A David Romance, Part 5
Aura Thundera
deonii@yahoo.com

***

    "So, you can face my temptations, such as they are,"  David said.  "I was beginning to fear that I would never be able to touch you again except by stealth."  He flung back the sheets and I closed my eyes, steeling myself for the sight of his nude body.

    I recieved a chuckle from David.  "Open your eyes.  There is nothing here to shock you."

    Slowly, I ventured a look at his now exposed body.  He wore red satin sleeping pants, and he was in the act of slipping on a matching dressing gown.  Soon, he rejoined me on the bed.  The dimming firelight sent red glimmers across the polished lapis and ebony of the bed.

    David pulled me into his arms, amorously kissing my forehead and eyes.  Strong hands caressed me.  I ached to touch him, and make his firmly muscled body tingle like mine did.

    The next morning, I awoke, feeling awful from having slept in my clothes.  David lay beside me, still asleep in his crimson robe.  He looked delightfully rumpled.

    "You had best get back to your room before Mama wakes,"  David said.  His eyes were still closed, and his voice sounded sleepy.

    "Good morning to you too, David," I said.  As I stood up, I kissed his cheek, right where his dimple would appear when he smiled.

    I returned to my room and dressed to join the family for breakfast.  David probably wouldn't join us, though.  He was still sulking about his mother's lecture on not dishonoring women, though it had been nearly a week now.  I would get stuck eating with his brothers for company.

    Shirley gave me a sharp look as I joined her at the breakfast table.  "David is still in a funk over that incident in the pasture?  That was nearly two weeks ago and he is still moping in his chambers.  I'm beginning to worry about him."

    I nodded in answer to her question, hoping that Shirley would not see my blush.  No well-bred lady would have allowed herself to fall asleep in the bed of a young man other than her lawful husband.

    "I know where you spent last night," Shirley said.  "I looked in on my son not an hour ago, and I saw you in his bed.  I also saw that you were properly clothed.  However, do not let it happen again.  Neither you nor my son need the scandal that would result if anyone else found out about such goings on.  I could not permit you to marry David if you were tainted by such a scandal."

    "I am sorry," I said contritely.  "Things did get rather out of hand, but it shall not happen again."

    "See that it doesn't.  David doesn't need a lecture on honor and scandal,"  Shirley said.  "If he's still sulking about and refusing to face me, my last lecture must still be fresh in his mind."

    One of the maids ran into the solarium.  "Lady Catesby, Lord Orkane has just arrived!  He does not wish to visit--he claims that he is here on business!"

    "Orkane?  What are his demands, that he comes here on business?"  Shirley said, carefully controlling her temper, but the ice in her tone betrayed her dislike of this Lord Orkane.  "He knows that there is no welcome for him here at Greenfield.  And whatever his business is, I doubt that he will accomplish it."

    "He will speak only to you, Lady,"  the maid said.  The maid was trembling, and it was obvious that whoever Orkane was, he had terrified the poor girl.  "He claims that it is important business that he can only settle with the head of the house.  Your tenant, Marcus Danesbury, is in his entourage as well."

    I shrank away from the mention of my uncle.  In only a few weeks with David's loving company, my time with Marcus seemed to be ancient history.  I had no wish to relive that particular part of my life.

    "Allow him entry, along with his entourage.  I shall remind him that a Catesby kneels to no one but the Queen, and that I will never bow to his demands," Shirley said.  "Then  go and summon my eldest son to join us in the entrance hall.  Dawn, you must come too.  If your uncle is mixed up in this, it might mean trouble for you."

    "Must I?"  I asked.  "My uncle is still scheming to get me into a position to benefit him -- or at least to a place where he can beat me at his will."

    David appeared in the door of the solarium.  He had evidently snuck down the servants' stairs to avoid passing through the entrance hall where Orkane and my uncle waited. His hand resting easily on the grip of his pistol, which hung in a leather holder from a broad belt buckled loosely about his slim waist.  A long sword dangled from his other hip.

    "I'll go with you,"  David said, taking my hand gently into his. "I will protect you from whatever evil that uncle of yours had planned, I swear."

    Shirley proceeded toward the door that led to the grand hall.  David and I trailed in her wake.  David was cool and confident, but despite his reassuring hand I was still a ball of nerves.

    In the Great Hall, a tall, thin man with greasy haie paced back and forth in an abundance of nervous energy.  His fur-lined cape and fine linen shirt left no doubt in my mind that this old man was Lord Orkane.  His facial expression was decidedly unpleasant, and I understood why Shirley held him in such active dislike if he was sour enough to produce frown lines that deep.  My uncle skulked in a corner with several of Orkane's other attendants.

    "What is it now, Orkane?"  Shirley demanded bluntly.  "I have proved to yoy that I need not grant the title of Lord Catesby to anyone but my own sons.  I do not need to marry you so that you can manage the Catesby fortune for me."

    Realization dawned that Shirley's aversion to Orkane ran much deeper than a simple dislike of his personality.  In my relatively short acquaintance with Shirley, I knew that she wouldn't have enjoyed the prospect of taking a husband to replace David's father.  Orkane had clearly attempted to force himself upon her, that much I could determine from his attitude.  I was certain that his interest had to have been rooted in greed and ambition, for I could not envision him being moved by any of the tender emotions.

