That bit of information greatly concerned everyone. “You are the Constable of the North, Atty,” Scott said rather passionately. “You would know if there are any other disappearances associated with Northumbria and Adelaide de Vauden.”
Patrick shook his head. “I am not for certain,” he said. “At least, no one else has come forward with a missing son who was once betrothed to Adelaide de Vauden other than the Horncliffe family, but I did hear of another young man from a local noble family who had been pledged to the great heiress down towards Alnwick. At least, I thought it was Alnwick. Mayhap it was Kyloe. In any case, his name was Cabot de Berck and I seem to remember hearing my wife speak of him. I do not know what became of him, however.”
“Then you must find out,” Troy said, interrupting Scott when the man tried to say the same thing. “For Tommy’s sake, you must find out if de Berck was the second…”
Thomas cut him off, shushing them because they were raising their voices. “I appreciate the concern; you know I do,” he said. “But Papa and I have already discussed the situation and we have already made plans– Northumbria would make a fine prize for Edward to award to one of his favorites now that Edmund is dead, and Papa cannot allow that to happen, so Papa and I both agree that I should go forward with my marriage to Adelaide to secure the earldom for the House of de Wolfe. Papa’s entire trip to Kyloe was with the intent of obtaining witnesses against Adelaide.”
“Yet he only found a majordomo who was terrified to speak on the subject,” Troy said. He shook his head. “God’s Bones, Tommy. You tried to run from this betrothal once and we stopped you. If you run now, no one will stop you at all– in fact, we willhelpyou.”
Thomas smiled weakly. “I am not running. Mayhap I should, but I cannot, not with the safety of Northumberland at stake.” His attention turned to Patrick. “Atty, mayhap you can find witnesses and arrest Adelaide for the murders of Horncliffe and the unknown second betrothal. With her in the vault, I may be able to have the marriage annulled and the earldom would remain mine.”
It was an outlandish scheme at best. The brothers were now looking at each other, dubiously. Quite a bit had gone on with their youngest brother and the Northumbria betrothal, far more than they could have guessed. It was quite a quagmire now.
“I can try to find witnesses to this situation, Tommy, but you are taking a terrible chance,” Patrick said. “What if I cannot find witnesses willing to give testimony against Adelaide? You will be married to a murderess.”
Thomas lifted his big shoulders. “If she really is a murderess, then sooner or later, I suspect she will go after me,” he said. “There is no love lost between us. In fact, we have had some terrible discussions and I have been more than cruel to her. At some point, she may snap and make an attempt on my life. If she does, I will be ready for her.”
It was a confident statement that bordered on arrogance. “All for an earldom, Tommy?” Scott wanted to know. “You will go into this marriage knowing that you may have to fight for your very life?”
Thomas pointed to their father, lying on the bed. “Papa was willing to do everything he could to secure Northumbria for me,” he said. “I cannot, andwillnot, disappoint him. If I must be vigilant for the rest of my life against a madwoman, so be it, but Papa feels that this is enough of an important situation to take the risk.”
It sounded final. As the brothers looked at each other, trying to find some kind of argument that would make Thomas realize marriage to a murderess wasn’t the only solution, a servant entered the chamber and made his way to Thomas.
“My lord?” the woman said timidly. “A man has come for you. He says it is about Edenside.”
Thomas hardly remembered moving. One moment, he was standing in his father’s chamber with his brothers and in the next, he was racing down Northwood’s rather treacherous stairs. The keep of Northwood had a large, two-storied foyer, something that could be seen from a balcony on the second floor, and he raced past the balcony and down the last flight of stairs only to see Desmond and Hector standing in the entry. Markus was there, too, all of them standing in a nervous huddle.
Desmond nearly broke down when he saw Thomas approaching.
“It’s true,” he said, sounding edgy and emotional. “Tibelda is dead and everyone is gone. When we took Tibelda to the priests at Kelso to be buried, we searched the town and the surrounding area, but there is no sign of them anywhere. We even went to the garrison at Roxburgh Castle and had them help us, but we found nothing.”
Thomas’ breath caught in his throat at the mention of Tibelda’s death and no sign of Maitland. Although he’d been hoping for better news, the truth was that he hadn’t expected it.
Still… the reality was a blow.
“Nothing at all?” he asked, incredulous and frightened. “No one saw anything?”
Desmond was pale and exhausted. “Nay,” he said. “We asked people in Kelso if they had seen anything. We even went to the abbey and asked, but no one knew a thing. Roxburgh even sent his men all over the countryside, but there was no trace.”
“And Edenside?” Thomas demanded. “Is it destroyed?”
Desmond shook his head. “Surprisingly, it is not,” he said. “The front gates are broken, which may be how the intruders entered, and the interior of the keep was in disarray, but nothing was burned or broken. The goats are still there, as are the chickens and all of the supplies Mae had. But everyone is simply gone.”
“My God,” Thomas breathed. “But the littlest one somehow managed to escape.”
Desmond nodded. “God only knows how she managed it, but thank God she did,” he said. “I left all of the soldiers I took with me at Edenside to watch over the place while I came to tell you what we’d found. Everyone…gone.”
Thomas digested that. After the initial shock, he’d cooled dramatically, realizing he couldn’t help Maitland if he was in a panic. He was a de Wolfe and a de Wolfe was always calm in a crisis. In fact, the family motto wascourage in times of trouble.All of the de Wolfe brothers held to that motto, including Thomas. If there was any hope of finding Maitland and the children, he had to think clearly.
Perhaps now, more than any other time in his life, the youngest de Wolfe brother had to show his courage.
It was time.
“I know who has taken her,” he said with surprising calm. “I have known from the start, but I suppose I was hoping against hope that I was wrong. That dagger that the little girl brought us, the one with the wolf’s head? You saw the dagger, Des. You know that it is mine, but I did not think to tell you that I lost it in Coldstream on the night we drove the reivers into the River Tweed.”
Desmond was listening intently. “Then how–”
“Because the reivers took Mae,” Thomas said, cutting him off. “Those bastards who call themselves the ThurrockCú. They are seeking vengeance against me for driving their number into the river that night. Somehow, they found my dagger and considering that very wolf’s head is on the de Wolfe standards, they knew it was mine. I firmly believe they are the ones who killed Northumbria when they saw him leaving Wark, and I further believe they have been watching my movements. It is the only thing that makes sense.”
