“What else did you hear?” he asked.
Jordan looked at Scott, who nodded curtly. Her sorrowful green eyes turned to her grandson. “I heard them say that Atticus and the child Lily carries are not yer children. They’re Marcellus’.”
With that load of bricks dropped on him, Will simply stared at her. For the longest time, he could seemingly only look at her before abruptly bolting to his feet. He started to walk, nearly crashed into the wall, but managed to turn himself and end up over by the lancet window that overlooked the inner bailey.
He just stood there, hand over his mouth.
Scott came up behind him.
“Will?” he said softly. “You know that Matha would not lie to you. If she said she heard this, then she did.”
Will simply nodded. He was still looking out of the window, his hand still over his mouth, unable to speak. Scott looked at Jordan and they passed concerned glances, but they didn’t say anything more.
Will would react when he was good and ready.
But that wasn’t for quite some time.
The sounds of the bailey were floating in from the window, filling the stale air of the solar. Servants were calling to each other, going about their business, and life went on. It went on as Will stood there with his hand over his mouth, evidently too stunned to speak. Scott and Jordan stood by, waiting, watching.
Waiting for something to happen.
Watching for a breakdown.
Finally, Will plopped down into the nearest chair and the hand came away from his mouth. When he finally spoke, he was looking at the floor.
“I know,” he murmured.
Scott’s eyes widened. “You know?” he hissed. “You know about this… this disgrace?”
Will nodded unsteadily. “I know about Lily and Marcellus,” he said dully. “I’ve always known. It has been going on since before we were married. I’m not that stupid, Papa. I know.”
Scott was beside himself. He grabbed the nearest chair, pulling it up to Will and planting himself in it.
“And you let it go on?” he demanded, unable to comprehend what his son was telling him. “Why did you not put a stop to it?”
Will sat back in the chair, finally looking at his father. His face was lined with stress, with emotion. “Let me be clear,” he said. “I knew about Marcellus. I did not know about Atticus or the child she carries. That is new information.”
Scott wasn’t any less bewildered than he had been moments earlier. “Why did you let this go on?”
Will shrugged, lowering his gaze. “It is… complicated.”
“No doubt, but I still want to know. What in the hell is going on, Will?”
Will simply shook his head. “Lily never wanted to marry me,” he said. “Frankly, I did not want to marry her. You already know this, so I will not go into it again. I knew they were carrying on when I was still at Lioncross and Chris knew, too. After Lily and I were married, Chris tried to do the right thing and send Marcellus away, but Lily tried to kill herself. Being that she is his only daughter, he brought Marcellus back. Meanwhile, he begged me not to say anything or do anything. He swore that she would overcome her feelings for Marcellus, but she never did.”
Scott was gobsmacked. He sat back in his chair, his mouth hanging open. “De Lohr knew?” he repeated. “Worse still, he let it happen?”
Will nodded. “She was my wife by then,” he said. “No one wanted a big scandal. Chris didn’t want the de Lohr or de Wolfe names shamed, so he kept it quiet. We both did. As long as Lily and Marcellus were discreet, no one knew. Remarkably, no one ever found out.”
Scott was still in disbelief. “So you both let it go on simply so the families of de Lohr and de Wolfe would not be swept up in scandal? That makes no sense.”
“Aye, it does,” Will said. “Papa, Lily and I do not have a marriage. We have a contract. I was not heartbroken by any of this and if that makes me sound cold and stupid, then so be it. I was more concerned with preserving the de Wolfe reputation than my own honor. Think about it – if I called Marcellus out, everyone would know. If I killed the man in an honor killing, not only would the truth come out, but Lily might actually jamb a dagger in her chest like she did before, only this time, she wouldn’t miss. Then I would be known as the de Wolfe whose wife killed herself when her affair was discovered. I did not want that.”
Scott was starting to see the light, no matter how much he didn’t agree with it. “So you kept silent to preserve everyone’s honor,” he said. “Especially yours.”
“Aye,” Will said faintly. “Especially mine.”
Scott was still astonished. He turned to look at his mother, to see how she was reacting to all of this, and all he could see on her face was distress. Pure, painful distress. That was enough to shake Scott to the bone.
“Oh, God,” he muttered, standing up from the chair. “Is that what has happened here? Is this what you have had to deal with since de Lohr forced you to marry his daughter?”
“Aye,” Will said, watching his father pace. “I never told you because there is nothing you could have done. I wanted to spare you that misery.”
That only seemed to enrage Scott. “So I am to be kept in the dark while my son becomes a martyr?” he said. “I thought this was such a smart marriage but, as it turns out, the de Lohrs have been torturing you all along.”
Will shook his head. “It is not like that, Papa.”
“Isn’t it?” Scott raged. “Chris forces you to marry his unstable and unfaithful daughter, and you have endured this silently for over ten years? I’d say that makes you a martyr and when I tell Poppy, it will change the relationship between de Wolfe and de Lohr forever.”
Will lifted his hand. “Don’t,” he said. “Don’t tell Poppy, I beg you. I did not even want you to know, but that cannot be helped now. There is nothing you or Poppy can do and if you try, it will only bring shame and quite possibly a war down upon us.”
