Fair Border Bride (19 page)

Carnaby puffed out his cheeks, glared at Alina and strode to the door.
“Aydon.
We go to Aydon. Though what we do when we get there is beyond me. I had not thought to have a strumpet for a daughter.”

With that he yanked the door open and flung out into the yard.

Alina stared after him in disbelief. He could not have hurt her more if he had rammed his fist into her belly.

Lionel hesitated at the door and directed a small smile in her direction. “Don’t worry. He’ll get over it. Mama will be vastly relieved to see you safe and unhurt. She feared dreadful things once she discovered you were missing. At one point she thought the Tynedale reivers had you.”

Alina blinked back tears. “I long to see her,” she whispered.

“Bring them down, Lionel.” Their father’s bellow came from outside.

Brother and sister locked glances before Lionel shrugged, turned and grasped the edge of the door. Holding it, he glanced back over his shoulder. “Don’t argue with him, Alina, or you’ll both suffer for it. He isn’t thinking properly right now. You may not believe me, but Sir Reynold’s death has upset him greatly.”

She moved across the kitchen and laid a hand on her brother’s arm. “I don’t doubt what you say, but grief does not give him the right to browbeat me like this, nor to attack Harry as he did. You seem to have his confidence now. What do you think he will do?”

Lionel shrugged and nodded in Harry’s direction. “Depends on him, I suppose. Father can’t risk running
foul
of the Warden’s son. Father knows it, but he hates it, too. My advice is to tread gently.
Very gently.”

When Lionel walked out into the yard, Alina turned to look at Harry. “Will you ride to Aydon?”

He had been staring at the flagstones, deep in thought. At her words, he looked up, and though he did not smile, he did not seem overly worried. “I think we could try, at least. Let me go and get Bessie saddled and we’ll be on our way.”

***

They rode into the quiet courtyard of Aydon, which seemed deserted. Alina slipped from Harry’s horse to the ground, her stomach queasy with nerves. Even the stone masons had disappeared. Where was everyone? A young lad darted out of the stables as Harry dismounted. Handing over the reins, Harry joined her and walked steadily to the staircase leading to the hall.

The first person Alina saw in the bright, newly limewashed hall was her mother, who rose from her chair and rushed across the flagstones.
“Alina!
At last, you are safe!”

There was genuine delight in the greeting. With a sob of relief, Alina banged her cheek on her mother’s gable hood, surrendered to the comfortingly tight hug, and tried to speak through a throat suddenly grown tight.

Her mother drew back. “Daughter, are you well?”

Alina nodded. “No harm befell me, Mama. I am well.” Her eyes brimmed with sudden happy tears, and she did not object when her mother dabbed at them with a handkerchief.

“Come sit beside me.” Mama led her across the hall and into the solar, where she sank back into her chair with a happy smile, black skirt belling out around her. The light, gauzy veil of her headdress fluttered and settled at the nape of her neck. “Whatever possessed you to disappear like that?
Such a to-do with the Erringtons.
You have no idea of the fuss they made—” She broke off, shaking her head. “I’m told you were at Grey House all this time? You have been gone a night and a day!”

If Mama thought she left early on Friday morning, Alina saw no reason to disabuse her of that idea. She sank to the stool at her mother’s side, coughed to clear the constriction of her throat and glanced back at the doorway to the hall where Harry hesitated.

“I was at Grey House, Mama. I was there all the time.” She offered a small, tentative smile. “I did not expect it to be quite so bare and cold. I had forgotten we brought my bed here.”

“Oh, daughter!
You’ll be lucky if you don’t catch a chill! Why did you go?”

Alina looked down at her clasped hands. “I could not marry John Errington.”

Her mother’s eyes widened. “And you thought that if you disappeared for a day, the problem would go away? The wedding will be re-arranged, you must know that.”

Harry, waiting patiently in the archway, chose that moment to cough gently, and move into the room. Margery Carnaby turned, frowning. “Who is this?”

