“I did,” he said. “I went to Edenside. Do you remember hearing us speaking on it last night at sup? It is a foundling home. Do you know what that is?”
Caria thought on that. “Is it sinful folk?”
He shook his head. “Not really,” he said. “It is for children who do not have mothers or fathers. I met them today.”
Caria’s face lit up. “Can I meet them, too?”
He shrugged. “I do not see why not,” he said. “But we must ask Matha and Poppy.”
They were in the outer bailey now, heading towards the great hall. Light streamed from the lancet windows and the ventilation holes at the roofline, with smoke billowing from the chimney and out into the night. But Caria wasn’t looking at the hall or anything else; she was still fixed on Thomas and the idea of the foundlings.
“Why do these children have no mother or father?” she asked. “What happened to them?”
Thomas glanced at the child; technically, she was a foundling, too, with both parents dead, only she didn’t know that. Caria had no idea who she really was and probably never would if his father had anything to say about it.
“They must have died,” he said. “I did not ask them what happened to their parents, but I am sure they must have died. Now they live at Edenside and Lady Bowlin is going to take care of them.”
Caria remembered Lady Bowlin and how she’d described how a penny could feed the poor. “Lady Bowlin is nice,” she said.
“Indeed, she is.”
They were drawing near the hall now and Caria seemed surprised to see just how close they were, as if only noticing it for the first time. Her arms around his neck tightened.
“Tommy,” she said slowly. “I… I must ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“I want to live here with you.”
He came to a halt. “We have been through this before, Caria,” he said. “You must return to Castle Questing with Matha and Poppy. Think how heartbroken they would be if you did not live with them.”
Caria frowned, looking very much like Tacey in her expression. “But I want to stay here with you,” she said earnestly. “You have no one to take care of you and I could do that.”
He smiled. “And you would do a remarkable job,” he said. “But it would hurt Matha and Poppy terribly if you came to live here. Would you be so cruel to them?”
She was beginning to tear up. “Can I stay for just a little while?”
Thomas kissed her cheek. “Mayhap you can stay a little while,” he said. “The next time I go to Edenside, mayhap you and Matha can come with me so you can meet the children. Would you like that?”
Caria nodded, wiping at her eyes. “I would,” she said, pushing the issue. “But I do not want to go back to Castle Questing. Will you ask Matha if I can stay with you?”
From the corner of his eye, Thomas caught sight of William as his father emerged from the inner bailey, heading towards the great hall. Knowing he and his father had much to discuss, he kissed Caria on the cheek and set her on her feet.
“We will discuss this later,” he said. “I must speak with Poppy now. If you want to wait for me, I shall eat supper with you.”
Caria nodded, still wiping her eyes, as her nurse snuck up behind her and took her by the hand to lead her away. Thomas watched her go, heading back to the keep and back to the big bedchamber, even waving at her when she turned her sad face to him. She managed to pass William on her way to the keep, who put his hand on her dark head as he passed by.
“Why is Caria weeping?” William asked as he drew close. “What is it now?”
Thomas smiled weakly. “She is a weepy one.”
“She is.”
“She wants to live with me at Wark.”
William snorted. “She speaks of that constantly,” he said. “Your mother and I have denied her, but she is headstrong. She will not stop asking.”
Thomas thought on Caria’s strong-willed personality. “Her mother was not that way at all,” he said. “Remember? Tacey was so timid and shy. And she was so tiny– I think Caria is going to be her mother’s size. Even now, she looks smaller than her age.”
