Keeper of the Stone Read Online Free PDF Page A

chair William graciously offered.  His father, while a landed lord, was not a particularly wealthy man.  Nathan was raised in a gentleman’s home.  His mother insisted all of her sons be familiar with the ways of the world in the finest households. So he knew his manners were acceptable; a fact he silently thanked his mother for the numerous times he was required to spend the evening in the company of the duke and the highest members of the Norman nobility.  At least he never embarrassed himself by making the kind of mistake that would mark him as a poor country soldier lacking in the trappings of a gentleman. He suspected he was accepted among the ranks of the landed lords more easily because he could so easily pass as one of them.
    “I am faced with a bit of a dilemma,” William remarked.
    Nathan remained silent. After their long years together he was acquainted well enough with his liege lord to recognize when he was merely thinking out loud.  When he wished for a response from Nathan, he would ask a direct question. “You were present in the hall when Lady Rhiann arrived?”
    “Yes.”
    “I originally intended to award the former duke’s holding to Robert or Baron Brice,” William explained, referring to two rich noblemen with already extensive holdings in Normandy.  “Both men are widows and it is time they remarried.  The duchess would need a strong man to protect her estates and I believed her marriage to a Norman lord would provide a calming influence on the Saxon inhabitants to see the duchess retain her former status.”
    Nathan nodded.  He was aware of William’s plan to marry his single knights to Saxon ladies to keep the peace in his new kingdom. Nathan thought the idea a brilliant one.  Intermarriage would make it difficult to sustain the resistance for long when the sons and daughters of the new nobility would be half Norman and half Saxon.
    “However, it appears the duchess is dead, though I intend to discover how it was she met her death by a Norman sword.  I cannot believe any of my men would act in such a reckless manner, particularly when I ordered the duke’s family be brought to London with all due haste.”
    When William looked expectantly at Nathan, he replied honestly. “I cannot believe any of Brice’s men would be capable of putting a sword through the duchess.”
    The king sighed heavily. “Unfortunately war causes men to do things they would not ordinarily be capable of, but the lady’s death and that of her older daughter leaves me with Lady Rhiann’s future to settle and the duke’s estates to award.  I believe we have exacted a high enough toll on the lady, I will not ask her to wed a man old enough to be her father.  So my friend, I decided to award the duke’s estates to you, assuming you’re willing to wed Lady Rhiann?”
    Nathan was so stunned by William’s announcement he was convinced he must have imagined the words he believed passed through his friend and lord’s smiling lips.  William meant to award the duke’s estates to him?  The duke’s estates?
    William’s smile widened at the astonishment reflected on his vassal’s face.  “You earned them Nathan.  I admit I did not originally plan to award you the Weston holdings and there will no doubt be a great deal of grumbling among my barons when they learn of my decision, but my mind is made up.  The land is yours.  I suspect you will defend your new estates and my interests here in Saxony against any who would attempt to challenge them.”
    “Yes you may rest assured of that,” Nathan could only summon a harsh whisper in reply.  Lands of his own.  A duke’s estate, no less.  He still couldn’t take it in.
    “And you will wed Lady Rhiann and treat her kindly?” William continued.  “I believe you mentioned there was an understanding between you and Lady Sara, and it was your intent to wed her on your return to Normandy.”
    Nathan met William’s glance unflinchingly.  “I will wed