“You must.”
“But I do not even remember her,” he said, trying not to sound as if he were whining about it. “She was a little girl I was kind too those years ago and nothing more.”
“You made enough of an impression on her that her father asked for a betrothal.”
Gar rolled his eyes. “So my reward for saving a… a child is that I have the privilege of being married to her?” he said. “That is ridiculous. It was ridiculous from the start, but you saw an alliance in it, so I have been forced to accept it.”
Troy cocked an eyebrow. “I was forced into a marriage with your mother for the sake of an alliance and I am a better man for it,” he pointed out. “Poppy and Matha have the most chaotic romance of all because long ago, she belonged to Poppy’s liege. At least you do not love a woman who belongs to someone else.”
“I do notloveanyone.”
“Enough, Gar,” William said softly, stopping the argument. “The subject is not up for discussion. You are going to travel to Hensingham Castle, where Lady Matilda de Reyne is waiting for you. You will spend some time there, coming to know the woman you are to marry, and then you shall wed. That is what her father wanted.”
Even Troy looked at his father curiously. “They do not want a wedding right away?”
William shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “His missive said that he wishes for his daughter to come to know her betrothed before the marriage is to take place. To be fair, I have heard of something like this before, but usually when the brides are quite young. Lady Matilda has recently seen her nineteenth birthday, so she is not a child. She is a grown woman.”
Troy shook his head. “I think that is a very bad idea.”
“Why?”
Troy grunted, exasperated. “Although a period of acquaintance can be beneficial if the couple comes to like one another, it can also be a terrible thing if they cannot stand the sight of each other, knowing they still must wed.”
William glanced at Gar. “And you afraid that will happen?”
Troy looked at his son, who was sitting moodily in his seat, clearly pondering how he could get himself out of this predicament. “If they do not get along and the lady wants out, and Gar agrees, the betrothal can be broken,” he said. “I do not think you want to see that happen.”
“So you feel a swift marriage is for the best?”
“I do.”
Gar abruptly stood up. “You two decide what you want,” he said. “I have an army to see to. I haven’t slept in three days and I’ve hardly eaten, so do what you must and let me know what you decide since I do not have any choice in this matter.”
He stomped off, heading back across the hall to the spiral stairs that would take him back down to the ward. He was battered and bloodied and irritable, so neither Troy or William blamed him. It had been a brutal campaign and he’d come home to something he’d been avoiding, and ignoring, for years.
“If I were you, I would send Rhoswyn here to ensure this place is cleaned up to the point where a woman could actually live here and not die of a disease,” William said quietly. “Gar is not a cultured man or one who cares about appearance. I fear Lady Matilda’s reaction when he brings her back here.”
Troy couldn’t disagree with him. “So we pretend Gar isn’t as slovenly as he is?” he said. “I do not think that is fair to the lady.”
“It is more than fair,” William said. “The lady does not need to face such barbaric conditions when Gar brings her home. We do not want to frighten her.”
Troy sighed heavily. “Once Gar leaves for Hensingham, I suppose I could send my wife over here, but she’s not the best of chatelaines. You know this, Papa.”
William’s mouth twitched with a smile. “She’s hell in battle, however,” he said. “She is a worthy woman.”
Troy looked at his father and, seeing the smirk, broke out into a grin. They both knew that Rhoswyn had not grown up being taught usual womanly duties, including how to tend a keep, and it had been Troy who had been forced to take on that role for some time after they were married.
He wasn’t about to do it again.
“Mayhap there is someone else who can help other than Rhos,” Troy said. “Andreas’ wife is closer by proximity, anyway. She has managed to keep The Hermitage quite habitable.”
“True.”
The servants chose that moment to appear with the food Gar had requested. He wasn’t there to eat it, but that didn’t mean that Troy and William didn’t make a feast out of it. Even if Garlived in a pigsty, the man always had excellent food and drink. Troy and William took advantage of that because they were quite certain this wasn’t the last battle they were going to have with Gar about his betrothal.
They had to keep up their strength.
They were going to need it.