“Mama, allow me to introduce Harry Wharton. He is the second son of Sir Thomas Wharton, the Deputy Warden of the West March. This is my mother, Harry; Mistress Margery Carnaby.”

Harry bowed from the waist, rose and offered a smile intended to charm. “Mistress Carnaby.” He stepped forward, ready to take her hand. “We met briefly in Corbridge market some weeks ago.”

Margery Carnaby looked him up and down.

He had washed his face and combed his hair that morning, but he still looked rumpled and untidy. With a twinge of regret Alina remembered John Errington’s impeccable tawny velvet and silver-stitched gauntlets. Harry’s sober grey clothes were far more suited to rough riding than exchanging pleasantries in a lady’s solar, but the cloth was heavy and expensive and the silver buttons sparkled in the sunlight. Mama was sure to notice them. “Do you not remember him, Mama?”

Margery studied him and condescended to offer her hand. “No, but I met your father once, young man. You have a look of him, perhaps, across the cheekbones.”

Harry bowed once more and brushed his lips across her knuckles. “I believe there is a distant connection, through marriage, between our families.”

No one had ever mentioned in Alina’s hearing that Lord Wharton was connected to the family. Wide-eyed, she watched her mother indicate the recessed sunlit window with its chamfered stone seat. “I can offer you nought but a cushion on the window seat, young man.”

Alina seized a cushion, plumped it and, smiling brightly, handed it to Harry. He gravely placed it on the central stone square and sat down. He was obliged to place both forearms on the higher square of stone at each side and looked vaguely magisterial and most uncomfortable in his stone chair. Alina hid a smile and looked down at her slippers.

“Am I to suspect that this young man has something to do with your refusal to marry John?”

Alina jumped. Mama was right to grow suspicious. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

“It is no good being sorry, daughter. Nothing has changed.”

Glancing at Harry, Alina searched for something to say. Mama would not be pleased to hear her daughter had spent the night in Harry’s arms, yet that was the one thing that may deter the Errington family from pursuing the match. Alina took a deep breath. “We met Harry in Corbridge market weeks ago, Mama. Perhaps you remember him now?”

Margery Carnaby’s dark, unfathomable eyes considered Harry anew and then suddenly narrowed. “Ah.
The young man purchasing a gift for his sister?”

“The very one.”
Alina smiled. “And you remember I told you he saved me from the bull that broke loose in the market square that day while you were in church?”

Her mother nodded briefly. “But his name…surely that was Scott?”

“Yes, well, I was coming to that. Harry was on business for his father, the Deputy Lord Warden, and riding north to Edinburgh. It was secret, and important, so he told everyone his name was Harry Scott. He did not know it was the one name Father
hated
above all others, nor did he know he was going to meet me.” With a swift glance at Harry she rattled on. “He had the ill luck to fall from his horse and lay unconscious for some time in our field.”

“The same day your father rode out after the reivers?”

Alina nodded. Judging from her sharp eyes and lack of smiles, Mama had an inkling of where this was leading. Her shrewd dark gaze swept to Harry. “Why were you riding so close to Aydon, sir? It is far from the normal route north.”

Sunshine rimmed Harry with a faint golden line. To Alina’s eyes he appeared relaxed and smiled easily. “Pride would have me spin a yarn, but the truth is, madam, I wanted to know where your daughter resided so that I might visit her when my business was done. I thought I might ride close by and satisfy my curiosity without exciting any attention.” His voice, mellow and soothing, reached them without effort.

He laughed quietly before continuing. “As it was, I gained far more attention than I wanted. A band of rough looking men were in the act of raiding your cattle, saw me and threatened to slit my throat. I ran, they gave chase and the result was a collision with the tree. I’m lucky they didn’t stop to finish the job.” His sapphire blue eyes were full of self-mockery. “I had a bump the size of an egg for days.”

Alina relaxed a little. He was handling things very well. How could Mama resist him?

