Chapter Ten #2
“Emmeline,” he said. “I came at Max’s request. The only reason I have interfered when it came to sleeping arrangements is because what Max and his father were doing to you was not fair. It was not right. They were not behaving chivalrously, and I cannot abide that.”
“You stepped in to help me.”
“I stepped in to do what was right.”
“But you helped me.”
“What is it that you want me to say?”
She shook her head. “Nothing,” she said. “There is nothing to say. But I know what you did. You’ve been doing it from the start. The moment you fished me out of the River Tweed was the moment you became my champion.”
He almost argued with her but thought better of it, mostly because she was right. He had appointed himself her champion, as much as he told himself that he was not involved in any way. He didn’t want to be involved in any way.
But he was.
God help him.
“You had better not say that in front of Max,” he said quietly.
“He is your husband, and by God and the law, he is your champion. Not me. I do not know how he would react knowing that you view me as your savior, so please do not say that in front of him. Max is my friend, and I should like to keep that friendship intact.”
Emmeline felt as if she’d just been slapped back a little.
She wasn’t sure why she felt rejected, but she did.
Addax had been the one person she could depend on for kindness and compassion since this whole foolish mess started, but now he was telling her that he wasn’t really her champion.
He was just trying to keep the peace. If it came down to it, he would choose Maximilian, his friend, over anything that had to do with her.
That meant she was alone in this, again.
Still.
She felt stupid.
“I understand,” she said steadily. “I have expected too much. Maximilian was your friend long before I was, so of course he should take precedence.”
“I did not mean—”
She cut him off as she started to walk faster, moving away from him.
“I said that I understand, Sir Addax,” she said, back to addressing him formally.
“Your loyalty is with Maximilian and not with me. I should not have assumed for a moment that our friendship was more important. I can see that I have imposed upon you, and for that, I apologize. Please return to Maximilian now. I can walk alone.”
Addax watched her walk up ahead, sensing her clipped manner, hearing her brusque tone.
He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, but she was indeed assuming too much.
Assuming he had any kind of a stake in her marriage with Maximilian, which he didn’t.
Assuming their friendship was more than an acquaintance, but the truth was that it wasn’t as much as he wanted it to be.
Since the day he met her, in spite of the bumps along the way, he’d come to know a witty, deeply introspective young woman with a good heart.
She had absolutely no one to turn to, however, and Addax had been kind to her, so it was natural she’d grown dependent on him. So very natural.
And it was natural that he should like it.
Things were stirring in him that shouldn’t be stirring.
Suddenly, Maximilian bolted past him. Startled from his thoughts, Addax watched as Maximilian thundered up to Emmeline where she was walking and cut her off.
His horse kicked up some of the mud from the road, hitting her traveling dress with it, and she was forced to come to a stop as Maximilian demanded to know where she was going and how close they were to Alston Castle.
As Emmeline and Maximilian discussed the end of their journey, Addax mounted his horse and moved it aside as the carriage pulled up.
He took up pace beside it as it continued down the road, but Claudius opened the door, standing in the opening and looking at the landscape.
“I shall be staying the night at Alston Castle, but returning to Raisbeck on the morrow,” he said. “I’ve been away from home long enough. May I have your brother escort me home?”
Addax looked over his shoulder at Essien at the rear of the group. “Aye, my lord,” he said. “The Earl of Bretherdale should be afforded all due consideration.”
Claudius was satisfied. “Thank you,” he said. “I did not bring any knights with me, you know. Simply soldiers. But Alston has knights and a larger army because of the mines. De Witt had hundreds of men assigned to protect the mines.”
Addax looked at him. “Thieves?”
Claudius nodded. “Thieves and jealous neighbors,” he said. “I knew Ernest de Witt. I think the man was the suspicious type but I suppose that it is better to be safe.”
Addax considered that. “But this area is remote,” he said, looking around. “I should not think thieves or jealous neighbors would take the trouble to come all the way to the Pennines to rob mines. There must be easier ways of collecting ill-gotten gains.”
Claudius conceded the point. “True,” he said. “But the de Witt mines are very rich. It must be worth the risk.”
“Your lands border the de Witt lands, don’t they?” Addax said. “And you have no ore on your property?”
Claudius shook his head. “We border the southwest portion,” he said.
“Unfortunately, no valuable deposits to the south. Which is why it was vital that I brokered the marriage contract between de Witt’s widow and Max.
Now, Bretherdale will be an enormous empire that can support itself easily.
It will be important to find new buyers who will be willing to pay more for the raw ore. ”
Like Scots aiming for Berwick, Addax thought. They’d veered back on the subject that was at the heart of Addax’s trip to the Pennines, so he chose his words carefully.
“Then you intend to help him expand the mining operation, my lord?” he said.
Claudius was looking at the small village up ahead and also the fact that Maximilian was riding back in their direction without his wife. She seemed to be far up ahead, still walking.
“Max is many things, but he does not have a head for making money,” Claudius said. “He needs my help.”
