It wasn’t that Patrick was a worrier; he was simply one of those people who tried to think of all angles of a situation. That damnable emotion he was so capable of saw to the stress part of his personality and, in a situation like this, he couldn’t help but think the worst. He didn’t want the woman killing herself because of what had happened on this day. That would have made him very remorseful, indeed.
Patrick was vastly intelligent and flawless in his decision-making skills, but there were times when his concern for a situation – or people – gave him pains in his belly. The physic told him he needed to relax more, to pursue something that would calm his naturally strong character, but so far he hadn’t found anything to keep his attention long enough to actually relax him. Heading to London as he was to assume his prestigious post, he was fairly certain he never would.
He was going to be on edge the rest of his life.
It was, therefore, his strong personality and sense of curiosity that kept him by the door, listening, letting his imagination run away with him until he finally heard movement. He congratulated himself on the fact that she hadn’t killed herself. But he was still inclined to believe that he needed to have at least one calm, civil conversation with the woman to ensure she understood what her life would be like from now on. More than that, he hadn’t even told her that he would be taking her to Castle Questing on the morrow.
It would probably be the polite thing to do.
Summoning his courage, he opened the door to his chamber and stepped into the dark corridor. Lifting his hand, he rapped softly on her chamber door. When she bade the caller to enter, he opened the door and timidly stuck his head inside the chamber.
“Lady Brighton?”
His gaze fell on the bed but she wasn’t there. Soon enough, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and saw her sitting in front of the hearth on the warm stone. He almost didn’t see her because of the angle of the entry and when their gazes locked, her head came up and her eyes widened. Patrick could see fear in her eyes and he lifted a hand to ease her.
“I mean you no harm, my lady, I swear it,” he said quickly. “I came to see if you require anything.”
Brighton shook her head, pulling her knees up against her chest in a move that was clearly defensive. “N-nay,” she said with apprehension in her voice. “I do not require anything.”
Patrick almost bowed out, simply because she looked so frightened, but the cold tub caught his eye. “Let me have the bath removed,” he said, turning his attention out into the cold corridor and snapping his fingers at one of the servants lurking down by Katheryn’s chamber. “Send for men to take the bath away.”
The servant fled down the stairs and Patrick stood by the door of Brighton’s chamber, awkwardly, as he waited for the servants to return to fetch the cold bath. The silence between them was tense but Patrick pretended not to notice. He kept his attention out to the corridor, not daring to look at Brighton for fear she would erupt in terror and chase him away. He didn’t want to go away, not yet. He was still determined to speak with her. Therefore, he refused to look at her until a contingent of servants finally clamored up the steps and into the lady’s chamber, removing the cold bathwater with buckets before finally removing the copper tub itself.
Brighton, meanwhile, had moved to the other side of the room, far away from the English who were invading her chamber. Her hair was nearly dry now, with a slight curl to it as it hung to her buttocks, and the lamb’s wool garment was heavy and concealing. Still, she felt threatened by a knight in her chamber, who was by far the largest man she’d ever seen. Standing before him, she’d barely come to his sternum.
His hands were big enough to crush her skull.
As the servants came in and out of the chamber performing their task, Brighton had taken the opportunity to study the big Englishman from a safe distance. He had very dark hair, nearly black, and his eyes were a pale shade of green. With his square jaw and straight nose, she had to admit he was easy on the eyes. In fact, he was quite handsome in her opinion. But since she had no use for men, that opinion was for naught.
Still, he had her interest, purely out of curiosity. He was out of his mail and dressed in a simple tunic and breeches, with boots rising on legs that were as big in circumference as her entire torso. He lingered in the doorway as the servants moved in and out, turning sideways in it because his shoulders were nearly as broad as the doorway itself. Surely it wasn’t easy to move around with size like that, but he seemed fairly agile. Aye, he was a fine example of a man, a rather surprising bit of perfection, if she were to admit it, but those thoughts didn’t matter. He was English and he was hated.
That was all that mattered to her.
The servants eventually cleared out, taking their buckets with them and leaving the chamber quiet with only the fire snapping in the hearth to fill the still air. As Brighton literally stood in the far corner of the room, as far away from the activity as she could go, Patrick finally turned to her.
“I hope you are warm and comfortable now, my lady,” he said in that deep, rich baritone of a voice. “If there is anything else we can do to make your stay more pleasant, I hope you will let us know.”
Brighton regarded him a moment. “T-there is something you can do.”
“You need only name it.”
“Y-you can let me go back to Coldingham.”
He wasn’t surprised to hear that request. “Alas, I cannot,” he said. When he saw her features tighten, even from across the room, he sighed faintly. “My lady, I have come to offer my apologies for the role I have played in your turmoil today. I have contributed to the chaos and distress, but it has been unintentional, I assure you. Much of what has happened, or what has been said, is as much a surprise to me as it is to you. Please believe me when I say that I did not wake up this morning with the sole intention of upsetting you into hysteria. Quite the opposite. I hope you will consider that before judging me too harshly.”
