Susan Spencer Paul by The Captive Bride

Author:The Captive Bride [Bride, The Captive]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-11-03T06:59:22+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The sisters at the Convent of Saint Genevieve greeted their unexpected visitors with the usual dignity and reserved cheer that Katharine ever expected of them. She had never seen Elder Sister smile—though the woman did display a great deal of warmth when with the convent’s children—and to Katharine she had ever been stoic and dignified, but she unbent most amazingly when faced for the first time with Senet. Before accepting the introduction to her new lord, Elder Sister actually took his hand, held it quite firmly and looked him full in the face. Katharine had been too amazed to make any kind of comment, certainly not to say that she had never been treated to such deference. Senet, seeming to understand her thoughts, had cast a smug look at Katharine before giving Elder Sister his complete attention.

He was not, Katharine thought as she watched her husband being led about by a gaggle of younger nuns, possessed of the polished manners that his birth decreed. There was a soldierly roughness about him, a certain stiffness that she had seen in him during their first encounters, but which had disappeared in the past two days. But now it was back, this tenseness, as if he were constantly expecting some kind of attack to befall. He was clearly determined to know all of his people as lord, however, for he dutifully forged onward, even with Elder Sister, who was presently telling him of the many needs that the convent had. Senet gave Katharine one silent plea to save him as Elder Sister and some of the younger nuns dragged him off to view the repairs they so desired. She smiled at him sweetly and watched him go.

Sir Kayne and Sir Aric and John Ipris had come with them, as well as Katharine’s ladies—even Dorothea, who had grumpily claimed that she had far too many duties to tend to after her brief absence, though she had given way after only a little persuasion—and also Mademoiselle Clarise.

“Come!”One of the younger nuns waved at them with great enthusiasm. “Come and see the children. They are meeting Lord Lomas in the courtyard.”

The Convent of Saint Genevieve was comprised, in large, of the remains of an old keep, most of which was heading rapidly toward collapse. But the sisters, all of them very proud and determined, had labored hard to make it a livable and even admirable dwelling. With some help from Katharine in the way of bartering for help from the villagers, the women had rebuilt the castle’s most essential areas, including the great hall where they and the children mainly lived, the chapel, the kitchens and the stables. The outer bailey, where the sisters had greeted their newly arrived guests, had been made beautiful with well—tended flowers and shrubs, as had the inner courtyard where the children often spent their afternoons if the weather—and their chores—permitted. The few small acres of land surrounding the keep had been planted with every variety of vegetable, bean and

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