CHAPTER THREE
FORTUNE AND LANDS
He kissed her hand!
Princess Augusta of Brabant was used to getting her way.
She’d been introduced to the handsome young knight with the flowing blond hair and since that introduction, she’d been trying to get the man’s attention the only way she knew how. Her mother’s ladies and her own women had taught her the art of flirting and she was very good at it. At least, she thought she was. It had brought many a man to her feet but, for some reason, it wasn’t working on the English knight. To make matters worse, he’d been speaking with a very beautiful dark-haired woman and he’d even kissed her hand.
Quelle horreur!
It should have been her hand he kissed!
Now, it was a matter of pride. Augusta didn’t know who the dark-haired young woman was and she surely didn’t care. All she knew was that she wanted the blond knight to come to her, to fawn over her as all men did, and to feed the colossal ego she’d developed at a very young age. Spoiled, pampered, somewhat chubby from the sweets she liked to eat, Augusta couldn’t, and wouldn’t, stand the thought of not getting her way in all things.
Especially not with men.
When the knight finally left the dark-haired girl, Augusta sent out her reconnaissance team – her nurse, in fact. The woman was cunning, cultured, and brave. She’d taught Augusta well but she wouldn’t let her charge go running after a mere knight. So without much coaxing from Augusta, the woman made her move when the object of her young charge’s attention began to move across the room. She intercepted him somewhere near the entry and, although he’d seemed annoyed, she managed to convince him to come and speak with her lady. After all, only a fool would refuse a summons from a princess and the young knight seemed to understand that. He wasn’t happy about it, but he understood it.
Now, Augusta had him where she wanted him.
“My lord,” Augusta curtsied to him politely when he finally stood in front of her. “I hope I am not causing you too much inconvenience, but I very much wished to speak with you. Would you please remind me of your name?”
Annoyed wasn’t quite what Rhogan was feeling. Angry was more like it. But, he kept his composure because it wouldn’t do to insult a princess. Still, his manner was less than friendly.
“I am Rhogan de Garr, my lady,” he said.
Augusta smiled, revealing slightly yellowed teeth in an otherwise pleasant smile. “Rhogan,” she repeated. “That is a very nice name. I understand that you are a knight, Sir Rhogan.”
“I am, my lady.”
“Have you seen much action?”
“I have seen enough, my lady.”
Augusta had been schooled well by French women in the art of conversation. She had her dialogue well-planned, something she had been taught – to control the man, you must control the conversation.
She was prepared.
“Our host has told me that you are a fine warrior,” she lied. She’d never even spoken to de Winter about him, but she had a point to make and favor to gain. “I am in England because I am looking for fine warriors. That is why I am here with Sir Hugh. I am in negotiations with him.”
Rhogan wasn’t interested in anything she was saying. He kept looking over his shoulder at Val de Nerra, a tall man whose head was above most of the people in the room. Val was still speaking with de Winter but that could rapidly change. Rhogan kept an eye on him. Still, he thought he should pay some attention to the conversation as to not appear entirely rude. Therefore, he focused on her last statement.
“Negotiations?” he said. “For what?”
Augusta had been hoping he would ask. “For support for my properties in Limburg,” she said. “You see, my father’s mother has passed away and I inherited her properties, but there is a terrible lord who has taken them over. I want them back. My father has supplied me with men but I need more. That is why I am here. I have money to pay for men and Sir Hugh has promised to help me find them.”
Rhogan simply nodded; he was still looking over his shoulder. “Then I wish you well, my lady. If you will excuse me, I have something I must attend to.”
“Wait,” Augusta said quickly, becoming increasingly upset that he didn’t seem interested in what she was saying. When he paused impatiently and looked at her, she knew she had to do all she could to make the man remain with her. She wasn’t used to men who weren’t interested in her and it was a blow to that massive ego. “I wished to speak with you because you are a knight. Lord de Winter said you were a great one. I can see that he spoke the truth.”
Rhogan was like any other man; he had his pride and his pride liked to be fed, even by an annoying little princess. “Thank you, my lady.”
It was at that moment that Juliana moved away from the table with Aland next to her and Rhogan’s attention shifted to the pair. Damn Aland! He didn’t want that fool anywhere near Juliana. But his lack of attention towards Augusta was obvious and the girl could see that she was all but forgotten. He had no interest in her. But she couldn’t stand losing out to an Englishwoman. The tears began to come, however forced.
“I need help,” she said, lowering her head and sniffling. “My lord, I know I am not as grand as your English ladies, but I need your help. I need the help of strong and seasoned knights such as yourself. That is why I wished to speak to you; I have an army but I need skilled commanders and I would pay you very well. I would even give you lands in Brabant that belong to me. Of course, if fortune and lands do not interest you, then forgive me for wasting your time, but what I am offering, most men would gladly take.”
Fortune and lands. Those two words echoed in Rhogan’s head. He had virtually shut the princess out until he heard that. Now, he found himself pondering those words. Fortune and lands. For a man who had nothing but his good name, the words were as alluring as a whisper from a beautiful woman.
They were, in fact, something all men wished for.
Augusta was right – most men would gladly take a reward of fortune and lands for their service. That was how almost all knights that weren’t born into nobility received their wealth. Rhogan had been a squire for eight years and a knight for the past two, and he’d been low in the ranks of importance because he was simply a young knight, without much to his name, with a father who had also simply been a knight in the service of de Nerra and had very little to pass to his son. Rhogan had always known he would have to earn whatever he wanted in life and, now, he was evidently being afforded that opportunity far sooner than he’d ever expected. A French princess with a problem, seeking men to help her.
As much as he hated to admit it, the prospect was more attractive by the moment.
Perhaps speaking to Val de Nerra was going to have to wait.
“Very well, my lady,” he said to Augusta. “You have my interest. I will listen.”
Augusta smiled, relieved and thrilled that she’d won his attention away from the English woman. “May we go somewhere to speak privately?” she asked. “It is so noisy in here. I do not wish for others to hear our conversation.”
With a final glance over his shoulder at Val, and also at Juliana who was now standing with her parents, Rhogan emitted a grunt of frustration that he was letting this princess pull him away from what he’d really wanted to do. But with the lure of a fortune and lands, he couldn’t pass it up. He had to hear what her proposition entailed because if he didn’t, he’d probably wonder for the rest of his life just what he’d missed.
And, by damn, he wanted wealth and glory for himself.
Rhogan never made it to Val after that, and Juliana didn’t see him for the rest of the night. Disappointed, she returned with her family to Hampshire, wondering if Rhogan had simply forgotten about her. She believed, completely, that her entire conversation with him on that snowy night had been a lie. He hadn’t been serious about her in the least and the disappointment she felt as the days and weeks passed, and still no Rhogan, consumed her from the inside out. Her heart, so tender in Rhogan’s hands, had become a broken and bleeding mass. His lies had crushed her.
She felt like a fool for giving her faith to the man and believing him.
Exactly six weeks after the Christmas feast at Hollyhock House, Rhogan’s father, Mayne, made the announcement that his son was betrothed to French princess.
Something inside Juliana died on that day.