“Then you accept?”
“I do. With God as my witness, I do.”
“Good,” Roi said, turning back to his father. “Papa, have your cleric draw up the agreement. I will sign it.”
Christopher was looking at his son with great concern, trying to see how Roi really felt about this. It had taken the man years to get over his first wife’s death, and he’d never, in that time, expressed interest in marrying again.
Until now.
Until he was given no choice.
“Are you sure?” Christopher asked softly. “Roi, are you absolutely sure?”
Roi nodded, but it was with effort. “Have the contract drawn up, please,” he said. “I would appreciate it.”
Christopher didn’t make a move to summon his cleric, a man who happened to be married to his youngest sister. Gowen was his name, a scholarly man who had aptly helped Christopher manage his empire for years. But he didn’t want Gowen at the moment. He stood up and went to the table that held wine and cups, pouring measures for them all. Roi got the biggest measure. He handed the drink over to his son and watched him drain the cup in two swallows.
That told him just how strained Roi was over the situation.
What the man did in order to save an alliance.
Sadness gripped him.
“It did not have to be you,” he said so only Roi could hear him. “I nearly had Curtis convinced that it should be William.”
William de Lohr was Curtis’ second son, a good and noble lad, but he was also quite young. “Nay,” Roi said, feeling exhausted and defeated now that the anger had drained from his veins. “William is not ready for marriage yet, and if Robin’s daughter is abused or neglected in any way, it will sour this alliance faster than if there had been no marriage at all. You know that. If you want this alliance safely made, then this is the only way.”
Christopher could hear his words reflected in Roi’s statement, how he’d insisted the alliance with Cheltenham was something to be upheld in this matter. The way Roi made it sound, it was perhaps the most important thing to Christopher. But it wasn’t—Christopher felt guilty that he’d evidently hammered that into Roi’s brain too hard. It had caused Roi to make an offer he didn’t want to make, but what was done was done.
It was finished.
“I apologize if I was hard on you, Roi,” Robin said, breaking the silence in the chamber. “I realize you just lost your son, and I am greatly grieved for you, but you must understand that myprimary concern is my daughter. She is involved in this whether or not you like it. I must look out for her best interests.”
After his burst of anger, Roi couldn’t even muster the strength to discuss it with the man. But he needed to make his position perfectly clear because he’d just committed to marrying the earl’s daughter in his son’s stead.
Their relationship was going to change.
“And I must look out for mine,” he said, turning to Robin. “Understand I am only doing this in place of my son. It is my duty. I am not doing this because I want your daughter or her money or your earldom, but those things shall be mine now, and you and I are going to come to an understanding.”
“Of course, Roi,” Robin said, oddly compliant now that he had what he wanted. “What is it?”
Roi’s gaze was intense. “Firstly, you will apologize to my father for harassing him,” he said. “Do not deny it, because I hear it for myself. Apologize to this legendary man for your abominable behavior in a difficult situation.”
Robin looked at Christopher, clearly regretting the temper tantrum he’d been pitching since his arrival. “My lord,” he said. “I did not mean to disrespect you. As I said, the situation had me on edge. My daughter’s future was of the utmost concern to me. If I was abusive, then I beg your forgiveness.”
Christopher finished the cup of wine in his hand and poured himself another. “I have done verbal battle with men far greater and far more annoying than you,” he said in a subtle insult. “Your alliance is valuable, le Bec, but sometimes you are difficult to stomach.”
He went back over to his big table, a heavy oak table that had been built by some of the finest craftsmen in London. The de Lohr crest was on each side of the table, perfect in presentation, except for one side where Curtis and Roi, when they’d been small boys, had tried to carve their names into the shield. They’dreceived a fatherly beating, but Christopher still smiled when he saw their juvenile marks. He ran his fingers over those marks, reminding himself that the young boy who had carved them was now making a man’s sacrifice.
“What must I do to gain your forgiveness?” Robin said, following from a distance. “I do not wish to be at odds with you, my lord.”
Christopher held up a hand. “There is nothing to forgive… this time,” he said. “But come at me again with your petulance and I will not be so forgiving a second time. Is that clear?”
“It is, my lord. Thank you.”
Christopher pointed to Roi. “And thank my son, who has made a great sacrifice this day,” he said. “He had no intention of marrying again, but because we value the Cheltenham alliance and because he felt that he must personally honor the betrothal contract in Beckett’s stead, he has made a most noble sacrifice to keep our relationship intact.”
Robin looked at Roi. “You know I am grateful,” he said, sounding deeply sincere. “I know that Diara will have the finest husband in England. She is a good girl, Roi. She is kind and obedient. She will make a fine wife.”
