Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“Listen to me and listen well,” she growled.
“Gage did not send Brian to fetch me. Brian came of his own accord. Gage never said a word to him, so if you must blame someone, blame Brian for being compassionate enough to come for me when he thought the man I loved was dying. Brian’s great sense of pity is what started this, so be angry at him.
But do not ever be angry at Gage again for something he had no control over. ”
Maryann’s jaw was ticking again. “You will not speak to me in that manner, Wynter.”
“Speak to you how? Like a fool? Because you are being foolish, Mother. Utterly foolish.”
Maryann’s eyes narrowed. “How dare you speak to me like that,” she hissed.
“You are the fool, Wynter. You do not know what Gage de Reyne is capable of. Brian told me that he had indeed tried to steal his brother’s inheritance and that he had set his sights on you for the Ashington earldom.
Why do you think I brought you back to Ashleven so quickly after our visit at Langley? I wanted to get you away from Gage.”
Wynter was fairly certain Brian hadn’t told her mother any such thing but, on the other hand, he had been threatened by Gage’s appearance. It was possibly he might have intimated something, but she just couldn’t believe that he would openly slander the man the way her mother said he had.
“It’s not true,” she said simply. “Gage never did anything. Boothe threatened to kill him and exiled him from Septentrion. That is the truth of the matter, so whatever Brian told you was wrong. And Gage did not have his sights set on the Ashington earldom – I have my sights set on him. I love him, Mother.”
Maryann growled. “I cannot listen,” she said, turning away. “You have always been a fool for Gage, ever since you were young. It has to stop, Wynter!”
“I am his wife now. I married him yesterday.”
Maryann’s raving came to an abrupt halt and she looked at her daughter in horror. “You… you what?”
“I married him. Gage is now the Earl of Ashington.”
Maryann put a hand to her chest, utterly shocked at what she was hearing. “Nay,” she breathed. “Tell me it is not true.”
Wynter had enough of her mother’s hysterics. She went to the woman, looking her in the eyes.
“It is true,” she said. “I am Gage’s wife and he became the new earl when Papa died.
I believe Papa would be very happy to have Gage as his heir, so do not spoil it with your ravings and hysterics.
If you do not like it, then you can go to your chamber and stay there.
My husband is here and although weakened from the wound he is recovering from, he is already taking steps to make this land safer and better for all of us.
He will be a great earl and I do not care if you do not think so.
He is a wonderful, loving man and if you have anything negative to say about him, then you can go to hell.
I mean it, Mother. I will not hear anything slanderous out of your lips about Gage ever again.
Accept him or don’t. The choice is yours. ”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked past her mother, heading for the chapel entry. She had never spoken to her mother like that in her life but, in her opinion, Maryann deserved it. The woman was being unreasonable and although she was stricken with grief, it did not excuse her behavior.
Nothing did.
Wynter was fully prepared to defend Gage to the death, even against her own mother.
Outside, the beautiful day was waning, a glorious sunset on the western horizon.
In fact, Wynter had never seen the colors so bright and she came to a halt, watching the beautiful pattern of the clouds across the heavens.
Somehow, she could see her father’s face in those clouds.
In truth, she could feel his spirit all around.
He didn’t feel disappointed like her mother did.
But Wynter couldn’t worry about that now.
She had a husband to see.
Wynter found Gage in her father’s solar, seated on a cushioned chair with Clark, Etienne, and Dirk around him.
They were smiling about something when she entered the chamber, but all attention turned to her when she walked in.
Wynter looked at the men around her, forcing herself to brighten a little.
The quarrel with her mother had her mood in tatters.
“What did I interrupt?” she said. “You all look as if you have some delicious secret.”
The men chuckled as Gage answered. “No secret,” he said. “Spring was just here, looking for you. Her face was painted white like it was that time in The Rabbit Burrow. I’m not quite sure who she is expecting that she should be made up so.”
Wynter shook her head. “I would not know,” she said. “Though she will probably want to do some kind of play now that I am here and she has an audience of five knights.”
Gage rolled his eyes. “For your father’s sake, no plays,” he said. “My darling, I love that you are so talented, but no plays for now. We have more important things to do.”
