Unending Love (8 page)

He was therefore studying a map of the area in
question, a beautiful piece of cartography etched upon an enormous piece of
yellowed vellum.  He had the entire country on various pieces of vellum in his solar,
for he and his brother had done their fair share of troop movement and maps of
this sort were necessary. The maps were old and well-used, pieces of art as
much as they were maps.  This particular map had been passed down from David’s
father, Myles. But as time went by and thoughts of Adalind caused him to lose
his concentration, he set aside his quill and casually wandered over to his
wife’s receiving room.

Sunlight was streaming in through the big arched
window on the north side of the room. Dressed in a soft yellow surcoat and
looking radiant and lovely, Adalind sat before her loom, patiently piercing the
material as she wove her tapestry.  When she caught movement out of the corner
of her eye, she glanced up without lifting her head to see her grandfather
standing in the doorway.  She smiled faintly.

“Greetings, Papa,” she said softly. “I thought
you were busy with the fate of England today.”

He smiled weakly as he entered the room. “I
was,” he said. “But I thought I would come and visit you for a few moments.
I’ve not seen you all day.”

“That is because I have been busy,” she said,
refocusing on the loom. “If I plan to give this piece to Uncle Christopher and
Aunt Dustin by Christmas, then I must be diligent.”

“Christmas is several months away.”

“I know, but this is an ambitious piece. It will
take time.”

David moved into the room, looking over her
shoulder at what she was working on before moving to the window and gazing
outside.  The sky was clear and blue with a hint of cool breeze.  He inhaled
deeply.

“Your Uncle Daniel should be here in the next
few days,” he said, glancing over at her. “It has been a long time since you
last saw him, hasn’t it?”

Adalind stabbed the material with colored
thread. “I saw him almost a year ago when he came to visit me at Court,” she
said. “He stayed for a few days and we had a wonderful time.  Papa, why has he
not married yet? He would make some woman a wonderful husband.”

David lifted an eyebrow as he turned from the
window. “Your Uncle Daniel is in no hurry to marry,” he said. “Although I wish
he was.  I would see at least one son from him to carry on the de Lohr name
before I die.”

“Perhaps you should find him a wife.”

“Perhaps,” he said, eyeing her. “Did you have
anyone in mind? Perhaps a lady you knew at Court?”

She shook her head. “I would not burden him with
any of
those
women,” she said, but then she looked thoughtful and
stopped sewing. “I did have one friend, however, that could very well be a
suitable match.  She was from the de Royans family, far to the north in
Yorkshire. She had a brother I met a few times, a very powerful knight who, I
believe, served Norfolk.  In any case, she was one of my few friends in Winchester.
She is a pretty and obedient girl. Perhaps she would be a good match for Uncle
Daniel.”

David put his hands on her shoulders. “Did you
at least introduce them when Daniel came to visit?”

She shook her head. “I did not,” she replied. “I
did not think to.”

“What is her name?”

“Glennie de Royans,” she replied. “Her father is
the Constable of Yorkshire.”

David rather liked the sound of that. “Perhaps I
shall consider her,” he said, kissing the top of her head before removing his
hands from her shoulders. “As for you, my fine lady, what are your plans now
that you have come home? We have not discussed the subject, you know. Are you
planning on leaving us again? Perhaps you would like to travel?”

Her good mood was fading rapidly. “I do not wish
to travel,” she said as her movements came to a complete halt.  She was gazing
at her loom. “Papa, I was thinking… thinking that perhaps I should consider
joining the cloister. I know that you would suppose that to be a foolish
decision, but I do not. I do not believe I shall ever marry so rather than
become a burden, I would like to dedicate my life to something productive and
meaningful.”

David gazed at her lowered head. “The cloister?”
he repeated, somewhat surprised. “This is the first time I have heard you
express interest in such a thing.”

Adalind hung her head. “I realize that, but I do
believe it is something to consider.”

“Why?”

“I told you – because I shall not marry.”

David scratched his head as he thought on his
reply. “I do not believe that to be the case,” he said quietly. “You are still
young, Addie, and you are very beautiful. You have an entire world of suitors
at your feet. Of course you shall marry.”

She shook her head. “There is only one man I
would consider and he
has
[J9]
 
made it clear that he has no interest in me,”
she murmured. “I know you think I am foolish, Papa, but believe me when I tell
you that I know my own heart. I always have. The richest and most eligible man
in all of England could come to my door and still, I would refuse him. The
heart wants what the heart wants, and I could never be married to another man
if I loved someone else.”

David pondered that for a moment.  The he
sighed. “Addie, I know you have always been infatuated with Maddoc, but now
that you are grown, surely you see that it is not meant to be.”

“Why not?”

He looked at her, rather painfully. “Do you
truly want me to speak of it?”

“I do.”

“He has watched you grow up. You are like family
to him.”

“But I am
not
family,” she said
passionately. “Papa, I have spent my entire life loving one man and now that I
am a grown woman, those feelings have only gotten stronger. For the rest of my
life there will only be Maddoc in my heart and soul and if I cannot have him,
then I do not want anyone else. It would only make me miserable forever. Do you
not understand that?”

David gazed into her lovely face, his heart
hurting for her. He knew how she felt and he was sure the reintroduction to
Maddoc yesterday had only exacerbated those feelings. After a moment, he
reached out and stroked her cheek.

“I understand,” he said quietly, “but let us not
make any hasty decisions today.  You only just returned home; be patient until
year’s end and if you still feel the same way at that time, then we will make
some decisions.  I only want you to be happy, Addie. You know that.”

“I know, Papa.”

“There could still be someone to win your heart,
you know.”

