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  “You are very brave to stand up to Lord Onfroi when you know he is betrothed to my daughter.”

  “I fear nothing when I am protecting those I love,” Claude answered.

  “There is that word again. Love,” said the count, chuckling and nodding his gray head. “When Evelina’s mother was alive, she believed in marrying for love as well, although I always believed in marrying for alliances.”

  “What are you saying, my lord?” asked Claude.

  “I am saying I like you, Sir Montague. I didn’t know until today that Lord Onfroi intended on hurting my daughter.”

  “She needs to be kept in line,” snarled Onfroi. “A good beating is what she needs, and I’ll be the one to give it to her. After today, she will never run off or lie to us again.”

  “After today, you will need to find a new wife,” said the count. “I am sorry, Lord Onfroi but I cannot let you marry my daughter.”

  “We made an alliance,” shouted Onfroi. “Do you want to go to war with me over this?”

  “If I have to fight you to protect my daughter, then I will do it. Now, I suggest you leave the castle immediately because the longer you stay here, the more you are making me want to run my blade through you myself.”

  “You’ll pay for this, du Pont. You won’t get away with crossing me.” Onfroi left the great hall, making Evelina let out a sigh of relief.

  “Claude, can you ever forgive me?” asked Evelina. “I am sorry for everything. I promise that if you can forgive me for my mistakes, I will never make them again.”

  “You hurt me deeply,” Claude admitted. “But when I left here in anger, I realized that I was only hurting myself.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Evelina.

  “You were the one who taught me that I have to let go of the past or I will never be able to enjoy the future. Well, I want to look forward to the future, but only if you are a part of it as my wife.” Claude got down on one knee again and took Evelina’s hands in his. “Will you marry me, Lady Evelina? I love you and want you to be my wife.”

  Evelina wanted this more than anything, but she needed her father to agree to it first. She realized she should never have gone against him without talking to him and explaining how she felt. Knowing now that her mother believed in marrying for love, she could see if she had tried harder to talk with her father they might have been able to come to a decision that benefited both of them. She looked up at her father, feeling her heart beating rapidly in her chest, waiting for his permission.

  “Go on,” said the count with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way of a love like that.”

  “I will,” said Evelina, feeling as if her dreams had come true. “I will marry you, Claude Montague, and I am honored to be your wife.”

  Chapter 16

  Three days later

  Claude stood atop the cliff at Hastings, having just said his vows and marrying Evelina. She looked beautiful wearing the purple velvet gown that was now clean and fit for a princess. A circlet of freshly picked flowers crowned her head. They left the priest and crowd of people at the foot of the cliff because Claude wanted to bring Evelina up to the ruins of Castle Hastings. It was such a big part of his past.

  Claude had chosen to be married in Hastings because it was once his father’s demesne and where Claude’s life changed forever.

  The count had stayed in England for the wedding, and Lord Onfroi hadn’t been seen again since he was sent away. Everyone was there to celebrate, including the Barons of the Cinque Ports and their families, and even Rose and Toft and their new baby, Daniela.

  “I can’t believe we’re married,” said Evelina, glancing down at the ring on her finger. Claude had given her a ring that was his late grandmother’s, on his father’s side. His grandfather insisted Claude take it for good luck.

  “I can’t believe it either,” he said, looking up to the ruins where half of the castle still clung to the cliff hanging over the silted-up harbor far below.

  “Claude, why are we here?” asked Evelina, looking over at the ruins. “This doesn’t seem like the best place for a wedding.”

  “I think it is a perfect place,” he told her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest. “This was once my father’s castle. It was his pride and joy. There was a bad storm one night, and he lost almost everything – except his family and those he loved.”

  “Go on,” she said, urging him to continue.

  “See that broken tower,” he told her, pointing up to the castle.

  “I do.”

  “That is where I almost died.”

  “Oh, Claude, that is horrible.”

