David had agreed to meet Christiana in the back courtyard. She and Joan stood by two horses being held by grooms. Sieg turned his horse away and David slipped a delighted Andrew some coins. "Keep Lady Joan busy at the races and the stalls."

The grooms got the girls mounted. Christiana looked meaningfully in Andrew's direction.

"He will ride with us. He needs to see a man at the fair for me," David explained. She seemed to accept that, and they rode together in silence. By the time that they reached the Strand, Joan and Andrew were four horse lengths ahead and Christiana didn't seem to mind.

"People have been talking about you," she said at last. David got the impression that she had waited for exactly the moment when Joan was too far ahead to hear what she said.

"People?"

"At court. Talking about you. Us. Everything."

"It was bound to happen, Christiana."

"Not these things. They weren't bound to be talked about because they are very unusual."

"You needn't turn to the court gossips. I will tell you anything you want to know."

She raised her eyebrows. "Will you? Well, first of all, some ladies have spoken to me on your behalf. Told me how wonderful you are."

"Which ladies?" he asked cautiously.

"Lady Elizabeth for one."

That surprised him. He and Elizabeth had an old friendship, but it was not her style to interfere in such things. "I am honored if Lady Elizabeth speaks well of me."

"And Alicia."

h.e.l.l.

Christiana's face was a picture of careful indifference. "Are you Lady Alicia's lover?"

"Did she say that?"

"Nay. There was something in the way that she spoke, however."

When he had offered to tell her anything, this was not what he had in mind. "I do not think that we want to pursue this, do you? I did not press you for the names of your lovers. You should not ask me for mine."

She twisted toward him abruptly. "Lovers! How dare you suggest that I have had lovers! I told you of one man."

"You told me of a current man. There may have been others, but as I said, I have been open-minded and not asked."

"Of course there were no others!"

"There is no of course to it. But it matters not." He smiled inwardly at her dismay. "Christiana, I am almost thirty years old and I have not been a monk. I do not plan on being unfaithful to you. However, if our marriage is cold, I imagine that I will do as men have always done and find warmth elsewhere."

He had deliberately broached a topic that she would not want to talk about. As he expected, she had no response. So much for Lady Alicia. She would change the subject now. He waited.

"That is the least of what I have heard," she said.

"Somehow I thought so."

Her lids lowered. "Did you buy me?"

He had been wondering when she would hear of it. "Nay."

"Nay? I heard that Edward demanded a bride price. A big one. Morvan says it is true."

He had been waiting for this. He was ready. "A bride price is not the same as buying someone. Bride prices have an ancient tradition in England. Women were honored thus in the old days. With dowries, the woman is secondary to the property. It is as if a family pays someone to take her off their hands. If you think about it, dowries are much more insulting than bride prices."

"Then it is true?"

He chose his words carefully. If she found out truth twenty years from now, he wanted to be able to say that he hadn't lied. "Your brother has seen the contract, as you will soon. There is no point in denying that there is a bride price in it."

"And instead of being insulted, you say that I should feel honored."

"Absolutely. Would you prefer if the King had just given you to me?"

"I would prefer if the King had continued to forget that I existed," she snapped. They rode in silence for a minute. "How big is it? This honorable bride price?" she finally asked. So Morvan had not told her. She would see the contract soon. David thought of the complicated formula it contained.

"How good are you at ciphering?" he asked casually.

"Excellent."

She would be. "One thousand pounds."

She stopped her horse and gaped at him. "One thousand pounds! An earl's income? Why?"

"Edward would hear of no less. I a.s.sure you that I bargained very hard. I personally thought that three hundred would be generous."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Morvan is right. This marriage never made any sense. Now it makes less."

"Aren't you worth one thousand pounds?"

"You must have been drunk when you made this offer. You will no doubt be relieved when I get you off the hook."

"He has come then?"

She ignored that. "Just as well for your health, too, that I will end this betrothal soon. I have heard about my brother's threat to you."

"Ah. That."

"Wednesday, they say."

"I expect Thursday," he corrected calmly. "Does your brother know that you have heard of this?"

"Of course. I went to him at once and told him that I wouldn't have it."

"Your concern touches me."

"Aye. Well, he wouldn't hear me. But, of course, you won't meet him."

"Of course I will."

She stopped her horse again. Joan and Andrew were far in the distance now. "You cannot be serious."

"What choice do I have?"

"You will not be in town Monday. Can't you extend your trip?"

"Eventually I must come back."

"Oh dear." She frowned fretfully.

He looked at her pretty puckered brow. "He will not kill me."

"Oh, it isn't that," she replied with ruthless honesty. "This just makes a messy situation messier. First a duel, then an abduction, then an annulmenta well, it will make a terrific scandal."

"Perhaps someone will write a song about it."

"This is not humorous, David. You really should withdraw or leave. Morvan's sword is not a laughing matter. He may not kill you, but he may hurt you very badly."

