The Iron Knight (The De Russe Legacy Book 3) (21 page)

It was a painful confession, painful to express and painful to hear. The man was laying himself open and Sophina understood that. She was sensitive to it. “It takes a brave man to let me see into his soul as you have done,” she said softly. “I understand grief, Lucien. I understand it as you do. I understand wanting to hide from it. I do not fault you for doing what you felt you had to do in order to keep your sanity.”

He looked up at her, into those beautiful eyes that had sparked a resurgence of life within him. He reached up, cupping her sweet face with a gentle hand. “I am sorry for the grief you have also experienced,” he said, caressing a cheek with his big thumb. “Tell me of your husband. I should like to hear of him if you can manage it.”

She smiled faintly. “You have bared yourself to me,” she said. “It is only right that I do the same. My husband had been a great knight, once, many years ago. But his heart was bad and his career as a warrior was cut short about the time I married him. Edward de Gournay had seen forty years when I married him and I was about Emmaline’s age.”

Lucien smiled faintly, his dark eyes twinkling. “I have very bad news for you, indeed.”

“What?”

“That your next husband shall also be forty years of age,” he said. “Do you go around seeking old men to marry, then?”

Sophina giggled. “Not intentionally,” she said. “And I am not sixteen years of age any longer, so I am older as well.”

“How old are you?”

“I have seen thirty-five summers.”

He continued to stroke her cheek with his thumb, a faint smile on his lips. “You are ageless and beautiful,” he said softly. “Please; continue telling me of your husband.”

She relished the feel of his hand on her face, distracting her from her tale. It was a struggle to focus. “Edward was a kind man,” she said. “In truth, I almost looked at him as a father figure. He was kinder to me than my own father had ever been and I very much wanted that male element in my life. He taught me things, he gave me sage advice, and I was happy. He would have been so very angry to see how my father treated Emmaline and me after his death.”

“How was that?”

She shrugged, averting her gaze as she thought of her father. “With indifference,” she said. “I believe I alluded to that before. My father did not want us around and I did my best to run his home in an efficient manner, but when he married again, his wife saw me as a threat. That is why he was so quick to explore the contract with du Ponte and that is also why I can never return home.”

Lucien suspected as much from what she’d hinted at during the course of their conversations. He dropped his hand from her face, moving to claim her hand, instead. “You have a home with me forever,” he said. “It is unfortunate how your father behaved, but it is of little matter. In fact, I am grateful.”

She looked at him queerly. “Grateful?”

He nodded, a smile on his lips. “Indeed,” he said. “Had he not sent you to pass du Ponte’s inspection, I would have never met you. So, you see, your trip to Gillingham was destiny. It was meant to be, only not in a way either of us had imagined.”

Sophina hadn’t thought of it that way and she met his smile, in complete agreement. “That is very true,” she said. But soon, her smile faded. “But it seems we have a few obstacles to overcome. You must first make it clear to the earl that you are refusing the betrothal with Juno.”

Lucien grunted, the warm spell of their conversation broken as Holderness was mentioned. “Aye,” he said. “I must do that now, tonight. Where did you leave the man?”

“In the hall,” she said. “The last I saw of him, he was there with his son.”

“And the young women?”

“Your knight – I believe his name is de Royans – is still with them,” she said. “He took them away from the chaos of the hall when you asked him to.”

“You see where they went?”

“I have not looked. Emmaline thinks he is quite attractive, by the way.”

Lucien snorted, rising from the stair and holding out a hand to pull Sophina to her feet. “He is far too young for whatever Emmaline has planned for him,” he said. “Tell her that she must wait if she has her sights on de Royans.”

Sophina laughed softly. “I am not entirely sure she has her sights set on him and she has not even mentioned him to me, but I have seen the way she looks at him. She is young and he is handsome. Why would she not look at him?”

Lucien waved his hand as if to wipe away that entire suggestion. “I can barely manage my own personal life,” he said, teasing. “I cannot think of de Royans’.”

“Mayhap, at some point, you will. Emmaline will need a husband, too, soon enough and if you and I marry, that will be your duty.”

He wiped a hand over his face. “When the time comes, I shall simply force de Royans to marry her at the tip of a sword and be done with it. That will be the end of my negotiations.”

Sophina chuckled. “How romantic.”

Lucien cast her an impatient look. “I am too old,” he said. “I do not have time for romantic betrothals.”

“Get it done at the end of a sword.”

“It is much faster that way.”

Sophina continued to chuckle at him. “I hope you still have time for the woman you intend to marry, Lucien.”

His eyes glimmered at her. “You will be where all of my time is spent, so that is not an issue.”

She couldn’t seem to stop smiling at him. Such sweet words from the man had her feeling something deeper and broader than what she ever felt for Edward. But not in the negative sense; it was simply different. Joyful and different.

“That is good to know,” she said quietly. “Now, if you have duties to attend to, I would like to ask for your permission to speak with your daughter.”

His smile faded. “Why?” he asked. “You should know that I have made the decision to send her away from here.”

Sophina’s manner turned to one of great concern. “Where?”

“Cranborne Priory. I have obviously failed to raise a proper child. The nuns at Cranborne will not fail.”

He didn’t sound cold about it, merely resigned. Sophina’s gaze trailed to his daughter’s chamber door. “May I at least speak with her?” she asked quietly, politely. “I have a daughter of my own, you know. I understand them.”

Lucien hadn’t thought of that, but she was absolutely correct. She had a very well-behaved and sweet daughter, and he was embarrassed that he did not. He sighed faintly.

“I cannot let my failings fall upon you,” he said. “Susanna is my problem. I do not want her to become yours.”

“Please?”

