“And how else should I know you? We met, we parted, we have met again.” Her voice cracked like a whip. “You expect faith of me, who has not yet earned it? I am not one to be won with pretty gifts or sweet words alone.” Summer stepped closer, laying her hand against Humphrey’s chest, and hissed, “You may make free with my body, and this is expected, and in time you may show change, and then will you truly win my heart.”
Humphrey looked at her with disbelief. “Tis one thing to be one that ha yet to prove, tis another to be one put in the wrong for it.” he said, his voice calm and distant. His steward stepped to them, and Humphrey ordered a chamber to be prepared for her, and asked the man to lead her to the hall for supper, excusing himself for no longer wishing to attend. When she turned to go, Humphrey grabbed her arm gently, yet his calm voice was cold. “You don’t kick the dog that you want to scratch, my lady, for it may bite in return.”
Humphrey returned to his chamber, but seeing the mess they left, he decided to spend his time in his library, sitting by the fire and reading, while the servants clean and tidy the room. His books had their magical way of calming his always restless mind.
She bit her tongue on any further words, seething within. She followed the servant, but only picked at the food, and spent long minutes simply staring into the fireplace. At last, she sent the dishes away, asking the steward to bring her books from her saddlebags and a quill. Carefully, she tore a blank leaf from one book and wrote, slowly,
‘My lord, the words we exchanged are not our wont. Please understand my concerns — we know so little of what could be known one of the other, and if you intended some longer association I was not aware of it. I will look for you at Court, and hope that we may repair this rift.’
Glancing over the text, she nodded and bid a servant to take it to Humphrey. She herself made her way to the stables, saddling her horse herself. Humphrey’s worries notwithstanding, she would rather return to the city right away than stay, fretful.
Humphrey saw the girl leaving, and called for his guards to follow, for her safety. He was not surprised, he almost knew she would not stay: She was a free spirit, and he knew from the first time they met, and if he was honest this was the reason why he was so drawn to her. He felt hurt in his pride tho, he tried to be discreet only to preserve her honor – of course it would have been easier if he considered more traditional ways of wooing. Still he kept a low profile because he didn’t want the talks before he knew what was meant to become of their association, and that meaning, he was, well, open minded. Until tonight. Now he was noting sadly to himself, that there were too many mistresses, stories, rumors about him to believe that a woman at court would seriously consider him worthy of more than what they did today. The thought almost scared him from attending the feast two days from now. He would’ve crawled into a cave had he had one, and now Greenwich manor seemed to be his cave. He had two days to reassess himself before the king’s next feast.
Summer sensed the guards behind her, and sighed. Then again, he’d no real reason to believe her capable of seeing to her own safety; they’d not made it out to the hunt, and so he could not know her proficiency with bow, nor had he any way of knowing her — particular skills. Anger spurred her to spur her horse in a vain attempt to leave the guards behind.
Well, there would be other occasions to speak again, though she’d half-hoped he would stop her leaving. Perhaps she had been wrong to mention his past, but surely he couldn’t possibly expect her to ignore it? If he truly expected to treat her differently, he should have done so from the start — well, from their first meeting at Court, anyway. But no, he had begun with her as he had always begun with his women, and so how could she possibly know that his intentions might be different?
Even for her, such things were difficult to discern. Hair-fine shadings of emotion, at a time when her own were in turmoil, could easily deceive. Sleep did not come easily to her that night.