It was a very kind apology, in fact, and Brighton was rather surprised by it. He sounded humble and sincere. It was difficult not to believe him and as she mulled over his words, her stiff stance eased, just a bit.
“I-I am willing to believe that is the truth, my lord,” she said. “I do not even know your name.”
He smiled faintly, perhaps with some chagrin, and the deep dimples that carved into both cheeks set Brighton’s naïve heart to racing. “For that, I am terribly sorry,” he said. “Please do not tell my sisters. I would never hear the end of it.”
“T-then who are you?”
“Sir Patrick de Wolfe at your service, my lady,” he said without hesitation. “I am the garrison commander of Berwick Castle.”
She nodded faintly, absorbing his name. Sir Patrick de Wolfe. “D-De Wolfe?” she repeated. “I have heard that name, I think.”
Patrick nodded. “I have a rather large and extended family all over Northumberland,” he said. “My mother is Scots, in fact, and we are related to Clan Scott. English father, Scots mother. I am born of two countries.”
Brighton was inevitably relaxing with the calm conversation. Considering his easy manner, it wasn’t difficult. “Y-yet you fight for the English.”
He shrugged. “My father is an English baron and a much-decorated knight,” he said. “I was born in England, so that means I am English.”
She nodded in understanding, but it was done in a manner that suggested she might not have agreed with his decision. “T-then you had no choice?”
“Probably not.”
He meant it in a jesting way, which was surprising. Brighton hadn’t considered that the big English knight might actually have a sense of humor. She did, too. But she wasn’t quite ready to jest with him in return.
Not yet, anyway.
“I-I am sorry for you, then.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be,” he said. “I am fulfilling my destiny and I am content. In fact, it is good that we are on the subject. The last time I tried to speak wit
h you about your destiny, or at least tell you what your nurse told me, you had a rather violent reaction. Although I am not unsympathetic to your response, you must look at it from a different point of view – destiny is nothing to fear, my lady. It is what we are born to be. It is to be embraced, as people like us are destined to make a difference in the world.”
“D-do you truly believe that?”
“I do.”
Brighton’s first reaction was to resist what he was telling her as she had resisted before, but his words made a good deal of sense. With the air calm between them and the news of Sister Acha’s story having been something Brighton had already heard, it was easier for her to hear it a second time. But the fear, the disbelief, was still close to the surface. She simply couldn’t help it.
“I-I was not there when you spoke to Sister Acha,” she said. “I do not know what, exactly, was said, but I simply cannot believe she would tell you such a thing. I have spent my entire life with her and she never even hinted about knowing something of my past. Surely, she would have told me.”
Patrick shrugged. “Mayhap she never saw the need,” he said. “She carried the secret alone and when she realized she was dying, she was unwilling to take the secret to her grave.”
Brighton thoughts lingered on Sister Acha and the great secret. The more she thought on it, the more puzzled she became. “B-but I cannot believe Mother Prioress would not know,” she said. “No one does anything without her blessing. Moreover, it was she who would have taken me in to the convent as an infant and she who would have asked Sister Acha to tend me. Therefore, the mother prioress would have known, too. Why did she never tell me?”
Patrick didn’t have an answer to that. But it made him think of what he had discussed with his knights earlier with regard to the lady’s secret; it is clear that someone, somewhere, knew of her identity other than the old nun and the mother of the child. And that information has made its way to Clan Swinton.
Was it possible the mother prioress allowed the information to leak to the Swinton?
Or perhaps she told someone who did?
Patrick couldn’t honestly imagine that was the case. But it did spell out the fact that more than Sister Acha knew of Brighton’s true identity.
If there was one, there had to be more.
“I cannot say, my lady,” he said, trying to be of some comfort. “But I swear to you on my oath as a knight that your Sister Acha told me of your true lineage. I am not entirely sure she wanted me to tell you, but I believe it is your right to know. It is not my privilege to withhold that information from you.”
Brighton pondered his statement for a few moments. She was feeling comfortable enough with Patrick’s presence to come away from the wall, meandering in the direction of the hearth. With that comfort, her stammer, which usually happened only when she was nervous or stressed, faded away.
“It is not something I am prepared to hear or even accept,” she said, coming into the light. “I would very much like to speak to Mother Prioress about this. If only she could tell me what she knows, mayhap she can confirm what Sister Acha told you. At least then I would have no cause for doubt.”
Patrick didn’t really hear much after her first few words. Once she came into the light, he was stricken by the ethereal vision of a stunning beauty draped in white and illuminated by the flames. Her hair, long and silky, tumbled down her back. But that sweet, delicate face was lined with strife. He found himself watching her lips as she spoke, watching the way the corners of her mouth curled upward. He could have watched her speak forever, for certainly, she was an enchanting creature.
And she was more enchanting by the moment.
But he realized she was expecting a response to whatever she said and he had to think hard on the words she’d spoken, struggling to remember just a few. He didn’t want to ask her to repeat herself; that would have been humiliating. But, then again, he could watch her lips as she spoke again.
