Price of Desire (50 page)

She drew a deep breath, attempting a calm she was far from feeling
.
“Where is Anna?
”

The maid toweling
the water looked up
.
“Nanny took her to wash
.
They should be back in a moment
.
Anna insists she wants to talk to M
ajor
Huntington.”

“Talk to me?
”
Wulf swung into the room with an air of authority.

“It was the monster
,
he was here again.
”
Anna ran into the room with Nanny at her heels
.
She flung herself in
to Rose’s skirts, her small arm
s wrapping tight
.
She pulled her face back to stare at Wulf
.
He knelt and brought himself down to her eye level
.

“The monster was back
.
Did you see more of him this time?”

“Only his boots
.
He had the biggest boots.
”
Anna peeked down at Wulf’s feet
.
“Well, maybe not the biggest, but big and black.”

A man in black boots, now that should be easy to find
.
Rose stared down at her daughter and ran a finger over the golden curls
.
Anna was safe
.
Her mind careened back and forth between the cause of the fire and the simple fact that her daughter was safe
.
She pressed the small warm body against her.

“Why did you only see his boots?
”
Wulf’s question probed gently
.

“I was hiding u
nder the bed like it was a
cave
.
I was going to sneak away and save the day, but then the monster came,” her voice quavered at the end.

“Tell me about the monster.”

“He tip-toed up to the door
.
I’ve never seen anybody tip-toe in boots and then he stopped and was very quiet
.
If I’d still had my swords I’d have run him through.
”
Anna gave her mother a look of utter disgust
.
“Then he slunk to the corner he was in last night
.
He spent the longest time there
.
I kept waiting for someone to come
.
He
played with
all the papers
.
I wanted to attack him, but I thought it was better to wait and see what he wanted.
”

“That was the right thing to do, princess.
”
Wulf reached forward and ran his fingers through her curls, his thumb lightly brushing Rose
’
s.

“Then
,
just when I decided I’d been waiting long enough and I had to do something, he left
.
He just turned around and left
.
Not a very good monster
.
He didn’t even growl.”

“What happened then?”

“Once I was sure he was gone I snuck out from under the bed and went to see what he was doing
.
I didn’t see anything different at first and then . . . It all started to burn
.
All my books and treasures.
”
Anna sniffled and buried her face in her mother’s skirts
.
“All my treasures.”

Rose cuddled her daughter tight
.
Her heart began to slow
.
“That’s all right, my poppet
.
We will get you new treasures, new wonderful things.”

“But, Papa’s maps
.
I tried to save them
.
You said they were special and we had to be so careful with them
.
Really Mama, I tried, but I couldn’t.
”
She turned her face fully into her mother’s skirts, burying all but the back of her head.

Rose knelt down beside Wulf, until the two of them held Anna tight between them.

“Don’t worry
.
Even if we can’t get those maps, I am sure we can find you others.”

“But how will I remembe
r Papa without the sea monsters . . . y
ou were right, I do want a Papa and they were all I had.”

“Shh, maybe we can find new ones, and if we don’t maybe we’ll have to do what we can to get you a new Papa
.
Do you really think you might like one?”

Anna drew her head back and glanced at Wulf, her eyes considering
.
“I might
.
If he was nice and knew how to plan battles.”

Relief bubbled up in Rose
.
The little minx, her daughter clearly was one step ahead
.
“So you think if I could find a papa who could p
lan battles then you’d like him?
”

Anna continued to stare at Wulf
.
“He’d have to be big, too
.
I want him to give me good horsey rides.”

“Big, anything else?”

“I don’t like beards.”

“Next.”

“He’d have
to teach me
to fight
.
With sticks
.”

This time it was Rose who examined Wulf
.
He caught her glance and shrugged.

“I’ll have to think about that one
.
I don’t know that I think you’re ready t
o learn sword fighting – sticks
or no
.
Maybe, I’ll have to cross that off.”

“Oh no, Mama.
”
Anna shot her an anxious look
.
“
It’s important
.”

“I’ll consider that
.
Anything else?”

Anna considered for a moment
.
She glanced
down at her own hands
.
She rubbed her fingers together and for the first time Rose looked down at them closely.

