'Just that gander.'
'Him least of all.' Rolf grimaced. 'She brought the bird from the north as a gosling. He represents all that used to be hers.'
'And her sensibilities are reason enough to let everyone else go in fear?' Ailith curbed her anger with difficulty. Of late there had been a lack of harmony between herself and Rolf. She sensed a restlessness in him like the swallows that gathered at harvest time in preparation to fly away. It burned her to think of him with his wife and daughter when he went to Normandy, and she was frequently waspish to him despite her best intentions. He had ceased to argue with her or give her reassurances. Instead he would calmly shut her out and go about his work with the horses as if she did not exist, or spend yet more time away, visiting clients.
And then there was Inga; cold, fair-haired Inga who was as indifferent to Rolf as she was to everyone else. Ailith could sense how much it irked him, itching away beneath his skin.
'I did not say that,' he replied with laboured patience. 'Of course she must be held accountable for her flock. I will speak to her.'
'For all the good that will do,' Ailith said witheringly.
'More good than speaking to you,' Rolf retorted, and walked out of the room.
Ailith closed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip. The promise of forever was bleeding away and she did not know how to staunch it.
Rolf replenished his cup and sat down before the hearth with Aubert. The women had retired, and although the servants and retainers had laid out their pallets along the walls or rolled themselves in their cloaks to sleep, to all intents and purposes they were alone.
'Ailith was quiet tonight,' Aubert remarked.
Rolf shrugged. 'She was brooding about Julitta.' He pulled a face. 'I sometimes think that all women are the same, not a hair to choose between any of them.'
Aubert raised his brows, inviting confidences.
Rolf drank from his cup and let out a deep sigh. 'I love Ailith, but sometimes she is so impossible that I cannot bear to be in her company. It is like being caged.'
'And of course your own nature is so perfect that you are never the cause of her contrariness,' Aubert said neutrally.
'I know I have my faults, but of late, whatever I do or say is wrong in her eyes.' Rolf scowled at his cup, and then at Aubert. 'You said you wanted a word in private. If it's about myself and Ailith, I might as well take myself off to bed.'
Aubert just looked at Rolf and beneath the sharp, hazel stare, Rolf's indignation crumbled to be replaced by embarrassment. 'Very well,' he said with a grudging smile, 'I have no redeeming features and the fault is all mine.'
'Just have a care, Rolf. Some broken hearts mend, but I doubt that Ailith's would, or yours for that matter. And there endeth my sermon. I'm not here to preach what you already know. Besides, I need you in a listening humour and not out of sorts with me.'
'Indeed?' Rolf raised an eyebrow and felt a pleasant curiosity. Conversations with Aubert, whatever else, were never boring. Although Aubert had mostly given up the more questionable activities attached to his wine trade, he still dabbled here and there at the request of the King. But what Aubert said next took Rolf completely by surprise.
'I have been deliberating upon approaching you for no small time; I would not have you think this is lightly suggested out of a moment's folly. I have a business proposition to put to you concerning Benedict's future.'
'Oh?' Rolf folded his arms.
'What would you say if I offered for your daughter Gisele in marriage on his behalf?'
At first Rolf could only gape at Aubert in astonishment. He did not know what to say; then several things, all contradictory, crowded onto his tongue at once and rendered him incoherent, which was just as well since some of the comments would have irrevocably sundered the friendship between himself and Aubert.
'Gisele and Benedict,' he finally managed to croak out. 'You aim high indeed.'
'My son is never going to be more than a mediocre wine merchant; he has no interest in the trade, but it is as if he was born knowing horses. You have seen it yourself.'
Rolf rose to replenish his cup and remained standing, for Aubert's words had kindled his restlessness. His friend was wily; he would not have broached the subject without first considering it from all angles and weighing up the risks of rejection. 'I have noticed that Ben does have a talent that way,' Rolf said cautiously, 'but how far it will develop is a point of chance, nor is it a recommendation I can give to my wife. I have always promised Arlette that our daughter will make a great marriage. I cannot go to her and say that for the sake of friendship I have accepted the offer of a Rouen wine merchant.'
Aubert drew himself up. 'I do not ask you as a boon for friendship's sake. I know full well that you have the wealth and position to make a high marriage for Gisele. While I cannot match your rank, I can easily match your wealth, so I count the scales even. You were never one to stand on ceremony, Rolf.'
Rolf's eyes became dry with staring and he blinked rapidly several times.
Aubert hunched forward in his seat and eyed Rolf intently, his own gaze unwavering. 'You know that I have risked my neck for William both as Duke and King. After the great battle at Hastings, he rewarded me in coin and English booty and I bought land and houses in London and Rouen. People pay me rent and my wealth increases. I have two wine galleys, one trading out of London, the other out of Rouen, and a merchant vessel, the Draca, to be ready in the spring. Benedict will be very rich one day, but I would like him to be content too.' Aubert shrugged, and spread his hands. 'That is why I made you the offer. If you do not think that our differences are negotiable, I'll look elsewhere and take no offence.'
Rolf shook his head, totally bemused. 'God's nails, Aubert, I need time to think, and for that I have to gather my wits, which you have scattered to the four winds.'
Aubert smiled, a decided gleam in his hooded hazel eyes. 'I knew that one day, I'd see you at a loss for words.'
Ailith felt Rolf raise the covers and slide into the bed. One sinewy arm came across her body, and he pressed close, touching the tip of his tongue to the tiny hairs on her spine. Ailith had been pretending to be asleep, but a small, sensuous shiver gave her away and with a sigh, she rolled over to face him.
He nuzzled her throat. 'We shouldn't have parted in anger earlier,' he murmured.
Only moments before Rolf had come to bed, she had been imagining a scene where she necked Inga's cursed gander herself, and perhaps Inga too into the bargain, but she grasped Rolf's olive branch eagerly. 'I'm sorry I was a shrew. I was worried about Julitta.'
'I was too thin-skinned myself. Call it even. I promise I will speak to Inga and make her do something about those geese.'
Ailith snuggled against him, breathing in his familiar scent. He stroked her hair, her spine, her breasts, and she felt his erection strain against her belly.
'Aubert desires a marriage between Benedict and Gisele.' His words came muffled as he buried his lips in her cleavage. 'I do not know whether I should accept or not. What do you think?'
'Benedict and Gisele?' she said, as surprised as Rolf had been. 'Are they suited?
'As well suited as any couple are when their parents arrange a marriage. Aubert, as it turns out, is a very wealthy man, and I like the boy's spirit. Gisele is like her mother — biddable, pious, and very pretty.'
'Perhaps you should let them meet and see how they respond to one another.'
'That would not be so bad an idea, and in the meantime, I could give the proposition due consideration.' He moved lower, softly pinching her skin with his lips.
She touched his hair, feeling beneath her fingertips the springy curls that he had passed on to Julitta, making her longer tresses such a bane to comb. 'But they will meet on Norman ground, you will not bring your wife to Ulverton?' she said, suddenly anxious.
He ceased what he was doing, and the muscles tensed across the back of his neck. 'I am not a complete fool,' he murmured against her flesh.
'I could not bear it if you did bring her,' Ailith whispered.
He sighed, and for a moment she thought that he was going to turn away as they trammelled the same old ground whose ruts they both knew because they had worn the path so often and so painfully before. 'I won't,' he
