Free The Lady in the Tower by Marie-Louise Jensen Page B

overhanging trees offered. I heard my cousin’s laughter over the splashing of the water, and looked round to see what amused him.
    ‘By God, Cousin Eleanor, you would ride the devil out of hell!’ he said and this time there was a note of admiration in his voice that made me flush with pleasure. I leaned forward and patted Arianna’s sweating neck to hide the colour in my cheeks.
    ‘Thank you, cousin.’ Then I grinned at him. ‘You know, we would get along a good deal better if you treated me as you were used to do, and not like some helpless lapdog. For indeed, I am no such thing.’
    ‘But you are no longer a little girl. And I am no longer a heedless youth,’ Gregory argued.
    ‘You are not so very old,’ I said. ‘I see no stubble upon your cheek.’ But he was barely listening, his brow furrowed with unease.
    ‘I am a man and you are a beautiful young woman,’ he tried to explain. ‘You should be worshipped and served. You need to be protected from danger.’
    ‘Stuff and nonsense!’ I exclaimed indignantly. ‘Where did you get such ideas? You have become so very bound by silly conventions.’
    My cousin mumbled something about the code of chivalry. I didn’t quite catch it and shrugged impatiently.
    ‘That’s not the sort of protection I need,’ I told him. ‘Not help through gates and mounting my horse and suchlike.’ I gave my cousin a sidelong glance as our horses walked side by side. I was in need of protection in much more serious matters than my cousin meant. I wondered how much he remembered of the events that had taken place just before he left Farleigh.
    ‘Tell me, cousin,’ I asked. ‘Does Sir Walter believe in the code of chivalry?’
    ‘Of course!’ exclaimed Gregory. ‘What gentleman does not? Sir Walter is a powerful and highly-respected man. He is a fine gentleman and most gallant to the ladies.’
    ‘Oh, to the ladies ! I’m sure he is,’ I retorted drily. ‘But not to his wife. He does not use my mother as he ought.’
    ‘But, Eleanor, you are mistaken. Indeed you must be. Your poor dear mother is sick and he takes the greatest care of her. Everyone says so.’
    ‘You know that is not true!’ I retorted bitterly. ‘Have you forgotten how he arrived home suddenly and locked her up for no reason?’ My cousin was silent.
    I leaned across and grasped his sleeve. ‘Cousin, can I trust you?’ I asked earnestly.
    ‘You sound so dramatic, Eleanor,’ Gregory protested. ‘Like a play.’
    ‘This is not a joke, but if that is all it is to you, let us drop the subject. Shall we canter?’ So saying I urged Arianna faster.
    My cousin cantered beside me until we reached Freshford and we slowed to a walk once more. Gregory looked thoughtful, but I ignored his sober looks and merely remarked upon the fine weather. He did not respond, but a few moments later he said: ‘Tell me what is upon your mind. I am your servant to command.’
    I chuckled. ‘Now who sounds like a play?’ I asked. But then I grew serious and told him something of Mother’s situation over the last four years. And then, saving the climax for last, I revealed how I had heard Sir Walter and the chaplain planning to poison my mother again. ‘She needs someone to help her,’ I told him passionately. ‘Someone must make Sir Walter see sense!’
    ‘But, Eleanor,’ objected Gregory, ‘why would Sir Walter wish to harm your mother? It makes no sense to me.’
    ‘I do not know why,’ I said in a low voice. It always came down to this endless why, and I was no closer to answering it than I had been four years ago. ‘I suspect he is not sane.’
    Gregory shook his head, but did not argue.
    ‘I can see that you are sincere, cousin,’ he said at last. ‘And that you believe all this to be true. But could it not be some kind of misunderstanding? Everyone has such respect for my uncle Walter. Why even the king trusts him and takes his advice!’
    I made an impatient noise in my throat, but Gregory ignored