Wynter grinned. “Not even Abraham and Hagar?”
“Not even Abraham and Hagar.”
She conceded, but that humor was tempered by her conversation with her mother. She couldn’t seem to shake it. She turned to Dirk, who had been left behind when everyone else was gone. She thought that the man might know something.
“I just came from my mother, Dirk,” she said. “Has she been with my father since his death?”
Dirk nodded. “She has not left his side, Lady Ashington.”
He used her proper title for the first time and Wynter felt a distinct sense of satisfaction at that.
“I wonder if she is simply overwrought,” she said.
“I do not want to force her into leaving his side if that is what she feels she must do, but I’ve just had a disturbing conversation with her and I wonder if you have experienced the same. ”
Dirk glanced at Etienne, who had also been around Maryann. “She has not seemed right since it happened, my lady,” he said. “We have all seen it. She seems… fragile. Understandably so.”
“What is it?” Gage asked quietly, grasping his wife’s hand. “What did she say?”
Wynter turned to him. “She is distressed at Brian’s death and my father’s death,” she said. “She blames you.”
“Me?”
Wynter nodded. “She seems to think that you are behind sending Brian to fetch me when you were feverish and because my father was departing Ashleven to return me home, she blames you for his death as well.” She sighed softly.
“I have never seen her like this, Gage. I fear what she will say to you when she sees you, so you must be prepared.”
Gage simply lifted his eyebrows, saddened by Maryann’s opinion. “Mayhap I should speak with her,” he said. “If she has concerns, then she can address them with me.”
“Not now. I do not think she will react well.”
Gage kissed her hand, hoping that he and Maryann could come to an understanding, eventually. He very much wanted to get on with his wife’s mother, a woman he’d known for many years and had never had any trouble with. He couldn’t account for her change of opinion, but that would have to wait.
He had other pressing business.
“Now, will you leave us for a while?” he asked. “I would suggest you see to your mother and sisters. They have need of you now, so you can be of most help with them.”
Wynter nodded. “I will see you at sup.”
His eyes glimmered at her. “You most certainly will.”
“And you do not feel too tired? Or weak?”
“A little,” he admitted. “But there is much to do. I am well enough, my darling. Go about your business.”
With a lingering smile on her husband, she headed for the solar door but was cut off when Laurence and Azul suddenly appeared.
“He’s coming, Gage,” Laurence said breathlessly. “He took the bait, the missive we lobbed over the walls, and we saw him ride from Whiteside. We had to race to keep ahead of him, but he cannot be more than an hour behind us, if that.”
Everyone was on their feet, including Gage. “Then you found him?” he asked, incredulous. “At Whiteside, as we’d speculated?”
Laurence was trying to catch his breath. “The man didn’t go far,” he said. “He mustn’t see you or me, so Clark and Etienne and Dirk should be at the gatehouse. He will know their faces and he will not think that anything is amiss.”
Gage quickly agreed. “When he arrives, bring him inside, into this solar, in fact,” he told Clark. “Bull and I will be waiting for him. Act as if everything is normal, as if John is waiting for him. It is imperative that he not catch one hint of trouble.”
Clark and Etienne and Dirk nodded, rushing out to assume their posts. There was a sense of urgency in the air as they rushed past Wynter, who watched them bolt out into the setting sun of the bailey.
“What should I do?” she said to Gage. “Where do you want me to go?”
Gage went to her, kissing her on the forehead.
“Find your sisters and tell them to stay to their chambers,” he said.
“They should not be out and about until this is over. Then you must find your mother. I am concerned with a grieving woman roaming freely at this time. If she sees Boothe before I do and tells him that your father is dead, it could ruin everything.”
Wynter felt some trepidation at that thought.
Without another word, she rushed off to do as she was told.
In fact, she felt a definite need to see her mother again.
The last thing they needed was for the culmination of Gage’s plans to be ruined somehow, especially by a grieving widow.
If that happened, they might not ever get another chance to capture Boothe.
To end the conflict, once and for all.
Now, all they could do was wait for the fly to come to the spider.