Read Online Tyrant of the Mind by Priscilla Royal - Free Book Online

sign. Perhaps he had forgiven her? Perhaps he had even married by now?
    “No, my lady, but he would not have you think he had forgotten you.”
    Eleanor smiled, but her friend’s words were not exactly the news she had hoped to hear. “Then tell him I send him my greetings and affection as a sister would to her dear brother.”
    “He will be honored, my lady.”
    For a moment Eleanor let the silence hang between them. She watched her friend’s eyes turn dark with sorrow. What little joy had briefly taken residence when she spoke of her brother now more quickly fled.
    “May I speak from my heart.” Juliana blinked as if to hold back tears. “I have no wish to offend. You must believe that.”
    “Speak, Juliana, and I will listen to your heart with my own.”
    “Then I must tell you that I have no desire to marry your brother.” She stopped. Her face lost what color only the brisk air had brought to it.
    Eleanor took her friend’s hand. How thin Juliana had grown in the years since she had last seen her. Her gray woolen robe fell straight down from her shoulders to just above her shoe tops with no hint of a woman’s curves underneath. She had always been a slender and lithesome lass, but now she looked as fragile as a dry twig. Had illness done this to her, madness perhaps, or was it the grief her father had suggested?
    “You may say what you will. I promised I would listen out of the love and friendship between us,” she said at last.
    Juliana squeezed Eleanor’s hand, the grip reassuringly strong. “Robert is a fine man, a man any woman would be honored to wed.” She looked down, her voice fading to a whisper. “Please believe me when I say I know our marriage would not only give Robert the wealth he deserves but would provide me with a good husband as well. He would treat me with respect, even if he did not love me, and the alliance with your family would give honor to mine.” With that, Juliana buried her face in her hands and began to weep, her sobs racking her delicate body.
    Eleanor pulled the woman into her arms and rocked her like a child until the crying subsided. Then she drew back and wiped the tears from her friend’s eyes. “Juliana, I am wed to Our Lord and have never been a wife in the earthly sense. Perhaps you need to talk to an older woman who has had joy in her husband…”
    “You! It is you to whom I must speak!”
    “Then I will listen,” Eleanor said, as the deluge of hot tears began again and her friend buried her head into the prioress’ shoulder.
    “I do not wish to marry at all!” The voice was muffled, but there was no mistaking the determination in it.
    “I know the dangers, if those cause you worry. My own mother died in childbed, and I would be false if I did not tell you that you would suffer pain in becoming any man’s wife. Nonetheless, Robert is a kind man and will be gentle in taking your maidenhead. Pain is a part of our lives as children of sin, but God gives joy too. There is no reason not to believe He would give you both as much happiness as anyone can expect on earth. You and my brother are as well matched in your manners and wit as you are in your estate. I do believe you could be very happy together, and Robert would provide good stewardship of the land you brought to the marriage...”
    “My lady, I do not dread bedding with a man nor is it childbirth that I fear.” Juliana laughed, but the sound was brittle. “There is greater pain than the loss of a maidenhead or the hard labor of birthing an heir. Indeed I will confess to you that I am unwomanly and do not long for either a man or a babe in my arms, but that would be insufficient reason to refuse marriage with your brother. As you have said, he and I would be well-matched and deep affection would surely grow in our hearts for each other. We are both quite sensible about our prospects and responsibilities in this world, and we are each wise enough to be kind one to the other.”
    Eleanor stepped