Page 239 of Historical Hotties
He shrugged. “A man should marry sometime.”
He’d answered her, so she took another drink. It was going down easier with each successive gulp. Thor watched her, seeing that she was quickly becoming inebriated. With the strength of that liquor, it was little wonder. She was heading in the direction he wanted her to go, but even so, he took some pity on her.
He hoped it wouldn’t cost him.
“Where do you get your unusual name?” he asked.
She pushed her hair back, uncovering her right eye, because up until that point the front of her hair had hung down over half her face. She blinked, trying to focus on him as she struggled against the drink.
“My mother descended from the kings of Strathclyde,” she said. “Her name was Alba and she named me Caledonia, after her home. It is the Roman name for Scotland.”
He nodded faintly as he collected his cup, making it look like he was taking a big swallow when, in fact, he took a very smallone. He, too, was already feeling the sting of that drink and wanted to keep his wits about him as much as he could.
“It suits you,” he said.
Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “It’s a lyrical name,” he said. “It’s ethereal and beautiful. Like you.”
Caledonia widened her eyes, shocked by the compliment. She wasn’t sure how to respond with the man actually being nice to her. “Everyone calls me Callie,” she said. “Only my mother and Robert called me Caledonia.”
He shook his head. “Caledonia is much better suited to you,” he said. “Do you have another question for me?”
Caledonia had to think about it. “How old are you?”
“I have seen forty summers.”
Her mouth popped open. “You are that old?”
“You forgot to take a drink.”
She did, quickly and sloppily. “You arethatold?” she said again.
He grinned before taking a drink, letting out a cough because the stuff was burning holes in him. “How old are you?” he rasped.
She stared at him a moment before slumping in her chair and averting her gaze. After a moment, she reached for the pitcher and poured more of the clear liquid into her cup. Then she refilled his.
“Old enough,” she muttered. “Old enough to have given birth to three children I never see. Three children I’m notallowedto see. Did the king tell you that?”
The mood quickly shifted from adversarial to conversational. That terrible drink was clearly loosening Caledonia’s tongue because Thor was quite certain she wouldn’t have said such a thing otherwise. She’d been determined not to let him in, not toshow him any interest or understanding, but those softly uttered words had his smile fading.
He looked at her seriously.
“Nay,” he said. “Why not? Why can you not see your own children?”
She grunted, taking yet another drink of that potent liquid. “Because it was what Robert wanted.”
He was confused. “Your own husband did not want you to see your own children?”
Caledonia shrugged. “He decided I was not someone he wanted raising his daughters,” she said, finally meeting his eyes. She shrugged again. “A nun is raising my children. A nun Robert engaged, a woman who will not let me see my own daughters. I am a stranger to them. Their own mother.”
Thor thought that was a tragic tale, indeed. “Where are they?” he asked.
“Stafford Castle,” she said. “That is the Stafford seat, you know. Edingale is the other castle, but that belongs to Tamworth. Both will be yours when you marry me.Ifyou marry me. That bitch raises my daughters and refuses to let me see them. I cannot stay at Stafford if I cannot see my own children because it is like torture, so I come to London. In case you were at all wondering why I run and why I come to Gomorrah, it is because it is the furthest I can get and not think about my children.”
Those few pathetic sentences told Thor a great deal about the lady and her behavior. Now, it was starting to make some sense. He couldn’t understand why the Countess of Tamworth refused to rule the earldom in dignified widowhood, but rather chose to live a life of drink and debauchery. Always running, pretending she had no responsibilities…
She was a woman who was bleeding inside and trying to hide it.
