April Munday by His Ransom Page A

tired and unhappy. She had tossed and turned all night, unable to rest. She had been scared by the slowness of the townspeople to cross the moat that afternoon. Many had still been outside the castle walls when Richard had judged that had the castle really been under attack they would have had to shut the gates. No one had been happy. Guy and Thomas had gone down and spoken to the burgesses and emphasised how important it was that they look out for the signal and react immediately. The second time they tried it had been slightly better, but still a large number of people had been left outside. Although they would practise again over the next few days, she feared that some would be captured and held to ransom by Sir Walter should he choose to besiege them actively, rather than try to get her out of the castle by guile. She knew that she could not allow one of her father’s people to suffer for her and that she would surrender herself if any of them were taken. They were not soldiers. They served the duke and received his protection in return. She felt very strongly that she had taken on all the duke’s responsibilities on his departure and she saw that she would fail him if she failed them in any way. Sir Walter knew her well enough and she did not doubt that he would know that she would wish to save her people, regardless of what it cost her. Sir Walter might not have much imagination and he certainly did not care much for his own people, but he had noticed before how interested Rosamunde was in the welfare of her father’s serfs and tenants.
    The lack of sleep made her irritable and she snapped at her maid when she came to dress her at the usual time. She decided to break her fast alone in her room, having no desire for company but found that she had little appetite. She could not settle with the women as they sat and sewed together and so she paced restlessly through the castle alone trying to see if there was some way out of this situation. She had considered fleeing to one of her father’s other estates, but none was as well-provisioned or fortified as this one. The inland estates had sent more men to France and were not as easy to defend as the castle. There would be few men to spare and fewer still would be proficient soldiers. The garrison here was relatively strong. Besides, they had sent for more men when they sent the townspeople to Dorset, although it was unlikely that they would arrive before Sir Walter. She had even considered going to London and asking the king to protect her, but she would be vulnerable on the journey and she could not know what the king’s response would be. His mind was on France, not on the marriageable daughters of his earls. It was possible that he would leave her to her fate or arrange a match for her himself. No, it would be better to stay and rely on the strength of the castle and its garrison to protect her from Sir Walter.
    She had just decided, once again, that she could do no more than obey her father and remain in the castle, trusting in Thomas, Richard and Guy to protect her when she ran into Richard. He was returning from his training in the courtyard. He had not washed or dressed and his chest was bare.
    “Oh!” she turned away from him, but she had seen enough. He had a muscular chest, covered with dark hairs and she felt the stirring of desire within her at the sight of it. She resisted the impulse to turn back and look her fill.
    “I am sorry, Lady Rosamunde. I thought all the women were in your solar, otherwise I should have dressed before I left the courtyard. I am to bathe this morning,” he finished lamely.
    “I am sorry, sir. I am restless this morning and I have been prowling like a feral cat.” She wondered briefly why she was trying to make the fault hers. He was the one strolling around the castle half-naked as if he had not a care in the world. “I was not looking where I was going, otherwise I should have seen you in good time.”
    She turned back to