“You did not know that the reivers move at night rather than daylight?” Her mother’s acid tone jolted Alina’s eyes wide.

Harry’s mouth pulled to one side. “I am learning quickly, but that I had forgotten. I’ve spent years in London, madam. My father was keen that I should have a good education, and then I served in several important households. I know the ways of King Henry’s court better than I do the ways of Borderers.”

Mama fell for the lure. One brow arched, and her face softened into a smile. “You must tell us, one winter’s evening, of King Henry’s Court. I would like that. I believe Alina would benefit from it also.”

Hastily Alina nodded. “Most assuredly, yes.”

“It would be my pleasure, madam.” Harry’s blue glance was sincere and full of respect.

Mama turned to her daughter. “Go on with your tale, Alina.”

Mama had not been diverted, and was still in full control of the conversation. Hastily gathering her wits, Alina saw her mother’s eyes widen as a thought occurred to her. “You hid him, didn’t you?
In Dragon’s old stable?
Am I right?”

Alina could not deny it. She nodded.

“I knew it.” Her mother fished for a handkerchief in her sleeve, found it and held it beneath her nose. “You hid him, you lied to me—all those visits to the horse—the boys found out, revealed your secret to your father and Harry faced the Leap.”

With two rapidly increasing spots of angry colour springing to her cheeks, she glared at her daughter, and then swung around on Harry. He straightened abruptly on his stone seat. “I heard that you were seen in Corbridge weeks later, and there was a fracas involving my husband and my son. No doubt you were also there. You are nothing but trouble to this family, sir.”

Hands flapping at the air to try and stop her mother’s tirade, Alina bleated “Father picked a quarrel—”

“I believe he wished to re-capture me,” Harry said smoothly, his deep voice pitched to override Alina’s alarmed squawk. He rose to his feet and paid his hostess the compliment of walking around to face her so that she did not have to stare into the sun when looking at him.

“I, of course, had no wish to face him at that point.” He smiled. “After I made good my escape, I believe Footless Will Dodd and
Dandie’s
Hob took it upon themselves to annoy your husband.”

“Annoyance!
I call it a good deal more than that!” Mistress Carnaby drew herself up in the chair, eyes blazing in her thin face. Sunshine caught the gold cross at her throat and flashed light across the solar. “A sword fight is neither an annoyance nor amusing, sir.”

Harry sobered and looked down at his boots. “Of course, I have no idea what happened after I left. I believed they sought to divert his attention from me and perhaps pay back old scores at the same time. I am sorry if it got out of hand.”

“Out of hand!”
Margery Carnaby frowned. The force of her breathing trembled the soft linen pleating that filled the low, square neckline of her gown. “How is it that you have Border ruffians aiding you?”

“Mama, Harry could not help it.” Anxious to defend Harry, Alina broke into the conversation. “Father attacked him and was in such a temper he would have killed him if he could. Harry had to escape.”

Harry matched his calm gaze against the angry glare from his hostess. He clasped his hands behind his back and inclined his head deferentially. “I do believe, madam, that your husband would have run me through given half a chance. I know that Sir Reynold’s relations with Tynedale men are not of the best. Footless Will and Hob hardly know who I am, but would seize any opportunity to make mischief for the Carnaby family.”

Mama stiffened in her chair. “What do you know of my husband’s relations with Tynedale men? I thought you were a stranger to the ways of the Border?”

“My father knows more than most about the men of the Border. I learn a little from him, here and there.” He looked at Alina. “It is a pity I selected the name Scott as my alias.”

With a sigh, Alina’s mother conceded defeat. “Of course your father knows those who cause so much trouble.” She gripped the arms of her chair as if steeling herself for the worst. “Why are you here, sir? As I said earlier, trouble follows you into this house. What is it you want of us now, Harry Wharton?”

Harry’s gaze flew to Alina. She opened her palms and shook her head. Where they went from here she could not guess.

Harry cleared his throat. “I wish to marry your daughter, madam.”

