Page 54 of Wolfehound
Not as a Herringthorpe, but a de Wolfe.
“I’ve only met the former Earl of Warenton once,” she said. “He came to visit my father about ten or twelve years ago. I remember an older man with a patch over one eye. He seemed interested in talking to me, however. He was very nice.”
“He was a kind man,” Liam said. “I have fond memories of him.”
“Did he acknowledge you as his grandson?”
Liam shook his head. “Only in private,” he said. “The decision had been made long ago to keep my father’s relationship to Warenton private because to publicly acknowledge anything would be to shame my grandmother, the one who conceived my father with a man she was not marriedto. Neither my father, nor William de Wolfe, wanted to harm her reputation. Most people still look at a pregnancy like that, as a lack of morals or a lack of restraint. They did it to protect her, so that is why we do not speak of it, but he and the other grandsons allowed me a small mercy not long ago to share that family link.”
“What was that?”
Liam put his left hand on his right shoulder. “I bear a stigmata that all of the grandsons bear,” he said. “A permanent mark of the House of de Wolfe. In my case, it is almost always hidden, but I wear it with pride. It makes me feel as if I am part of something bigger.”
She smiled faintly. “Thank you for telling me,” she said. “I’m glad you felt you could trust me with it. It seems we shall be a family of many secrets.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you know what I mean.”
He looked at her, puzzled. “Nay, I do not,” he said. “What is it?”
“Gwenllian.”
That changed his expression in a heartbeat. His features tensed, his jaw began to flex, and his breathing changed. It grew deep and slow. It was obvious that he wasn’t sure what to say at first, but he at least did her the courtesy of not pretending that he didn’t know what she was talking about. But when he continued to remain silent, Cambria spoke.
“I know that you know,” she said softly. “I am not trying to cause an issue, but I want you to know that I know everything.”
He looked away, jaw still flexing. “You are not supposed to know.”
“Why?” she said. “I am glad that someone felt I was mature enough and responsible enough to know the truth. And I will be insulted if you do not feel the same way.”
He looked at her then. “It is not a matter of maturity,” he said quietly. “It is a matter of safety.”
“Whose safety?”
“Yours.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that the fewer people know, the better. The more chance we have of keeping this… secret.”
She could see his point. Sort of. But she could also see something else. “You were never going to tell me, were you?” she asked.
He sighed heavily, once again averting his gaze. “Probably not,” he said. “There is no reason to.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “You know where you come from, Liam,” she said. “Is it fair that I should not?”
It was threatening to turn into an argument. The air was fairly crackling with tension at this point. Without a word, Liam stood up and headed out of the hall, leaving Cambria to run after him. She caught up to him in the bailey, where she grabbed him by the arm.
“Rules shall be established now, sir,” she said heatedly. “You will never, ever walk away from me in anger. Not now, not ever. That is not how two people who love each other behave. If there is a problem, we discuss it. But we do not show a lack of respect to the other by simply walking away.”
Liam sighed heavily, hanging his head as he considered her words. “You are correct,” he said. “But in my defense, I did not walk away in anger. I walked away knowing you would follow. What you brought up in the hall cannot be discussed in a chamber like that. People hear, Bria.”
That cooled her anger somewhat, but she was still unhappy. “Very well,” she said. “Since we are no longer in the hall, we may discuss it out here.”
He shook his head, holding up a hand. “There is no need,” he said. “If you already know, there is nothing I can add to it.”
She looked at him, disappointed. “Is this how our marriage is going to be?”
