Vasey sat in Guy’s room. He had brought a guard with him, just in case, Guy supposed, he thought he was going to get attacked again. Guy had to content himself with glowering at the old fox, as if by sheer power of his eyes alone, he could make him burst into flames.
‘It’s no good looking at me like that,’ Vasey said, ‘I gave you your chance and, as ever, you failed.’
‘What?’ Guy snapped.
‘You had your chance to bed Katherine, or even, God forbid, make her your wife. You failed. Then I received a better offer for her. A very good offer in fact. I would have been stupid to refuse it. I could have grown old waiting for you to make any progress.’
‘And when did Gifford make this offer?’ Guy spat at him.
‘A few days after we discovered that the husband was dead. Decided to show his hand then.’
'And you still let me carry on in hope – even then?’
Vasey shrugged.
‘What exactly did he offer you?’ Guy asked, ‘You were already getting the de Beaufort’s manor and estate through him. What else did he offer?’
‘Half the revenue from Gifford’s own lands ... not the stuff round the old Manor he used to live in with insipid little Grace - he has other land in Staffordshire, extensive holdings to be precise. I get that too. So you see, it made good business sense to change our plans. He was desperate to get Katherine; he’s been after her for years. He’s even thrown in some gold.’
Vasey leaned towards Guy and put his arm around him despite Guy’s efforts to shrug him off. ‘After all, Gissy, what were you going to give me in exchange for Katherine eh? Nothing. Or Locksley? Oh, I forgot, it’s not really yours to give ...’
Guy succeeded in pushing Vasey away.
‘Oh come on, cheer up,’ Vasey said. ‘Women are two a penny, but I have something here that’s worth a great deal more.’
Vasey pulled out some parchment from his jacket and spread it out on the table. He ran his hand over the writing on it as though it was the fur on a much-loved cat. ‘Nettleford Manor, Gisborne ... Nettleford Manor.’
Guy continued to glower.
‘Stop looking so angry, Gissy. I know you’ve heard of it. I’ve recently ‘acquired’ it. The house is not up to much, but the landholdings are vast. I get half, you get half, and look,‘ he jabbed the parchment with his finger,‘ your half is close to the Locksley estate. Another five hundred acres to add to what you already have.’
Reaching out his hand, he ran it gently down Guy’s face.’ You’ll be fighting the women off with a stick,’ he said softly.
Guy turned his head away and Vasey reluctantly removed his hand.
‘Telling me that Katherine had met Hood, you did that on purpose didn’t you?’ Guy asked.
Vasey sighed and considered whether he should tell Gisborne the whole story. He grimaced. He would tell him most of it; he needed to make him feel part of the team again.
‘Yes, I timed it deliberately,’ he admitted. ‘You were getting a bit too cosy. I needed to make sure she didn’t accept your offer before Gifford arrived here.’
‘Would that have stopped you?’ Guy asked, sourly.
‘No, probably not.’
‘And last night, all that advice about shaming her?’
‘More of the same. Trying to drive a wedge between the two of you. Although I suppose you’re right, even if she had accepted you, even if you’d both been madly in love, I’d have still given her to Gifford.’
‘You f******g b*****d.’
Suddenly Vasey’s chummy demeanour disappeared and a look of anger swept over his face. His hand shot out and he grabbed hold of Guy’s hair and twisted it hard to pull his head back. Guy, caught unawares could not struggle free. He saw the knife glint in Vasey’s hand.
‘Listen to me,’ Vasey hissed, pressing the point of the knife into Guy’s neck. ‘I decide who gets what around here, don’t you forget that. What you are is what I have made you and I can take it away in an instant.’ Vasey pressed the point of the knife into Guy’s neck even further to emphasise that fact.
There was a moment of silence as Vasey stared deeply into Guy’s eyes and Guy had no choice but to look away. And then, just as suddenly as it had come, Vasey’s anger disappeared and he was smoothing down Guy’s hair and patting him on the cheek.
‘Face facts, she’s gone. She belongs to Gifford now and there is nothing that you can do about it. But, in recognition of your hard work in all this, I’ve decided that you deserve a handsome reward.’
Vasey’s hand went to the parchment, ‘Although, of course, if you’re too upset to accept my kind offer?’ He made as if to roll the parchment up and take it away.
Guy sighed and reached out his hand, into which Vasey gently placed the parchment.
‘Good man.’ he said standing up. ‘Wise decision.’
After Vasey had left, Guy sat in the gathering dark and brooded. He had thought that he was Vasey’s trusted confidante and then, with a flick of his hand, Vasey had swept him and his plans aside.
‘Like a big black spider’s web being torn down,’ he thought bitterly.
He recognised Nettleford Manor for what it was: a sop to make him feel better about being sidestepped and about losing Katherine. He thought back over all the things that he had done for the Sheriff, all the secrets he had kept, and all the blood he had on his hands during the time he had been in Vasey’s service. Despite all that he had done, he had just been thrust aside, no more favoured than one of the guards.
His pride was hurt, he felt used. He was not, after all, the powerful man he thought himself to be. Then he thought of all that he had been through to try to win Katherine. What a fool he must have looked to Vasey, dancing attendance on her when she was already promised to Gifford. Guy of Gisborne made to look a fool over a woman yet again.
He sat there longer, fuming about his mistreatment.
It was only when he hauled himself to his feet and undressed for bed that he spared a thought for how Katherine might be feeling. Lying in the dark, he felt intensely ashamed of himself. Ashamed that he had thought only of his own misuse and ignored her pain. He imagined her lying in her bed crying and he wanted desperately to go to her.
As for anything else, like imagining her lying under a sweating Gifford, Guy refused to let his mind think such thoughts. Besides, he knew with absolute conviction that Katherine would never agree to marry Gifford. He guessed that she would rather die first. If she held her ground, surely even Vasey would not force her?
Guy felt a spasm of unease run through him. Knowing Vasey he suspected that he would have no qualms about dragging a woman to the altar.
No, he would not allow himself to imagine Katherine with Gifford. Things would look better in the morning. Guy would think of some way of matching Gifford’s offer. He thought of the men he knew who could be ‘persuaded’ to give him money. All might still be well.
Then his mind went back to Katherine lying in her chamber two floors below his and he wished fervently that he could revisit the previous night. The night when he had held her wrapped in his arms and had begun to hope that she might be his wife.
