Chapter 24
KAITLYN
WE CANNA LET WILFREY GO ALONE
The doors of the Great Hall swung open with more force than was needed and Lady Mairead stalked through, and sort of stumbled. I gasped.
Her head was held high, but so pale, she looked close to passing out.
One hand clutched Wilfrey’s arm and the other pressed flat to her sternum as though holding herself together by will alone.
She had that look, imperiousness, but under it was a trembling signaling imminent collapse — she wasn’t weak, she was furious.
But it was a new kind of fury, one I hadn’t seen before, she wasn’t on top of it, using it to smite her enemies. Instead she was suffering it.
And now she was suffering it in public.
The hall went quiet in the way of a room that hushed under suspense — would Lady Mairead lash out, and at whom, or was she going to break down in tears, and had anyone ever seen that before?
There was shock, curiosity, fear, and a little bit of pity, which was something Lady Mairead would be even more furious about. I hoped she wouldn’t notice
I set down my cup and stood, meaning to help her to a chair, but I was also a little afraid to offer.
Wilfrey was a half-step behind, his hand at her back — guiding, steering, trying to get her a chair, looking a little like I felt, unsure how to help.
His face was not his usual calm and handsome. He looked pissed — his jaw clenched and unclenched and clenched again.
Mairead crossed the hall with her chin up, not looking at any of us.
She made it almost to her chair, then the gravity of the situation, her trip across the Great Hall while a crowd very quietly stared, and how the room had gone hushed like they had all been talking about her — which, of course, they had been — caught up with her: she had been publicly humiliated by the Earl.
And her knees buckled. She muttered, “They are talking of me?”
Wilfrey caught her with his arm around her waist before she stumbled to the ground.
Magnus was up. “Och nae, what happened up there? What did he do?”
Sean answered darkly, “By the look of it he has gravely insulted our mother.”
Magnus and Sean stood somberly, their hands on their swords, as Wilfrey brought Mairead to the seat nearest the fire and sat her down, crouching in front of her. She leaned back in the chair and Wilfrey grabbed a cup from the table and pressed it into her hands.
She drank and looked absolutely wrecked. “What am I supposed tae do about him?”
Sean and Magnus crouched down beside her. Wilfrey was crouched in front. They formed a huddle. I moved closer to hear. Fraoch stood with his shoulder to the group, listening, but giving them space. I asked one of the maids to take Jack to the nursery. I didn’t want to miss what happened, at all.
Hayley whispered, “She does not look good.”
Lady Mairead’s eyes swept around looking at all of us.
She looked like how I imagined she was, years ago, when she had her first run in with the Earl and lost, just a young woman, barely sixteen, in love, her spirit crushed.
Here it had happened again, even though Lady Mairead was now the mother of a king, a force to be reckoned with.
Still, she had walked into a room with the Earl, who despised her, and had come out the other side of it, broken.
Sean said, “Mother, what did he say tae ye?”
Magnus said, “He has been an arse before, many times before, but he is causin’ ye tae suffer this time… what happened?”
She closed her eyes, drawing in a slow breath. “I daena want everyone tae hear what he said, we ought not — where is Lizbeth?”
Magnus said, “Mother, everyone has already heard what transpired.”
“Och nae.” She dropped her head back on the chair, almost looking like she would cry. “He called me a whore, in front of my husband.”
Wilfred’s jaw clenched and unclenched. He winced when she said ‘whore’.
He was still crouched in front of her, elbows on his knees, staring at the stones of the floor between his feet.
There was a tension running through him that I had never seen before.
Edgy, maybe it was from being here in the past — we moderns had a different sense of justice, of right and wrong.
Getting dressed up to meet an Earl and having him be a total ass was not a part of our normal moral system of right and wrong.
Wilfrey looked like something in him was about to snap, his jaw tightening.
I could tell he was tense, but Magnus seemed to see something much more dangerous. He said, “Wilfrey… ye need tae remain calm.”
Wilfrey held Magnus’s gaze for a moment, his breaths bullish, then he shook his head and stood. His eyes narrowed at Magnus. “What am I supposed to do?”
Magnus said, “Well, Wilfrey, I think ye are—”
Sean interrupted, “Ye are goin’ tae need tae demand satisfaction, I daena think we can allow that tae stand. If ye daena we will hae tae.” He turned to Magnus, “Daena ye agree?”
Magnus nodded, “Aye. I agree.”
Fraoch muttered, “Och nae, this is not good.”
Sean asked, “Lady Mairead, what exactly did he say?”
She frowned. “Everything, he said everything. He brought up Fionn. He told me my children were twigs tae be snapped off. Och, he was so cruel, does anyone ken where Lizbeth is? Is she well? He has said such horrible things. Why do I let him speak tae me like this? He told me I was still a foolish girl and took credit for saving me from myself. Can ye believe it? He thinks he has saved me! And then he called me a whore — in front of the servants. In front of Wilfrey. As if I were — as if I were nothing.”
Wilfrey nodded. “He demanded I leave the room and then he insulted her further.”
He had his hands on his hips, chewing his lip. “How do I demand satisfaction, what do I do? I am not knowing the protocol.”
Magnus said, “Ye will need tae go back tae his solar, demand a meeting, and ye will entreat him tae apologize.”
Sean said, “Ye best be armed, ye hae tae be ready tae duel.”
“To duel!”
“Aye, it winna happen, he is too auld tae want it, but ye need tae be ready, tis a threat.”