She took her daughter
’
s palm in her own and spread it open
.
A series of angry blisters crossed it
.
Anna’s eyes filled with tears and she tried to close it again.

“I really tried, Mama
.
I didn’t want to lose Papa’s maps.”

Rose stared down at the wounded flesh and felt her pulse speed, again
.
“What did you do, poppet?”

“I tried to pull them out
.
I really did, but then . . . It just hurt too much
.
I am sorry, Mama
.
I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to them and I failed.
”
Large tears started to roll down Anna’s face, following well marked lines.

“Oh, Anna
.
Don’t you know you’re more important to me than any map
?
I’d rather the whole house burned down than that you received a single blister.”

There was the clomp of somebody else climbing the stairs and
Westlake
entered the nursery.

“Lady Burberry, I’ve taken the liberty of examining the grounds and there is no sign of any
disturbance
.
Who
ever did this
knew
the house.
”
He walked over to the charred corner and stared at the remains.

Rose watched him for a moment
.
She felt Wulf’s arm come around her back
,
offering comfort
.
She allowed herself to lean into him
.
It was such a welcome feeling to have someone offer her support
.
She turned her cheek to his chest.

“I wouldn’t have thought to check
.
I am still caught up by . . . I am just relieved my daughter is safe.”

“We had a fire a
t
Blythemoor little more than a year ago – and I learned what to look for
.
Is there anybody who would wish your daughter harm?”

Anna looked up
,
startled
,
and glanced at her mother with concern, the tears falling from her eyes with increasing speed.

“No.” Wulf stood
.
“There is nobody who would wish the child harm
.
And if anybody should ever think such a thing . . .” His fingers clenched at his side as if seeking the saber that no longer hung there
.
“Nobody will harm, my da . . . Anna.”

Anna sniffled once and then looked up at him
.
Rose could see the warmth of hero worship growing in her daughter’s eyes
.
She knew the same warmth was growing in
her
heart
.
When Wulf spoke, his voice full of power, there was no room for doubt.

Westlake
shifted feet
.
“Forgive
me
, my lad
y
.
I didn’t think about . . . w
ell, Simon, my wife’s son
,
is only just over a year now and I didn’t think . . . I forgot . . .”

“I understand, your grace
.
Little ears tend to grow all at once.
”
She did her best to smile at the duke, but knew it was tremulous at best.

Wulf stepped into the gap as awkward silence grew
.
“Come
,
Arthur, I know that this has delayed your departure and your wife will have my head if you don’t make it back tonight
.
Why don’t I walk you out and you can share any further insight you have
.
I want to be sure we have done everything possible to catch the brigand.
”

Westlake
nodded at Rose, and taking Anna’s ha
n
d very carefully between his own lay a simple kiss on its back
.
“Take care, little lady
.
I hope we meet again soon
.
I hear you are a master at strategy and I’ve much to learn before
my
Simon demands his own soldiers.”

Anna pulled away from her mother and
,
tilting her small chin up
,
curtsied with amazing poise
.

“I look forward to the occasion, your grace
.
You won’t be offended if I win?”

The duke only chuckled and taking Wulf’s arm led him down the stairs.

Rose caught her daughter tight to her again
.
Her mind still trembled at the thought of what might have been
.
“Let’s call Nanny back and get some salve for that hand
.
I know it must hurt.”

“Only a little.
”
The small voice answered bravely and Rose could hear Wulf’s inflection in every word
.

Rose kissed her daughter on the top of the head and stood
.
She wished she could spend the whole day here, with her daughter, but she should follow the men and learn what needed to be done
.
She would have to make careful plans
.
She took a step towards the door
.
Stopped
.
Wulf was there
.
She d
idn’t have to manage everything
.
He
could handle the logistics of whatever action needed to be taken
.

Did she trust him to act in her best interests
?
In their daughter’s interests
?
A relaxed smile spread across her face as she turned back towards the nursery.

“So
,
you’re going to do it.
”
Arthur stood beside his devil of a stallion and looked at Wulf with hooded eyes
.
Wulf almost felt as if his friend had pulled out the quizzing glass
again
.

“Yes, tomorrow
.
I’ve sent a note requesting the vicar’s presence at noon.”