“Nay,” he said. “We will be here when you return.”
“Good,” Thomas nodded. Then, he looked to Caria, crying in his mother’s grasp. “Caria, my love, come and bid me farewell.”
Caria yanked herself away from Jordan, running to the safety of Thomas’ arms. “Where are you going?” she wept. “May I come?”
Thomas picked her up, hugging her gently. “You may not come,” he said. “I am going to take Lady Bowlin to her destination, but I shall not be gone long. While I am gone, you must be a very good girl and go with Matha.”
Caria was quite unhappy. “But I want to play with the puppies!”
Thomas looked down at the little dogs, sitting on the dirt and looking up at Caria with their tails thumping. “And you shall,” he said. “Have you fed them anything today?”
That distracted Caria and she looked to the dogs as she wiped at her teary eyes. “They had some bread.”
“You must feed them more than bread,” he told her. “Take the puppies back into the hall where they can suckle on their mother and then go with Matha to rest. If you do these things and are a very good girl, I shall bring you something when I return.”
The promise of a present magically dried all tears. “What shall you bring me?” she asked excitedly.
He kissed her cheek and set her to the ground. “I am not sure yet,” he said. “But you must be very good or there will be nothing. Do you understand?”
Caria nodded solemnly, already rushing over to the puppies to return them to the hall. With Caria calm, and Jordan trailing after the child, Thomas turned his attention to more important things, including Northumbria’s escort. Lifting a hand, he shielded his eyes from the sun as he spied them over by the gatehouse in their fine clothing and fine horses, with standards that had gilded ribbons streaming from them.
“Northumbria is departing,” he said to his father. “So soon? He only just arrived.”
William cleared his throat softly. “Let him go,” he said. When Thomas looked at him curiously, he simply held up a hand. “Ask no more. We will speak on it when you return.”
Thomas didn’t press his father, although he was very curious. Northumbria’s trip to Wark had been very brief, considering the effort it took to travel from Kyloe to Wark. As he stood there for a moment and watched the Northumbria escort assemble, he saw clearly when Adelaide broke off from her father and headed across the bailey in his direction.
Dressed in a fine gown, elaborate, with her gold jewelry reflecting the sunlight, any other man might have thought she was a pretty sight, but not Thomas. All he could manage to feel when he looked at her was disgust and impatience. He didn’t want to talk to her because there wasn’t anything she had to say that he wanted to hear. Quickly, he turned away.
“It is time for us to depart,” he said, politely taking hold of Maitland’s elbow. “Come along, my lady.”
Maitland lifted a hand to Jordan and William, waving farewell, as Thomas turned her for the escort. They hadn’t taken five steps when Adelaide called Thomas’ name. He didn’t respond until she called him a third time, when he finally came to a reluctant halt and turned towards the woman. She called his name again, for a fourth time, to make sure he had heard her, lifting her hand as if to catch his attention. He simply stood there, impatiently.
“What is it, my lady?” he asked with thin patience. “We are just preparing to depart.”
Adelaide was looking at Maitland as she spoke. “I know,” she said. “But I wanted to know why you were going. The lady arrived without an escort, I am told, so I am not sure why she needs one to reach her destination.”
Immediately, Thomas could feel his anger rise. He wasn’t going to let Adelaide make any decisions for him and heparticularly didn’t like her questioning decisions he’d already made. This was his castle, and ever would be, and her role in it would be as small as he could possibly manage.
“Although this is none of your concern, I will be polite and respond,” he said. “We are escorting Lady Bowlin and her traveling companion because we were attacked by reivers last night and it is not safe for the lady and her companion to ride alone through dangerous territory,” he said. “Is that all?”
Adelaide’s gaze lingered on Maitland. “I wanted to bid the lady a good journey.”
Maitland was surprised to hear that but she sensed something sinister behind the goodwill gesture. “Thank you, my lady,” she said. “I hope you will come visit Edenside someday.”
Adelaide cocked her head. “Why?”
It was a stupid question as far as Maitland was concerned, but it was also a question with no real answer. She’d only said it to be polite.
“Because great ladies are patronesses of such places,” she said, scrambling for the first answer she could come up with. “Since Sir Thomas has agreed to be a patron, I am sure you would like to see where his money is put to use.”
Adelaide looked at Thomas in shock. “You are givingmoneyto Edenside?”
Thomas was rather pleased in a sadistic sort of way to see that she was upset. “It is my money,” he said. “And I need not answer to you. If there is nothing else, then I must go.”
Adelaide wasn’t stupid. Petty, vindictive, and immature, aye. But she wasn’t stupid. She could see what was going on, how Thomas seemed to be particularly fond of Lady Bowlin, and it fed her anger and jealously like nothing else. The man wouldn’t give her the time of day, but he certainly paid the widow enough attention. Her father had told him that William de Wolfe had tried to break the betrothal and now Adelaide suspected why–
The Beguine.
