Norwyck's Lady. Margo Maguire

his own and sat down in one of the big, comfortable chairs before the fire. Everything continued on at Norwyck, different, yet just as it had before, with Will gone and Felicia’s betrayal. There were quiet nights in the hall, teasing banter with his siblings.

      And now there was Marguerite.

      “I have yet to meet the lady you brought back from the shipwreck,” Sir Walter said.

      “I’ve asked her to look after Eleanor and Kate until she regains her memory.”

      Walter frowned as if he had not heard Bartholomew correctly. “She still does not remember?”

      “Nay. And she still wants me to believe she cannot remember who she is, or where she’s from.”

      Sir Walter scratched his head. “I’ve seen that once, my lord.”

      “What? A bump on the head—”

      “Nay, the loss of memory,” the knight replied. “When I was a lad, no older than your brothers, a man in our village fell from a tree while he was picking apples. He was knocked unconscious, and when he came to his senses, he had no knowledge of who he was.”

      Bart frowned. “Did he ever remember?”

      “Aye, I think so. He must have,” Walter said, frowning at Bartholomew. “Mustn’t he?”

      Bart had no idea. But the fact that Walter had witnessed the same kind of memory loss suffered by Marguerite lent credence to her story. Still…just because she might have told the truth about her memory did not mean they had to believe anything else she had to say. She was a woman, and therefore capable of any manner of deceit.

      “My lord…” Sir Walter seemed hesitant. “You know that I had my doubts about Lady Felicia for many months after you and Lord William left with King Edward for Scotland.”

      “’Tis pointless to belabor it now, Walter.”

      “I just want you to know that I did what I could to control the lass,” he said. “’Twas my opinion, back when your father made the betrothal agreement with the lady’s father, that she was not to be trusted. She had too many opportunities to ally herself with the Scots while she was in France.”