CHAPTER TWO
YOU REMEMBER ME
The eyes.
He recognized the eyes but he couldn’t be sure that it was her. A lass from his childhood, a sweet girl he’d been very fond of until he’d left home to squire with a great knight who served the king. That had been ten years ago, but the eyes of the young woman standing at the table heavy with food and holiday spirits reminded him of the lass he’d known so long ago. They were lovely eyes, green, with a fringe of dark lashes, and bright… so bright that they looked as if an entire universe of stars was sparkling in them.
Aye, he knew those eyes.
It was her.
“Aland,” he muttered, elbowing the young lord next to him. “Over there; at the table. Do you see the young woman with the dark hair? The pretty one. She looks familiar.”
Aland de Ferrers glanced over at the table. Tall and slender, with big eyes and a rather big mouth set over a square jaw, he was a childhood friend of Rhogan’s and part of the wealthy de Ferrer family. His father had died earlier in the year and Aland had inherited the estate in Hampshire, the same one he’d grown up on. Now, as Lord Hawkley, he bordered the de Nerra lands and he knew the family on sight.
“Of course she looks familiar,” he said. “That is Juliana de Nerra. You have not been gone so long from home that you do not know her on sight?”
Rhogan stared at her and a smile spread across his lips. “It has been a long time since I last saw her,” he admitted. “Even so, somehow, I knew it was her. I was hoping it was. The pretty little girl has grown into a spectacular woman.”
Aland popped a candied almond into his mouth. “If you are thinking on setting your cap for her, don’t,” he said. “She would much rather marry me.”
Rhogan looked at him with a frown. “How would you know that? Have you asked her?”
Aland chewed noisily on the almonds. “Because any woman would rather marry a lord than a mere knight,” he pointed out. “You aim too high, de Garr. Any de Nerra is meant for someone of a greater station.”
Rhogan cocked an eyebrow at his arrogant friend. “Who says anything about marriage? At least I can speak to her.” Over to his left, something else caught his eye and he quickly turned his back. “God’s Bones, there is that princess what’s-her-name again. She keeps trying to capture my attention.”
Aland looked off to his left, casually, to see the object of Rhogan’s rejection. “Ah, yes,” he said. “Princess Augusta of Brabant. Rhogan, truly, if she is trying to get your attention, go to her. Why would you not?”
Rhogan began eating the candied almonds out of the bowl on the table he was now facing. “She keeps rolling her eyes at me and giving me a look that suggests she wants to suck my face off,” he grumbled. “If I am going to suck any woman’s face tonight, it will not be hers.”
“Why not?”
Rhogan shrugged. “I have had my fill of French women.”
Aland fought off a grin. “Not that French woman,” he said, turning around to fight for the candied almonds that Rhogan didn’t want to share. “Her mother is Marie, Princess of France, and her father is the Duke of Brabant. She is named Augusta after her mother’s brother, Philip Augustus, so with a mother who is a princess and an uncle who is the King of France, little Augusta is wildly wealthy and already has her own army.”
Rhogan was trying to pretend he wasn’t interested, but the truth was that he hadn’t heard all of that from the brief introduction to the young princess. Their host, Hugh de Winter, had made the introductions. But it had been a rather group-like introduction with Rhogan and several other people being introduced to the princess who simply stood in the corner of the hall with her nurse. But after the introduction, she’d been casting him flirtatious expressions every time he glanced in her direction and he was growing rather weary of having to dodge them.
“Little Augusta is right,” he snapped quietly. “She cannot be more than fourteen or fifteen years of age, far too young for my taste. And at second glance, she is not even very pretty.”
Aland snorted. “What she lacks in beauty she more than makes up for in wealth.”
Rhogan shook his head. “Forget it,” he said, looking off to his right, away from the winking princess, to notice that Juliana and her siblings had somehow drawn closer. He swallowed the nuts in his mouth. “I think I need to see an old friend.”
With that, he headed in Juliana’s direction, moving around guests, making a path between the furniture, until he came up behind Juliana as she stood with a few children at the table. He was about to say something to her when the younger girl next to Juliana happened to turn around and notice him. Her eyes widened and she suddenly tugged on Juliana, hard. Irritated, the woman swung around to scold the child when her gaze abruptly fell upon Rhogan, standing directly behind her. He smiled and she immediately dropped the tart in her hand, spilling it onto the floor.
“Oh!” she gasped as she and Rhogan dropped to the ground to pick up the tart. Juliana found herself looking right in Rhogan’s eyes as he handed her the pieces of her broken tart. “Thank you, my lord.”
