“I assumed as much.”
“You said once that you were agreeable if I courted her.”
“I am.”
“Then I assume you are agreeable with marriage.”
McCloud’s gaze lingered on Val a moment, perhaps sensing more behind that statement. Perhaps Val was thinking on his current situation and his uncertain future but he didn’t want to voice such things. McCloud turned back to the horse again.
“Val, I know of the rumors regarding you and Canterbury,” he said. “I was there when the soldiers from Canterbury Castle arrived and told Vesper of the assassination. I can only imagine that you are now in a rather precarious position because of it.”
Val watched the man pick out the hooves of the horse. “I am going to Westminster to discuss just that very situation with Henry right after I marry your daughter,” he said. Then, he paused a moment. “You have not asked me if those rumors are true.”
McCloud shrugged. “It is not my business.”
“Do you believe them?”
McCloud faltered. “I know you are a man of duty,” he said simply. “If Henry ordered you to kill Becket, then you would obey him. Do I believe you are capable of such things? I know you are. I saw what you did to my son. But if there is one thing you are not, Val, it is foolish. You are no fool. I am sure you had a very good reason for what you did.”
“I did not do it.”
McCloud looked at him. “Then why do men say that you have?”
Val sighed, leaning against the wall of the stable. “Because I was sent a forged missive ordering me to arrest Canterbury. The same knights who delivered it are the ones who killed Canterbury. Now they are trying to blame me for it.”
McCloud was looking at him seriously. “Does Henry know this?”
“He will when I see him this morning. You saw the Earl of East Anglia in my hall last night? He will help defend me against Henry’s anger. McCloud, I know that you and I have had our problems over the past few weeks and I cannot say that I will ever trust you again, but you are Vesper’s father. She is to be my wife. I should like it if we could at least live peacefully.”
McCloud wasn’t sure if he felt much hope in Val’s words but at least the man didn’t outright hate him. “I should like that as well,” he said. “Mayhap someday… someday I will earn your trust again. I am sorry to have destroyed it in the first place.”
Val didn’t reply right away. Still leaning against the wall, he averted his gaze, staring pensively off into the dark stable. After a moment, he spoke.
“Was it pride that kept you from coming to me when your farm dried up and you could no longer feed yourself?” he asked. “I have been trying to figure that out– what would make a man turn as badly as you did. Selborne is a day’s ride from Durley. Mayhap we are not as good of friends as I thought we were since you did not turn to me for help. I can think of no other reason.”
McCloud was looking at the horse but not really seeing it. He was feeling a great deal of sorrow over Val’s question. He could only think of one answer.
“I am not your responsibility,” he muttered. “It is not your duty to feed and clothe me. How weak would I have looked to you had I come crawling for help?”
“So it was easier to permit your son to run amok, murdering at will?”
McCloud didn’t really have an answer for him. “A man’s pride is a complex thing,” he said. “With Mat… I knew what he was doing was wrong. But he was my son. I had not the heart to punish him. It was easier to pretend he was not murdering rather than face the truth. Val, I have no real excuse to give you. All I can say is that I am sorry you have lost faith in me.”
Val watched the man as he turned back to the saddle to make sure it was secure before moving to put the bridle on the horse.
“So am I,” he said quietly. “But I do appreciate that you escorted Vesper to Selborne. I am grateful.”
McCloud snorted. “She would not stay away. She was coming and there was no discouraging her.”
“She is a determined young woman.”
“Very much so.”
The horse’s bridle was on and secured, and McCloud led the horse out of its stall. He picked up the food sack on the ground and secured that to the rear of the saddle. When he was finished and the horse was ready to depart, he paused to look at Val one last time.
“Take good care of her,” he said huskily. “She is a good girl. She did not deserve what I brought her. I pray you can give her something much better than I ever could.”
Val could sense that the mood was turning serious, something that pained him more than he thought it would. “I wish I could believe you were sincere,” he said. “This is like a nightmare, McCloud. Everything I thought was the truth has, mayhap, been a lie all this time. Marrying your daughter should make me very joyful because you would become part of my family, but now… all I can tell you is that I do not hate you. But I am disappointed. Mayhap it is something that can be mended in time, as you said.”
