“How fortunate for me.”
She laughed then, because his look was so intentionally lecherous. He had not changed, her brother, just because he had a wife now. She wondered if that would be a problem for Erika. She knew it would have been for her.
Selig played his game of buzzing kisses with Thora for a few minutes, making her giggle and shriek with delight, before he turned her over to her mother. He then bade Erika come to him. She did so slowly, and ignored his motion for her to mount his horse.
“I will ride with Turgeis,” she said stiffly.
Her tone dictated his own. “You will ride with me.”
“Were there no other horses?”
“I saw no need to borrow more when ’tis just a short ride. Or mayhap you would prefer to walk—again?”
Her eyes flashed with the reminder. “What I would prefer is to never—”
“Now, children, enough bickering,” Brenna said, coming up behind them. “You are setting a bad example for my granddaughter.”
Having said that, Brenna took Thora from Kristen and went into the hall with her. Red-faced at being chastised, Erika mounted the horse. Just as red-faced, Selig did the same. Neither said another word, nor did Selig do more than nod to his sister before heading for the gate. Turgeis, of course, was not far behind.
Erika deplored being this close to Selig. As so frequently happened, it did strange things to her senses that she would rather not feel, especially since she couldn’t get the scene of Selig and that baby out of her mind.Hisbaby. There was no doubt of that, and Lady Brenna had confirmed it with her remark about being the grandmother.
Her new home was within sight when the questions would remain silent no longer. Still, she began hesitantly. “This is not your first marriage, is it?”
“It is.”
“Then who is the mother of your child?”
“What child?”
“The little girl.”
“You mean Thora? Aye, of course you do.” He chuckled. “Shedoeslook like me, does she not?”
“Exactly,” Erika almost snarled.
He glanced back at her, amusement still in his eyes. “If you think you will be asked to raise her, rest easy. Her mother is doing a splendid job of that.”
“And I repeat,whois her mother?”
“My sister.”
Kristen? If the resemblance between Selig and the little girl hadn’t been so strong, she would have realized that for herself.
Her urge was to laugh and hit him and she started to do both, until she recalled that she didn’t have that freedom with him. The wretch had been teasing her, but she couldn’t respond in kind. She suddenly wished she could, andthe thought amazed her. This marriage was not turning out as she had imagined it would. And she had to do something about these ridiculous spurts of jealousy that he found so entertaining. How could she be jealous when she didn’t even like the man?
Chapter 37
RAGNAR HAD BEENright. Erika was not displeased with the home that was to be hers. It was mayhap half the size of Wyndhurst, which made it quite large, yet still in the same design, with two stories, giving it ample rooms for sleeping. Unlike Wyndhurst, it had a kitchen that had been built outside, right next to the hall, to eliminate much of the inside smoke, at least in summer. There were other outbuildings that she would discover later, including a separate sleeping hall for those men who followed Selig, but had yet to build their own homes.
The lack of defense was appalling, outer wooden walls barely begun, but then, she understood that the buildings were only recently finished. The outer defenses in wood would not take long to complete with the great many servants she noted. And she had overheard Selig’s father mention that he intended stone walls like Royce’s to eventually replace the wood, though at a much later date.
There were, indeed, many servants about, and all of them were men. The few females were inside the hall, but when Erika had herfirst sight of them, she could have wished there were not so many.
Golda she knew she was going to like. The older woman introduced herself and the others, and gave Erika a long dissertation on what had been accomplished since her arrival and what she felt still needed doing. There was nothing subservient about the woman, was instead a brassy forthrightness that said she was accustomed to command, yet was she completely respectful in her manner.
Magge, now, seemed a good-natured girl, if a littletoogood-natured. The smile she wore never faltered. And she wisely kept from looking directly at Selig while in Erika’s presence. If the girl knew him intimately, she didn’t want the wife to know it.
Lida, of course, had to be the one Ragnar had felt Erika would want to get rid of, and rightly so. The girl was incredibly lovely, but more than that, her sexual appeal was blatant in the extreme. Even her clothes were revealing, an outer gown split down the front and rucked back into a wide V, and a chainse that was scooped so low the girl’s breasts threatened to spill out. But more than that, her eyes spoke volumes in the way of invitation, and since Erika and Selig had entered, Lida’s eyes had not left him except for a brief, dismissive glance sent Erika’s way.