  “Nay, not really. My father saved my life that day. Then, my mother and I saved his life in return. It was also where my grandfather took his own life.”

  “I still don’t understand why you would want to come here to get married.”

  “It wasn’t the act, but the love I felt that day that made me want to return. I learned a lot at the young age of five and ten years. I learned to forgive, and I learned that love is stronger than any blade. It is all that really matters.”

  “That is beautiful, Claude. I think I understand now.”

  “There is more,” said Claude. “I realized that wanting to return here was only clinging to the past. And since I am looking forward to the future, I want to leave the bad memories behind and only bring with me the good feelings from now on.”

  “That is wonderful, Claude. I am happy for you. Now, you need to show you are leaving your past behind by throwing something into the sea.”

  “Like what?” he asked.

  “Not me,” she said, causing both of them to laugh. “Take this,” she said, removing her crown of flowers and handing it to him. “By throwing it into the sea, you will be releasing everything from the past that has been holding you back. The flowers symbolize life. As they float in the water, they will either wash out to sea or back to shore, but it doesn’t matter. They symbolize new life, new growth and new love.”

  “I love you,” said Claude, taking the crown, stepping forward and tossing it over the edge of the cliff and into the sea. “There,” he said, taking her hand. “Now we can celebrate with our loved ones and start our new life without anything holding us back.”

  They ran happily down the hill and didn’t stop until they met with the others.

  “Claude,” said his father, John, coming up to him with a look of concern on his face. “What were you throwing into the sea?”

  “Don’t worry, Father, I was just getting rid of some things I didn’t need any longer.”

  “Aye, and nature did that for your father, getting rid of that big ol’ castle that he used to brag about all the time,” said Lord Nicholas Vaughn with a chuckle.

  “Easy, Nicholas,” John warned him. “If you keep that up I am going to have to remind everyone that you still are living in a manor house while I have a new castle just about built in Winchelsea.”

  “Don’t worry, Nicholas, I’ll lend you one of my castles if you need it,” said Lord Conlin -.

  “Conlin, our second castle is in Scotland,” said Isobel. “Nicholas and Muriel and their children are happy in New Romney.”

  “That’s right,” said Nicholas’ wife, Muriel, who used to be a spinster. “Evelina, my brother and I made this for your first baby.” She handed her a beautiful woven blanket.

  “I love it,” said Evelina, taking it from her and running her fingers over the soft wool.

  “Muriel and her brother, Isaac, once had their own shop and are skilled at spinning and weaving,” Claude told her.

  “I was the merchant’s daughter,” said Muriel, holding the hand of her three-year-old son, Glen. The rest of her four children ran around chasing Isobel’s three boys as well as Claude’s sister, Charlotte.

  “Lord Nicholas married you, yet you weren’t a noble?” she asked in astonishment.

  “He did,” said Muriel. “Sometimes love is stronger that status.
”

  “I wanted to marry you even when I thought you were only a handmaid,” Claude reminded Evelina.

  “And I would have married you if you were naught but a commoner,” Evelina told him in return.

  Evelina’s father cleared his throat. “So, Montague, where will you be living with my daughter? In England or France?”

  “Yes, Claude,” said John. “If you are ready to leave France behind, I have plenty of room for you and Evelina and any children you might have in my new castle. I would love to spend more time with you, Son.”

  “Where will we live, Claude?” asked Evelina, looking up in question.

  Claude felt torn. Now that Evelina was his wife, her family resided in France. He was lord of Stonebury Castle in France, yet he wanted to spend more time getting to know his father in England. Plus, his mother and younger sister resided in England as well. A body of water separated his family.

  He looked up to the ruins of Castle Hastings, breathing in a deep breath of fresh, sea air. Even from the ashes, one can rise again, he realized. There was no need to choose between his past and future because he could have it all living in the present.

  “We will live in both places,” he told Evelina.

  “How can we do that?” she wondered.

