Chapter Five
“I don’t know what to say,” Troy said. “Did she give a reason as to why she wants to break the betrothal?”
In the great hall of Hensingham, Troy found himself facing off against a fairly upset Reece.
The man had just come from the keep where his daughter had told him that she no longer wished to marry Gar.
The sun was setting and torches were being lit all over the bailey as servants lit the fat yellow tapers in the big chandeliers of the great hall, lowering them with a rope to be ignited before hauling them back up again so they loomed over the tables below.
Troy and Andreas had been in the hall, enjoying some wine and sweet dough balls that Lady Hensingham had sent out from the kitchens, when Reece joined them.
The man was overwrought that his obedient daughter had suddenly had a change of heart.
Or so he thought.
But Troy suspected otherwise.
“Something about not wanting to be married to a warlord,” Reece said, agitated. “But she knew what he was. She has always known. Why does it bother her so now?”
Troy looked at Andreas, who gave his father a long look before turning away. That left Troy trying to come up with something to soothe an agitated father and not explode at Gar at the same time.
“They’ve not seen each other in years,” Troy said. “Mayhap when she saw him, he did not fit her ideal of a husband. Time changes people. She remembers that young man and Gar is no longer a young man. He has grown up. He is one of the more powerful warlords on the border.”
“Pah,” Reece said angrily. “She is being positively foolish and I’ll not stand for it. My wife is with her now, trying to talk some sense into her. This shall be resolved, Lord Braemoor. Everyone becomes nervous before a wedding… don’t they?”
“They do,” Troy said. “I was. So was Andreas. In fact, let me leave you with Andreas and I shall seek out Gar to see if he might have said something to upset the lady.”
He was already standing up, not giving Reece an opportunity to stop him.
He knew why the young woman had suddenly changed her mind and he was going to seek the cause.
He didn’t know why Gar would have had the opportunity to speak with the young woman, especially without a chaperone, so whatever happened must have been clandestine on Gar’s part.
The man wanted out of the marriage so badly that he’d done something questionable.
Truthfully, Troy was angry because Gar’s behavior earlier had led him to believe that Gar had perhaps changed his mind. He’d asked for a bath and that had lured Troy into a false sense of hope. He trusted his son’s word, but he didn’t trust it now.
Things were about to get ugly.
He knew that Maksim de Reyne had taken Gar to the knights’ quarters.
He’d known that from the start, when they’d arrived and Maksim had led Gar away, so he could only assume that Gar was still there.
His possessions had also been taken there, since men didn’t usually stay in the residence of their host unless there were no single women present.
Therefore, his destination was the knights’ quarters—and if Gar wasn’t there, he’d hunt him down like prey.
He was going to get to the bottom of this.
As he stormed toward the door, Gar was just coming out.
He was wearing a clean tunic, his boots, and pale patchwork breeches that Troy had never seen before.
Truthfully, he’d never seen the man in breeches that weren’t leather, finely tanned, and shockingly expensive, and that included the pair he’d worn into the ground that more than likely had to be removed with a chisel today before he bathed.
As Gar exited, Troy noticed that Maksim was right behind him, but Troy was focused on Gar.
He thrust a finger at him.
“You,” he growled. “I must have a word with you.”
Gar came to a halt, looking at his father with something close to fear in his eyes. Not quite, but almost. Without delay, he threw up his hands.
“I know,” he said. “Papa, I know why you are here. I was just discussing it with Maksim. I—”
Troy marched right up on Gar and grabbed him by the front of his tunic.
Gar was bigger than his father, and heavier, but Troy’s rage fed his strength and he ended up yanking Gar over to the exact area where his son and Mattie had indulged in their earlier conversation.
As Maksim stood back, eyebrows lifted, wondering if he should try to help Gar, Troy let go of his son and got in his face.
“What have you done?” he spat. “You told de Reyne’s daughter something, didn’t you? Somehow, you had a conversation with her and now she is telling her father that she no longer wishes to marry you.”
Troy, out of all the sons of William de Wolfe, with the exception of the youngest son, Thomas, was quickest to temper.
