“Speaking of marriage, what about you, Justin? Have you and Lady Lilith decided to marry?” Gilda knew from Isabel that they had been lovers for some years. She could see from his darkening eyes that he didn’t like personal questions.
“We never had plans to marry. The lady is a widow with two sons who wishes to protect their inheritance by remaining a widow. The arrangement suits us both, since I have no need of a wife and no intention of taking one.”
“Most of the king’s ministers are married. I’ve heard he prefers it that way. A very proper king, which is why we call him Louis the Pious.”
“The king has done a great deal to support the Christian view of marriage, as you well know. That doesn’t mean I have to adhere to his wishes in my own personal life.”
Gilda turned away to hide her grin. “You seem a little sensitive. You were asking me personal questions. I didn’t think you’d mind answering a few yourself.”
“Lady Lilith and I have an understanding. There are advantages to having a friendship with a woman. As a nun, you probably wouldn’t understand, Gilda.”
Justin leaned back on his elbows, knowing he sounded defensive and not wishing to meet her eyes. From his position behind Gilda, he could see a lock of her golden hair that had come loose from her head covering. Without giving his action much thought, he reached up and pulled her head covering off.
Gilda whipped around and gave him a shove that sent him onto his back. He could see surprise in her blue eyes, but he also thought he saw something that looked like curiosity. He reached up, wrapped her hair around his hand, and pulled her on top of him. He could see it now. Definitely curiosity. He pulled her face closer and kissed the lips that were about to open in protest.
The firm lips under hers moved in a seductive manner that Gilda found enticing. She had always wondered what a kiss would be like, but she hadn’t imagined it could send intriguing flutters to other parts of her body. She moved her lips against his, and the feeling increased. She heard a soft moan and wasn’t sure whether it was in her throat or his. When Justin’s lips became more demanding, Gilda forced herself to pull back.
Justin saw the startled look in her eyes and released her immediately. “Did you find the answer you were looking for?” he asked as she pushed herself to a sitting position.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied as she concentrated on pushing her hair under her head covering.
“Come, Gilda. Nuns don’t lie,” he said, his words reminding him who she was. “You were curious. I wondered what you thought.”
“It was a pleasant kiss.” Gilda told herself that an understatement wasn’t a lie. “I guess I can understand at least one of the advantages of the friendship between you and Lady Lilith.”
“Pleasant.” Justin repeated the one-word description before laughing. He stood up and offered her his hand. “I’m more than happy to assist with your secular education, Sister Gilda.”
Gilda ignored his mocking tone and his offered hand. An innate sense told her it was best not to touch him again so soon. She had learned that touching Justin had a disturbing effect on her.
“I don’t think I’ll be in need of any further education from you,” she managed to say as she struggled to her feet.
“You’d better take your vows soon, Gilda,” he warned.
CHAPTER ONE
Convent at St. Ives, 828
Striking the dry earth with her hoe, Sister Gilda continued the tedious chore of self-imposed penance that she had begun several hours earlier at daybreak. Since Gilda was a well-liked and respected member of the community, her toil raised some eyebrows, but no questions were asked. That didn’t mean that the reason for her penance wasn’t a source of speculation by more than a few who watched the young nun turning soil in the convent garden.
The Convent of Saint Ives was located south of Aachen, the location of King Louis’s favorite palace. It was a teaching convent run by the sisters of the Holy Cross. Young girls came to the convent to study, some staying to become nuns and others returning home to marry. Although Gilda was well past the age when the decision was usually made, she had not taken her final vows. She had chosen to stay at the convent and become a teacher. Her capability had led to other assignments that gave her a chance to travel beyond Saint Ives.
When a nun approached Gilda to tell her she’d been summoned by the abbess, she was only too happy to lay down her hoe and clap the dirt from her aching hands. She was still brushing dust from her dark habit as she hurried into Abbess Ermguerrd’s workroom. But her step slowed when she saw the familiar figure standing to the right of Mother Superior. Gilda had hoped and prayed she’d never lay eyes on Lord Justin again.
There wasn’t a hair of his abundant brown locks out of place, a fact that reminded Gilda that she had pushed her head covering out of the way while she was working and hadn’t bothered to readjust it. His doublet was a fine blue cloth perfectly tailored to his tall, well-formed body. Before Gilda looked away, she saw a hint of a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth as he took in her rumpled appearance. After one last vigorous brush at her habit that left the brown material swirling around her legs, Gilda lifted her chin and looked to the abbess for an explanation of Justin’s presence.
“I believe you know Lord Justin, Gilda.”
Finding her throat dry from the dust, Gilda nodded.
When they first met in Aachen, she had been dressed in an elegant gown to disguise the fact that she was a nun. It was a strategy she had used a few times when she needed to blend into the court scene to gather information to help one of the women she was representing. At the time, she couldn’t help but enjoy the admiration she had seen in his eyes. But later, when Justin learned she was a nun, he had made his displeasure at her deception clear. She remembered the words he’d spoken to her brother Chetwynd: “Your sister should get herself back to the nunnery.” And although the hostility between them had lessened when they next met, they remained uneasy in each other’s company.
The abbess ignored the young nun’s cool reaction toward their visitor and said, “King Louis has requested your assistance, Sister Gilda. No doubt he remembers the last time you mediated a dispute.”
Gilda stole a glance at Justin and waited for Ermguerrd to continue.
“The case concerns Lady Mariel, the young woman who came to us a month ago for a religious retreat. When it was time for her to return home, she told us that she feared for her life. We gave her shelter. It seems her husband, Count Cedric, has applied for a divorce. The king is reluctant to see the marriage of one of his counts dissolved. He has requested that you assist Lord Justin in mediating the matter.”
The end of a marriage between two noble houses often had far-reaching political implications. It was not unusual for the king to enlist someone from a religious community, as well as a secular representative, to make inquiries. King Louis was determined that his subjects adhere to the Christian practice of marrying for life. But even he recognized that sometimes there were extenuating circumstances. In such cases a bishop or archbishop could annul a marriage.
“I don’t know Lady Mariel well,” Gilda pointed out. “Perhaps you should find someone to take my place, Mother Ermguerrd.”