Free Sapphire - Book 2 by Elizabeth Rose

instead of Lord Henry, she reeled backward when she realized
Baron Walter Poussin was standing there with his arm outstretched
waiting for her.
    “Lord husband,” she gasped. “I thought you
were going to be in town til nightfall.”
    “I can see,” he said, grabbing her roughly,
shooting a daggered look at Roe. “I have also heard from the priest
just now that you and Roe have been asking questions about an
annulment.”
    When she didn’t answer, he gripped her by the
wrist tightly. “I warn you to drop the request, as I will never
agree to it, and should Roe Sexton get involved I will stir up
trouble for him like you could never imagine.”
    She turned back to Roe, but stepped away from
him when he went to take her by the arm.
    “I don’t think I want to dance anymore,” she
told him.
    He looked bewildered, but then noticed the
baron standing behind her, and his smile turned into a frown. “I
can see why. Don’t let him stop you from enjoying yourself,” he
said, once more reaching out for her.
    She stepped away and shook her head, and ran
to the corner of the room. Lady Katherine noticed and
followed.
    “What is it my dear?” she asked, putting her
arm around Sapphire.
    “I feel so trapped,” Sapphire relayed. “I no
longer wish to dance with my husband nor your son, and yet I have
nowhere to go to be alone.”
    Roe walked over to join them. “Sapphire, I
heard what you said and you are wrong, as you do have somewhere to
go.” He glanced toward the baron with a scowl upon his face, and
then back to her. “I would give you my chamber as your own and I
will sleep in the great hall instead. This should ensure your
safety.”
    “Thank you,” she said, “but I fear my husband
will not like that.”
    “Then I will post a guard at the door if I
have to, but you will not be going back with that man if I have
anything to say about it.”
    “But he is my husband,” she reminded
him.
    “And he’s also my enemy now, as he has hurt
you as well as my mother. If he so much as tries to fight my
decision, I will bring him to trial for having raised a hand to my
mother.
    Sapphire noticed her handmaid, Corina, waiting
at the entranceway of the great hall. She’d been assigned the girl
when she’d first come to the castle, but she could also see lately
that something was troubling the short, plump girl.
    “I’ll go now to your solar then,” she said,
brushing past her husband without acknowledging him, collecting up
her handmaid and rushing down the hall.
     
    “Sir George,” Roe called out, bringing the
knight to his side.
    “Aye, milord?” The man stood next to him at
attention.
    “Stand guard outside my solar door tonight and
do not let Lady Sapphire’s husband enter.”
    “Turn away her own husband?” the man asked in
question.
    “You heard my orders, now go.”
    “Aye, my lord,” the man said with a confused
look upon his face, hurrying away.
    “Roe, what was that all about?” asked Lady
Katherine, coming to join him.
    “I gave Sapphire my solar, mother and placed a
guard at the door. I will not let the baron hurt her
again.”
    “But you have no right,” she reminded him. “He
is her husband.”
    “And by right, I should have been her husband.
The negotiations were made for me, and since I am not dead, I will
have her as my wife after all.”
    “Roe, as much as I want you to be married to
Sapphire, ’tis too late. Just release the notion.”
    “She spoke of finding true love,” he told his
mother. “She also said she’d never find it with her
husband.”
    “And you think you can help her find
it?”
    “I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head
slightly. “But I do know even with no love between us, she would
still be better off with me than the baron. I would never raise a
hand to harm her.”
    “You sound as if you care for her, son.” His
mother placed her hand on his arm.
    “I do. And tell me, Mother, do you really care
for your husband, Lord Henry? Because there is