She was pressing in the sweetest way possible and Lucien folded. He could already see that he would fold to anything she wished, but he was not troubled by that realization in the least. He took her hand and gently brought it to his lips. “As you wish,” he murmured. “I shall be in the hall. If you need me, send for me.”

Sophina merely nodded, feeling his kiss against her flesh like a branding iron. Everything about the man was hot. She watched him leave the keep, her focus lingering on the doorway long after he’d left. Even though he was gone, somehow, he was still with her. It was an odd sensation but the most comforting one she’d ever known.

Inevitably, her attention turned towards Susanna’s chamber door. The mother in her was determined to speak to the motherless girl who had her father at his wit’s end, so much so that he was about to send her away. That didn’t solve the problem, in Sophina’s opinion. It only made a lonely girl more lonely.

Taking a deep breath, she rapped softly on the chamber door.

CHAPTER TEN

“I
told you
this afternoon and I will tell you again now,” Lucien said steadily. “It is in my right to refuse this betrothal and I have done just that. My decision is final.”

The great hall of Spelthorne was cloyingly hot, creating a rather sweaty and uncomfortable atmosphere. Lucien was seated at the same feasting table where Susanna, an hour earlier, had smashed Holderness in the mouth. As Sophina had indicated, Holderness had not left the hall, nor had his son. They had remained and when Lucien went looking for the man to reiterate his position on the betrothal to Lady Juno, that is exactly where he found them.

Holderness’ mouth was swollen and there were bloodied rags on the floor and on the table still, but the damage to his mouth hadn’t impeded his ability to drink. He was doing it in excess as he had earlier. Lucien was coming to realize that Holderness was simply a drunkard and he silently cursed himself for wasting all of that good Spanish wine on the man. He could have given the cheapest wine possible and it would have had the same effect.

Still, he’d come into the hall with a purpose. He was concerned that Holderness had evidently forgotten about the afternoon’s drinking session when Lucien had broken the betrothal. Lucien was more than perturbed that Laurent had not reminded his father of what had transpired, but perhaps Laurent was hoping Lucien would forget about the incident. Lucien, however, forgot nothing. Especially in a situation like this, his wants would be abided.

“That is
outrageous
,” Holderness sputtered. “By what right do you say such a thing? You have not even formally met my daughter yet. If you knew her, you would not say such things!”

Lucien remained cool. “I have met her and she is a polite young woman,” he said. “But the fact remains that earlier today, you embarrassed yourself and your entire family with your drunkenness and I will not be related by marriage to you. Do you not remember any of this?”

Holderness’ eyes were wide with both outrage and confusion. “Of course I do!”

“Then I do not have to remind you that it was you who instigated this situation, not I,” Lucien said. “Furthermore, your daughter is far too young for me. This was Henry’s idea, not mine. I am, therefore, dissolving this betrothal. Are you sober enough to understand me now?”

Holderness turned red around the ears, furious and embarrassed. “I understand that you are a dishonorable man by breaking what the king himself has decreed,” he said. “The contract was brokered with Henry. You must abide by it.”

Lucien wasn’t happy that the man had called him dishonorable. In fact, it was about the worst thing Holderness could have said. He looked at Laurent, standing next to his father.

“Must I explain to your father that calling me names is not going to force me to change my mind?” he asked the man. “If anything, he has just insulted me beyond repair. Remove him from this hall before I do something you will both regret.”

Laurent was in an awkward position. He was a knight, and a very good one, and had served under Lucien several times. He liked and respected the man, but his father was becoming something of an embarrassment. Still, the man was his father and had moments of goodness. Laurent was walking a fine line.

“Lucien, may I speak with you privately before you throw us all out?” he asked quietly. “Only a moment of your time, please.”

Because he liked Laurent, Lucien agreed. But as Laurent started to Lucien’s side, his father grabbed on to him.

“Nay,” he said angrily. “If there is to be any discussion on this subject, I will hear it. This is not your business, Laurent. This is between Tytherington and me.”

Laurent was starting to lose patience. “Do you truly believe he will want to speak to you after you called him dishonorable?” he asked. “Lucien de Russe is one of the most honorable men I know. You had no right to accuse him otherwise.”

Holderness didn’t like to be reprimanded by his son for all to see. His jaw ticked angrily as he spoke, turning to Lucien. “I did not mean to call you dishonorable,” he said. “I meant to say that what you are doing is dishonorable. My daughter will be shamed because you have broken the contract. No decent man will want her if they know The Iron Knight has refused her.”

Lucien remembered what Sophina has said about Lady Juno –
she is a kind and thoughtful young woman
. Lucien had no desire to malign the girl; he simply didn’t want to marry her. Therefore, Holderness may have had a point, as much as Lucien hated to admit it. But the truth was that he was anxious for this to be finished. He simply didn’t want to waste the energy dealing with a betrothal he never wanted, especially when a woman he very much wanted to marry had his attention. Nay, he didn’t want to deal with this at all.

“I have not told anyone of this marriage contract and unless you have spouted off for the entire world to know, then it shall be between us and Henry,” Lucien said with more patience than he felt. “If anyone asks, you can tell them that you refused the betrothal, not I.”

Holderness snorted. “Who would believe that?” he asked, frustrated. “Only a madman would refuse to allow his daughter to marry The Iron Knight.”

Lucien fixed on him, his dark eyes glittering coldly. “Earlier this evening, I was told that you were questioning my ability as a father,” he said. “I was further told that you questioned whether or not I would make a good husband to your daughter. Suffice it to say that you are correct; I will not make a good husband to your daughter. She is blameless. Now, pack your things and be gone by morning. I have no further need to discuss this.”

Holderness was shocked, feeling cornered because someone had repeated what he’d said in anger about Lucien. Now, he’d cooked his own goose and Lucien had every right to be angry.