The Maiden and the Unicorn Read Online Free PDF

"Yes, I reckon so, master. I wouldn't say no to a king's leftovers. I mean, well, he's..."
    "Discerning, you mean? That's an elegant word, Matthew, but even I can disdain King Edward's leavings." Richard took a draught and watched the larger man suck in his cheeks.
    "Ah," answered Matthew.
    "Yes, Matthew, ah. Perhaps it is not my conscience but my pride which is at odds with the rest of me." He drank more deeply.
    "Could be, sir. All I know is that I ain't seen you in such a pother for a long while. So what's to be done?"
    "I think she will try to escape." Richard enjoyed seeing Matthew swallow his astonishment.
    "You reckon she has the spirit for it?"
    "Oh yes, I will wager she is anxious to reach Exeter and rejoin the Earl's womenfolk before they take ship."
    "So we surprise her on the stair?"
    "No," corrected his master, perusing him thoughtfully, "we shall not stop her."
    "Not—By the Rood, master, shall I cart you off to Bedlam? After all that hurly-burly, spreading rumours about the King's men being so close and the to-do about hiring the carter and abducting defenceless..." Matthew spluttered to silence. Richard waited, trying not to smile at the larger man's discomfort. "Aye, well," muttered his servant with a sulky sniff, "if you're still interested in anything else other than the wench upstairs, sir, the steward's waiting outside looking like a prisoner about to have his thumbs screwed. Shall you put him out of his misery?"
    "Aye, very well, in a few minutes then." Richard dismissed him with a nod.
    Alone, he emptied the goblet and buried his head in his hands. By all the Saints, what had he gotten himself into? It was against his nature to act so rashly where women were concerned. Was he going to regret his foolhardiness? But any addlepate could have seen that the Kingmaker was hurrying the girl out of the realm along with the rest of his entourage, making for Calais no doubt as he had done before when in trouble. It would have been foolish not to seize the opportunity to take the wench. After all, prising her out of the stronghold of Calais would prove costly. That was why he of all men, the reputedly calm and foresighted King's Receiver, had acted unusually. Capturing maidens was like something from the tales of King Arthur that old Sir Thomas Malory was compiling, Richard chided himself; it was not a role with which he was comfortable. And besides, Margery, curse her, was no maiden.
    If only she had not allowed the King to seduce her. That morsel stuck in the gullet of his pride threatening to choke him. Thank the Almighty, he still had a few day' grace to make up his mind about what to do with her. The die were almost out of his hand and on the table but the decision was still his and yet... And yet taking the wench to the King involved a risk—that the royal whoremonger would still want her. But not to take her to the King was an even more perilous enterprise—she was Warwick's ward and she was who she was. No, mayhap he had little choice, after all. The King had to be told she was in his possession.
    As to the little fire-eater herself? Whether he could tame her within a few days, he doubted. Better to keep a tight bridle on her and stay master of his own passions. Besides, he needed to learn more about Mistress Margery of Warwick. Feeling a stirring in his groin was not enough. The next few days would determine him one way or another. Would it not be sport indeed to make the colour come and go in her cheeks like sunshine across winter fields? And tonight, tonight he would fly her like a young unhooded falcon.
    "I want her glad of my protection," he said fiercely to the empty room. "By Christ's blessed mercy, she will be glad of me before the morning comes."
    * * *
    Margery stealthily followed the old housekeeper down the candleless stairs. She held her breath while the latch was lifted. Out in the yard a dog snarled, but Mistress Guppy threw him an unexpected meat scrap to content him and led Margery round