She had time. Jamie had been gone but a week. He could not have become attached to another woman in so short a time. This helpless woman who needed lifting off boats could mean nothing to him.
Heartened by her arguments, Linnet hurried out the door and down the corridor. Halfway down the staircase that led to the Great Hall, she came to an abrupt halt. The words Jamie had said when he first arrived at Eltham rang in her ears:I have come home to marry.
Jamie deserved to have hearth and home with a loving wife and children. No man would make a better father. Why should the thought of him having what he wanted tear at her heart like a jagged blade?
That day at Eltham, Jamie had told her he had reason to hope Bedford would facilitate a desirable match for him. And now, Jamie was returning from a visit to Bedford with a young lady on his arm. He would want a woman like the one on the dock. A woman he could hover over and protect. A woman who would not embarrass him.
Noise from the hall drifted up to where she stood alone on the staircase. Word of the arrival of the royal guest must have spread, leading everyone to fill the Great Hall to see and be seen. The Christmas festivities could now begin.
Linnet was not feeling festive.
A man emerged from the hall and walked toward the stairs. When he looked up and caught sight of Linnet, he smiled broadly and put his hand to his heart.
“The very woman I longed to see,” Edmund Beaufort called out to her as he ran up the stairs two at a time.
“Good day to you, Edmund.” She offered him her hand. “Did you come on the barge with Sir James? Perhaps you can help me find him.”
He kissed her hand and placed it on his arm.
“I came by horse, but I saw Sir James in the hall,” he said as they started down the stairs together. “You will find him with his soon-to-be betrothed. He traveled here with her and her father.
“Take care!” Edmund caught her as her foot missed a step.
Oblivious to her distress, Edmund leaned close and said in a low voice, “Frankly, ’tis a better match than anyone expected, given how modest his own holdings are. James Rayburn should count himself a lucky man.”
And she was the most unlucky of women. For the second time, she had lost the only man she ever loved.
Chapter Twenty
Linnet craned her neck to look for Jamie over the crush of people.
“Come sit next to me.” The queen linked her arm with Linnet’s and led her to where large cushions had been placed on the floor in a semicircle.
“We are sitting on the floor?”
“ ’Tis the best place to view the men’s dancing competition.” The queen took Edmund’s proffered hand and sank gracefully to the floor.
“I thought there was to be a mummers’ play,” Linnet said, not that she cared what the entertainment was tonight. Where was Jamie? She was intent on discovering if there was any truth to what Edmund had said. If he was looking for her, too, they should have found each other by now.
“Sit down, Linnet,” Queen Katherine said with a laugh as she tugged at the hem of Linnet’s gown.
The king would arrive with Bedford in just two days. The prospect of having her son in the same castle, albeit in a separate apartment and under the watch of another woman, had put the queen in a lively mood.
After casting another look around the room for Jamie, Linnet took Edmund’s hand and sat on the cushion next to the queen.
Edmund dropped to one knee beside her. “I must leave you to join the other men for the competition,” Edmund said, holding both her hand and her gaze for far too long. “May I ask for your favor?”
Linnet arched her eyebrows. “My what?”
“Your favor,” Edmund repeated. “Say you will cheer for me to win the competition.”
“Certainly. I shall clap the loudest.”
He kissed her hand. Looking up at her with the devil in his eyes, he said in a hushed voice, “And what favor will you grant me if I win, sweet one?”
She leaned forward and whispered back, “I am not at all sweet, so do not expect to like what I give you.”
“I shall take my chances.” He grinned and winked at her. “A reward may be all the more delicious for not being sweet.”