Scott didn’t care. All he could see was that Chris de Lohr and his daughter had abused his strong, noble son all of these years and he was beyond furious about it.
“To hell with a de Lohr alliance,” he snarled. “I don’t give a damn what happens. They cannot get away with what they’ve done to you.”
Will sighed heavily. “Papa, Lily is dying,” he said frankly. “This is not a situation that will go on much longer, so there is no reason to start an incident over this. Please do not try.”
“You’re just going to let this go?”
“I am.”
“Does Lily know that you know?”
“She does not.”
Scott was prepared to blow up again but he found that he couldn’t. He was far too upset to continue his unbridled raging. He plopped down in the nearest chair and put his head in his hands.
“You’ve let her lie to you for over ten years,” he said. “Worse still, you’ve let a knight, a man sworn to you, lie to you as well. A man who showed you such disrespect that he impregnated your wife, twice, and has let you think those children are yours. Do you not feel any anger over this, lad? Because I have an abundance of it.”
“Of course I feel anger,” Will said quietly. “But not for the reasons you think. I feel anger at Chris because he married his daughter to the wrong man. I feel anger that two people who are clearly in love with one another cannot be together because of me. I feel anger that they cannot know true happiness because of what Chris did to them. His sins against them are far greater than his sins against me. At least he isn’t keeping me from the woman I love.”
Scott was listening to him intently, shocked by what he was hearing. But in the same breath, he’d never heard anything so utterly unselfish. That was a distinct blow, but not in a bad way. It was more that he had an epiphany.
After a moment, he shook his head in awe.
“I have been thinking you were showing such weakness in all of this,” he muttered. “Forgive me, Will. It is not weakness you have been showing, but compassion. Generosity.
I feel ashamed that I did not see that before.”
“Ye remind me of someone I knew long ago,” Jordan said, rising stiffly from her stool. She had been listening to the exchange carefully and now it was her turn to speak. Her eyes glimmered weakly as she approached her grandson. “Do ye know the story of how Poppy and I met, Will?”
Will looked at his grandmother. “Only that you were pledged to another man at first,” he said. “Why?”
“Ye dunna know who?”
“Teviot?”
Jordan nodded. “Yer Poppy and I first met when I tended a wound he’d sustained in battle,” she said. “’Tis fair tae say that it was love at first sight. There were wars going on across the borders back then, Scots against English, and months later, my own father pledged me tae marry the Earl of Teviot. As it turned out, Poppy served the earl as his captain.”
“I think I heard that, once,” Will said. “But you married Poppy instead.”
Jordan nodded, pulling her old shawl more tightly about her shoulders now that she was away from the fire. “I did, but it wasna an easy path for us,” she said. “We loved each other from the first and, much like Lily and Marcellus, we carried on in secret. We knew it was wrong but, sometimes, love willna be stopped. The earl knew all along until, finally, he confronted Poppy with it. Poppy admitted it and fully expected tae be punished, but the earl did something compassionate and generous – he permitted us tae marry in secret so we could be together. In a sense, that’s what ye’ve let Lily and Marcellus do. Yer reasons are a little different, but the fact remains that ye’ve shown them the same compassion that Teviot showed Poppy and me. ’Tis true that Chris de Lohr was selfish – the man should have never forced Lily tae wed ye. But ye knew she dinna love ye, and even if ye dinna love her, ye showed her and Marcellus great understanding.”
“Do you mean that?”
“Of course I do,” Jordan said. “Now that I know the extent of their love, I canna condemn the lass for doing something I did myself. But I am upset that she did it tae my bonny Will.”
Where there had been rage in the chamber only moments earlier, now there was the blessed relief of understanding, at least as far as Jordan was concerned. Will smiled faintly at her and she smiled in return, reaching out to take his hand. It was a moment of understanding between them. But Scott was still in the throes of confusion.
“Then you approve of what Lily and Marcellus have been doing?” he asked his mother. “What they have been doing to Will?”
Jordan shrugged. “As I said, I did it myself tae a very kind earl,” she said. “It is not whether or not I approve. It is whether or not I understand, and I do.”
Scott shook his head and stood up. “Well, I don’t,” he said flatly. “Chris de Lohr knowingly created this mess and the victim in all of this is Will. I’ll not forgive him easily for this.”
“Dunna say anything tae Lily or Marcellus,” Jordan said sternly. “If we’re tae be honest, they’re victims as much as Will is, so dunna let on that ye know. This is Will’s fight, Scott. Let him fight in his own way.”
Scott simply shook his head and lifted his hands in defeat now that his mother was suddenly on Lily’s side. Maybe she understood why Lily had behaved the way she had, but he still didn’t. He understood that his son had been incredibly benevolent with his unfaithful wife, but that was about it. Bewildered and emotional, he quit the solar, heading out into the small hall.
Jordan and Will watched him go.
“I am sorry if I have disappointed him,” Will said with sadness. “I would never knowingly do that.”
Jordan shook her head. “He’ll come tae terms with it, but dunna be surprised if he tells Poppy,” she said. “In many ways, this involves the alliance between de Wolfe and de Lohr, so he has every right tae be concerned with it.”