“They could not win what does not belong to me.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You are going to make it
difficult on your sister and your cousins, then,” he said. “You are the oldest.
You must be spoken for before they can entertain invitations. Willow is already
eyeing the men around her.”

“When I enter the cloister, she will be free to
entertain all the suitors she wishes.”

David shook his head, rather resistant to her
reasoning, and opened his mouth to say so.  But a voice from the doorway
interrupted him.

“My lord,” Maddoc said. “We have a visitor.”

Both Adalind and David turned to Maddoc. He was
dressed as he usually was, in mail and leather, looking as if he was a hair’s
breadth away from going into battle.  David focused on his face as Adalind let
her gaze drift over his enormous body, muscular arms, and trencher-sized hands.

Hands that would never touch her in love and
muscular arms that would never hold her as a man holds a woman. She began to
think on their conversation from yesterday, of her dreams of him the night
before, and she was both eased by the sight of him and hardened. She wasn’t
sure how much more she could take of seeing him daily, knowing there could
never be anything between them. It would drive her to the convent sooner than
expected. Maybe returning home had been a mistake, bringing her back into
Maddoc’s orbit where she would be more miserable than she ever was. She was
deep into those reflections when David spoke, jolting her from her thoughts.

“Who has come?” he asked.

Maddoc lifted a dark eyebrow. “Walter de Burgh,”
he said, somewhat quietly. “He is brother to Hubert de Burgh. In fact, I….”

“No!” Adalind suddenly bolted up from her seat,
her green eyes blazing. “Not him. He is
not
welcome. Send him away,
Maddoc.”

“Hold,” David put up a quelling hand, looking at
his granddaughter with curiosity. “Why would you say that, Addie? Do you know
him?”

Adalind’s frustration was evident; she was red
in the cheeks and as both men watched, she angrily stomped her feet, verging on
a tantrum.

“Of course I know him,” she said, furious. “He
has pursued me relentlessly for almost six months. He is a shriveled old man
who thinks that his family name will gain him his wants. Papa, he is older than
you are!”

David eyed Maddoc before focusing on his
granddaughter. “I know the man,” he assured her quietly. “What’s more, I do not
like him. He is a dimwitted brother of a powerful family. Are you sure he is
here for you?”

Adalind threw up her arms in frustration. “Why
else would he come?” she wanted to know. “Were you, in fact, expecting him?”

“I was not.”

“Then it surely stands to reason he has come to
see me.”

“Perhaps there is another reason, I would hope.
If the man has indeed come to see you, then I will personally toss him out on
his arse.” He stood there and shook his head as if baffled by the entire
circumstance. “Is this how it is going to be from now on, Addie? A new suitor
every day that I must throw from the keep?”

Her anger turned to a pout and, genuinely
frustrated, she plopped down on her chair, struggling not to cry. When she lost
the battle and began to weep softly, David went to her and kissed her on the
head.

“I am sorry,” he said, giving her a gentle hug.
“I did not mean to make you cry. But this is going to become exhausting for us
both.”

The statement did not ease her tears. She wiped
at her eyes. “I did not tell these men to come,” she said, frustrated. “It is
not as if I extended an open invitation for any fool to bid for my hand. I
never gave any of them any encouragement, but from appearances, it would seem
that I have. They made my life at Court a nightmare and now they have followed
me here. All I want is a measure of peace, Papa,
please.
”

“You told the first four suitors that you are
already betrothed,” Maddoc said from the doorway.  His voice was low, quiet.
“We will simply tell anyone else who comes to Canterbury with the intention of
courting you that you are already spoken for.”

“They will want to know to whom and, at some
point, a wedding would be expected,” David turned to him. “Word tends to travel
and I do not want to jeopardize Addie’s chances of obtaining a true husband
with lies to throw off the rabble.”

Maddoc’s expression didn’t change. “It would not
be a lie, my lord, if you consented to a betrothal between Adalind and me. I
will marry her if she will have me.”

David’s jaw dropped. Adalind’s tears were
instantly forgotten and her head shot up, looking at Maddoc with such
astonishment that her jaw, too, fell open. Stunned speechless, Adalind tried to
rise from her chair but her knees gave out and she ended up toppling onto her
bum.  Maddoc rushed forward to help her as David stood there like an idiot.

“You
what?
” he managed to stammer.
“Maddoc, are you
serious
?”

Maddoc had hold of Adalind’s arms, gently
pulling her up from the floor. “I am,” he said steadily. “Moreover, she
proposed marriage to me some years ago. I have made up my mind to accept her
proposal. I apologize for the delay.”

Adalind was staring at him as if she could
hardly comprehend what he was saying. By the time he set her to her feet, she
began to laugh, like a woman losing her mind, but just as quickly she shifted
to tears and began to weep.  She pulled out of Maddoc’s grip and knocked over
her loom in her attempt to get away from him.  Hysterical, she ended up
slumping against the wall near the hearth.

“You… you are horrid,” she sobbed. “How can you joke
about something like this?”

“I am most certainly not joking.”

“You are!”

“Addie, I swear that I am not. I have never been
more serious about anything in my life.”

That statement only caused her eyes to widen, as
if he had just said something terribly offensive. Then she pointed an accusing
finger at him.

“You are
not
serious,” she wept. “It is
only out of pity that you say such things. That is all this is to you, Maddoc -
pity. You cannot even suggest such a thing. I hate you for it!”

Maddoc felt rather bad that he had upset her so.
His offer hadn’t been planned, in fact; it had come out of his mouth before he
could think about what he was saying but upon reflection, he wasn’t sorry at
all. The past two days with Adalind had opened an entirely new world for him,
one of a beautiful young woman with intelligence and grace that he was deeply
attracted to.  He could no longer deny it.