Read The Whispering Night for Free Online Page B

roots before it grew into a mighty oak and obscured his
vision completely.
    "Well," he
said softly, rising. "I suppose I should leave you to your sleep. I have
taken enough of your time."
    Derica rose with him.
"Strange, I am not tired at all, but I am sure you must be after your long
journey today."
    "I am, a
little," he gazed into her eyes, longer than he should have. If only she
had been the petty, spoiled female he had hoped for. "I will bid you a
good eve, then, my lady. Pleasant dreams."
    "Thank you, Sir
Garren," she said. "Good sleep to you as well."
    He stood there looking
at her just as she stood there looking at him. Garren couldn't seem to move his
feet.  He felt like an idiot.
    "Well?" she
asked.
    "What?"
    "I thought you were
leaving."
    "I am."
    "It doesn't appear
so."
    "In good time, my
lady."
    She smiled coyly.
"Then perhaps we should sit again until you are completely ready,"
she turned back to her chair. "I would not want you to think me rude by
hastening you out of my chamber, although propriety demands that I must. Still,
it has been a...."
    As she sat down, she
looked up to see that Garren was gone. Startled, not to mention disappointed,
she bolted up and ran to the lancet window. Hoisting herself up on the sill,
she looked down but saw nothing. All was quiet and dark in the ward below.
Glancing up, she caught a glimpse of boots disappearing over the top of the
battlement directly above her head. A small rope dangled down the side of the
keep, which was quickly retracted as she watched.  All evidence was removed,
and Sir Garren was gone as if he had never come at all.
    Derica lowered herself
from the window and pulled the oilcloth back over the window, keeping out the
cool night air. She stood there a moment, thinking on Sir Garren and grinning
like a fool. It had been a most eventful evening.
    She wasn't sorry that
she missed sup in the least.
     
    ***
     
     
    "He what ?"
    "He came to my
chamber last night. We had a wonderful conversation."
    Aglette was beside
herself.  Derica put her hand on the woman's elbow and forced her to continue
walking. It was a sunny morning and the bailey was alive with activity. Villains
were bringing in wagons of food and goods for the castle and soldiers milled
about as the women strolled through the compound.
    "I... I simply
cannot believe...," Aglette stammered. "How scandalous!"
    "He was afraid that
he had offended me and came to apologize," Derica said evenly. "We
talked at length."
    "But how did he get
in?"
    "Through the
window."
    "The window?"
Aglette gasped. "Good Lord, how did he manage that?"
    Derica smiled at the
thought of his boots disappearing high over her head. "With a rope. He
lowered himself down from the top of the keep. Quite clever, actually."
    "And all of this
does not distress you?"
    "Why should
it?"
    Aglette looked at her
mistress with her mouth agape. Derica wasn't the least bit concerned with the
behavior of a man she barely knew.  She suddenly knew why.
    "You're smitten
with him," she accused.
    Derica's smile vanished.
"I am not."
    "You are! I can see
it in your face."
    Derica looked away from
her so the woman could not read her expression.  "You see nothing. He
came, he apologized, and we spoke. It was pleasant. The man is to be my
husband, after all. Should I not know something about him?" She glanced
up, seeing her brother Donat on the battlements. He glared down at her, his
usual expression. "Do you think it would be a simple thing to talk to the
man with the alligators hanging about, waiting to devour him?"
    "Alligators?"
    "A story for
another time. Suffice it to say that if I am to be married to the man, I would
come to know him at least somewhat. I know that is a ridiculous notion in this
day and age, but I would like to establish some manner of rapport with
him."
    "Why?"
    "Because we are
going to spend the rest of our lives living together. Is it wrong to want to
know the person I will be living with, the father of my children?"
    Aglette