“I suppose,” Will said. “But you were correct when you said this is my fight. It is not even a fight – it’s simply my business.”
Jordan looked at him. “May I make a suggestion?”
“Please.”
Jordan cupped his bearded chin in one soft palm and forced him to look at her. “Tell Lily that ye know,” she said quietly. “Tell her that ye have no ill feelings because of it. Make peace with the woman, Will, for yer own sake. And tell Marcellus that ye know, tae. Ye’re raising the man’s son. Mayhap ye should assure him that ye’ll do yer best for the lad.”
Will thought on that. “Atticus is my son,” he said simply. “I swear to you that he looks like me and acts like the de Norvilles. It is possible that Marcellus is not his father.”
“Mayhap,” she said. “If ye really want tae know, I know someone who could tell ye.”
Will knew that she meant Lily. He simply nodded. “I’ll think on it.”
“Will ye see her now?”
“Not now. I need some time to myself, Matha. This entire day has been… trying.”
Jordan leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. “Ye’ve grown intae a fine man, William de Wolfe,” she said. “I’ve never been more proud of ye than I am at this moment.”
With that, she turned and wandered out of the solar. She found that she needed some time to reflect as well, perhaps take a walk out of the walls near the river where it was so lovely. There was no nearby river at Castle Questing and she didn’t often get that chance.
She’d speak to Lily when she was good and ready, for she knew what it was like to love a man with all of her heart and find herself in a clandestine relationship because of it. Aye, she knew very well. Will’s reaction to the situation was some of the greatest compassion she had ever seen.
A true de Wolfe heart, indeed.
Just like his Poppy.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
She didn’t much like the knights’ quarters.
That was where male visitors were housed, including Gar. The entire structure was low-ceilinged and smelled of mold. It had a dark, dank feel to it and the chambers were very small, barely big enough for a bed.
Adria found her father in one of these tiny cells.
The door was partially open because the building had ventilation problems, so the door was open to help air circulate. Therefore, Adria didn’t have to knock. She saw her father through the open door as she approached, sitting on the bed and looking at something in his hands.
She stepped into the chamber.
“I was told you were still here,” she said.
Gar’s head snapped up, his features registering surprise. “Aye, I’m still here,” he said. “I… I could not leave until you and I made peace. I did not want to leave with our last words being harsh ones.”
Adria wasn’t convinced. “You told Lord Irthington that you were feeling ill.”
“I was. Ill that we had such harsh words between us.”
Adria had come to his chamber with a purpose and it wasn’t to make peace. She wanted him gone, now more than ever, and she was going to make sure he understood that.
No more excuses.
“As long as we do not have another discussion like the one in kitchen yard, there will be peace,” she said. “I’ve come to tell you that you are to leave on the morrow.”
Gar didn’t react to that directive right away. He simply looked at her, shrugged, and looked at what he’d been holding in his hands. He held it up, a small, brown, leather-bound book.
“Do you remember this?” he asked. “It is your prayer book, from when you were a child. I always travel with it.”
Adria did indeed recognize it. “I wondered what happened to it,” she said. “I have not seen it in years.”
“I had it,” Gar said. “It reminds me of… better days.”
Adria could understand that. “I am glad it gives you some comfort,” she said. “But you are still to leave on the morrow. If you do not go of your own free will, you will be forcibly escorted out.”
The pleasant expression faded from his features. “But I am not well.”
“You are well enough.”
“You would cast your own father aside when he is ill?”
She was losing her patience. “You are not ill,” she said. “You simply want to remain here and become a burden to Irthington’s good graces, which I will not allow. I do not want you here, Gar. I have told you that.”
She couldn’t even bring herself to address him as her father any longer. The man was a nuisance and a burden, and she was tired of it. He had become Gar to her. There was too much going on at Carlisle to accommodate his particular brand of foolery and she wanted him gone and out of her life, but that was more than likely too much to ask.
“I am your father and I have every right to be here,” he said. “Our business is not concluded, Adria, not in the least. There is still the matter of a marriage…”
She cut him off. “There will be no marriage to those you spoke to,” she said. “I do not want to hear another word about it. You will leave at sunrise or I will have you bodily thrown from Carlisle.”
With that, she turned on her heel, heading out of the knights’ quarters.
Tossing the prayer book aside, Gar went in pursuit.
Adria didn’t know her father was behind her until the man grasped her by the arm. Startled that someone was touching her, Adria yanked her arm free and spun around, fists balled, only to see Gar standing behind her.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You will not touch me,” she hissed. “I told you that once. Do it again and I will find the nearest weapon and use it on you.”
Gar wouldn’t be intimidated. In fact, he’d had quite enough of his daughter’s attitude. “There is no knight to save you now,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “I am your father. In this world, a man’s word is law and I will no longer tolerate your refusals. I do not care who accepts my offer first, but whoever it is, you shall marry. If you refuse to do it, I shall take my case to the church and they will force you.”
Adria stood her ground. “I told you I would join the cloister before I allow you to marry me off like a prized mare.”
WolfeLord: de Wolfe Pack Generations Page 22