“Because I do. Will you please tell me?”
He thought on that. It seemed an odd subject shift, from the subject of her illicit pregnancy to speaking of his background. But the truth was that he was glad to be off the subject of the child, at least for the moment. Perhaps speaking of himself might distract her enough to cause her to relax.
“If you call me Sir Maxton again, I am going to pinch you,” he said, watching a timid smile spread across her face. He couldn’t help but grin in return, a light moment in the midst of a heady situation. “It is simply Maxton, or Max. As for my background, you already know I am from Devon. Though my family name is de Long, we are known for our castle of Loxbeare Cross. An ancestor of mine built it one hundred and fifty years ago, and simply used it to refer to his family instead of our family name. That is what we are known as– Loxbeare.”
Andressa understood. “So you are Maxton de Long of Loxbeare Cross,” she clarified, watching him nod. “I have heard of men using the names of their homes as identification. One such family that comes to mind is Pembury. There was a Lady Pembury, a friend of my patroness, Lady de Courtney, and she was from the town of Pembury. But her family name was Culpepper.”
Maxton nodded. “Exactly,” he said. “And I have two younger brothers and a younger sister, all three of whom I’ve not seen in almost twenty years.”
“Why not?”
Maxton lifted his shoulders, averting his gaze. “I left home at a young age,” he said. “My father, Magnus, and I do not get on well. Magnus wanted me to remain at Loxbeare Cross, as his heir, and be his shadow. He did not want me to leave, but I… I wanted to see the world. I wanted to find my own way in life and do what I wanted to do, and not what my father told me to do. My father is quite overbearing.”
“Did your brothers and sister remain with him, then?”
Maxton turned away from her at that point, returning to the chair he’d been sitting in as he settled into a conversation that, under normal circumstances, was uncomfortable for him.
“My brother, Emmett, is more like my father,” he said. “He is content to remain at home and rule with my father, while my brother, Jasper, has devoted his life to the church. The last I heard, he had taken his vows as a Benedictine priest somewhere in York. And my little sister, Lucy… I do not know what has become of her. She and I were quite close and when I left, she was around eight years of age. That would be at least twenty or more years ago. She was a light in my world. I miss her.”
Cracks in his façade were starting to show, emotions from the usually emotionless man. Andressa sensed that. “Surely you can write to your father and discover what has become of her?” she asked. “Mayhap she is married now, with many children to call you uncle.”
Maxton thought back to the little girl with the red curls, and how much she had wept when he’d left home. “Ihavewritten to my father,” he said quietly. “I never receive a reply.”
“Oh,” Andressa said as if sorry she had even suggested such a thing. “Is your father angry with you for leaving Loxbeare Cross, then?”
Maxton considered that question. “Angry? Aye,” he said. “But mostly disappointed. He did not want me to see the world and seek my own way in life. He wanted me to take after him, to be exactly like him. I could not do it. I had to follow my own path.”
“But you do not regret doing such a thing?”
“Never,” he said resolutely. “But I am sure my father has caught wind of my unsavory reputation as an Executioner Knight, among other things. Most everyone in England has. I am sure that is why he does not answer my missives. He is ashamed of me.”
Andressa was silent for a moment as she turned for the stool next to the hearth, lowering herself down to it. “You are still his son,” she said. “He has not stopped loving you.”
“I would not be too sure.”
“Mayhap you should go home and find out for yourself. At least, you would know for certain.”
Had anyone else made that suggestion, he would have scoffed, but coming from Andressa, he couldn’t seem to refute her. Her tone was gentle, her words reasonable. She had a great sense of wisdom about her, something he’d seen from the start. Therefore, he simply nodded his head.
“Mayhap,” he replied quietly. “But not today. Mayhap someday. In any case, now you know something of me. I am unspectacular.”
“You are fascinating,” she countered. “You are a man of great experience and I am sure your father will realize that someday. He raised a son who is not a follower, but a leader. Even I can see that.”
Maxton looked at her. Everything out of her mouth about him sounded like praise. He was quite unused to that, but it didn’t sound forced. In fact, he heard great respect in her tone when she spoke of him, and to him, and it was something that made him feel strong and alive. Perhaps that was why he was so attracted to her; unknowingly, she fed something in him that needed to be fed, filling a hole he never knew he had.
She made him feel like a man in ways he couldn’t begin to comprehend.
But that brought him around to the reason why they were in this room and why Andressa was even here. He couldn’t send her back to St. Blitha, not now. They would have to figure out how to stop the assassin nuns without her because, surely, he wasn’t about to put her and the life she carried into harm’s way again. He didn’t relish telling William of the latest development, but it had to be done.
There had to be another way.
“I am sure there are many who would disagree with you, but I thank you for the confidence,” he said, rising wearily to his feet. “Now, if you are finished interrogating me, I have duties to attend to. You may remain here and rest for the time being. Have you eaten yet?”
There was a lightness to his mood that hadn’t been there before, an undercurrent of humor that was appealing. Andressa liked it. But to his question, she shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “Truthfully, the bath was so wonderful, I have not missed it.”
He waved her off. “You must eat,” he said firmly. “I shall ensure food is sent up to you immediately. God only knows how the child you carry has been starved, so you must eat well if only for the child’s sake.”
He started to turn away but she stopped him. “Maxton?” she said, using his name for the first time and watching him turnto her immediately. “You have not mentioned… what I told you about King John… did you discuss this with William Marshal?”
