"Not soon enough, lady," he told her frankly.
She kicked her horse into a loping canter and rode ahead of their train, the cool wind soothing the heat in her face. What had just happened was truly disturbing, and such a thing had certainly never happened to her before. I do not understand, she thought, confused. Why should this man have such an effect upon me? How can my body desire him when I do not? She shook her head, suddenly irritated. I am tired, Rhonwyn thought, of being controlled by men. First my father. Then Edward. Then the caliph, and now Rafe de Beaulieu. Why can a woman not live her own life without the interference of men?
She had surely asked the question over and over again, but had never received a proper answer to it. Glynn had said respectable women didn't run their own lives, but he had not explained why that had to be.
Only women like her aunt had a certain measure of autonomy, it seemed, but then even Gwynllian was answerable to her bishop, a man, of course. A queen could rule in her husband's absence or in her own right in certain cases, but her counselors were always men. Why not women? Why just men? Suddenly she laughed aloud at herself. She was asking questions to which there were obviously no answers. Men ruled the world, and that was all there was to it. She was married to Rafe de Beaulieu, and for better or for worse, she was going to have to make the best of it, but she didn't intend to be a docile and gentle creature like her sister-in-law, Katherine. As Rafe was now stuck with her, he would have to accept that Rhonwyn uerch Llywelyn was who she was, and there would be no changing her!
Early the following afternoon they reached Ardley. Rhonwyn had to admit she was impressed by the house. Rafe always referred to his branch of the family as poor relations, but his house was hardly a humble dwelling. It was constructed of stone with a slate root and, to her surprise, fortified with a small moat that encircled the main building.
"They got royal permission for that somewhere along the line," the abbess Gwynllian noted. "Undoubtedly it is because we are so close to Wales here. The land looks prosperous, niece. You should be happy here, and it is more manageable than Haven."
"You will remain the night?" Rafe de Beaulieu asked politely.
The abbess chuckled. "Alas, sir, we cannot. I will, of course, want to satisfy my curiosity and see the inside. Afterward, however, we must be on our way. They are expecting us at St. Hilda's tonight."
There was a small wooden bridge that led across the narrow watercourse to a gravel path. They entered the house by means of a stone porch. Carved wooden screens were set on either side of the opening into the hall, which was to their left.
"The kitchen, the buttery, the pantry are on the right," Rafe said. "I have a library behind the hall where I do the estate business."
At the far end of the hall the abbess noted two oriels, one on either side of the room, that allowed much light into the room. There was. a fine large fireplace on the right. The high board was set on a low but elevated dais. The table was of well-polished oak. There were herbs sprinkled upon the floor. The house had a well-kept look about it.
"The staircase to the bedchambers and the solar come down by the left oriel window," he explained. "Would you like to see the upstairs, my lady abbess?"
"Aye, I will admit to being curious." She smiled at him.
At that moment, however, Katherine de Beaulieu came down the stairs and entered into the hall. "Rafe!" she called, her voice sweet and welcoming.
"Edward came home several days ago and told me you had taken the lady Rhonwyn for your wife. I hope you will both be very happy." She hugged her brother, and the abbess saw her look was loving. She turned to Rhonwyn. "Welcome to Ardley, Rhonwyn. May you be content within these walls. My mother was, and the women who came before her." She embraced her somewhat startled sister-in-law, behaving as if the marriage between her brother and Rhonwyn was a wonderful thing. "I have brought you a gift, Rhonwyn. She is waiting upstairs for you."
For a moment Rhonwyn looked puzzled, and then suddenly she said, "Enit?", and when Katherine nodded with a smile, Rhonwyn could not keep herself from hugging Edward's wife. "Oh, thank you, Katherine!"
"Her loyalty is to you alone. Once she knew you were alive, I knew I could not keep her from you," Katherine said. "Would you like me to give you a tour of the house? I know it far better than my brother, who only knows where to go to sleep, to eat, and to pee," Katherine laughed.
"Please," Rhonwyn said. Then she and the abbess followed after Katherine as she led them upstairs. Rafe watched them go, and when he knew he would not be observed, he smiled. When he had first seen his sister he feared that Rhonwyn would be unkind, but before she could even get her bearings, Kate had won her over with her natural sweetness. The abbess, he had noted, was equally relieved. He took the cup of wine offered by an attentive servant and sat down by his fire.
Upstairs Katherine showed her new sister-in-law the master chamber with its sunny solar and garderobe. There were also two smaller chambers. Each of the rooms, Katherine proudly pointed out, had its own fireplace. "The house is very tight," she said, "and the windows face south and west. Even in our awful Shropshire winters these rooms arc toasty warm. My mother far preferred her solar on a winter's day to the hall below."
At the sound of the voices Enit hurried from the master chamber. "Oh, my lady, my lady!" Then she burst into tears.
Touched, Rhonwyn embraced her serving woman. "It's all right now, Enit. I'm here, and we have a fine new home, don't we?"
"Yes, my lady," the young woman sniffed.
"My lady abbess," Katherine said, "will you allow me to travel with you as far as Haven? At this hour I cannot hope to reach home by sunset, but I should be grateful to be somewhat nearer there by evening."
"Will your husband worry, my dear?" the abbess inquired.
"Nay. I told him I should travel with you and he would probably not see me until the morrow sometime. I have half a dozen men-at-arms with me, and your road is but a mile away from Haven."
"Of course, child, you are welcome to travel with me," the abbess said.
Suddenly there was the sound of a child crying, and Rhonwyn realized that there was a cradle by the solar fireplace. Walking over, she saw a swaddled infant lying in it. The baby looked up at her, and Rhonwyn jumped back. The child had Edward de Beau-lieu's eyes and looked at Rhonwyn in the same way.
"Oh," Katherine said. "Neddie has startled you. I am so sorry. He is just two months old, and I certainly couldn't leave him behind at Haven."
"Why not?" Rhonwyn demanded. Had Katherine brought the child to torture her?
"He would have starved," Katherine said softly. "I do not believe in wet nurses. There was no danger in bringing him to my brother's house. Come and meet your nephew now. He will grow up with the children that you and Rafe have. Is that not wonderful?" She picked up the infant and handed him to Rhonwyn before her sister-in-law might demur.
The abbess almost laughed aloud at the look of terror on her niece's face. "Cuddle him, child," she said in her Welsh tongue. "He will not bite you. You do not smell of milk as his mother does."
Rhonwyn nestled the baby boy in her arms, her terror replaced by a feeling of amazement and wonder. "He really looks just like Edward," she finally said.
"Doesn't he?" Katherine crowed proudly. "I hope your first son is his father's mirror image. Men are so vain over these things, and Rafe in particular."
"Perhaps my first child will be a daughter," Rhonwyn ventured.
"Then I hope she looks like you, sister!" was the sweet reply. "You are truly the most beautiful woman I ever saw. My brother is a fortunate man. I hope you will eventually learn to love him as I love Edward. Do not think me insensitive, Rhonwyn, for I am not. I suspect you cared deeply for Edward. He is a difficult man, but I have known him my whole life long, and I know I am the better wife for him. You are impulsive and slightly reckless, like Rafe. You do not realize it yet, but you are strangely well matched, though you, I think, are the stronger. Be kind to my brother." She took her son from Rhonwyn. "You will want to refresh yourself, my lady abbess, before we are on the road again. I will leave you and go down to visit with my brother for a few minutes. I am ready when you are." Her son in her arms, Katherine de Beaulieu hurried from the solar.