She stood up with goo in her hands, trying to be discreet about setting the broken tart on the table and wiping the sticky stuff on a cloth that Charlotte handed her. But Charlotte was smiling very openly at Rhogan and ended up punching her sister in the left breast as she tried to hand her the napkin. Juliana struggled not to react to the hit as she took the cloth and wiped off her fingers.
If Rhogan noticed the clumsiness, he didn’t let on. He was smiling at her quite warmly. “My lord, is it?” he said. “You have never called me ‘my lord’ and I do not expect you to start now. Greetings on this snowy night, Lady Juliana. It has been a long time since we last saw one another.”
Juliana’s heart did flips. “You remember me?”
“Of course I remember you. How could I forget you? The fairest lass in all of England.”
Juliana flushed a violent shade of red. “It has been a long time,” she said, listening to Charlotte giggle next to her. “My father told me that you have been in France but I had not heard of your return.”
Rhogan could see the flush to her cheeks and it only made a beautiful woman more beautiful. He was enchanted.
“I am only recently returned,” he said. “I have been to see my father and mother but little else. I’ve not yet made it to Selborne Castle to visit you and your family, and more’s the pity. I should have made it my first stop.”
Juliana was blushing so deeply that she was sure she was about to go up in flames. Beside her, Charlotte could no longer keep quiet. “My sister has spoken of you often,” she blurted. “I heard your name tonight and saw someone talk to you! I told her you were here!”
Mortified, Juliana stepped on Charlotte’s foot and the girl yelped, having no idea why her sister should do such a thing. As she scampered off, rubbing her offended toes, Rhogan stepped closer, coming to stand beside Juliana at the table.
“Ah,” he said softly. “Out of the mouths of babes. So you have spoken of me often, have you? I would have thought that you surely had forgotten me.”
Juliana was wishing the floor would open up and swallow her at that point. She turned to the food, pretending she was more interested in the presentation than in speaking with Rhogan. The way the man was looking at her was causing her to feel faint.
“I often speak of friends from my childhood,” she said casually. “It was a long time ago, but I do remember how you used to play with my brothers. I remember when you would pretend that you and Gabriel were knights and Gavin was the evil wizard who held me hostage. You threw rocks at Gavin and hit him in the forehead. He still bears the scar.”
Rhogan snorted. “That is his punishment for holding you hostage,” he said. “How is Gavin, by the way? I’ve not seen him here tonight.”
Juliana shook her head. “He is at Westminster,” she said. “I do not know if he will be here tonight. He serves in the elite guard at the palace. Garret de Moray is his commander. Do you know Garret?”
Rhogan nodded. “I know of him,” he said. “He is one of the king’s favored knights.”
“Aye, he is. His wife is my dear friend. She is pregnant with their first child, in fact, and it is all Garret can speak of. You have never seen such a proud man.”
Rhogan pretended to be interested when, in fact, he didn’t want to speak of someone he didn’t really know. He wanted to talk about Juliana.
“Then all is well in the world,” he said. “And you, my lady? Have you married since last we saw one another?”
She shook her head. “Nay,” she said, hoping he might take the hint that she was free to receive interest. “Papa says I am not old enough but my mother says that I am.”
Rhogan’s eyebrows lifted. “A dilemma, to be sure,” he said. “I would say that you are more than old enough. How old are you now, anyway?”
“I shall see seventeen years in March.”
“Then surely you have had more than your fair share of suitors.”
Juliana glanced at him, a smile playing on her lips. “No suitors,” she said. “Papa chases them all away.”
Rhogan laughed softly. “He is being protective of his daughter, as well he should be,” he said. He sobered, his gaze lingering on her. “In truth, he was chasing them away because he knew I would return for you. He would not dare chase me away.”
Juliana looked at him in surprise; handsome, square-jawed Rhogan with a flowing mane of wavy blond hair. The man had made many a maiden swoon with his broad-shouldered, comely looks, and Juliana was no exception.
But the words from his mouth… God’s Bones, she wished them to be true. She’d wished them to be true practically all of her life, but she was certain that he was jesting with her. It seemed to her as if the subject turned personal very quickly, but she was glad for it. Thrilled, in fact. But she couldn’t be certain that he wasn’t jesting with her. So, to avoid embarrassment, she would jest in return.
“All you need to do is ask him to see if he will chase you away,” she said, wondering how he would react. “But surely you are spoken for after all of these years. A man of your skill and background would make a proud husband for any woman.”
He frowned at her. “God’s Bones, lass. I am far too young to marry.”
“How old are you now?”