He was well known for raging first, being rational second.
It was a trait that Gar and his siblings were terrified of growing up and, truthfully, he was still terrified of it.
When Troy was angry, the safest thing to do was run away. But Gar couldn’t run away.
He was stuck.
“She came here to apologize for the damage her dog had done,” he said, trying not to speak quickly out of sheer panic. “She offered to repair my breeches.”
Troy frowned. “What damage?” he said. “What dog?”
Gar gestured in Maksim’s direction. “Maks saw it,” he said. “When he was bringing me to the knights’ quarters so I could bathe, the lady’s dog attacked me from behind and tore my breeches to pieces.”
Maksim forced himself to step forward in support of Gar’s statement. “It is true, my lord,” he said. “My sister’s dog tore Gar’s breeches and she came to apologize and offer remediation.”
Troy stepped back from Gar, looking between the two knights. “So she did come here,” he said as his focus settled on Gar. “And you had a conversation with her.”
Gar nodded quickly. “I did,” he said. “I told her she did not have to repair the breeches, as they were beyond hope, so she made these for me.”
He was indicating the patchwork breeches he was wearing.
Big pieces of linen had been stitched together.
The breeches weren’t exactly fitted, but bigger and baggier.
Troy peered at them, seeing that they were stitched with yellow silk thread.
They were well made. The least bit puzzled, he shook his head.
“She did that?” he said, somewhat calmer. “That was quite generous of her.”
“I know,” Gar said. “I told her so.”
“Then why is she telling her father that she does not wish to marry you?”
Gar hesitated. “I told her about life on the border,” he said. “We had a conversation about it.”
“And?”
Gar took a deep breath. “Papa, you should know that the lady is quite refined,” he said.
“She speaks several languages. She is very accomplished in all things that young ladies should be accomplished in and having a husband like me is an insult to such a woman. I am a knight. That is all I am. She deserves better.”
Although Troy was calmer at the moment, there was no guarantee he was going to remain that way. “And you told her that?”
“Nay,” Gar said honestly. “But I did tell her that I do not believe we are well suited. She would be miserable, Papa.”
“You do not know that.”
“Living at Gleann na Fola would be taking her away from everything fine and civilized and plunging her into hell.”
Troy lifted an eyebrow. “And because you are so magnanimous, you have made this decision for her?” he said, a hint of anger coming back into his tone. “Are you telling me that you are only thinking of her in this matter? Because if you are, you are lying to my face, Gar. You know it and I know it.”
Gar sighed heavily, looking at Maksim for a moment to see if he had the man’s support in this matter. All he could see was a torn expression on Maksim’s face.
“Just now, Maksim and I were having this same conversation,” he said, his voice quieter. “I told him what the lady and I spoke of. I told him the situation for what it is. He is concerned for his sister, also. Papa, believe me—this isn’t just about me. It is what’s best for the lady, too.”
Troy had heard enough. This time, he grabbed Gar by the arm and pulled him away from Maksim so he could have a private conversation with him.
“Now,” he muttered. “I want you to listen to me and listen well. You had no right to speak to that girl about your betrothal, in any fashion. You knew this was a delicate situation and instead of respecting my wishes, you tried to go around me and ruin this.”
“Papa, that’s not—”
Troy cut him off. “Do you know what is going to happen if this young woman successfully breaks this betrothal because of what you’ve done?
” he said, his eyes glittering dangerously.
“Allow me to inform you of your future, Gareth. Not only will you lose your command at Gleann na Fola, but you will not be permitted to serve in any of the de Wolfe properties nor any properties of her allies. I will send you south, to London, where you can serve in the royal vaults. You can deal with royal prisoners for the rest of your life, away from command, away from battlefields, and away from me. If you do not think, for one moment, that I can do this, then test me. You’ve already pushed me to my limit.
Push me over the edge and see what will happen. ”
Gar stared at his father. Truthfully, he was shocked and trying not to show it, but he couldn’t quite manage it.
“You go too far,” he said, frowning. “I do not take well to threats.”