Marriage plans were in tatters.
“I do not need to go to the garden,” she said, focusing on her sewing, which she excelled at. “Sir Gar made it clear that I would be miserable in this marriage and so would he. He said everything he needed to say and so did I.”
She was unbending. Maksim could see that. Agnes was sitting on the end of the bed with the dog lying across her lap, looking at Mattie with some sadness. That was all Maksim needed to push forward with his request.
“Aggie,” he said quietly. “Get out. And take the beast with you.”
“Nay, Agnes,” Mattie said evenly, still focused on her sewing. “You will not leave.”
Maksim stepped into the chamber, fixed on Agnes, and pointed at the door. “Go,” he said. “I will not tell you again.”
Fearfully, Agnes leaped up and rushed out with Winchester on her heels. When the girl and the dog were gone, Maksim shut the door and faced his sister.
“I do not know what was said, exactly, between you and Gar, but he has given me a good idea,” he said. “I will tell him what I told you, Matilda—if he broke your heart, I would break him. Is that what happened?Didhe break your heart?”
Mattie wouldn’t look at him. “Of course not,” she said. “How could he? I do not love him.”
Maksim knew that was a lie, mostly. “Nay, you do not love him, but you were very much looking forward to being married,” he said. “He hurt your pride.”
She faltered in her sewing, as if what he’d said hit the mark. But she quickly resumed. “I do not know why you are here,” she said. “I did what Gar wanted. I asked Papa to break the betrothal. Why does Gar wish to speak with me about it now?”
Maksim planted himself on a three-legged stool, facing his sister. “Because it is costing him everything,” he said quietly. “Matilda, I am going to tell you something about Gar de Wolfe that you should probably know.”
“What?”
“You can never do any better for a husband.”
She paused and looked at him, frowning. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said,” he said. “You will never do any better than Gar. Shall I tell you a little about him, things you do not know? To begin with, he was fully knighted at seventeen years of age. That is three years earlier than most knights, including me.”
“I already know that,” Mattie said. “Do not forget that I have been betrothed to him for ten years. There is not much about him I do not know. What I did not know is that the man is a coward.”
Maksim’s eyebrows flew up. “Gar?” he repeated, aghast. “A coward?”
“Aye,” she said firmly. “A coward. He would not ask Papa to break the betrothal personally, so he sent me to do it.”
“Did he ask you to?”
She paused before answering. “Nay, not directly,” she said. “But that is what he wanted me to do.”
“If he did not ask you to do it in words you can understand, then how do you know?” Maksim said. “Or did you assume it before having all of the facts and ran to Papa with your assumption?”
She scowled. “You will not blame me for this,” she said. “That is exactly what Gar wanted and that is what he got.”
Maksim scratched his neck in a frustrated gesture before continuing. “Let me tell you something about him you do not know,” he said. “I saw Gar not long ago when we were both in London and I spent two days with the man and his brother, Andreas, who is here. It was Andreas who told me why they were in London.”
“Why do I care?”
“Because you should know that Gar has been the garrison commander for his family’s property at Gleann na Fola Castle for the past few years,” he said. “Gar has singlehandedly kept that portion of the border from erupting, no matter what has happened elsewhere. He has been a wise and intuitive commander. He has made alliances with some of the local clans, making sure they have a mutually beneficial relationship. When one clan had an outbreak of sickness, Gar gathered physics and medicines and escorted all of it to the clan, through hostile territory. In the dead of winter. All because it was the right thing to do.”
By this time, Mattie had stopped sewing and was looking at him with a torn expression on her face. “That is… admirable,” she said. “But I do not know why you—”
“Because I want you to know about this man,” Maksim said, cutting her off. “You seem to think he’s a fool of a man, a simple knight, and breaking this betrothal is an easy enough thing.Aye, you know about his service record. You know he has been heavily trained. You know he has both Scots and English blood in him. Did you also know that Edward, the king, has asked for his service, but his father will not give permission?”
“Why not?”
“Because he knows Gar’s worth,” Maksim said. “He knows that the man is most valuable where he is, not riding escort for a monarch. I will agree that Gar is a knight who serves in some of the most remote lands of England. Mayhap he does not have manners or social graces. I have seen that for myself.”
