Chapter Thirteen #3
“Well,” she said reluctantly. “When I was small, our sow gave birth to a litter of piglets. I was around six years of age, I believe, and Garran was nine or ten. It was just before he was sent to foster. My younger sisters were quite small. Lizbeth was four and Sable was no more than two. Garran wanted very much to see the piglets and play with them but my mother had warned us against going near them because the sow was very mean. Still, Garran insisted, so one day we snuck down to the stables and to the pen where the sow and her piglets were. Of course, we had to take the piglets out of the pen and play with them, but they made such a racket that our mother, who had been inside the kitchens, heard us. We heard her voice and panicked, and put the piglets back as quickly as we could. Garran, however, was inside the pen and the sow began to chase him. As my mother came outside to see what all of the fuss was about, Garran was running circles in this pigpen, trying to keep away from a sow that was easily four times his size. My mother screamed, my father came running, and he managed to pluck Garran out of the pen before the sow got to him. My father was quite calm about it but my mother took hold of Garran and spanked him soundly. He couldn’t sit down for a week. ”
She was trying very hard not to laugh as she finished with her story and Tallis, too, was biting back a snort.
When she saw that he was ready to burst into laughter, she broke down into gales of it.
Tallis followed, laughing deeply at the thought of Garran de Moray being chased by a sow.
As he’d hoped, however, now the mood between them was lightened. Tallis was very clever that way.
“And you?” he asked. “Did you permit your brother to take all of the punishment?”
She shrugged lazily. “Of course,” she said. “I would not tarnish my image as a perfect angel.”
Tallis liked that but he sighed in mock disapproval. “I see,” he said, pretending to be critical. “Then I am sure you have more stories like that where you have permitted your brother to take the blame for other things you were a part of.”
“Of course I do. But I will never speak a word of it.”
“Tell me.”
“I will not!”
It was a playful exchange but when Douglass realized it, she quickly turned back to her knitting.
Tallis d’Vant was quite charming and she realized, with some horror, that if she had not met Tiberius first, she would have been most agreeable to a marriage contract with d’Vant.
He was kind and humorous. But the fact remained that she had met Tiberius first and he had her heart.
She didn’t want to give Tallis hope where none existed.
Rather than be coy or cold about it, she thought it would be best to be honest with the man again and try to persuade him to end his suit.
“Sir Tallis,” she said after a moment, dropping her knitting into her lap again. “May I be truthful?”
Tallis leaned against the doorjamb. “I would expect nothing less.”
Douglass sighed softly. “Then may I say that I am very flattered with your interest in a marital contract, but I still must stress that I wish to marry Tiberius de Shera,” she said, looking at the man.
“You asked me earlier today if I love him and the truth is that I do. I want to be his wife. You deserve a woman who wants to be your wife and that woman is not me.”
The warm expression on Tallis’ features faded. “I see,” he said, but his manner was still pleasant. “May I ask how long you have known Tiberius?”
“A few days.”
“So you have only just met him.”
“Aye.”
Tallis didn’t reply for a moment, but he was most certainly thinking.
The lady thought herself in love with a man she’d only known a few days.
That bespoke of infatuation, not true love.
That being the case, he wasn’t ready to concede yet.
He was going to have to play harder and dirtier than de Shera was.
If the lady was only infatuated with de Shera, surely he could turn her head and change her mind. He was determined to try.
“I hope you have enjoyed our conversation as much as I have, my lady,” Tallis finally said, pushing himself up off the doorjamb. “I will leave you to your tasks, then, and see you tonight at sup. May I have the privilege of escorting you?”
Douglass sighed, frustrated. “You will understand when I say I would rather not.”
Tallis nodded his head graciously, not at all deterred. “I will abide by your wish, then,” he said. “I look forward to seeing you later when we can speak further on piglets and raging sows.”
Douglass didn’t reply as he left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. But even after he left, his presence lingered, so much so that Douglass eventually had to put her knitting down.
Tallis d’Vant was a very nice man and a perfect knight.
There was nothing unsuitable about him in the least and, in that respect, she felt badly that she had no interest in him.
Running off with Tiberius would surely upset d’Vant and it would definitely cause him to see the de Morays as a dishonorable family.
Was that really what she wanted her father’s legacy to be?
A rebellious daughter who defied him and shamed him?
Certainly, she didn’t want that. She loved her family too much.
But she also loved Tiberius and she did not want to be married to Tallis d’Vant.
Much like letting Garran take the blame for the sow incident, she hadn’t taken responsibility for her part in it.
Maybe, for once in her life, it was time to act responsibly.
Perhaps that meant not running off with Tiberius and doing what her father wished for a change.
Confused, sickened, she set her knitting down completely and wandered to the slit window, the last place she had seen Tiberius. God, she wanted to be with him so badly, but was it right to be so selfish?
All she knew was that once she chose her path, there was no turning back. There would be no reversing the harm she had done.
Would it be a matter of sacrificing her happiness for the sake of her family’s honor?
She wondered.