  “We will spend most of our time in France, but several months out of the year we will live in Winchelsea with my parents and sister.”

  “Oh, I would like that,” said Claude’s mother, always wanting to be close to him.

  “That’s a wise choice, Son,” said John. “I am looking forward to it.”

  Claude’s squire, Felix, ran over and interrupted the conversation. “Lady Rose is still feeling weak and can’t leave the wagon. She wants to congratulate both of you. So does Lord Toft.”

  “Aye, I’d like to see the baby again,” said Evelina, holding on to the blanket and taking Claude’s hand as they strolled over to the wagon to talk to Rose and Toft.

  “I am very happy for you,” said Rose, sitting in the wagon, holding her baby to her chest. The baby started to cry. Toft took it from her, making silly faces and noises, trying to make it stop fussing.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Evelina.

  “I am still weak, but I will be fine thanks to both of you. So will Daniela. I can’t thank you enough for being my friends.”

  “We’ll always be your friends.” Claude reached up and hugged Rose and kissed her on the cheek.

  “Claude, you are married now and shouldn’t be kissing other women,” Rose told him.

  “It’s all right,” said Evelina. “Claude and I know that our love is real and nothing can come between us.”

  “That’s right,” said Claude, gathering Evelina into his arms and kissing her passionately. “I hope to start raising a family soon because I can’t wait to be a father.” He dipped Evelina and bent over and kissed her again. She laughed as they both ended up falling on the ground.

  “Save that for the bedchamber, Son,” John called out. “After all, you need to learn what you can and cannot do in public.”

  “Nay, Father, you are wrong,” Claude called back with a huge smile on his face. He looked deeply into Evelina’s eyes when he said the next words. “With our love, there are no bounds, and nothing at all is Forbidden.”

  From the Author

  I hope you enjoyed Claude’s story, as he finally now has his happily-ever-after with Evelina. If you would like to leave a review for me, it would be appreciated.

  Most marriages of the medieval times were solely for purposes of alliances. However, it wouldn’t be a romance if I couldn’t tweak situations to make them more romantic and the way we would like to see them.

  Writing this story wasn’t that easy because of the fact Claude was still in love with Rose from many years earlier. When we first met him, he was just a scrawny boy with long hair and his own father, who didn’t know him, thought he was a girl. Claude has come a long way since then and shows his heroic side and love for Evelina when he steps up to the plate and faces off against her betrothed to protect her.

  If you would like to read the story where Claude is first introduced in the series, you will want to pick up The Baron’s Destiny – Book 3 of the Barons of the Cinque Ports Series. You will also find the backstory of Claude’s parents and their romance and the trials and troubles they went through, including the devastation of John losing his castle in the end. That book was inspired by a real-life event back in the late 1200s. A horrible storm came through and silted-up the harbor of Hastings which was one of the biggest ports of trade at the time. Hastings Castle really did break off with part of it falling into the sea.

  The other books of the Cinque Ports series that have the stories of Lord Nicholas Vaughn and Lord Conlin de Braose are The Baron’s Quest – Book 1, and The Baron’s Bounty – Book 2.

  Since a lot of my readers have been asking to know about the families of my main characters after the books end, I am adding a list of the three barons and their families long after their stories end. The ages of their children are at the time of the book, Forbidden.

  From The Baron’s Quest:

  Baron Nicholas Vaughn – Lord of New Romney

  Muriel Draper – his wife (Once a spinster – spun wool, has brother, Isaac)

  Their children: Twins, Nicholas and Nelda 8, Holly – 7, Heather – 5, Glen – 3

  From The Baron’s Bounty:

  Baron Conlin de Braose – Lord of Sandwich (lost wife and 5 children through the years)

  Isobel MacEwen – Conlin’s wife. (Scottish - Once a proxy for her cousin, Catherine)

  Their children: Rose - 21 (from Conlin’s first marriage)

  Torrence – 8, Dunmor – 6, Harry – 4

  Rose and Sir Toft (Once Conlin’s squire) married with baby Daniela (Lost 2 babies)

  From The Baron’s Destiny:

  Baron John Montague – Lord of Hastings

  Celestine de Bar – his French wife

  Their children: Claude Jean – 23, Charlotte – 8

  Claude and Evelina de Pont (French) marry

  Watch for more stories of secondary characters from any of my series in my Second in Command Series. Pirate in the Mist – Book 1, is the story of Rowen the Restless’ first mate from the Legendary Bastards of the Crown Series.

