The Wolfe (59 page)

“I know, lad,” he said softly. “But
the situation made it impossible to act in any other manner. What remains now
is what you intend to do about it.”

He took a deep, cleansing breath. He
was aware that he was feeling much lighter with his confession. “I want to
marry her, of course. But what of the king and the treaty?”

The earl sat back in his chair. He
looked thoughtful a moment before snorting. “I have gone for years without any
major decisions to make. Now, I have two massive conclusions to reach all on
the same day. I take it that returning Lady Jordan to Langton is out of the
question?”

William grinned sheepishly. “That
would be a fair statement.”

The earl nodded shortly. “Then that
answer makes one decision for me. Now about the king and the treaty; I will
have to work on that one.”

William nodded, feeling giddy with
relief and exhaustion. The two men sat in silence for some time, each lost to
his thoughts. William’s mind was reeling and he could not seem to hold one
rational thought. Everything had changed now and he wasn’t sure how to feel
about any of it.

Finally, he spoke. “Why would you do
this for me, my lord?” he asked. “After a deception as great as this, I would
expect swift retribution. Not your assistance.”

The earl smiled. “Because you are a
son to me,” he said. “Were it in my power, I would pass the title and the fortress
on to you. You are my pride, lad. Your reputation is mine. You are far more
valuable to me than you can possibly know. This assistance, as you call it, is
merely a small favor for the hundreds you have done for me. Besides, I have a feeling
you would be with Lady Jordan no matter what the cost and I would hate to lose
you to Ireland or France.” He sat forward with a knowing wink. “Furthermore, I
would lose all of my knights. They would follow you rather than stay here and
serve me.”

William gazed back in amazement;
everything he had always known, the earl had known as well. He felt like a fool
for underestimating the man.

“I am speechless, sire,” he admitted
softly. “To thank you does not seem quite enough.”

“Do not thank me yet, lad,” the earl’s
tone made him perk up. “We must still deal with the king. Your marriage to the
lady must be kept from him, at least for the time being. But I suspect that in
lieu of a believable explanation, I may very well have to proceed with some
sort of ceremony with Lady Jordan at my side come tomorrow.”

“A mock wedding?” William asked,
knowing the earl would be putting himself at great risk.

De Longley nodded quickly, his mind
working rapidly. The man was a very cunning bureaucrat and knew what he could
pull off and what he could not.

“The king is has a tendency to doze
during long ceremonies,” he said. “Mayhap if there is enough Latin and enough
pomp, we can pull the wool over his eyes and he will sleep right through it. He
will think he has attended a wedding when, in fact, he has simply attended an
over-long mass.”

William wriggled his eyebrows. “That
seems risky.”

“Indeed, but there is no choice.” The
earl stood up and William followed. “For now, we have a real wedding to prepare
for I will leave you to tend to Lady Jordan and whoever else you decided must
be made aware of the situation. I will summon the priest and make a sizable
donation to his coffers for his silence and cooperation. I will send for you
later.”

William could not help himself. He
went down on one knee and kissed the man’s signet ring. “For as long as I live,
my lord, I shall be your faithful servant. I owe you everything.”

De Longley looked at his dark head,
at the man to whom he owed the very roof over his head. He bade him rise.

“Nay, you do not,” he said quietly.
“But if you must, consider the score even.”

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Outside in the corridor, Paris was
leaning with his back against the wall, staring grimly at the closed solar door
and wondering what in the hell was going on in there. All manner of horrible
thoughts were racing through his mind, thoughts he would catch and then just a
quickly toss away because they terrified him so.

The earl knew
. He wasn’t
particularly surprised for the man was not a fool. But he was tremendously
worried about William and Jordan and briefly entertained the thought of
spiriting Jordan out of Northwood simply to avoid the coming wrath. Treaty be
damned, he would take her somewhere and then send word to William.

But he knew he could not do that, at
least not until it was asked of him. So he began to pace, his brow furrowed as
he watched his boots hit the cold stone beneath him He could not hear anything,
either. No shouting or furniture being broken. Just complete silence that was
driving him insane.

“What are you doing?” Kieran came up
behind him.

Paris looked up at the
third-in-command. “Waiting for William.”

“Good. I must speak with him.”

Paris shook his head warningly. “Now
would not be a good time. Anything you would say to him, you may say to me.”

Kieran looked at him. “’Tis about
Lady Jordan. William would hear this.”

Paris stopped his pacing and
scrutinized the knight. Kieran held his firm gaze.

“You know, do not you?” Paris asked
after a moment.

“About our captain and the lady?
Aye,” the man said quietly. “‘Tis why William must know what I have uncovered.”

Paris stiffened. “Is she in any
danger?”

“Nay, nothing of that sort,” Kieran
said, then peered strangely at Paris. “What in the hell is the matter with you?
You are acting as skittish as a brood mare.”

Paris clenched and unclenched his
jaw, looking at the man a moment, observing the deep brown orbs. Kieran was a
good man, as good as any and then some. He knew the man could be trusted with
his life, as he had proven many a time. Paris was so worried he felt the need
to confide in someone.

“The earl knows,” he whispered
huskily. “That is why William is in there alone. The earl knows about him and
Jordan.”

Kieran’s face went slack. “Dear…
God….”

Paris nodded grimly in agreement. “Exactly.”

With that, the both began to pace.
When Deinwald and Ranulf came upon them several minutes later, it looked like
some strange dance to them.

“What is going on?” Deinwald demanded.

Kieran looked up. “The earl knows
about William and Jordan. William is in with him now.”