Fraoch said, “Och nae, Sean, ye are goin’ tae get Wilfrey in trouble, he canna threaten the Earl.”
Sean said, “Aye, he can threaten him, and he must. Honor depends on it. Ye are correctin’ me, Fraoch?”
“Aye, ye need an older brother tae set ye right, as Og Maggy daena hae the stones tae do it.”
Magnus raised his brow. “Because I agree with him, he needs tae go demand satisfaction and if he daena get it he will need tae be prepared tae fight.”
Fraoch said, “Fine, but Wilfred daena look like he is trained tae duel. Hayley, what do modern men do about matters of honor?”
She said, “Call them outside to street fight.”
Fraoch shrugged. “I guess he has tae, I stand corrected.”
Wilfred said, “I will not fight an old man, even one as horrible as this.”
Magnus said, “Ye might hae tae, but daena kid yerself, he will hae dueled before, he is auld but he has trainin’. Hae ye fought before…?”
Wilfred’s eyes went wide. “No, never. I mean, wrestling, in school.”
“Ye never dueled before?”
“No, only on a stage.”
Magnus grunted, “Tis different.”
Sean said, “But ye carry a sword?”
He glanced at Lady Mairead. “It was given to me to match my costume.”
Sean huffed. “It likely winna come tae that. Just keep yer hand on yer sword handle as ye demand the apology, he will give ye one tae keep the peace. He winna want tae duel ye, as ye are young and fit the part, twill all work out.”
“I should demand it though?”
Magnus said, “Aye, ye should.”
“Okay then.” He straightened to his full height and rolled his shoulders back, once. Then he looked toward the stair that led to the Earl’s chambers.
He stood there looking at it for a long moment.
Magnus said, “Ye alright, Wilfrey, ye makin’ up yer mind?”
“No, mind is made up, just taking a moment. I need to walk through the scene in my mind before I begin.”
Lady Mairead said, “Wilfrey, I daena want ye tae, tis fine, ye and I can return tae the kingdom, and I winna hae tae come back.”
He screwed up his face. “That would not be fair, Mairead! It is not fair to you, what, you can never return? It is not fair to me, if I am supposed to leave as if I am a coward. Everyone would speak of it. No, I am not at peace with the castle whispering the things he said.” His eyes swept the room.
“I deserve more respect. People are laughing.”
Staring at the door, smoothing his hands down his coat lapels. “I will be back in a moment.”
She looked up at him. “I ken ye want tae fix it, but he is the way he is. There is nae fixing him, I warned ye he was a miserable auld fool and a verra cruel man.”
“Yes, you did warn me, but I was not prepared when he looked me in the eye and said it.”
“Aye. I ken. Tis a terrible thing.”
“You know it, right?”
“I do, aye.”
“So... That’s that.” He said it simply.
Fraoch took a deep breath and exhaled long.
Sean nodded, slowly.
Magnus said, “We will follow ye up, we will wait outside the door.”
Liam stalked into the Great Hall, just then. “Has anyone seen Lizbeth?”
Lady Mairead looked concerned, “Nae, but… we need her, she has the only sensible head in the castle.”
Magnus asked, “Dost nae one ken where she is?”
Liam shook his head. “If she returns, tell her I am—”
Sean said, “Wilfred is about tae go demand an apology from the Earl.”
Liam groaned. “Och nae, Wilfrey, ye ken this will cause a lot of…?”
“Yes, I know.”
Sean said, “We hae explained it, he kens what he needs tae do.”
Liam exhaled long. “Are ye all goin’ up with him?”
Magnus said, “Aye.”
Wilfrey shifted, and ran his hand through his hair. “Alright, I am going to ask for an apology. How?”
Magnus said, “Ye say, ‘As the husband of Lady Mairead, I demand an apology for the things ye said about her.’”
Lady Mairead said, “Wilfrey, ye are allowing yerself tae be led astray by these Campbell men.”
He said, “They are your sons, my step-sons, they are not leading me astray, they are advising me how to defend your honor.”
“I hae let the Earl’s cruelty pass for decades, my whole life I hae let it go because tae demand due respect would cause too much trouble for my children — now ye are here for one day and ye are ready tae cause all the trouble.”
“Your honor, Mairead, is more important than the trouble.”
Lady Mairead said, “I canna talk ye from it?”
“No, I cannot be talked from it, it was too much. What kind of man would I be if I did nothing?”
“Fine, but ye promise not tae make too much trouble, Wilfrey, promise ye winna make it impossible for us tae be here. For Lizbeth and Sean tae be here right now. We canna leave in the night, the shame would be unbearable.”
He nodded, turned, and stalked toward the stair.
The hall watched him go in silence.
Sean looked at Magnus. Fraoch looked at both of them. Liam exhaled.
Magnus said, “Well, men, we are goin’ tae confront the Earl.”
Fraoch said, “Looks like we hae tae, Og Maggy.”
Sean said, “We canna let Wilfrey go alone.”
Fraoch said, “Grab yer swords, men, carry yer courage, bring yer wit, we are goin’ tae need all of it tae help the Young Wilfrey on his dark errand.”
“Aye,” they said, and jogged after him.
I glanced at Hayley, “Are we going?”
“Hell yeah, girl, we gotta see.”
I glanced at Lady Mairead. “She will need someone, I’ll stay.”
Lady Mairead gripped the arms of her chair and stood. “Nae one needs tae remain in the Great Hall on my account, I am going tae see what will happen.”