  And now on preorder, releasing on July 6th, is Highland Secrets - Book 1 of my Secrets of the Heart Series.

  Remember, that to find your future happiness, you need to stop living in the past and concentrate on the precious present.

  Elizabeth Rose

  About Elizabeth

  Elizabeth Rose is a multi-published, bestselling author, writing medieval, historical, contemporary, paranormal, and western romance. She is an amazon all-star and has been an award finalist numerous times. Her books are available as Ebooks, paperback, and audiobooks as well.

  Her favorite characters in her works include dark, dangerous and tortured heroes, and feisty, independent heroines who know how to wield a sword. She loves writing 14th century medieval novels, and is well-known for her many series.

  Her twelve-book small town contemporary series, Tarnished Saints, was inspired by incidents in her own life.

  After being traditionally published, she started self-publishing, creating her own covers and book-trailers on a dare from her two sons.

  Elizabeth loves the outdoors. In the summertime, you can find her in her secret garden with her laptop, swinging in her hammock working on her next book. Elizabeth is a born storyteller and passionate about sharing her works with her readers.

  Please be sure to visit her website at Elizabethrosenovels.com to read excerpts from any of her novels and get sneak peeks at covers of upcoming books. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or Bookbub. Be sure to sign up for her newsletter so you don’t miss out on new releases or upcoming events.

  Click to join Elizabeth Rose’s Readers’ Group.

  Excerpt from The Baron’s Destiny

  The
Baron’s Destiny

  (Barons of the Cinque Ports Series - Book 3)

  Hanging off the side of a cliff by one arm, watching as the horse that had thrown him ran off through the forest, John Montague was sure this would be the way he died.

  If he had any doubt in his mind, the crash of thunder reverberating in his ears, the flashes of lightning across the nighttime sky, and the torrential downpour only reinforced the fact that this was the last nail in his coffin.

  “God’s eyes, why a storm?” he growled, trying to grab with both hands for the vine that held him, but couldn’t. His horse had become spooked at the nearby strike of lightning and thrown him just as he’d seen a man on the road in front of him.

  His head had hit against the rocks and was bleeding and he could barely move his arm because of the pain from the arrow sticking out of his flesh. Blood trickled down his forehead getting into his eyes, and lodging its coppery taste upon his lips. He should have stayed with the others at King Edward’s side in Paris for another hour, or at least waited for his squire to accompany him instead of venturing out on his own. But when he’d seen the storm coming he’d panicked, and felt the need to get back to his ship without delay.

  His fleet of ships was scheduled to leave France tonight since the men had served their required fourteen days service to their king. King Edward had spent the summer in Paris, and had not stepped foot on English soil in so long now that it was starting to become a problem back home. John had brought the king’s reinforcements to France, as well as the supplies his sovereign had requested from England. The trading had taken place once they’d docked on the French coast, and they’d be leaving the coveted high quality English wool behind, taking back with them fine French wine in its place.

  “Arrrrgh,” he shouted, his fingers slipping on the wet vine as he wondered whom the person was who’d dared to jump out on the road threatening him with a bow and arrow and causing this inconvenience in the first place. The knave had the nerve to threaten an armed baron on horseback, and John still couldn’t believe he’d actually taken an arrow to the shoulder. If his horse hadn’t reared up and thrown him, he would have struck the man down with his sword. If he ever got his hands on the hooded man, there would be hell to pay.