Melissa shuddered, for she knew that her father loved Harold but despised her. ‘Why do you hate me so much?’
‘Leave me!’ Lord Whitbread thundered. ‘You are lucky that I do not have you flogged for bringing Robert of Melford to my house. Remember, girl, if I ever discover that you have seen him again you will suffer.’
Melissa looked into his face and turned away. As she walked up the twisting stair that led to her solar she knew that she had made a terrible mistake. Her father had been so angry when he learned that she had promised herself to Rob, and he had warned her that if she did not send him away he would kill him. Melissa had obeyed him for she knew that he was a cruel hard man and would have carried out his threat. Now she knew that she ought to have run away and met Rob. She should have begged him to take her away…somewhere that her father and half brother would never find her.
But it was too late. She had seen the pain and anger in Rob’s eyes when she denied her love. She had known that she must be harsh to make him leave her, and for his sake she had used words she knew would cut him to the heart. And now her heart was bleeding for she had lost the man she loved, her only chance of happiness denied her. Her father had promised that she would be allowed to visit her aunt at the Abbey, but now he had decided to keep her a prisoner in her chamber. He meant her to marry a man of his choosing but how could she marry another when she loved Rob?
But he must hate her now. She knew that it was too late to go back and that he would never forgive her for her cruel words. She had played her part well to protect him from her father, who had warned her Rob would die a slow and painful death. So she had done her father’s bidding, and now she had lost the only man she had ever loved.
She took a tiny jade heart from inside her gown, holding it in the palm of her hand, and then she raised it to her lips and kissed it. Rob had given it to her on the day he had taken her to a fair. It was but a cheap trinket, but it meant more to her than all the gold and jewels in the world. She would keep it close to her as a reminder that once she had been loved.
Melissa raised her head proudly. Lord Whitbread had banished her to her chamber and ordered her to stay there until sent for, but one day she would leave this hateful place, though what would become of her she did not know. It did not matter, for it would be better if she had died rather than see the hurt her cruel words had inflicted on the man she loved more than her life.
Rob strode from the manor house, which was a later addition to the castle at Meresham and meant to make life more comfortable, his expression one of anger. How could Melissa’s smiles and sweet kisses have fooled him so? She was beautiful and the scent of her drove his senses wild, but she was as false as she was attractive—and he was well rid of her!
It was as he approached the ancient Keep that several men fell on him. Rob was taken by surprise, but he struggled against them valiantly, knocking two to the ground and winding another before they finally subdued him.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ he cried out. ‘I came here in good faith to ask for the hand of the lady Melissa. I demand that you unhand me now.’
‘And you shall be repaid for your insolence,’ a voice said. ‘My father wishes you to have a token of his esteem. Harris—tie his hands behind him. I want to teach this dog a lesson.’
Rob gazed into the face of the man who had spoken. He knew Harold of Meresham only slightly by sight, but his reputation was common knowledge. He was an oafish lout who took pleasure in the lusts of the flesh and indulged his tastes by inflicting himself on village wenches. However, his most dangerous vice was bullying and he had been known to beat a man near to death for amusement when under the influence of wine.
‘You may do your worst, Harold of Meresham,’ Rob said, meeting his eyes fearlessly. ‘I have done your family no wrong.’
‘Be quiet, dog!’ Harold said, and struck him across the face with a metal bar he had in his hand. It was sharp and cut into his flesh, making the blood spurt. Rob recoiled from the pain of it but could do nothing with his hands tied behind his back. ‘That was for my sister! She told me that you had insulted her and she wanted nothing more to do with you. You are too low for her, Robert of Melford. She will marry into one of the best families in England. How dare you imagine that you were fit to be her husband?’ He was raging now, his eyes staring and spittle upon his lips as he raised his arm and brought his weapon crashing down against Rob’s skull, sending him to his knees. Rob was almost unconscious but he heard the words that decided his fate. ‘Take him out and kill him, Harris. Let it be away from the castle for my father wanted him to live with the knowledge of his humiliation, but I prefer him dead.’
‘Yes, sir. It shall be as you wish.’
Harris grabbed Rob by the arm, making him stand upright even though the faintness was washing over him and he barely knew what was going on. He was dragged away, the pain so overwhelming that he could not think clearly.
‘Come on, fool. You deserve all that you get for thinking that you could insult the lady Melissa!’
Rob’s wits were reeling. He hardly knew what the man was saying. Blood was running down his face, into his mouth and his eyes. He could see nothing as he was hustled away. Harris barked some orders and a horse was brought. Rob was hoisted over its back, his head hanging down to one side as if he were a sack of wheat. Dimly, as from a distance, he heard the drawbridge being lowered and the horse moved forward. Everything was becoming hazy and he felt as if he were falling into a black pit, the sounds of voices fading as he lost his senses.
It was a long time before the blackness began to get lighter. He gradually became aware of a throbbing in his head. He could not see clearly but he knew that he was being carried, not thrown across the horse as before but in a sling between two horses. His mouth was dry and he was feeling very ill, but he was alive—and he should not be alive.
He moaned aloud and a man came to his side, looking down at him. A water flask was put to his lips and he swallowed as a few drops trickled into his mouth.
‘Do not try to talk, sir,’ the man said. ‘They meant to kill you, but I found help and beat them off. There were three of them but they did not know I followed. We shall soon have you home—though I fear that you will never be as handsome as you were.’
‘Who are you?’ Rob asked through cracked lips. ‘Why…’
The man smiled. ‘All you need to know for now is that I am a friend—and that you are safe…’
Rob closed his eyes again. He was alive. The pain was almost unbearable but he would bear it…as he would bear the agony of her betrayal. She had led him on, making him believe that she loved him as he loved her. Oh, God, how he had loved her! But she had betrayed him.
He saw again the triumphant sneer of Harold’s mouth as he struck him across the face, laying the flesh open to the bone.
That was for Melissa. She told me that you had insulted her.
Rob groaned, knowing that the pain of those words and her false laughter would live on long after his wounds had healed.
Chapter One
‘I do not think it wise for you to make the journey alone,’ Owain Davies said. ‘There are many lawless bands roaming the country, my lady, and they would not hesitate to take you prisoner and hold you to ransom. I do not think that Lord Whitbread would be pleased if that happened—do you?’
‘He would be very angry,’ the lady Melissa of Whitbread said. ‘But it will not happen if you are with us, Owain. I must get to the Abbey, because I may never have another chance. You know that I have been kept almost a prisoner for the past several months since…’ Her voice broke and she lifted her head, hiding her pain. She didn’t want anyone to guess how she had suffered these past months, not even the man she trusted most. ‘My father is determined that I shall marry a man of his choosing and I would rather die.’
‘That