“Only around six years older than you are. Do you not recall?”
She did, but she pretended that his “too young to marry” comment didn’t bother her. “But you just said you would return for me,” she said. “When did you plan to return, then? Next year? In ten years? Did you really believe I would wait for you so long?”
He looked at her in surprise – and perhaps some outrage – before breaking down into a grin. “You should,” he said. “I am the only man good enough for you. So surely, you should wait for me to decide when I am ready to marry.”
She could see this was turning into a joke for him but, in truth, it didn’t bother her so much. There was a flirtatious air between them that kept the mood light.
“Hmpf,” she scoffed. “If I waited for you, I could be a spinster before you decided to return for me. And if you were intent on returning for me, why not send me word in the past ten years? I’ve not heard one word of interest from you, Rhogan de Garr. Not one.”
He grinned, that massive dimple in his left cheek making a bold appearance. Juliana remembered that particular trait well.
“I should not have to tell you what my intentions are,” he pointed out. “You should have known. I spent years of my childhood courting you and…”
“Courting me?”
He pointed a finger at her. “Aye, courting you, and do not interrupt me. I have put my time in with you, Juliana. The least you could have done was wait for me to return.”
There was such a glimmer in his eyes when he said it that Juliana wasn’t sure if he was taunting her or not. It was a rather fun game, trading coy remarks, seeing where the conversation would lead. It was better than Juliana could have hoped for in this sweet reunion of old friends and her heart was beating strongly for the knight with the lush blond hair and flashing hazel eyes. In just these past few minutes, it was as if he’d never even left her. They were back where they were ten years ago, children playing together, him being sweet to her and her following him around like a puppy. Some of the best days of my life, she thought fondly.
They were back to that easy, warm repartee.
“Well,” she finally said, cocking her head at him. “You have returned. I have waited. Now what?”
His eyes took on a rather impish gleam. “Tell me where your father is so that I may speak with him.”
Juliana pointed towards the entry, where her father and mother had been cornered by their host, Hugh de Winter, and were in lively conversation with him.
“There,” she said. “The tall man with the dark hair? That is my father in case you do not remember him. He is right there if you wish to speak with him.”
Without another word, Rhogan headed in Val’s direction. Realizing that he was really going, Juliana abruptly lost her humor and grabbed him by the arm before he could get away. When he looked at her curiously, she gawked at him in surprise.
“Are you serious?” she asked, aghast. “Are you really going to ask him?”
Rhogan could see that she hadn’t believed any of what he’d just said. In truth, he hadn’t, either, until this very moment. But the more he looked at her, the more he realized that he’d spoken the truth. Something about seeing Juliana again had him feeling more comfort and joy than he’d ever known. She wasn’t spoken for…
Perhaps she should be.
“Aye, I am serious,” he said. “Weren’t you?”
Juliana was. God help her, she was. But could she admit it and not sound like a silly, besotted fool? “I… I…”
Rhogan patted the hand that was clinging to his elbow. “Permit me to explain something to you, Lady Juliana de Nerra,” he said. “Why do you think I was here tonight? I was not invited, yet I came as part as Aland de Ferrer’s contingent because I had a feeling you and your family might be in attendance. I was hoping I would see you. Now that I have, I will not let this moment pass and not do anything about it. If you are truly agreeable to my suit, then I shall speak with your father right now. But if you are not, then all you need do is deny me. I shall not ask again.”
Juliana’s heart was pounding so loudly that she could hear it in her ears. She’d dreamed of this moment for the past ten years. But now that it was upon her, she hardly knew what to say. Or do. It didn’t seem real. But gazing into Rhogan’s handsome face, she could see that it was real enough. He seemed very serious. With an expression that relayed her surprise, and her joy, she finally nodded her head.
“If you are serious, I am agreeable.”
Rhogan smiled broadly. Taking the hand on his elbow, he brought it to his lips for a sweet kiss. Then, he flipped her hand over and kissed the tender inside of her wrist. It was lingering and heated, a gesture that made her knees go weak.
It was the most delicious thing Juliana had ever experienced.
“I am very serious,” he murmured, his lips against her flesh before lowering her hand. “You have waited for me this long. I dare not disappoint you.”
Juliana was having difficulty breathing, so tender his touch. “How… how do you know I waited for you?”
He looked at her and lowered her hand. “Because I have waited for you.”
Juliana was gazing into his eyes, unable to look away, unable to think beyond the bliss of his words and the gentleness of his touch. “I will always wait for you,” she murmured.
With a smile that hinted at his untold longing for her, Rhogan let her go and headed in the direction of her father.