"Is it bad news?"
Simon unfolded the first sheet of paper. The second, bearing Ariel's name, fell out. As he bent stiffly to retrieve it, Ariel leaped forward to forestall him. She picked it up and was about to hand it back when she read her name.
"Oh, this is for me."
"So it would seem," he said dryly. First glance at his own letter had made everything clear as day. Helene was perfectly candid. She wanted to see his bride. She wanted to see how things were between them. Some things he'd hinted at in his letters made her a little uneasy, and she thought that she might be able to help if his bride was confused or uncertain. It was dreadful that she'd had no woman to prepare her for matrimony, and Helene thought that maybe, if she could win Ariel's confidence, she could perhaps help her. And by doing so, help her dearest friend, whose happiness was more important to her than her own.
You are also, my dearest friend, riddled with a particularly feminine species of curiosity, Simon reflected as he slowly reread the missive. But could she help? Could a woman break through this thorny thicket that had sprung up between him and his wife, mediate in some way between them?
Ariel studied his face before looking at her own letter. She read a flash of wry amusement, followed immediately by a frowning speculation. She dropped her eyes to her own missive.
The writer introduced herself as Lady Kelburn, a very old childhood friend of Simon's, and also a Fenland neighbor. She said that she wished to pay a neighborly bride visit, and since the wedding party was of such long duration, she didn't think it would come amiss for her to visit the bride during the festivities. She had intended to arrive at a respectably conventional visiting hour that afternoon, but the journey had been plagued with delays, so now she was benighted and putting up at the Lamb in Ely, from where she hoped to pay a morning visit to the bride on the following day.
Ariel looked up at Simon. "You've never mentioned Lady Kelburn to me."
"No." He massaged the back of his neck with one hand. "I thought it would be time enough to introduce you to my dearest and oldest friend when you were finally settled under my roof. It appears, however, that Helene had other ideas."
"The Lamb is all very well for peddlers and local farmers, but it's no comfortable place for a lady," Ariel said slowly. Lady Kelburn, Simon's oldest and dearest friend, could perhaps serve a useful purpose over the next two days. She could distract Simon's attention from his wife.
Ariel glanced around the hall. "But then perhaps, my lord, you would consider this no suitable or comfortable place for a lady either."
"What are you suggesting?" His voice had an edge to match her own.
"That we send Edgar with the carriage to bring your friend here for the night. I can guarantee the sheets will be aired, and if you wish to dine alone with her, then I could have a fire kindled in the green parlor." Ariel softened her tone.
Simon was frowning and she could see him thinking of the rowdy evening ahead. His gaze flicked with clear distaste around the Great Hall, tidy and welcoming now, but what would it look like in a few short hours? "What is this green parlor?"
"It's my private room… it's hidden away a bit in the north turret."
His frown deepened. "But you said on our wedding night that you had no private parlor or boudoir."
She shrugged. "I don't in general care to share it."
"I see." He stood in frowning silence for a minute. Why should he be suspicious of her offer? Certainly, they were at odds at present, but that would be no reason for her to deny hospitality to a benighted traveler. And she was a most accomplished hostess.
He forced a smile. "I thank you for your generosity, Ariel. Helene must be very anxious to meet you, because she loathes traveling, even such a relatively short distance. And she has a most particular dislike of inns. I'll ride over at once and convey your invitation myself." He drew his cloak more securely around his shoulders and moved back toward the door. "I will accompany you."
He turned back to her. "Why would you wish to?" "It would be appropriate for me to issue my own invitation."
Simon nodded. "Indeed it would." Then on impulse he reached over and teasingly tugged her long, honeyed braid. "And I daresay you're as anxious to satisfy your curiosity about Helene as she is about you. It would be most unkind of me to deprive you both of the earliest opportunity to do so."
When she didn't immediately respond, he took a turn of the braid around his wrist and drew her head closer to him. He said gravely, "I do not care to be at odds with you, Ariel. If I was at fault yesterday, then I beg your pardon."
Ariel bit her lip. He cupped her chin on the palm of his free hand and lifted her face. His eyes searched hers. "What do you say?"
"I do not care to be at odds either," she heard herself murmur, then pulled away from him. "I'll just go and give instruction to the servants about Lady Kelburn's reception. I'll meet you in the stables in a few minutes."
Simon stood with folded arms for several minutes after she had gone. He'd tried to throw a bridge across the ocean, and for a minute she'd caught it, but then she'd dropped it. Why?
With an impatient shake of his head, he made his way to the stables. Although he would have preferred to have orchestrated this meeting between his former lover and his bride at his own place and in his own time, instead of having it thrust upon him, maybe Helene's arrival was opportune. If she could befriend Ariel-if Ariel would open up to her, confide in her-then maybe he in turn would understand his bride better. A woman could ask questions he couldn't ask himself, and Helene could teach him how to reach Ariel.
A groom saddled Simon's horse and a neat gray gelding for Ariel. The roan was still recuperating but doing nicely, according to Edgar, who emerged from the Arabians' block to find out who was riding out at such an inhospitable hour.
Ariel hurried into the yard, drawing up the hood of her caped riding cloak. "Presumably, Lady Kelburn will have her own carriage and cattle?"
"Yes, and her maid also, I'm sure. Helene travels in fitting style."
"Oh." What exactly was fitting style? A lumbering coach and six? A mountain of baggage? Outriders and postilions for safety? A stiff and starchy lady's maid? Maybe she traveled with her own sheets.
"Edgar, you'll need to make room in the stables for carriage horses," she instructed, none of this derisive speculation showing on her face. "And there'll be a coachman, postilions… I don't know how many. Arrange to have them taken to the gatehouse for the night." She led the gray to the mounting block and swung into the saddle, gathering up the reins. "Are you willing to ride as the crow flies, my lord?"
Simon thought he detected in her voice the old note of taunting challenge, but he chose to ignore it. "I'm easier on horseback than on foot. So lead on, ma'am."
Ariel needed no further encouragement and he followed her out of the stableyard into the steadily thickening fog. She turned off the rutted track and into the fields. The sails of a windmill creaked eerily in the gray darkness.
It was a real Fenland fog that would stay around for several days, and nothing would suit her plans better. Moonlight and starlight would be obliterated and noise would be deadened. The barges with her stud would slide soundlessly down the canal to the river and the safety of Derek's farm.
In two days' time it would all be over. It was apprehension that was making her feel so dismal.
Simon's voice broke abruptly into her reflections. "The castle is full to overflowing with guests, Ariel. Where will you accommodate Helene?"
"I told Timson to have your belongings moved into my chamber and Lady Kelburn can have yours," Ariel replied.