The Dragon and the Jewel Read Online Free PDF Page B

and here was the head of the family to rebuke her. “Please, William, let me explain. I intend to return home. We’ll never see each other again.”
    William could not hide his disappointment. “Ah, my dear, that is a pity. Eleanor took such a liking to you that I promised you’d stay at Windsor with her until Gilbert returns from Ireland, but if you wish to return home, you shall do so.”
    Isabella lifted her lashes. “Windsor?” she asked breathlessly. “Oh, I should like it above all things!”
    Will cocked a puzzled brow at the usually sensible young matron who’d just done an about-face. What contrary creatures women were. “Eleanor insists upon having some companions of her own age so I thought you could round up some of the Marshal children and let her make her own selection. She has a mind of her own, to put it mildly, I’m afraid.”
    “A Plantagenet trait,” Isabella said, a secret smile touching her lips.
    “Well, I thought that since they are all in London at the moment you could gather together a flock of our little nieces before the Bigods leave for Norfolk and the de Ferrars leave for Derby,” Will suggested.
    “I’ll dash off messages immediately. Eve de Braose and Margery de Lacy are the right age, but then we must not forget Matilda, Sybil, or little Joan.”
    “You are a wonder. I can’t keep them all straight,” he confessed, “but I see I can leave it all in your capable hands. What message shall I give your husband?”
    “My husband?” she repeated, blushing again. “You are off to Ireland then?” She tossed her chestnut curls. “He spends so much time there I’ve forgotten what he looks like.”
    “Poor Isabella. Shall I send him home to you then?”
    “No, no,” she said quickly, for her husband had been her family’s choice, not hers. “De Clare would not be pleased to be sent home to his wife, and I’m looking forward to my sojourn at Windsor.”
    Eleanor stood in her beautifully appointed reception room at Windsor Castle surrounded by a group of young girls garbed in their finest gowns and jeweled caps. She stared quite rudely at each in her turn, quickly eliminating the only one who was darkly pretty and two others who looked younger than herself. Joan de Munchensi burst into tears. Eleanor knew she did the right thing in eliminating her for she wanted no babies to spoil the little bit of fun she would be allowed.
    She sweetly thanked Lady Isabella and said without a trace of guile, “Wouldn’t you like to see the new additions Henry and Richard have designed? I think I saw my brother ride in a short while ago. Take your time while I make my choice.” Eleanor knew she wouldn’t be alone long; a servant, a tutor, or a bloody nun spied on her every waking moment.
    She stared at the Marshal nieces. “Do you know how to swear?” she demanded of them.
    The little girls all shook their heads in instant denial.
    “Well, that’s too bad … I shan’t pick anyone who can’t swear,” she announced firmly.
    Two of them laughed nervously; two others looked as if they were about to burst into tears.
    Eleanor looked at the golden-haired one who had laughed. “What’s your name?”
    The girl curtsied beautifully. “Eve de Braose.”
    “Swear,” ordered Eleanor.
    “Damn,” said Eve, taking her courage in both hands.
    Eleanor’s eyes traveled to another pale-haired contender. “And you are?” she asked.
    “Matilda Bigod,” she answered without a curtsy.
    Eleanor’s eyes narrowed. “The Earl of Norfolk’s daughter? Don’t you know any swearwords?”
    The girl shook her head firmly.
    “Then you must be witless. Your name is a swearword. Matilda B’God,” she punned.
    Sybil de Ferrars, the Earl of Derby’s child, giggled.
    Eleanor swung on her expectantly and she blurted, “H-hell.”
    What a sorry lot, Eleanor thought. Her eyes swept up and down the tallest girl in the room who had coppery red hair and a cheeky face. She knew instinctively this one could