Mama looked puzzled. Alina did not see why his statement would be so unexpected. She went to stand beside him. “I love him, Mama.”

Margery Carnaby’s brow creased. She looked from one to the other, a faint smile on her face, and then shook her head slowly. “You cannot marry him, Alina.”

“Why not, Mama?
Sir Thomas has agreed.”

“That is true, madam. There is no objection from that quarter.”

“The objection will come from your father, Alina. You know he has contracted you to John Errington.”

“But…” Alina clung to Harry’s arm. Her thoughts spun dizzily. She might have to confess that she had spent the night in the stable loft with Harry in order to get what she wanted. “I cannot marry John Errington when I love Harry.”

Her mother’s gaze moved beyond her and fixed on someone standing in the hall doorway. Alina looked over her shoulder, and froze. Her father stood there. He must have heard everything.

Alina’s father marched into the solar, stood before the window, clasped his hands behind his back and glared at her from beneath lowered brows.

“You shall marry Errington, if he’ll still have you.”

Alina gripped Harry’s hand and shook her head. It had all been going so well, and now this. “No, please, Father.”

Father swung around to glare at Mama. “I don’t care what cock and bull story they’ve been telling you, but Errington wants his bride. I’ve come directly from Sandhoe.
The wedding’s set for tomorrow.”

“No!” The word ripped from Alina. “I can’t marry John!”

Her father turned and the ugly twist of his mouth betrayed his temper. Alina quailed beneath the dark-eyed glare and stood rooted to the spot.

“I have given my word to Errington,” he declared. “Would you make a liar out of me? Have me foresworn?”

Hidden within the folds of her skirt, Harry’s hand tightened around hers, warned her to say nothing.

“She wishes to marry me, sir.” Harry’s voice was calm and clear. “I believe the match to be a good one from your point of view.”

Carnaby’s gaze travelled to Harry.
“How so?”

Harry let a small pause develop. “So far,” he said calmly, “I have not revealed your mistreatment of me. My father does not know, for example, that you threatened to pitch me off a rock and let me shatter on the stream bed below.” Harry’s mouth stretched in a grim smile. “I should imagine,” he said, watching Carnaby’s face slowly turn red, “that he would be exceedingly angry to learn of such a thing. He might even demand retribution.”

Alina stood rigid, fearful and elated at the same time. Harry’s threat ought to stop her father in his tracks, but lately his temper had been wound so tight that she feared he would take no heed.

She imagined her father’s mind must be ticking over the myriad ways the Lord Warden might choose to make his life a misery should he ever hear the tale of Harry and The Leap. She watched his jaw muscles clenching, the way his lips almost disappeared as his mouth tightened, and her heart pattered far faster than normal. Father hesitated, caught with no answer to Harry’s gently made threat. Notch by notch, his breathing calmed as his passion lessened.

“So you’ll hold this over me to my dying day?” Resignation laced Father’s voice.

“If I have to,” Harry said peacefully. “I would rather never have to mention it again.” Harry raised his hand, brought Alina’s knuckles to his mouth and kissed them. For a brief instant his glance met hers and one eyelid dropped in a wink. “If your daughter still chooses to accept me, I suggest she and I make good use of the priest you have already engaged and we will marry as soon as possible.”

Alina suppressed an urge to grin. “I do so choose. Can we marry tomorrow?”

As swiftly as it had arrived, the colour receded from her father’s skin, leaving it pale. Compassion prevented her laughing with joy as she watched her father try to hang onto the last shreds of his dignity by glancing sideways at his wife. “Does this meet with your agreement?”

Margery Carnaby smiled, rose, walked to his side, and laid her hand on his arm. “It may prove a most advantageous match, husband. A better match, I believe, than with the Erringtons.” Her face was grave as she turned to Harry, but a spark of laughter appeared in her eyes. “I fear we will have a great deal of leisure to learn of the ways of King Henry’s Court, sir.”