    "Ah, Shirley!"  Orkane spoke, and his tone was as oily as his hair.  "So many years that you carry a grudge, and such a silly one at that!  I would have never mismanaged your assets."

    "You were not the first to court me for the Catesby wealth, and I have proved that I needed none of you,"  Shirley said flatly.  "State your business that brings you here and be done."

    "Shirley, dear, you know that I am long unmarried..."  Orkane began what sounded as though it would become a lengthy speech.

    As soon as Orkane began speaking, Shirley beckoned David to her side and requested his pistol.  When David handed the gun to his mother, she palmed a small object and passed it to him.  I doubted that anyone else had noticed the exchange.  David returned to stand by my side again.

    "Shirley, there is no need for violence,"  Orkane said, gesturing nervously for Shirley to put the gun aside.  "I have been promised another bride.   Surely, after all of your protests about my attentions, you cannot be jealous of my betrothed.  Especially since you have been living with her."

    My heart sank, and I felt empty inside.  I was sure that my uncle had sought to get me betrothed to Lord Orkane as soon as David rescued me.  I was sure that my uncle had struck a bargain with Lord Orkane -- I was young, virgin, and had a large dowry.  Marcus would recieve my title, since my betrothed already possessed a title of his own.  My uncle had finally found a plan to achieve his ambition of becoming Lord Danesbury.

    "I understand that you have been harboring my betrothed," Orkane continued.  "Her guardian, Mister Danesbury here, said that she had come to live with you.  I want you to give Lady Danesbury over to me.  She is my promised wife."

    Tears pricked my eyes and my mind spun.  Shirley wouldn't give me over to this lout, would she?  What about David?  He would not permit Orkane to just carry me away.

    "No!"  David shouted, grabbing my hand.  I felt a ring slide onto my finger.  "She has already been spoken for!"

    "By who?" Orkane demanded.  "You?  A boy whose mother holds his title because he is no man capable of holding it himself?"

    "Your ring is not on her finger,"  David said quietly.  "Look at her ring.  It bears the Catesby crest.  Dawn has not agreed to marry you.  She is my betrothed bride."

    "Do you break your engagement, young man?"  Orkane demanded, a distinct undercurrent of threat in his tone.  His face was growing red with fury.  "I give you this chance to take back your ring and give her to me."

    "Never!"  David spat.  "I have come to love her dearly in the time that we have been together.  I love her too dearly to ever allow her to be treated roughly by anyone.  And I certainly will not permit her to be used for her uncle's gain.  In a few months, she will be Lady Catesby."

    Orkane threw down the ring that he had held.  "Then guard her well, little Catesby, or you and she both will regret your decision.  It is no small thing to steal a man's wife promised to him by her family.  I'll see her dead before you use her to further your own political desires."

    "Begone!"  David said to Orkane.  "I will not permit you to stand in my home and slander me."

    Orkane stomped toward the door.  "Don't think I don't know why you're marrying her.   As soon as you marry, you'll get your title.  I suppose you'll have to find a lover for her to get some heirs!"

    Shirley furiously pointed her pistol in his direction.  "Out!"  she demanded, and Orkane obeyed.

    Marcus stalked over to me.  "How dare you!"  he snarled.  "You refused a marriage to a man who stands high in the favor of the Queen, and stole the man who my own daughters were courting!"

    David bristled.  "Silence!"  he hissed, his eyes blazing with fury.  "I never wanted to wed either of your daughters.  From the first time I set foot in your house, I was there to see Dawn.  Besides, I don't like women who are as demanding and fussy as your daughters.  If Orkane is such a good match, why don't you offer him that fat one you call Diana?"

    Marcus blanched.

    "I thought not,"  David said condescendingly.  "You know as well as I do that Orkane stands high in the regard of the Queen because he did what her husband could not.  You would wed Dawn to a man who would betray his marriage vows for power, but not your own daughter, I see."

    "She will marry Orkane,"  Marcus snarled.  "You'll never keep her away from her betrothed husband."

    "Get out of my house,"  David said.  "Go back to your hovel and be grateful that I don't evict you."

    After Marcus had stalked out of the Great Hall, David turned back to face me.  Right in front of his mother, he pulled me into his arms and planted a warm kiss on my lips.

    "What was that for?"  I asked, breathless from the warm passion of his kiss.

    "Isn't it customary for one to celebrate one's engagement with a kiss?"  David asked innocently.

    "Really?"  I asked, looking down at the ring that David had slipped onto my finger.  It was a signet bearing the Catesby family crest that I had always seen Shirley wearing.  She must have slipped the ring off and palmed it to David.

    "Really."  Shirley said.  "It was my wish to see you happily married to David from the moment he began talking about bringing you here. Your uncle has just drastically moved up the timetable.  And I always meant for David to give you that ring.  It was the one that his father gave me when he asked me to be his wife."

    "But...I don't really know David all that well... he hasn't courted me..."

    "Well, now you have three months to get ready to marry David," Shirley said. "We must really have the wedding soon.  Or would you prefer to wed Orkane?"

    I buried my face in David's shoulder.  "No," I murmured.  "David is kind to me, at least, even if I will never recieve the courtship that I have always dreamed of."


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