“He is being very helpful. I’m surprised he offered to marry us,” Justin said.
Brother Arnulf grinned. “There is no brotherly love between the Abbot and Bishop Gunthar, although the Abbot would never admit it.”
Gilda was attacking the food in her trencher. Sister Freda poked her arm and said, “I see being married hasn’t diminished your appetite.” When Gilda only grinned in reply, Freda added, “I’m glad you made up your mind, Gilda. I know you made the right choice.”
At that Gilda did pause in her eating. “Justin never ceases to amaze me. At first all I knew was that I desired him,” she whispered. “I didn’t trust myself to make a decision based on desire. But he means much more to me now that I know the kind of man he is.”
“I hope you are better prepared for marriage than Lady Mariel was,” Freda said with a smile.
Gilda returned the smile. “I’ve worked with women long enough to have learned a great deal.”
Justin noticed the exchange of smiles and wondered what it was about. He had been watching Gilda tear into her food, and the sight made him eager to have her to himself and satisfy some of his own appetite. “We should head back to Mainz as soon as possible,” he said to them all.
“Why don’t you and Gilda go ahead,” Leonardo suggested. “Sister Freda and I will follow after a long visit with Brother Arnulf.” He emphasized the word long.
Gilda had sprung to her feet. “I think that’s a fine idea.”
Leonardo whispered to Justin, “You are a fortunate man.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Riding their horses at a sedate pace, Justin and Gilda waited until they were out of view of the monastery to give the animals their head and race toward Mainz. Once at the castle they rushed up the stairs and were almost to their room when Philip appeared out of the dark shadows of the hallway.
“I need to speak to you,” the young man pleaded.
“Tomorrow,” Justin replied, pulling Gilda toward their rooms.
“I’m in trouble,” Philip said. “I’ve been hiding out, waiting for your return. It’s urgent, Justin.”
When Gilda looked from one man to the other, her concern clear, Justin relented. “Come in,” he offered.
Once the door was closed, Gilda said, “Be quick about it, Philip. We have no time for a long tale.”
Justin would have grinned at her words if he wasn’t so irritated at the interruption.
“I’ve waited for an hour, hiding in the hall. Where have you been?” Philip asked.
Justin’s frown deepened as he glared at Philip. “That’s none of your concern. If you don’t tell us immediately what trouble you are in this time, I’m tossing you out the door.”
Philip finally seemed to realize that his presence was only barely tolerated. “I tried to see Emma, but I was met by her father, who ordered me off his property. When I arrived at Mainz, a friendly porter warned me that Cedric is furious with me and asked the guards to watch for my return.”
“Any idea why that might be?” Justin asked.
“I think Emma may have spoken to her father about me, and he must have sent word to Cedric. If Cedric knows about Emma and me, I fear I’ll end up in the dungeon again.”
Justin suspected the young man might be in more danger than even he knew. If Cedric was still determined to marry Lady Emma and he learned about Philip’s relationship with her, Philip’s life was in danger, not just his freedom. In the eyes of the church it would be considered incest for one brother to bed a woman another brother had been intimate with. Only if Philip was dead could Cedric still hope to marry Emma. The only alternative was to pretend nothing happened between the young couple, but Justin doubted Philip would go along with that. One way or another, Cedric would have to see that Philip disappeared.
“Can you find someone to hide you until morning?” Justin asked, but even as he spoke, his hopes of spending the evening alone with Gilda were fading.
“Cedric knows who my friends are. I hate to put them in danger.”
“How thoughtful,” Justin said, making no effort to hide his cynicism. “Give me a minute with Gilda. Go into my bedchamber and stay there until I call you.”
As soon as Philip had closed the door, Gilda took Justin’s hand and pulled him to sit close beside her. “Do you think he’s in immediate danger?” she asked.
“I’m afraid so. The fact that he has had a relationship with Emma may already be known.”
“Can we do anything to help him?”
“I hope so, but we’ll have to be careful. We don’t know how long Cedric will continue to trust us. He’ll remember I spoke up for Philip last time.”
“Surely we are safe until we make our report to the archbishop.”
“I’m depending on that,” replied Justin. “But Cedric can make things unpleasant for us.”
“What can we do?”
“I hate to admit it, but I think we’d better take Philip away from here tonight.”
Gilda nodded. Still not feeling close enough to him, she moved to sit on Justin’s lap. As he held her tightly, she whispered into his ear, “You are a good man, and I love you more and more each minute.”
Justin groaned as she clung to him. “I had wonderful plans for you this night,” he said.
“Don’t forget any of them. Hopefully you can show me all of them soon,” she replied.
Setting Gilda aside, it took Justin a minute to refocus on the task at hand. He knew that the only way he could be alone with Gilda was to deal with the problem and leave Mainz behind. Because they didn’t have time to wait for Leonardo and Freda to return, Justin wrote a brief message to explain their absence. He left it in Freda’s bed, hoping no one else would find it.
While he was doing that, Gilda gathered a few necessities. As soon as they were ready,