“Kieran!” Paris snapped reprovingly.

Kieran swung to him. “Hell, Paris,
we all know. We have for a long time. You must have known that.”

Deinwald’s face was a mask of shock.
“Damnation. Who in the hell told de Longley?”

“No one, Deinwald,” Paris said
irritably. “Get a hold of yourself.”

Ranulf clasped his hands behind his
back thoughtfully. He didn’t appear overly worried like the others.

“William won’t back down,” he said
evenly. “‘Tis likely to be quite a tussle.”

“I have yet to hear any cries of
pain or broken glass,” Paris said, resuming his path.

The four of them made quite a scene
in the corridor. Michael came looking for Kieran a few minutes later and, with
a brief explanation, joined them in their aimless wandering and waiting game.
Before Paris realized it, every knight of Northwood was in the corridor,
waiting for the outcome of William’s meeting. Paris thought it felt more like a
death watch.

“What are ye all doing?” Came a
familiar female voice.

They all froze, turning to see
Jordan coming toward them down the corridor. She looked lovely in the pale blue
surcoat, her hair attractively arranged and her beautiful face filled with
puzzled amusement.

It seemed that no one knew how to
answer her. Paris, regaining his wits, went quickly to her. ‘Twas not the best
place for her to be when the door opened and the earl saw her standing there.

“Waiting,” he said lightly, hoping
to throw her off the track. “Nothing of any importance. Should not you be in
the hall?”

“I was, but everyone is leaving.
Seems the engagement party spoiled their appetite for any more drinking because
everyone was so horribly ill afterwards,” she glanced around. “Where is William?”

“With the earl,” Paris told her,
desperate to remove her from the area. “He will most likely be awhile.”

“All day,” Deinwald put in helpfully.

Paris glanced nervously at the knight
before returning to Jordan and taking her arm. “I saw something the other day
that might pique your interest,” he was grasping at straws. “Mayhap you will
accompany me while we are waiting for William to be done.”

“What, Paris?” her eyes lit up like
fat in the fire.

“Oh…well, I, uh….” Now he’d done
it.
Think, you fool, think
. “I saw that a dog had had a litter of pups in
the stable. Mayhap you would like one?”

Much to his and the other knight’s
relief, she clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, I would love one. I had a rabbit
at home but I had to leave it, poor thing. I would love a dog.”

Thank you, God
. Paris prayed
silently. “Excellent,” he said. “After you, my lady.”

He gestured for them to walk in the
opposite direction but he wasn’t quick enough. The door from the solar flew
open and William came forth, followed by the earl.

No one in the corridor even dare
breathe. They were frozen like marble statues, the only thing able to move was
their eyes as they focused on William’s face. But his face was unreadable, as
it usually was, offering them no clue as to what has transpired. It was impossible
to describe the emotions that filled the air, flowing through all of them,
feeding off of one another. They knew they should turn tail and run for their
lives, but no one could seem to move a muscle.

Even Jordan felt the tension and was
puzzled. In faith, she was also a little frightened to see that the earl and
William had been in discussion, alone. She had no doubt that she had been the
topic. Her apprehension grew when Paris’ hand tightened on her arm.

William was only vaguely aware of
his knights because his eyes had been riveted to Jordan since he had opened the
door. He had felt quite in control when he had quit the room, but now in her
presence, he felt that glorious weak feeling spreading through him like
wildfire.

She was his
. William wasn’t
sure if he could tell her without breaking down. He wasn’t even sure if he
could form the correct words. He took a deep breath to compose himself, but
instead it went the other way and he lost his control. He was suddenly storming
toward her with a drive he had never before known.

“I have always wanted to do this in
front of everyone,” he muttered en route.

Grabbing Jordan with tender
violence, his lips descended on hers. She was stunned senseless, wondering if
he had indeed lost his mind or if he was possessed in some way. She was so
shocked she could not even find the presence of mind to hold onto him as he
crushed her to him like he never had. He was so firm and possessive that it
took her breath away.

She thought she was going to faint
with his force when he suddenly pulled away, looking at her with the smoky,
seductive gaze she had grown to love so well.

“English!” she managed to gasp. “Have
ye gone mad?”

“Fortunately, no,” he continued to
hold onto her even as he turned to his knights. To say they were astonished was
a gross understatement. He grinned at them, a very rare occurrence.

“Buck up, lads, and polish your
armor,” he told them. “You are about to be attendants at a wedding.”

Paris stood in stunned silence, unable
to comprehend William’s words. Was he asleep, dreaming he was awake? Or did he
somehow pass into another dimension where William and Jordan could be together,
legally? He stared back at his captain with a degree of shock William had never
seen.

William let go of Jordan with one
arm long enough to slap Paris forcefully on the shoulder.

“Quit staring at me,” he said. “I am
quite sane. In fact, I have never been better.”

The earl took pity on the knights
since William wasn’t. He motioned to the men to come closer to him, that is,
providing they remembered how to walk.

“Gather around, my faithful lads,”
he said. “I have a story to tell you.”

***

Jemma was having fits. When Jordan
told her of what had transpired, she had to hold her hand over her mouth for a
full minute to keep from screaming aloud. She simply could not believe what her
deliriously happy cousin was telling her.

“What of the king?” she demanded
with a gasp.

Jordan shrugged. “The earl will take
care of him. All that matters is that William and I will be married.”

“But…but….” Jemma stammered. “But
the whole purpose of the treaty was to marry ye to a powerful English house so
that we could have peace on the border. William is not an English lord - he is
just a knight.”