Those luscious, curvy lips….
“Although I promised your nurse that I would protect you, the truth is that I gave my word before realizing the full impact of the situation,” he said. “I am to leave for London and a royal appointment in a fortnight and it will make it difficult for me to keep my vow. I am, therefore, taking you to my father upon the morrow. He is a great warrior and a very wise man. I believe it would be wise to seek his counsel. You will be safe at Castle Questing until he can decide what is to be done. Until then, I hope you will enjoy the hospitality of the House of de Wolfe.”
She regarded him, half of her face illuminated by the firelight. “Then you will not take me back to Coldingham?”
So they were back to that subject again. He cocked his head. “My lady, do you really wish to return only to be abducted again?”
“There is no certainty that I will.”
“Are you willing to take that chance?”
She sighed, frustrated. The stammer began to return. “B-but you do not know that for certain,” she said. “Mayhap these men who seek me will forget about me entirely. I am willing to take the chance that they will.”
Patrick took a few steps into the room, closing the door enough so that it was cracked and their voices wouldn’t carry so much. There were several people asleep on this level and he didn’t want raised voices waking them. For what he was about to say, it was quite possible that the next raised voice would be Brighton’s.
“Let us assume you are wrong,” he said. “Let us say that I return you to Coldingham and deliver you back to the mother prioress, as you have asked. Now you are home but the priory you have known all your life is no longer safe for anyone, least of all you. Clan Swinton broke the sanctity of a priory to get to you and I would be willing to believe that one or more nuns lost their lives in the process. They do not care who they harm in their quest to abduct you. So by taking you back to Coldingham, not only is your life in danger, but so is everyone else’s. Are you truly so determined to return there now that you know that? I cannot believe that you would be so selfish.”
She was both surprised and hurt by his words. “I-I am not being selfish,” she insisted. “I simply want to go home. You cannot fault me for wanting to go home.”
He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Nay, I cannot fault you for wanting to go home, but I have repeatedly explained to you why it would not be a good idea,” he said. “Let me take it a step further. Let me tell you what will happen once Clan Swinton is able to return you to their stronghold. They will more than likely throw you in the vault or lock you in a chamber. You will be fortunate if you have a food or fire. They will treat you like a commodity, a bargaining piece, because that is all you will mean to them. I can only imagine they will try to ransom you but while they wait, each man in the clan will more than likely violate you in ways I will not describe. I think you understand what I mean. They have no such restraint and no reason to keep you pure and untouched while they await their ransom demand. Then, depending on who pays your ransom, you could be given over to another clan you do not know and those men might very well do the same thing to you. Are you understanding any of what I am telling you, my lady?”
Brighton was looking up at him, her eyes swimming in tears. “T-that is a despicable thing to say.”
“It is the truth.”
“Y-you could be wrong.”
“Then I will ask you this one last time – are you willing to take that chance? If you are, then I will return you to Coldingham tomorrow and you can take your chances. But know this; I will not return to save you again. If I leave you at Coldingham, I wash my hands of you and of my vow, because you clearly have no grasp of what I am trying to do – I am trying to help you. If you are too foolish to take that help, then I have nothing more to say.”
She maintained her focus on him, staring him down just as he was staring her down. It was will against will at this point and, to tell the truth, Patrick had no intention of returning her to Coldingham even if she asked it of him. He was willing to bank on
the fact that somehow, someway, he was getting through to her so she understood what, exactly, her desire to return home entailed. It wasn’t a simple thing in the least.
He was hoping to scare her into staying. He could only pray she was smart enough to realize it.
After an eternity of staring at each other, Brighton finally broke away. Patrick watched as she quickly wiped at her eyes, flicking away any tears that might be bold enough to escape.
“T-then what will happen to me if I do not return?” she asked, looking into the fire. “I have no family and nowhere to go. What will become of me?”
He eased up his serious stance, relieved that she was at least considering what he was saying. In fact, he was vastly relieved and trying not to show it.
“I do not know,” he said honestly. “That is why I want to take you to Castle Questing and to my father. He will know what to do. Mayhap you will end up as a lady-in-waiting in a fine house or, mayhap, you will become a nurse to a family of children. There are many things for you, I think. You must not despair. My father will help you.”
He was trying to sound positive, as if there was hope for her future. It seemed to work because her tears eased. Whatever turmoil was roiling in her heart, he seemed to soothe the pain. It was actually quite kind of him to do it; giving comfort to a woman he didn’t even know. A woman who had fought him at every turn.
She dared to look at him again.
“T-then I suppose I should thank you for making me your burden, Sir Patrick,” she said. “It was a great presumption for Sister Acha to extract a promise from you to watch over me and you were kind to agree. I suppose a lesser man would not have.”
Patrick sensed that, finally, the hostile barrier was down between them. He hadn’t honestly been sure that would ever happen. Feeling the least bit more personable towards her, he took a step in her direction.
The Original de Wolfe Pack Complete Set: Including Sons of de Wolfe Page 140