“You see that in Diara?”
“I do. And I think she and Beckett would have made each other miserable.”
Christopher stood up and went to him, standing next to his son as he gazed down at his grandson.
“Mayhap,” he said. “But it is nothing you should feel guilty over. Everything happens the way it should in God’s good time. Not to say that Beckett’s death has been something welcome, because it most certainly has not been. I’m simply saying that it was God’s will, and he is infinite in his wisdom. Knowing how distraught you would be, he has given you someone to ease your pain. It is up to you what you do with her.”
Roi knew what his father was trying to say. He was trying to see something good in all of this. Roi wasn’t sure if he could, but he could try. Hewouldtry. There was nothing more he could do, as his father had said, than look at what he had as opposed to what he had lost.
He had Diara.
“Thank you, Papa,” he said. “For your wisdom and advice. I would be lost without it.”
Christopher patted him on the shoulder and began to head back the way he’d come. “Your mother wishes to know if you will be attending the meal this evening,” he said. “I can just as easily have food sent down to you.”
Roi returned to the stone bench. “That would be best,” he said. “I am going to spend the night here with my son. We shall bury him in the morning.”
“The grave is already dug.”
“Thank you,” Roi said. “But I should like to complete this vigil alone, please. I know my brothers mean well, but I do not want any company.”
“Understood.”
“And the horse that threw Beckett—did it return with him?”
“It did.”
“If Curtis does not want it returned to him, then please sell it. I do not want it.”
“As you wish.”
As his father turned to walk away, Roi stopped him. “Papa,” he said. “Please have Diara bring the food down to me. I may like to have her sit with me for a while.”
But Christopher shook his head. “She will not come.”
Roi looked at him, surprised. “Why not?”
“Because your mother already suggested she bring some food to you after we arrived, but she refused,” Christopher said. “Politely, of course, but she would not come. She said that this is your time with Beckett, and she has no intention of encroaching on that time. She said that this day belongs to just the two of you.”
Roi smiled faintly. “She is a considerate woman,” he said. “One of the many things I am coming to appreciate about her.”
Christopher smiled in return. “Me too.”
With that, he headed back up the stairs that led from the abbey’s undercroft. Roi continued to sit there, hearing his father’s footfalls fade away, before returning his focus to Beckett.
But his thoughts were lingering on Diara.
It was enough to keep the smile on his face, at least for a short while. The fact that she should be so considerate was something he simply wasn’t used to. Someone who was thinking of his feelings, of his thoughts. Instead of insisting she be the center of attention, even in a situation like this, Diara was perfectly happy to be in the background while Roi dealt with a life-changing situation.
He would never be able to thank her enough for it.
That would have to wait, however, because today, as she’d said, was only for Roi and Beckett, and he was content with that. Roi remained in the undercroft all night, sometimes speaking to his son of memories past, sometimes praying for his soul. Once, he even spoke to Odette to ask her to take good care of Beckett.He hoped she was proud of their son for what he’d accomplished in his short lifetime. Certainly, he was positive that she was.
When morning finally came and his brothers appeared to help him take Beckett into the chapel of Lioncross Abbey, Roi was at the head of the casket as Beckett’s uncles carefully carried him across the bailey to the old chapel, where a grave had been dug in the spot that Roi had selected. Roi himself helped lower his son into his final resting place, and he even helped replace the dirt that had been disturbed, covering the casket up.
Sealing Beckett away for all eternity.
The entire time, Diara had been well to the rear of the group, making sure the family was close to their young son and nephew and grandson without her getting in the way. She simply stood back and let the de Lohr family grieve. If Roi hadn’t been falling for her before that time, seeing how she conducted herself at the funeral had him thinking that he never wanted to be without that woman by his side, not ever. He was starting to get a glimpse of just how decent of a human being she was.
