The Courts of Love - Jean Plaidy [72]
I tried to think of other matters. “Your father must be very uneasy after Bernard’s curse,” I said.
“He does not care for the old man.”
“His prophecies have been known to come true. He prophesied the death of my husband’s brother.”
“He who was killed by the pig?”
“Yes, the same.”
“We are of the Devil’s brood, you know. We are immune from curses.”
“You are bold . . . you and your father.”
“To be bold is the only way to live. I am sure you will agree with that.”
“Perhaps I do.”
He came closer to me and took me by the shoulders. I began to protest but he seized me and held me against him. He laughed and then suddenly he pressed his lips down on mine.
I made a pretense of protest, but I knew this was what I had wanted from the moment I saw him. He had known it, too. It had been one of those cases of spontaneous attraction.
He drew away from me, still holding me by the shoulders.
“You are the most exciting woman I have ever known,” he said.
“And you are the boldest young man and the most insolent.”
He drew me to him and kissed me again.
“Do you realize . . .” I began, in halfhearted protest.
“I realized from the moment I saw you that you were going to be mine.”
“That is nonsense.”
“No, sound good sense. Why not? When I looked across that room I said to myself: ‘There is the woman for me.’”
“You have forgotten you are talking to the Queen of France.”
“I never forgot that for a moment.”
“And you here . . . a vassal of the King.”
“We don’t take kindly to the term.”
“I have seen that. You have offended the King . . . and now Bernard.”
“As long as I please you, I do not care.”
He took my chin in his hands and I was again aware of their roughness. What was I doing with this uncouth young man? I did not understand myself. I was surprised and delighted and found myself yearning to be closer to him.
“I want to be with you . . . alone,” he said. “Where can we meet?”
“For what purpose?”
“That we may give expression to our feelings.”
“You must be mad.”
“Mad with desire for the most beautiful woman on Earth. And you, my lady, what do you think of your ardent suitor?”
I said: “I think this is a joke.”
“Your responses belie those words. It is serious. Did you not know it when we looked across that room at each other? Old Bernard thundering away with his curse and poor Louis sitting there looking as though he thought the roof was going to fall in on us . . . and you and I just looked at each other . . . and we knew.”
“I do not know why I listen to you. You omitted to swear fealty to the King. You come here with one of Louis’s seneschals in chains. You invoke the curses of Bernard. And most brazen of all you make advances to the Queen.”
“I am not sure that the Queen has not made advances to me.”
“Nonsense.”
“When we looked at each other, something passed between us . . . some understanding. I knew that you felt for me what I felt for you, and when two people such as we are agreed on such a matter, there is nothing that can stand in our way. Let us be frank. I believe that you and I could bring great joy to each other.”
“We do not know each other.”
“I have heard much of the Queen of France. Doubtless you have heard my name mentioned. So we knew each other before we met.”
“We have just met face to face.”
“At last Fate has been kind to us. Tell me when I may come to you. If you don’t tell me, I shall find a way, rest assured.”
“I need time.”
“Time? Time passes too quickly. My father and I cannot stay indefinitely in Paris.”
“What of your prisoner?”
“What has Berlai to do with us?”
“I understood you were coming to see me on state matters.”
“No, on something far more important.” He gave me another of those bewildering kisses.
“Come,” he said. “We waste time. When