Page 20 of Wolfehound
The little lass who meant everything to him.
Thoughts of Cambria lingered as he quit the solar. He intended to tell her about Liam’s approach, yet with thoughts of her leaving him in a few years when she came of age, all he could feel was longing. The longing that any father would have for a daughter. As he headed out of the keep, he could hear a couple of servants in the small dining hall speaking about the smell of dogs in the room. Given the fact that Cambria insisted on bringing her dogs into the hall at mealtime, the smell couldn’t be helped. She had eleven of them these days—a big male, three adult females, and seven puppies who would soon be going to good homes. Her dogs, big and black and fearsome in adulthood,were much in demand among the nobles of Lincolnshire. In fact, she’d given Liam a puppy when he last came to visit out of the first litter she’d ever had. Carlton hoped he still had the dog because it would most definitely upset his daughter if he didn’t.
She was even attached to the pets she no longer had.
She was a woman concerned for all living creatures, everywhere.
It was a busy day in the bailey of Folkingham as Carlton headed for the kitchen yard. It was located on the north side of the keep, a big area between the stables and the outdoor kitchen area. There were fences and gates to keep the livestock in their yard and away from the kitchen, and he had to pass through two of those gates to get to the yard he was looking for.
And there she was.
Her dark hair stood out anywhere she went. Black, like coal, and falling in silken curls to her buttocks. She was always pushing it out of the way, out of her eyes, over her shoulder, because her hair seemed to have some affection for her face. It always wanted to touch it. He didn’t blame her hair, of course, because Cambria had the most angelic face, round and sweet, with skin the color of cream. Black, arched eyebrows and black lashes framed eyes the color of cornflowers. They were an unnaturally bright shade of blue, always warm, always kind. Cambria didn’t have a nasty bone in her body unless she didn’t get what she wanted, which wasn’t often, or she was incensed about something. When that happened, men ran for cover. But Carlton rather liked that about her. What was it Warenton had told him? Not to spoil her?
He had disobeyed.
“Bria?” he said. Then he glanced around the yard. “Where’s your mother, Dearest?”
Cambria had been bent over one of her dogs, inspecting an eye that seemed to be crusty. “With the cook,” she said, standing up to face her father. “Why? Shall I fetch her?”
He shrugged. “Nay,” he said. “That is not necessary. You can simply tell her that Liam Herringthorpe will be our guest today. I thought you might like to know.”
As he anticipated, her blue eyes flashed.Liam Herringthorpe. Those were magic words as far as his fourteen-year-old daughter was concerned because the affection she’d always felt for Liam had never died. It was still there as she grew older, part of her as much as an arm or a leg. She’d known of her betrothal to Liam since she’d been a child, so she knew that whenever he showed up, it was her husband coming to call. Someday he would actually marry her.
They all knew she looked forward to that day.
But she was stubborn. Somewhere over the past year, she’d mentioned outgrowing him, being no longer interested in him. He hadn’t come to see her in so long that her pride was wounded. Carlton knew any talk of disinterest was a bold-faced lie, because any mention of the man and her features would light up, like the sun bursting through the clouds. Just like now. But she must have known her father was onto her game because Cambria stilled her reaction almost immediately. The flash in her eyes dimmed and her expression hardened.
Carlton could see the ruse coming a mile away.
“Why should I like to know?” she said, turning back to her dog. “He has not been here for over two years. I’d forgotten all about him.”
Carlton had to fight off a grin. “Truly?” he said, rubbing his chin. “You’ve forgotten the man you are to marry?”
She bent over the dog again. “He is of no consequence to me,” she said. “And clearly, I am not to him, either, or he would have come sooner.”
“He has probably been busy.”
“With what, pray tell?”
Carlton shrugged. “There has been a good deal of action on the borders as of late,” he said. “Especially Berwick, and that is a de Wolfe property. I hear the Scots want it badly and there have been battles. Mayhap he has been busy with that. He is a knight, after all.”
She grunted, disinterested. “I have nothing to say to him, Papa,” she said. “If he has come to see me, tell him I am busy.”
“I will do no such thing.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are betrothed to the man,” Carlton said, pointing out what she already knew. “If you want him to think you are too busy to see him, thenyoutell him.”
She stopped fussing with the dog’s eye and looked at her father, frowning. “You will not do that for me?”
“I will not because you are being foolish.”
The frown on her face deepened. “How can you say such a thing to me?”
His smile broke through. “Because you adore Liam and you always have,” he said. “You are lying if you say otherwise and we both know it. You should never lie to your father.”
Cambria could only hold the frown for a few more seconds before she broke into a grin like her father had. “I did not lie to you,” she said. “I only told you what I was feeling at that moment.”
