Alice had been sitting down. But at her uncle’s question, she stood up and faced him.
“Hallam and I were married two weeks ago,” she said bravely. “I am now Lady Chadlington and I have never been prouder of anything in my entire life. Before you rage at me and tell me how foolish I am, I am going to tell you something that I promised I would not tell, but I feel it is necessary. Uncle William, Covington did not slip on wine and break his neck. His death was not an accident. He tried to kill me and Hallam saved my life. In the process, Covington was killed. I owe my very life to Hallam and I love him very much. I have, therefore, married him and we are going to live at Richmond Castle with Caius and Emelisse. I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life and if you scold me for it, I shall never speak to you again.”
By the time she was finished, she was clearly scoldinghim. William looked at her, wide-eyed with surprise, before looking to Hallam, who remained stoic and strong in the face of the news that he had killed his liege.
But it had been a noble action.
William understood that. Clearly, after what he’d just heard, Covington needed to be punished. The man had brought about so much wickedness that his death was justice served, in many ways. After a moment, he simply shook his head and chuckled, but it was not a laugh of humor. It was more a laugh at the bizarre nature of the entire situation as more and more of it was becoming evident.
It had been days of madness in Shrewsbury.
“I see,” he finally said. “Then I would say Covey deserved what he received for trying to harm you. Sir Hallam, you have my thanks. Alice, I shall not scold you for anything since you feel so strongly about it, but I cannot guarantee how your parentswill react. In any case, it is none of my affair. And in speaking of marriages, Caius, you are now the Lord of Hawkstone Castle, are you not?”
Caius fought off a grin as Alice and Hallam looked visibly relieved that The Marshal had taken his focus off them. Now, it was back on Caius and he nodded his head.
“I am,” he said. “When I married Emelisse, the property became mine.”
William sighed heavily, shifting in his chair as he fixed on Caius. “And that brings about another question,” he said. “I had this same conversation with Maxton and Kress and Achilles and Sherry after they married. And now you. What areyourplans, Cai? Do you plan to leave me now that you have married?”
Caius looked at Emelisse, who smiled at him. The light of a great future twinkled in her eyes, something he could not resist. But then he caught sight of Maxton from the corners of his eyes, smirking at him as if to welcome him to the Brotherhood of Besotted Husbands. Caius laughed softly.
“Once, I taunted Maxton and Kress and Achilles for finding love,” he said. “I viewed those men as weaklings for surrendering to something as common as an infatuation. But now… now, I understand why they did it. We are now all brethren in that we have wives we adore and, much like Alice, I do not think I have ever been so happy in my entire life. I will still continue to serve you, my lord, if you will still have me. But… but mayhap not as actively as before. I have lands and a wife now. I should like to devote some time to both. But if you have need of me, I will come.”
William had heard that before, from all of the men under his command who had fallen in love and married. He grunted.
“It seems as if love is catching, like a disease,” he said, watching Caius grin. His gaze moved to Emelisse, sitting in achair as her husband stood next to her. “And you, my lady? I take it you are in agreement with this arrangement?”
Emelisse nodded. “Very much, my lord,” she said. “You did send Caius north to mediate the situation between Winterhold and Hawkstone, did you not?”
“I did.”
She looked up at Caius, reaching up to take his hand. “He not only mediated it, he settled it,” she said. “Hawkstone will return to the peaceful home it once was. Winterhold is no longer aggressive, and the land can heal. We canallheal. But none of this would have happened had you not sent an army to help Alice. Mayhap it did not turn out the way you expected, but the heart of what you sought was to help us all find peace. You did, in a most unexpected way.”
William’s old, yellowed eyes were glimmering at her weakly. “Nay, it was not in the way I had expected. But from everything I have heard, it was definitely for the best,” he said. His attention returned to Caius. “Where will you go now?”
Caius looked down at Emelisse. “To Richmond,” he said. “I have not been home in some time, so I shall return there and show off my great outpost to my wife and Hallam and Lady Chadlington. It’s strange… when I left Richmond those weeks ago at your summons, I left alone. I have always been alone. But now… now, I return with the part of me I never knew I was missing.”
William rolled his eyes. “Cai, if you say anything more like that, I swear I shall become ill,” he said, standing up wearily. “Enough sentiment. It is time for supper and I have been smelling the beef all afternoon. Let us feast and speak on things that do not involve death and destruction and sappy love stories. Alice, darling, allow me to escort you.”
He held out his elbow for Alice, who rose from her chair and gladly took it, smiling affectionately at her uncle as her husbandfollowed a few feet behind. Caius moved to go with them, with Emelisse on his arm, but he could see Maxton and Kevin and William muttering between them. He came to a halt.
“Aren’t you three coming?” he asked.
Maxton shook his head. “I believe we are going to find our evening’s entertainment elsewhere,” he said. “My wife will not let me go to The Pox when we are in London together, and she is not here right now, so I do believe I shall visit our favorite tavern.”
“I’ve never been,” William said, excitement in his tone. “I’ve heard my father speak of it, but he says it is a terrible place. I want to see it for myself.”
Caius rolled his eyes. “God,” he groaned. “And you with your penchant for gambling. Max, if you take de Wolfe, you may find yourself in more trouble than you can handle. The lad will rob even the sharpest man blind with his gambling ways.”
As William’s face fell, Maxton simply shrugged. “What’s wrong with that? It wasn’t a month ago that you were there, drinking other men under the table. We made a fortune.”
Caius gave him a look to kill, tipping his head towards Emelisse as if to suggest he not say such things in front of her. But Maxton laughed.
“Come with us, Cai,” he said. “Who knows when we’ll have this chance again. You can keep your squire out of trouble.”
Caius realized that he wanted to go. Badly. But there was no chance he was going to take Emelisse there.
“I should not,” he said. “Emelisse cannot go and I will not leave her alone.”
