hands on a table. “The common understanding has always been that interest in excess of six percent is usurious. I have a stack of contracts showing interest ofninepercent that—”
Since he had heard it all several times, Michael didn’t feel too bad about letting his attention wander to prevent his frustration from running over. While his father would consult him, he wasn’t actually responsible for the judgment, and he hadn’t heard a new point in…he wasn’t sure how long.Toolong.
Why couldn’t he simply write down his opinion, hand it to his father, and slip out? He shifted in his seat, trying to keep the motion unnoticeable. His schedule was tight enough without spending extra time in endless appeals sessions.
Since it was running late, he was going to have to skip visiting with Lady Charlotte before lunch, he thought grumpily. True, she wasn’t the lively, daring young woman Helena had been, nor was she as sweet and gentle as Arabella. As noblewomen went, though, she wasn’t half bad. Her compliments were more sensible, her conversation was more intelligent, and she was less likely to adopt the annoying mannerisms that most young ladies of the court considered essential. All in all, she was a surprisingly agreeable companion.
Most of the time, anyway.
A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like his mother told him that, as a married man, he had no business thinking so fondly of a woman that wasn’t his wife. He argued back – with great maturity – that Arabella had started it with her dalliance with the captain of her personal guard, so she could hardly be upset when he responded in kind.
Of course, until the archery incident, he had lacked conclusive proof. And, he reluctantly admitted, shehadasked him to teach her first. Every few days for several weeks, in fact. But when he had been busy with his duties, instead of continuing to wait for him, she had run to that soldier that was always around, just like he should have known she would.
Enough was enough. If Arabella didn’t want him, Michael saw no reason why he couldn’t find someone who did.
At long last, King Phillip called a halt to the bickering and withdrew to discuss the case with the day’s advisors. Michael gave his opinion and then, with his father’s permission, slipped out to catch the captain of the royal guard before hecompletelymissed the meeting.
Michael walked quickly through the halls, barely noticing the servants dodging out of his way. As he rounded the final corner, he regained enough awareness of his surroundings to see a familiar head of blonde hair staring out a window with another unfortunately familiar head of brown hair standing stiffly at attention nearby.
At the sound of his footsteps, his wife turned from the window. When she recognized him, she turned the rest of the way to face him and raised her clasped hands to her chest. The set of her mouth suggested nervousness or uneasiness. Probably because he’d caught her hanging out with Charles again, he grumbled to himself.
He knew that her guards were now required to follow her everywhere, of course. Not allowing this fact to sway him, though, he let his eyes skate over her as he strode to the meeting room door, pretending he didn’t see her mouth open or hear her begin to call his name.
Pretending he didn’t see the pain and frustration on her face when he walked right past her as if she wasn’t there. That he didn’t see the anger and contempt that leaked onto her companion’s face as he did so.
Who was that guard to judge him, anyway?
As he entered the room and nodded a greeting to the occupants, he forced the encounter to the back of his mind. Arabella had made her choice, he sternly reminded himself. It was too late for her to change her mind.
CHAPTER 17
Ella
A
week passed. Every day, Ella managed to find someplace along Michael’s route between meetings to wait for him. Even though he acted as if she wasn’t there, if they weren’t already outside his destination, she joined him and walked silently beside him.
So far, she had avoided catching him when she knew his schedule and path would allow him to find Lady Charlotte. Ella already spent enough time dealing with Lady Charlotte’s triumphant smile when she, rather than Ella, was on Michael’s arm. She saw no need to increase her exposure.
King Phillip had just officially approved Ella’s plan to distribute food to the needy in the city. Although the details – such as how much food would be directed to each neighborhood and to whom – were still being hammered out, it was going to happen. Ella’s heart soared with the knowledge that she would soon be able to leave her embroidery behind.
To help with the distribution, though, she expected she would spend quite a bit of time on foot. Her fancy slippers would not be adequate, nor would her riding boots. Her old boots from her days as a servant would work, but she was tryingnotto rile up her in-laws. So, a new pair of boots it was!
