is my daughter now?” Lord Laythem asked, ignoring the younger man.
“She ran off to marry Phillip of Radfurn last night,” Brinna murmured, turning to peer at Royce as she said the words and wincing at the way he blanched. Knowing that all his hopes for his people were now ashes at his feet, she turned away in shame, flinching when he grasped her arm and jerked her back around.
“You knew her plan all along? You helped her?” he said accusingly with bewildered hurt, and Brinna bit her lip as she shook her head.
“I helped her, aye, but I didn’t know of her plan. Well, I mean, I knew she did not want to marry you and that she was looking for a way to avoid it, but I did not know how she planned to do so. And … and had I—I didn’t know you when I agreed to help her, I just—she offered me more coins than I had ever hoped to see and I thought I could use them to make Aggie comfortable and—” Recognizing the contempt on his face and the fact that nothing she was saying was helping any, Brinnaunconsciously clutched her mother’s amulet and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Look, girl,” Lord Laythem began impatiently, only to pause as his gaze landed on the amulet she was clutching so desperately. Stilling, he reached a trembling hand to snatch at the charm. “Where did you get this?” he asked shakily, and Brinna swallowed nervously, afraid of next being accused of being a thief.
“It is my mother’s,” she murmured, recalling what Aggie had said as she placed it around her neck. Brinna had always known that Aggie was not the woman who had birthed her, but since Aggie had always avoided speaking of it, Brinna had never questioned her on the subject.
“Your mother’s?” Paling, Lord Laythem stared at her blankly for a moment. Then, “What is her name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Of course you know, you must know.” He gave her an impatient little shake. “What is her name?”
“She doesn’t know.”
They all turned at those words to see Aggie framed in the chapel door. Mouth tight with anger, she moved her wretched old body slowly through the parting crowd toward them. “She’s telling the truth. She doesn’t know.
I never told her. What good would it have done?”
“Aggie?” Brinna stepped to the old woman’s side, uncertainty on her face.
“I am sorry, child. There was no sense in yer knowing until now. I feared ye would grow bitter and angry. But now ye must know.” Turning, she glared at Lord Laythem grimly. “Her mother was a fine lady. A real and true lady in every sense of the word. She arrived in the village twenty-one years ago, young and as beautiful as Brinna herself. The only difference between the two was that her eyes were green.”
Her gaze moved from Brinna’s gray eyes to Lord Laythem’s own eyes of the same gray-blue shade before she continued. “I was the first person she met when she arrived. She told me she was looking to buy a cottage and perhaps set up shop. My husband had just passed on and we had no children. We used to run an alehouse from our cottage, but it was too much for a woman alone to handle, so I sold her our cottage. When she asked me to stay on and work with her, I agreed.
“As time passed, we became friends and she told me a tale, of a pretty young girl, the older of two daughters born to a fine lord and lady in the south. The girl was sent to foster with another fine lord and lady in the north, where she stayed until her eighteenth year, when the son of this lord and lady got married. The son returned from earning his knight’s spurs three months before the wedding.”
She glanced at Lord Menton meaningfully, nodding when his eyes widened at the realization that she spoke of him. Then her gaze slid to Lord Laythem again. “He brought with him a friend—and it was this friend who changed our girl’s life. She fell in love with him. And he claimed to love her, and to want to marry her. Young as she was, she believed him,” Aggie
“She ran off to marry Phillip of Radfurn last night,” Brinna murmured, turning to peer at Royce as she said the words and wincing at the way he blanched. Knowing that all his hopes for his people were now ashes at his feet, she turned away in shame, flinching when he grasped her arm and jerked her back around.
“You knew her plan all along? You helped her?” he said accusingly with bewildered hurt, and Brinna bit her lip as she shook her head.
“I helped her, aye, but I didn’t know of her plan. Well, I mean, I knew she did not want to marry you and that she was looking for a way to avoid it, but I did not know how she planned to do so. And … and had I—I didn’t know you when I agreed to help her, I just—she offered me more coins than I had ever hoped to see and I thought I could use them to make Aggie comfortable and—” Recognizing the contempt on his face and the fact that nothing she was saying was helping any, Brinnaunconsciously clutched her mother’s amulet and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Look, girl,” Lord Laythem began impatiently, only to pause as his gaze landed on the amulet she was clutching so desperately. Stilling, he reached a trembling hand to snatch at the charm. “Where did you get this?” he asked shakily, and Brinna swallowed nervously, afraid of next being accused of being a thief.
“It is my mother’s,” she murmured, recalling what Aggie had said as she placed it around her neck. Brinna had always known that Aggie was not the woman who had birthed her, but since Aggie had always avoided speaking of it, Brinna had never questioned her on the subject.
“Your mother’s?” Paling, Lord Laythem stared at her blankly for a moment. Then, “What is her name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Of course you know, you must know.” He gave her an impatient little shake. “What is her name?”
“She doesn’t know.”
They all turned at those words to see Aggie framed in the chapel door. Mouth tight with anger, she moved her wretched old body slowly through the parting crowd toward them. “She’s telling the truth. She doesn’t know.
I never told her. What good would it have done?”
“Aggie?” Brinna stepped to the old woman’s side, uncertainty on her face.
“I am sorry, child. There was no sense in yer knowing until now. I feared ye would grow bitter and angry. But now ye must know.” Turning, she glared at Lord Laythem grimly. “Her mother was a fine lady. A real and true lady in every sense of the word. She arrived in the village twenty-one years ago, young and as beautiful as Brinna herself. The only difference between the two was that her eyes were green.”
Her gaze moved from Brinna’s gray eyes to Lord Laythem’s own eyes of the same gray-blue shade before she continued. “I was the first person she met when she arrived. She told me she was looking to buy a cottage and perhaps set up shop. My husband had just passed on and we had no children. We used to run an alehouse from our cottage, but it was too much for a woman alone to handle, so I sold her our cottage. When she asked me to stay on and work with her, I agreed.
“As time passed, we became friends and she told me a tale, of a pretty young girl, the older of two daughters born to a fine lord and lady in the south. The girl was sent to foster with another fine lord and lady in the north, where she stayed until her eighteenth year, when the son of this lord and lady got married. The son returned from earning his knight’s spurs three months before the wedding.”
She glanced at Lord Menton meaningfully, nodding when his eyes widened at the realization that she spoke of him. Then her gaze slid to Lord Laythem again. “He brought with him a friend—and it was this friend who changed our girl’s life. She fell in love with him. And he claimed to love her, and to want to marry her. Young as she was, she believed him,” Aggie
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