Free The Marriage Bed (The Medieval Knights Series) by Claudia Dain Page B

disapprove of her eagerness, but he was her husband, and a husband had duties to perform upon his wife.
    Thank you, Lord, that a husband such as Richard had such duties to perform.
    She hid her smile of satisfaction in a prayer.
    After Prime, Richard left her quickly, no doubt because he sensed her eagerness. She did not question his departure. With Robert and Jerome upon his heels, he left to see to Dornei rents and contracts and the state of the larder. It did not matter to her how he occupied the daylight; he would be hers come nightfall.
    And how would she spend her day? Why, in preparing for the evening. Tonight would serve as her wedding night, and she would be prepared for it.
    And for Richard. In truth, she had been prepared for this, for Richard to touch her as a husband touches a wife, for years. She was more than prepared; she was eager. And for all Richard's monkish ways, she knew from past experience that he could be brought to eagerness as well.
    Joan, Aelis, and Elsbeth followed her from the chapel. Richard was already lost to sight, but she was at rest; he was within the walls of Dornei and bound to her by holy covenant. Never again would she pine for Richard.
    "Shall I fetch your embroidery, Isabel?" Elsbeth asked as they climbed the stair that hugged the lower wall of the tower.
    "Nay, no embroidery today," she said sweetly, her thoughts wrapped in visions of the night. "But you may arrange for a bath; also a loaf and some ale. I will not leave my chamber today. Today I spend in preparation of my bridal night."
    "A whole day to prepare for a moment?" Aelis asked with a grin.
    Isabel looked at the girl, soon to be wed herself, and smiled, "A moment? Nay, it will take the whole night, if I have my way."
    "It is Richard who will have his way with you, Isabel. ' Tis the man's duty," Joan said as they reached the hall.
    "Let him, then. I shall not stand in the way of his duty," Isabel said in mock seriousness.
    They laughed as they made their way up to the lord's chamber, unslept in last night. Twould not be so tonight. Nay, that giant bed would serve well soon enough.
    With jokes and laughter, they selected her bliaut while awaiting the arrival of the tub. A rich azure was the choice all agreed upon, the blue setting off her dark hair, with an undergown of aureate, the golden yellow making her eyes shimmer green, or so they all agreed. For jewels, a brooch of gold set with emeralds; she lacked a bridal ring, and this lack she wanted mended at the soonest opportunity. The goldsmith in the town could fashion something for them; she would discuss it with Richard, and they would walk the distance happily, chatting as they planned the design of the ring that marked her as his. She could see in her heart how it would be. It would be so, for was she not the most graced woman in God's domain, to have Richard for a husband?
    The bath arrived, directed by Robert the steward. Isabel smiled her thanks and said, "Your lord has no more need of you this day, Robert, to let you attend the delivery of my bath?" Was Richard free of duty and waiting for her?
    "He bade me attend as he is closeted with Jerome, Lady," Robert answered. "He reports that there is much that needs his attention concerning the collection of the rents."
    Yea, the collection of the rents was important, but did her husband not wish to see her at her bath? Perhaps tomorrow, when the bridal night was past, he would overcome his monkish timidity and attend when e'er she did bathe. Yea, she could well imagine that it would be so.
    Tonight would change everything.
    Tonight, after the meal, they would share a bed, and all the intimacies of marriage would be theirs. There would be no excuses; she would not be put off. Her father was dead, his soul secure in heaven, his will assured. She was a wife; it had been his last command. Richard must claim her on the marriage bed or the church could annul their union. It would not happen. She would not lose him now, not after