Chapter Six #5
“You will not go alone,” Addax said, gesturing to Essien to take the lady in hand.
“My brother is more than happy to escort you. He will tell you tales of jousts where he was unseated and fell, face-first, into horse shite. It was up his nose and stuck in his teeth. Es, regale the lady with tales of your exploits while I speak with our friends. Go along, now.”
Essien rolled his eyes that his brother should bring up such a disgusting moment for him, but it had Emmeline’s attention. She was looking up at him in concern.
“Did you truly fall face-first into horse dung?” she said, as if she couldn’t believe it.
Essien looked at her, trying not to appear exasperated. “I did,” he said. “And it wasn’t the first time.”
“There were others?”
Essien began to pull her along, toward the stairs, and they could hear him speaking of a horse he’d owned who did nothing but fart through an entire tournament because it had eaten something that upset its digestion. As the voices faded, Addax turned to William, Paris, and Kieran.
“Now,” he growled. “We are going to find Max and tell him what his behavior has caused. What he did to the lady was shameful.”
It was William who spoke first. “What happened, Addax?” he said. “You have hinted that Max has behaved poorly toward his new wife, but you did not say what he did.”
Addax paused. “I am aware of that,” he said. “Max is my friend, you understand. We have been close friends. But he has behaved in a way I did not think he was capable of behaving toward his new wife.”
“How?”
“Cold,” Addax said after a moment. “Cold and callous.”
“But why?”
Addax lifted a dark eyebrow. “His father arranged the betrothal, and he wanted nothing to do with it,” he said.
“He took his frustration with his father out on his betrothed, including consummating the marriage in a small room at St. Andrews. According to the lady, he was not gentle about it, and I’m sure he did it just to spite his father, but the damage is done. You saw the results of that.”
Now the lady’s actions were starting to make much more sense.
William simply shook his head in disgust, looking at Paris, who clearly disapproved of the behavior as well.
It wasn’t unusual for a man to abuse his wife, or do what he pleased with her, but Addax wasn’t friends with anyone like that because he personally wasn’t an abusive man.
He didn’t like to be around men like that because he believed in fair treatment for all, and gentle treatment for women.
It was how he’d watched his father treat his mother, and it had stayed with him after all these years.
Unfortunately, some men didn’t think the way he did.
But William did.
“In that case, I cannot disagree with the distasteful nature of Max’s behavior,” William said quietly. “But the fact remains that the lady is his wife, Ad. We cannot interfere in his marriage, right or wrong.”
Addax shrugged. “At the very least, he should know what happened,” he said. “That poor woman felt there was no other choice but to kill herself after he humiliated her. Do you think she is going to tell him such a thing?”
William shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But what is this woman to you that you would defend her so?”
Addax pondered that question seriously. “She is nothing to me, truly, beyond a polite woman that I’ve only met today,” he said. “But she tried to kill herself because of Max’s behavior toward her.”
“Why does this even matter to you?”
Addax realized how he was coming across—like an avenging angel.
But there were deep-seated reasons for why he felt strongly about powerless women.
Being unable to help his mother and sister those years ago was something that remained with him, that gave him a more passionate sense of justice for women who could not defend themselves.
All he knew was that he had to help.
“Something the lady said… how she has descended into hell with no way out… has resonated with me,” he finally said.
“Nay, it is not any of my affair, and I should not concern myself. But I have for one very good reason—I understand what it is like to be helpless. It happened to me, and I had no one to advocate for me until de Lohr came around. I suppose I understand her desolation. Sometimes we all need a little help, don’t we? ”
Since they all knew Addax and Essien’s tale of how they’d come to England, no one questioned him.
Addax was, if nothing else, a man of great feeling when it came to the downtrodden.
He was also a man of great intuition, so it wasn’t unusual for him to take interest in someone weaker and desolate. He was compassionate that way.
A man who should have been king.
“Very well,” William said. “If you feel strongly about it. Where is Max now?”
Addax looked off in the direction of the town of Berwick.
“My suspicions are that he is in his favorite tavern, the Blankenship,” he said.
“If he is not there, there are a couple of other taverns he could be at. The Plow and the Sow is one of them, though that one usually contains the dregs of society, and Max somehow finds it entertaining. If he is not in town, however, then he will be in the tournament encampment with some camp followers. Truly, he will not be difficult to find.”
“Then let us find him.”
They did.