Page 19 of Wolfehound
Colm opened the door. “Focus on her business skills,” he said, grinning. “She does not have the pets simply to have them. She sells them. She will make you rich one day.”
“Rich or insane.”
“Take heart,” Colm said. “She’ll be Herringthorpe’s problem one day.”
“True.”
Colm glanced out into the entry beyond. “I suppose I’d better go prepare for his arrival,” he said. But he paused before continuing. “Carlton… do you think Warenton ever told him the truth?”
The door was open and Carlton’s head snapped up before he motioned sharply to the panel, which Colm quickly pulled shut. Given that he’d been part of the escort from Wales those years ago, and he knew the blue-eyed infant they’d brought to Folkingham, there was no way Carlton couldn’t tell him what had happened. He’d been sworn to secrecy about it, but it was something he hadn’t been happy about since the beginning. He thought that Edward was going to eventually discover the deception and they’d all be sent to the executioner.
Carlton was aware of the man’s feelings.
He’d heard about them constantly for the past fourteen years.
“I’ve told you not to speak on that,” he hissed. “You are well aware of the peril.”
Colm put a hand up, a silent apology. “No one is around to overhear,” he said. “But you are correct. I should not have. I was simply thinking aloud.”
“Do not do it,” Carlton said. “If it comes into your mind, bite your tongue. Cut it out if you have to. But never speak of it again.”
Properly contrite, Colm simply nodded. “It was careless,” he said. “I did not mean to be. It will not happen again.”
“It had better not.”
Colm had his head down. “I swear it,” he said. “But you do know that, as with all secrets, someday this will come out, Carlton. It is inevitable.”
“If it does, it will not be because of carelessness. It will be because of maliciousness.”
“Or guilt.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Colm shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “I simply meant… Never mind. I did not mean anything by it. I shall go about my business now. There is much to do before he arrives.”
He turned to leave, but a word from Carlton stopped him. “Wait,” he said quietly.
Colm stopped and looked at him. “What is it?”
Carlton sighed sharply before answering. “Liam… He knows,” he murmured. “Warenton told him everything. For his own safety, he had to.”
Colm’s eyebrows lifted. “I thought so,” he said. “Herringthorpe rode escort with us. He, more than any of us, was physically closer to the infant. He saw… Well, he saw what happened when we arrived. With Fair Lydia and the infant. How could he not know?”
“That is what Warenton thought,” Carlton muttered. “And that’s why he told him. I know I’ve jested about her being too young to wed, and she is, but the moment she reaches eighteen years of age, the marriage will happen. That union will protect her more than I ever could.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if the truth is discovered now, Edward would have to raze Folkingham to get to her,” he said. “There would be nothing to stop him, and Warenton’s aid is weeks away, up in Northumberland. But when she marries Herringthorpe, she goes north, where an army of tens of thousands of men canprotect her from a king who would see her sent to Sempringham, or worse. God himself could not protect her more than a Herringthorpe husband and the de Wolfe empire could.”
“Are you genuinely concerned that the truth might somehow be known?”
“I am concerned that somehow, someway, it will reach Edward’s ears.”
Colm considered that for a moment. “Not today it won’t,” he said. “But youdorealize we’re in the middle of something. The middle of Warenton’s struggle against Edward. We have been ever since he took another infant to Sempringham.”
Carlton knew that, but there was no point in discussing it. “I cannot change it,” he said. Then he gestured toward the bailey. “You’d better go. There is no knowing how soon he will arrive, and we want to be ready.”
Colm departed without another word, leaving Carlton thinking on a daughter with a betrothed who knew everything about her. More than she knew about herself. He had the feelings that most fathers had, hoping the marriage would be a success, hoping Liam and Cambria would have a contented marriage. All he wanted was a good life for her.
