“Mother?” came a soft voice from behind.
They both turned to see Thia standing at the base of the stairs, her heavy face amazingly calm. Peyton instinctively tensed as Lady Celine, well aware of the animosity between her daughter and Alec’s wife, faced her daughter pleasantly.
“What is it, Thia dear?”
Thia swallowed hard in the first display of uncertainty Peyton had ever seen from her. She seemed subdued, repressed somehow.
“I was… was wondering if you would allow me a moment’s privacy with Peyton,” she said quietly. “I… I would like to speak with her.”
Her question was entirely respectful and Peyton’s natural defenses faltered slightly. She sounded utterly sincere and Peyton wanted desperately to believe that, mayhap, she was attempting to extend a measure of reconciliation.
Celine glanced at Peyton. “I do not think so, dear. Peyton is very tired and was just about to retire. Mayhap tomorrow would be a better time.”
The Thia that gazed up at them looked nothing like the brash, belligerent woman Peyton had become acquainted with. Her expression was almost pleading.
“I was hoping to speak with her tonight,” she said, clearing her throat loudly. “You see, Lady Peyton and I have not been on good terms since her arrival and I have had time to think…. I would like to speak with her for a few minutes, mother. Please? I shan’t keep her overlong. Just time enough to say what I must.”
Celine and Peyton exchanged glances. “Are you up to it, my lady?” Celine asked her gently.
Peyton wanted nothing more than to be at peace with all of Alec’s family. She wasn’t suspicious of Thia’s motives in the least; if the woman was willing to talk out their differences, then she would stay up all night if that was what it would take. She was more than eager to forgive and forget their rocky beginning.
She smiled at Thia. “Of course. I would be delighted.”
Celine smiled as well. She knew that the two women could mend their shortcomings and was thrilled that Thia was making a peace overture. She knew her daughter well enough to know that she was a reasonable, honorable person.
Or so she thought.
“Very well, Thia,” she moved away from Peyton and descended the stairs. “I shall leave you ladies alone.”
With a lingering smile, she turned for the dining hall until a call from Thia stopped her.
“Do not mention our talk to Alec, mother,” she said with as much innocence as she could muster. She was terrified that somehow she would betray her true motives, still reeling with surprise to have come across Peyton without her husband tailing her. It would make what she had to do far easier. “He knows we haven’t gotten along and I fear he shall try to interrupt us.”
Celine did not hesitate. “I understand.”
Peyton and Thia watched Celine disappear into the dining hall. When the woman was gone from view, they faced each other with a degree of uncertainty.
“Where would you like to go?” Peyton asked softly.
Thia cleared her throat again, nervously. Her palms were sweating profusely. “I… I thought someplace private. Like the stables.”
“The stables?” Peyton repeated. “The solar is private. And closer.”
“And someone can interrupt us, like my meddlesome brother. If he comes looking, I want him to search for awhile and allow us our time together.”
Peyton grinned, slowly descending the stairs towards her sister-in-law. “He is meddlesome, isn’t he? Pushy, too.”
In spite of her nerves, Thia couldn’t help but grin. “And arrogant. And loud.”
Peyton laughed, feeling better than she had in weeks. She was absolutely positive that she and Thia would grow to be very chummy if they could only spend a few moments together, getting to know one another.
“And he has the manners of a goat. Do you know that he and Edward had a competition to see who could belch the loudest the very first night the king arrived at St. Cloven?”
This time, Thia laughed. “That’s nothing. He and Ali and my father used to sit in front of the hearth on cold winter nights and attempt to out-fart each other. The solar would smell of rotting bodies for days afterward.”
Peyton laughed uproariously, moving for the door that led to the bailey. “Disgusting. And your mother allowed this?”
Thia opened the door to allow Peyton to pass through. “Better. She would bolt the door from the outside and not let them out until morning. They very nearly suffocated.”
