In any case, the woman was upset and he simply couldn’t let it go.
He went in search of Addington.
“My brother thinksthat he has offended you.”
Standing in the musty stables, Lista heard the soft female voice, turning to see Addington enter. She had been watching the grooms prepare the horses, unwilling to return to the hall just yet, so Addington’s appearance had her uncertain and embarrassed.
“Nay, not at all,” she said to Addington’s blunt statement. “I simply asked him to leave me and let me go about my business.”
“What business?”
“We are preparing to depart.”
Addington frowned. “Why?” she said. “My lady, it is only fair to tell me what is wrong. What have we done?”
Lista knew she should tell her. Addington was right– it was only fair. Therefore, she struggled to delicately phrase it.
“You’ve done nothing,” she said. “You have been so incredibly gracious and the last thing I would want to do is offend you or your brother or mother, but we must face facts. My mother and aunt are not appropriate guests for your mother’s table.”
Addington’s eyes glittered in understanding. “So you are planning to take them away?”
Lista nodded. “I was going to come and tell you myself, I promise,” she said. “I wanted to make sure the escort was ready before I did. We should have never accepted your invitation to sup. My mother and aunt simply do not belong around polite, civilized people.”
“So you thought to spare us the shame of it?”
“I thought to preserve your mother’s memory of a friend from long ago.”
Addington smiled faintly. “That is noble of you,” she said. “But unnecessary. Do you not know about the de Velts?”
Lista wasn’t sure what she meant. “I… I know you are a great family,” she said. “Your father was a great warlord.”
Addington sighed faintly, taking Lista by the hand and pulling her over to a small bench that was pushed up against the wall of the stables. She sat down, taking Lista with her.
“Ask any man in Northumberland over the age of fifty years and they will all tell you the same thing about Ajax de Velt,” she said quietly. “My father was a warlord of the most brutal sort. Years ago, he conquered portions of the Welsh and Scottish Marches. He confiscated several castles. He would not only defeat armies, but he would take his prisoners and ram poles through them and then prop the poles up so that there was a sea of macabre scarecrows all over the land. Kings feared my father. There are those who still spit upon the name de Velt, so although I am flattered that you think we are a noble family, the truth is that we have a very dark past.”
Lista knew that, sort of. Amaury had mentioned it earlier that day and she’d known from living in Northumberland that de Velt was a name to fear, but not much beyond that.
“But your father went on to make a good name for himself, didn’t he?” she said. “He raised a kind and noble family.”
“Why do you say that?”
Lista smiled faintly. “Even if I knew nothing at all about your father, I do not need to know anything about him at all because you and your brother and mother have been kind and generous. That tells me all I need to know about Ajax de Velt. He has a good family.”
Addington was still holding her hand, now squeezing it. “That is sweet of you to say that,” she said. “But the fact remainsthat Julian thinks you ran from him and I told him I would get to the bottom of the situation. You didn’t run from him, did you?”
Lista shook her head firmly. “Nay,” she said. “He was very polite and helpful.”
Addington cleared her throat softly. “That’s not what I mean,” she said. “I meant… you did not run fromhim? From the way he is?”
“How is he?”
Addington could see that Lista had no clue what she meant. “Nay, I didn’t think so,” she said, relieved. “But he’s had people run from him before and those who do not run will comment cruelly.”
“Comment cruelly about what?”
Addington pointed to her eyes. “From this,” she said quietly. “We all have our father’s eyes in some fashion, but Julian’s condition is more pronounced because his eyes are two different colors. He is self-conscious about it but please do not tell him that I told you. That would embarrass him.”
Lista looked at her curiously. “I saw his eyes,” she said. “I thought they were marvelous, like the rest of him.”