Addax, too, couldn’t help but notice that Maximilian was returning alone. “He earns money on the tournament circuit,” he said. “When I allow him to win, that is.”
Claudius chuckled. “You are good to him, Addax,” he said. “But to answer your question, I do intend to help him expand the operation. There are many who will pay a good price for the ore, probably better than what they already get for it.”
Addax looked at him. “You mentioned that on the day Max and Emmeline married,” he said.
“You sounded as if you already had men lined up to purchase the ore, and when I said that Max would be pleased, you said it was not for Max. That tells me that you have big plans for the mining operation, bigger than anything de Witt did with it. Whatever it is, I still think Max will be grateful for your help.”
It was a very leading thing to say, but Addax had planned it that way. He wanted to see if Bretherdale would explain his comment from the night of the wedding feast. Before he had a chance, however, Maximilian joined them, reining his excitable horse to a halt next to the carriage.
“That woman is by far the most impertinent, frustrating female I’ve ever had the misfortune to know,” he said angrily.
Addax could feel trouble brewing again. “Where is she going?”
Maximilian threw his thumb in the direction he’d come from. “Evidently, Alston is over the rise,” he said. “She wants to announce my arrival to the village we are about to pass through so the villagers can have the opportunity to see me. What do I care about a bunch of filthy peasants?”
“They are your vassals now,” Addax reminded him. “It would be good for them to know their new liege.”
Maximilian scratched his neck irritably.
“I do not care,” he said flatly. “In fact, I already hate this place. These towns, the castle—I haven’t even seen the castle yet and I cannot stand it.
I’m going to leave that woman at Alston and go about my business.
I have no intention of spending any time here. ”
Addax looked to Claudius to address that comment, because he didn’t really have the right to. Claudius was clearly unhappy with his son’s attitude, but given he’d forced him into the marriage, it wasn’t as if he could condemn him. He had every right to be upset.
“I would suggest you at least pretend to be a benevolent lord,” Claudius said.
“Most of these people work in the mines, I would imagine. Ernest told me some time ago that nearly everyone in his lands has something to do with the mines. If those working your mines do not like you, as your liege, bad things can happen.”
Maximilian frowned. “Like what?”
Claudius was frank. “Production can suffer,” he said.
“They may not want to work hard for you. They may also steal from you. Max, I know you are only seeing the money in this marriage, but if your vassals decide not to work the mines because they do not like you, and production of the ore suffers, your wealth will be limited. You will spend it faster than you make it, and, eventually, you will be destitute. If that happens, I will not lift a finger to help you.”
Maximilian shrugged. “What do I care?” he said. “I will simply go back on the tournament circuit. I do not need the de Witt money.”
Claudius had to rethink his strategy, because listening to his son talk, he couldn’t be sure that the man wasn’t going to deliberately run the operation into the ground.
“Then if you do not care, as you put it, turn the mining over to me,” he said. “I will manage it. I will handle your workers and vassals. But I will also take a percentage of it.”
“But it is my money.”
“Money you’ll not have if you destroy everything de Witt has built,” Claudius said.
“Are you truly that foolish, boy? I never thought I raised an idiot, but your behavior since your marriage has indicated otherwise. It has disgusted your friends. It has disgusted me. There are men who would give everything they have for a marriage like this, yet you treat it like a disease. Wise up before it is too late, Maximilian.”
The fatherly scolding had Maximilian reconsidering somewhat, mostly because he knew his father was right. He’d been handed an advantageous marriage, and he knew it.
But he still wasn’t happy with it.
Frustrated, he rolled his eyes.
“Very well,” he said. “You take charge of the mines. Do what you will with them. But most of the money coming from them is mine.”
“We will work out something agreeable to us both.”
“Good,” Maximilian said. They were drawing closer to the village now, and they could see people gathering in the street, greeting Emmeline as she came through.
Maximilian could see her, and he sighed sharply.
“Whatever happens, I do not plan to be here for long. Long enough to take whatever money I can and visit every tavern from here to Carlisle. In fact… as I recall, there is a lady I met at a tournament in Kendal who resides in Penrith. That is not far from here, is it?”
“Nay, it is not far,” Claudius said. “About a day’s ride to the west.”
Maximilian nodded. “Then that is where I shall go,” he said. “I’ll spend my wife’s money on a certain young lady, and my wife will have nothing to say about it. Papa, the mining operation is yours. Administer it in good health!”
With that, he spurred his horse forward, riding into the village just ahead of the escort as Emmeline announced him to the villagers who were standing around.
Addax could hear her voice in the distance.
But he turned to Claudius, still inside the carriage, noting that Claudius didn’t seem too thrilled.
“Did you think he was going to react like this to a marriage?” Addax asked quietly. “Because I did not know this side of him. I am not entirely sure I like it.”
Claudius didn’t have an answer for him, mostly because he agreed.
He wasn’t entirely sure he liked it, either.