"Aye. One thousand pounds is one thing. An arm or a leg is another. I certainly hope that you are worth it."

"How can you jest?"

"I am not jesting. But let me worry about Morvan, my lady. Are there any other rumors and gossip that you need to discuss?"

They had approached the city and began circling around its wall to the north. "Aye. Not all of the ladies who know you were so complimentary. Lady Catherine spoke with me. And with Morvan."

David waited. He would not a.s.sume what story Lady Catherine had given them.

"She told me that you are a moneylender," Christiana said quietly, as if she didn't want to be overheard by pa.s.sing riders.

He almost laughed at her circ.u.mspection. The girl lived in a world that didn't exist anymore, full of virtuous knights and honored duty and stories of King Arthur's roundtable. King Edward carefully nurtured these illusions at his court with his pageants and festivals and tournaments. A mile away, within the gates of London, time moved on.

"It is true. Most merchants loan money."

"Usury is a sin."

"Perhaps so, but moneylending is a business. It is widely done, Christiana, and none think twice about it anymore. England could not survive without it. One of my sinful loans is to the King at his demand. Two others are to abbeys."

"So you just loan to the King and abbeys?"

"With others I purchase property and resell it back later at an agreed-upon time and price."

"At a profit?"

"Why else would I do it? I have no kinship or friendship with these people. However, often when I sell it back, my management has improved the income, so perhaps the profit is theirs."

"When the time is up, what if they cannot repurchase it?"

He had been trying to put a better face on this for her sake, and he cursed himself now. He had sworn he would not make excuses to this girl for being what he was. "I sell it elsewhere," he said bluntly. She chewed on that awhile. "Why not keep it?"

It wasn't the argument he had expected. He thought that she would upbraid him for unkindness and chant sentimental pleas for the poor borrowers.

"I don't keep it because of King Edward's d.a.m.ned decrees saying any man with income from land over forty pounds a year has to be knighted. He has almost caught me twice."

"What do you mean, caught you? To be a knight is a wonderful thing. They are more respected than merchants, and of higher degree. You would better yourself if you were knighted."

She said it simply and innocently, stating a basic fact of life. She was oblivious to the insult and so he chose to ignore it. This time.

"Well, I am a merchant, and content as such."

One would have thought that he told her that he would rather be a devil than a saint. "You mean this, don't you?" she asked curiously. "You really don't want to be a knight."

"No one does, Christiana, except those born to it. Even many born to it avoid it. It is why Edward issues those decrees. The realm doesn't have enough knights for his ambitions. The position holds less and less appeal, so Edward plays up the chivalry and elevates the knights higher to compensate." He paused. He would be marrying this girl. He would try to explain. "It is not cowardice or fear of arms. Every London citizen swears to protect the city and realm. We must practice at arms and own what armor we can afford. I have a whole suit of the d.a.m.n plate. We defend our city and send troops on Edward's wars. Many apprentices are excellent bowmen and Andrew has even mastered the longbow. But if you think about the military life honestly, it has little to recommend it."

"It is a glorious life! Full of honor and strength."

"It is a life of killing, girl. For good causes or personal gain, in honor or in murder, knights live to kill. In the end, for all of the pretty words in the songs, that is what they do. Their wars disrupt trade, ruin agriculture, and burn towns and villages. When they are victorious they rape and they steal all that they can move."

He had lost his patience and this tirade simply poured out. She stared at him as if he had slapped her, and he regretted the outburst. She was young and had lived a sheltered life. It shouldn't surprise him that she had never questioned the small protected world in which she had dwelled. He had been too hard on her. It was her father and brother whom he described, after all. "I have no doubt that there are still many knights who are true to their honor and their vows," he said by way of a peace offering. "It is said that your brother is such a man."

That seemed to release her from the brutal reality he had thrown at her.

"Did Lady Catherine say anything else that concerns you?"

"Not to me. She said that she told Morvan something important. He said that it was nothing of significance, and then lectured me about not being friends with her."

"Good instruction, Christiana. I do not want you having anything to do with the woman."

"I think that I am old enough to choose my own friends."

"Not this one. When we are married, you are to avoid her."

Her irritation with him was visible, but she held her tongue. She turned her attention to the road as they approached Smithfield.

Chapter 6.

Smithfield ab.u.t.ted London's north wall. Around the periphery of the racing area, horse traders had their animals tethered and lively bargaining was underway. Buyers often asked to have the horse run before purchasing, and that was how the informal races had developed. The crowds attracted to this spectacle in turn drew hawkers, food vendors, and entertainers, and so, every Friday, Smithfield, the site of London's livestock markets, was transformed into a festival site.

They found a man with whom to leave the horses and plunged into the crowd. Andrew immediately guided Joan off in a separate direction. Christiana, still thoughtful over their discussion, did not notice. She walked with her hands and arms under her cloak, her pale face flushed from the cold.