Free ASilverMirror by Roberta Gellis Page A

had forgotten something about his
Barbe. He had forgotten how sensual her mouth looked when a half-smile bowed
the lips, or he had never noticed before. There were so many reasons to want
her, like the obvious lighthearted mockery behind her now solemn expression.
    “I shall tell the queen that you do not consider me fit to
carry messages.”
    “Do not you dare!” Hugh exclaimed, half laughing and half
concerned. “Eleanor will not realize you are accusing me of thinking all women
empty-headed. Our poor queen has had too many shocks and sorrows, love. Her
sense of humor is sadly worn away. She might think I meant that you were a
rebel at heart and not trustworthy.”
    This time Barbara sighed. “I fear she thinks that already
and has invited me to join her household so that she can watch me.”
    Bigod frowned. “You must not allow your sympathy for Eleanor
to bind you to her if—”
    Barbara laughed, interrupting him. “Uncle, you always see
the best in me. I am not nearly so self-sacrificing as you believe.”
    “Then accept Queen Marguerite’s invitation,” Bigod urged. “I
understand she has offered you a place with her. You will be more comfortable
in the French court where Leicester has as many friends as King Henry. I would
have you here, love, but Queen Eleanor would take offense.”
    “I may join Queen Marguerite,” Barbara temporized, not yet
willing to commit herself. “But so far I have mostly been with Prince Edward’s
wife, and you know what a sweet soul she is. Princess Eleanor is frightened,
too, since Edward offered to be hostage for his father’s behavior. She needs
someone a bit livelier than the lachrymose ladies the queen has appointed to
attend her.”
    A desire to attend Prince Edward’s wife, young Eleanor of
Castile, was a reason no one would question for Barbara to remain nominally a
member of Queen Eleanor’s household. Hugh Bigod’s expression softened
immediately, as Barbara had known it would. Everyone adored the gentle Castilian
princess and wished to make as easy as possible her exile and her separation
from the husband she so obviously worshiped. And what Barbara said was
perfectly true, but she had other reasons for wishing to delay her decision
about whether to remain where she was or move to Queen Marguerite’s household.
Her father would expect her to garner information, and Barbara did not yet know
whether what she could learn in the English or the French queen’s household
would be more useful. Nor, though she wished to serve her father, was she at
all certain she wished to be useful to Leicester’s cause.
    Her other reason for indecision had a sudden broad smile on
his face that Barbara could not at first understand. Then she realized Alphonse
expected to stay with her uncle, and was pleased to learn that he would not
need to share a lodging with her.
    “Well Uncle,” she said, “I have stayed long enough for a
loving reunion and for you to decide that the questions raised by the queen are
too weighty to be answered without long consideration. It is time for me to go
back.”
    Hugh drew her to him and kissed her fondly. “I would bid you
stay longer but perhaps young Eleanor needs you. John will see you safe, love,
and you can tell Queen Eleanor that he is returned from Aix. If she wishes to
speak to him, John can explain better than I could what the Comte d’Aix can and
cannot do.” He looked purposefully at John, who had groaned. “You can explain
how Lord Raymond’s hands are tied by the fact that Marlowe, his
father-by-marriage, is a prisoner and might be mistreated in revenge for any
overt action on Lord Raymond’s part.” John groaned again, and Bigod smiled very
slightly. “You can also point out that Sieur Alphonse has already come to
discover whether William of Marlowe can be freed for ransom.”
    “Ransom?” John echoed. “But Richard of Cornwall must already
have offered to pay my father’s ransom, and my father no doubt refused to