previously, “for you play a dangerous game.”
His words disconcerted Catherine, not for their meaning, but for the tone of concern which underpinned them.
She had the strangest feeling that the concern was genuine.
“We all play a dangerous game,” she said, turning her back to him and walking towards where the embers of a fire glowed in a hearth. “France is in turmoil, and Isabeau has once again cast doubt on Charles’ legitimacy.”
“Who will listen to the words of a woman whose memory changes according to the price offered?” Philip walked up behind Catherine, and placed his hand gently on the small of her back.
It was a test. Move away from me now and I will know you do not have the heart for the game.
Catherine tensed very slightly—which could have meant anything—and then leaned back against his hand, which meant only one thing.
Philip drew in a deep breath. So.
“Perhaps,” Catherine said, then briefly closed her eyes as Philip’s hand slowly caressed her back. “But France needs a strong man on the throne, and whether fathered by Louis, the Master of the Hawks or the ever-cursed peacock, Charles does not have that strength.”
“And you do?”
Catherine turned within the semi-circle of his arm so that she faced him. “I am a woman, and you know Salic Law—I cannot take the throne.”
Philip’s hand was harder now, and pulled her closer towards him. “But …”
“But I can do my best to make sure that a strong man does sit on the throne.”
Philip’s hand, as his entire being, stilled. “What are you here for, Catherine?”
“I am here to propose an alliance between us,” she said, “cemented with the sweat of our bodies.”
“Sweet Jesu!” Philip said, then abruptly spun away, moving back to the table where stood the wine ewer. “What is your price?” he said over his shoulder.
“That you be loyal to me, that you cleave only unto me, that you protect me, that you respect me.”
Philip toyed with the wine ewer a while, then put it down and walked back to Catherine. He lifted a hand and took her chin between gentle fingers; his face, so dark and handsome, was unreadable. “Then be my wife.”
“No,” she said, and his fingers tightened very slightly. “I will bed with you, and walk by your side. I will be your partner in your ambitions, and I will support you.” Her voice softened, and became very quiet. “I will give you any child that comes of my body from our union. But I will not be your wife.”
His eyes narrowed, deeply suspicious. She wanted to use him for some greater plan that she would not yet elucidate. Yet, in her own way, she was also being honest with him … and with what she would give him—her partnership in his ambitions, and any child that came of her body—she would give him everything he needed to seize the throne.
Perhaps, in time, she would attempt to betray him, but for the moment …
His hand dropped from her chin, and as it did so, Catherine turned around and lifted the thick plait of her hair over her shoulder, exposing the line of fastenings down the back of her gown.
She did not speak.
Philip hesitated, then lifted his hands to her neck and slowly began to undo the hooks. When he reached the last one, just above the swell of her buttocks, he gently folded back the now-loosened fabric of her gown.
She was wearing no garments beneath.
He slid his hands around her waist and over her belly, and gently pulled her back against him. Her skin was warm and very, very soft.
“From this point,” he said, “there can be no going back. Leave now if there remains the slightest doubt.”
In answer, Catherine lifted her own hands and placed them over his beneath the material of her gown. She slid them up until they cupped her breasts, and then jumped very slightly, surprised at the sensations that flooded through her as he caressed them.
“I have no experience,” she said. “I do not know what to do.”
Philip repressed a smile, sure that these words were something Isabeau had taught her: they will inspire him to greater heat, my dear, for what man can resist being the one to induct a girl into the experience she lacks?
Then his smile died. Isabeau was a very wise woman.
“Then let me show you,” he whispered, and slid the gown completely from her body.
It was a night of discoveries, and of unthought of marvels. Catherine had expected many things of Philip the Bad, but not the tenderness and respect and patience he showed her. They talked and laughed and were silent in turns as first he explored her body, and then encouraged her to explore his. Everything was new and wondrous for Catherine. She adored Philip’s body, surprised not only by the manner and degree in which his flesh reacted to hers, but how, in turn, hers responded to his. There was no discomfort, no pain, only the discovery of new planes of sensation and of existence; no sense of loss, only the indescribable sense of how two bodies, two souls, could merge into one.
There was one moment, one moment that she thought she would remember all her life. Philip was over her, and deep inside her. He lifted his head and shoulders back from her a little distance, his face gleaming with sweat, his dark hair falling over his forehead.
“There is only you,” he said, and somehow that touched Catherine so deeply that she began to cry, and Philip leaned back down to her again, and kissed away her tears, and cried himself.
She woke very slowly from a deep sleep. It was dark, dark night, but Philip’s gently breathing body was curled against hers and she was not alone any more.
She was not alone any more.
So much of her life had been spent alone, always fatherless, and often motherless as Isabeau abandoned her time and time again.
Bolingbroke had not fought for her … but Philip—treacherous, untrustworthy Philip—had given her this night honesty and something that was so close to love that there might be no difference at all.
She sighed and stretched slightly so that she might feel Philip’s body rub against hers. She was filled with immeasurable content. Tonight, Bolingbroke lay with Mary Bohun, and Catherine could have spent this night weeping in her bed, but she had done what Isabeau had suggested and taken her fate in her own hands.
In doing so, Catherine had discovered in Philip something of infinite value … and perhaps, of infinite danger.
Could Hal ever compete? How strong was he?
Her movement had wakened Philip, and now he stirred.
“Catherine.” A hand cupped one of her breasts, and she gave a low laugh and rolled close against him. “Of what do you think?”
Catherine grinned in the
