Page 46

Raechester Castle, Northumberland

“T hen Mother’s name is not Violet?” Padraig asked, his features pale with shock. “And she’s not a de Lohr?”

Magnus wasn’t unsympathetic. The story he’d just told his son and grandson was a good deal to accept when one was old and had always believed his mother to be a woman named Lady Violet de Lohr de Wolfe, from the prestigious House of de Lohr.

It was shocking, to be truthful.

“Nay, lad,” Magnus said softly. “She is not a de Lohr. And you were born less than a year after the son we lost, and we named you Padraig, after my father. So, you see, it does not matter that the woman Val wants to marry has a sister with a compromised reputation. Your mother was so gravely compromised that she nearly refused to marry me, but as you can see, she relented. And we have been wildly happy all of these years. I cannot imagine my life without her. So do not punish Val for loving a woman with an unchaste sister. She is not responsible for her sister’s behavior.

Moreover, if he truly loves her, then things like that simply do not matter. ”

Padraig was pale with shock and sorrow after having just heard a story that completely upended everything he ever thought about his life.

And his mother.

“She really went through all of that?” he asked. “Mother, I mean. She was one of the Seven Jewels of London?”

Magnus nodded. “Have you heard of them?”

Padraig shrugged. “There is still a group of courtesans who call themselves that,” he said. “I’ve heard of them, of course. Anyone who spends time in court has. But Mother was an original Jewel?”

“She was,” Magnus said. “And the most beautiful Jewel in the group. When I met her and we fell in love, it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before or since. I am begging you not to take that away from Val. Men cannot help who they fall in love with. I am a prime example of that.”

Padraig was still distressed over the situation, but more distressed with his mother’s secret history than anything else. He turned to look at his son, who seemed quite upset by the whole story. Val gazed back at him with sorrow.

Padraig cleared his throat softly. “Papa, it is not that I wish to cause my son anguish,” he said. “But—”

The door to the solar opened at that moment, revealing a lovely older woman with red hair peppered with white. She wore a simple scarf around her head and a smile on her lips. She ushered in a servant bearing a tray of wine with cups, indicating for them to be set upon the nearest table.

“I am sorry to interrupt,” she said. “But the three of you have been in here a long time. I thought you might like some refreshment.”

Magnus reached out a hand to her, and she came to him, taking it. He kissed her hand. “We were simply speaking on women,” he said. “Val wishes to marry. It is a serious venture.”

Delaina looked at her grandson with glee. “Phoebe de Wallington?”

Val nodded. “Aye.”

Delaina put her hand on Magnus’ shoulder. “Amag and I are delighted,” she said, watching Magnus smile weakly. But she could see something in his expression that caused her to look at Padraig. “Padraig? Is this not a wonderful occasion?”

Padraig looked at his mother. His elegant, lovely, and sweet mother whom he’d always been so close to. The sun rose and set on his mother as far as he was concerned, and as he looked at her, he recalled his father’s story on how they first met.

The family story had always been that they’d met through Morgen de Lohr because his mother was a de Lohr cousin, but he could see that his mother’s past had been whitewashed. Made acceptable. Perhaps Rosemary de Wallington wasn’t so wild, after all. Not after he’d heard the tale of the Ruby.

Padraig could see his mother and father looking at him curiously, and Val looking at him rather anxiously.

Do not punish Val for loving a woman with an unchaste sister .

As it turned out, Padraig was himself guilty of loving a woman who, in her past, had been unchaste. But not by choice. His mother had been forced into that life against her will, and it had taken a man of incredible strength and compassion to give her the life she deserved.

His father.

Suddenly, the unchaste de Wallington sister didn’t seem so bad. With love involved—and Val was clearly in love—something like that simply didn’t matter.

Padraig stood up from his chair. “It is wonderful,” he said hoarsely. As he headed for his parents, he glanced at his son. “You will get no further argument from me, Val. I hope you and Phoebe are very happy in your new life together.”

Val beamed. He was so thrilled that he leapt out of his chair and shook his fists in the air. As his jubilant celebration was going on, Padraig went to his mother and took her in his arms, hugging her fiercely.

“I love you, Violet de Wolfe,” he whispered in her ear. “And I love Delaina, too.”

With that, he let her go and quit the chamber, but not before both Delaina and Magnus saw him wiping at his eyes. Delaina was looking at him in shock, and when she realized he was weeping, she turned her wide eyes to Magnus.

“What was that about?” she asked softly. “What did you tell him?”

Magnus nodded, pulling her into his arms. “The truth,” he murmured. “It was time. It was time he learned what a remarkable, resilient woman his mother is. There is no shame there, my darling.”

Delaina wasn’t sure what to say to that.

She had always known that, someday, her children would know the truth, but the reality of it was somewhat different.

Padraig had always been a rigidly pious man, unbending in so many ways, so his acceptance of her path, without question, was indeed a poignant moment.

And a thankful one.

As Delaina and Magnus embraced, they suddenly felt another pair of arms go around them.

Val was hugging them both, so incredibly happy in the direction his life was about to take.

He adored his grandparents more than words could express, and when Delaina turned to him and kissed his rough cheek, he smiled broadly at her.

“I can only hope that Phoebe and I are half as happy as you and Amag,” he said. “As for what Amag told us… I am proud of you, Grandmama. Next to my mother, you are the strongest woman I know, and I am proud to be your grandson.”

He kissed her on the cheek and quit the chamber, undoubtedly running off to seek out Phoebe de Wallington on this most momentous occasion. Delaina and Magnus watched him practically skip out of the chamber.

“I wonder if he means it,” Delaina said softly.

Magnus looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“If he is proud of me. I wonder if, after he’s had time to reflect, he truly means it.”

Magnus smiled knowingly at her. “He has never said anything he does not mean,” he said. “Or do you require something more than just his word?”

Delaina shook her head. Val was, if nothing else, an honorable man and a great source of pride for her and Magnus. He had always been a man of truth.

But her proof was yet to come.

On the event of Val’s marriage, Padraig gave his son the dagger that had been passed down from Magnus, the Law-Mender.

As Magnus had hoped, generations of his descendants would carry the old Northman dagger with pride, and the following year when Phoebe gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Val already had a name selected.

Delaina de Wallington de Wolfe had a special ring to it.

* THE END *