Read Online Two Passionate Proposals by Serenity Woods - Free Book Online

before also
turning away to direct his men.
    She waited for a moment, wondering what she
should do. Should she head back to tell her people what had happened? Or were
they expecting her to wait for them? As she hesitated, Henry moved his horse
alongside hers.
    He glanced at her. “Come with me. Ask the
castle guard to lay down their arms, and they will not be harmed.”
    Eleanor nodded, suppressing the urge to
tell him not to order her around. He had every right to now. She turned her
horse and, side-by-side, they crossed the drawbridge into the castle.
    *
    Henry organised the surrender of the castle
guard and moved his own men in to garrison in a semi-dream. Outwardly, he
worked as efficiently as ever, but his stomach had knotted and he struggled to
concentrate. He still couldn’t believe the wife of Geoffrey de Woodford and the
Ella he’d known as a young man were one and the same.
    He half-listened to his men relaying
details about repairs to the damaged walls, his gaze sliding across to where
Eleanor stood talking to Richard, discussing the food and supplies remaining in
the castle. Sometimes, it seemed like only yesterday he’d been standing by the
lake with her in his arms. At other times, it seemed like a lifetime. Though he
could remember vividly the way he’d felt when he promised her he would love her
forever, he found it difficult to relate that inexperienced, innocent youth to
the man he had become.
    He should never have expected their parents
would let them be together. It seemed like such a foolish notion now, and he
couldn’t believe he’d been so naive. Maybe if he’d been a stable hand and she a
milkmaid, they might have stood a chance. But theirs were not the sort of lives
where one chose to whom he or she were married. Marriages were political
alliances, made between men who sold their children to the highest price; the
idea of love never entered the equation. At the time, they’d both assumed that because
their families were of a similar level in society, their fathers would think
their match ideal. But ten years ago, the houses of York and Lancaster were
starting to collide like jousting knights, and with the families supporting
opposite sides, neither would have approved of the marriage.
    Ten years. And
she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. But she was no longer
the fourteen-year-old girl he’d fallen in love with; that much was clear. Her
hips had widened and her breasts were fuller, heavier, and the innocence he’d
loved so much had disappeared from her eyes. Almost, but not completely. He
thought about her husband, and wondered what the oaf had been able to teach her
about love. Had she enjoyed his touch? Or merely borne it with the same passive
endurance Maud had borne his own gentle hand?
    He shook his head. Once Eleanor had looked
at him, her eyes filled with love. Now, she knew him only as the enemy. Much
had changed since they first declared their affection. He had to live in the
present, not in the past, where his mind kept pulling him.
    At that moment, Eleanor looked over at him.
His heart beat faster, and the surge of blood to his groin as he surveyed her
curves surprised him. He turned away and strode out of the Hall. Perhaps a fast
walk around the castle in full armour would help steer his mind back on track.
    *
    Eleanor watched Henry’s tall form as he
marched outside, her insides twisting at the angry look he’d thrown her. She
wasn’t sure why he was so cross, but it was something to do with her. Did he
dislike the fact she reminded him of a time when he was young and
inexperienced? Perhaps he thought of his past actions as a weakness, something
he wanted to forget.
    She didn’t see much more of him for the
rest of the day, and it crossed her mind that maybe he was trying to keep out
of her way. As darkness fell, the men started filling the Hall for the evening
meal. His squire—a youth who followed Henry around like a puppy—informed her
that his sire