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Adelaide wasn’t stupid. Petty, vindictive, and immature, aye.

But she wasn’t stupid. She could see what was going on, how Thomas seemed to be particularly fond of Lady Bowlin, and it fed her anger and jealously like nothing else.

The man wouldn’t give her the time of day, but he certainly paid the widow enough attention.

Her father had told him that William de Wolfe had tried to break the betrothal and now Adelaide suspected why–

The Beguine.

“I would speak with you before you go,” she said, looking at him pointedly. “ Alone .”

Thomas didn’t say a word. He simply took Maitland by the elbow again and walked off, leaving Adelaide standing there with a shocked expression on her face.

He wasn’t going to give her the courtesy she had asked for.

But as he walked away, Maitland came to a halt.

When he looked at her curiously, she tilted her head in Adelaide’s direction.

“Please speak to her,” she said quietly. “It is not polite to show her such disrespect in front of others. She is to be Lady de Wolfe, after all. That title alone affords courtesy.”

Thomas stared at her. Then, he exhaled slowly, showing his great displeasure, but he knew even as he did it that he would comply with her request. He couldn’t look into that face and hear those calm, reasonable words and refuse her.

In that brief moment, he realized that he could never refuse Maitland, not ever.

Not with any little request she could ever make of him.

Frustrated, he rolled his eyes at her but dutifully let go of her elbow.

Then, he retraced his steps to Adelaide.

“Well?” he demanded quietly. “What do you want?”

Adelaide was already humiliated and well on her way to a tantrum. “I want you to stay at Wark,” she said. “You do not need to escort Lady Bowlin to Edenside because you have an entire army of soldiers who can just as easily complete the task.”

Thomas cocked his head, almost curiously. But there was nothing curious about the words that came out of his mouth.

“My lady, I want you to listen to me and listen well,” he said, sounding oddly patient. “Are you listening?”

Adelaide didn’t like the fact that he hadn’t readily agreed. “I am.”

“Good,” he said. “In the first place, you will never make any decision for me, especially when it comes to the safety, health, and welfare of the inhabitants and guests of Wark Castle. My decisions are beyond question. Do you understand me?”

She began to twitch with anger. “I was not questioning your…”

“ Do you understand me?”

He had cut her off, speaking loudly, slowly, and deliberately. Adelaide clearly wanted to argue with him; that was all over her face. But she must have sensed that any contradiction wouldn’t be well met, so she didn’t.

“I understand you,” she said.

“Excellent,” Thomas said drolly. “Now, in the second place, I do not care what you want. Not in the least. I have spent the past six months trying to be polite and understanding. There was a time I was possibly even kind. But those days are gone. You will never again make requests or demands of me because you mean less to me than the horses in the barn or the cows in the field. I do not care what you think and I do not care what you feel. Now, go inside and get out of my sight, for I do not wish to see your pitiful face when I return. Have my words penetrated that thick skull you seem to have, Adelaide?”

Adelaide was recoiling from him, a look of utter devastation on her face.

Her mouth popped open in outrage but quickly shut, and he could see the tears coming.

Without another word, he turned away from her and headed back in Maitland’s direction, hoping beyond hope that his words were cruel enough that Adelaide would go home with her father and tell the man how terrible Thomas had been.

Perhaps that would be enough to break this farce of a betrothal.

Under normal circumstances, he would have never spoken so harshly to a woman, but these weren’t normal circumstances and Adelaide was not a normal woman.

He was being pushed to his limit and he was tired of it all– tired of the constant tension, tired of a woman who had brought him nothing but frustration.

But thoughts of Adelaide were tempered by the sight of Maitland as she stood where he’d left her. She looked at him with some curiosity, smiling timidly as he came near, and he reached out to take her elbow again as they continued on towards the waiting horses.

“Is… is everything well?” she asked hesitantly. “Is Lady Adelaide troubled?”

He had to bite his tongue with what he wanted to say; I do not care if she is troubled or not . Instead, he simply shook his head.

“There is no trouble,” he said. Then, he pointed to the horses that were waiting. “I hope you do not mind. I selected a better palfrey than the one you rode in on. Truthfully, I am surprised that little beast made it as far as it did. It is very old and near collapse.”

Distracted from Adelaide, Maitland looked to see the horse he was indicating and she gasped at the sight.

It was a beautiful, round pony that was a pale golden color from head to tail.

It had a fat belly and sturdy, lovely legs, and she went right up to it and began petting it, crooning to the beautiful animal.

“She is so beautiful,” she said admiringly. “Are you sure you want to let me borrow her?”

Thomas came to stand next to her as she loved up the horse. “Borrow her?” he repeated. “She is yours. Think how happy the foundlings are going to be when they can ride a golden horse. Belle is very gentle; she will be perfect for the children.”

Maitland looked up at him. “Beautiful,” she murmured. “Her name means beautiful. It is perfect for her.”

Thomas found himself looking into her mesmerizing eyes. “Aye,” he said softly. “I have also selected a palfrey for your companion. What is her name? Tibelda? My mother said she was most helpful with the wounded. It is our gift to her.”

Tibelda, who had so far been standing off to the side as the escort assembled, came forward when Maitland motioned to her.

When Thomas indicated a pretty brown mare for her, it was all Tibelda could do to keep from weeping.

She, too, reached out to pet the horse, thrilled with the fine equine.

Thomas watched the ladies, seeing how touched they were, and it pleased him.

“Excellent,” Thomas said. “Everyone is happy. Shall we depart?”

The soldiers were already mounting their steeds and Thomas took charge of Maitland while Desmond took charge of Tibelda. Each woman’s meager satchel was tied to her saddle and the women were hoisted onto the backs of the horses.

With the women settled, Thomas and Desmond were the last to mount their war horses, big beasts that had seen much action the night before.

In fact, Thomas’ horse was muzzled for this ride because it tended to snap and he didn’t want anyone losing an arm.

Just as they prepared to move out beneath the cool, bright skies, the gates of Wark slowly cranked open and the Northumbria party began trickling through first.

Not wanting to mingle with Edmund’s group, Thomas held up a hand to his men, indicating they remain in place until he gave the order to move out.

Thomas watched as the armed Northumbria escort moved fairly quickly through the gates, heading out into the countryside beyond with Kyloe Castle as their destination for the night.

Kyloe was about five or six hours away, depending on how fast they traveled and, from the look of them, they intended to travel fast.

That made Thomas think about what his father had said earlier; clearly, the man had spoken with Northumbria and Thomas was eager to know what had been said.

Whatever it was, it was enough to drive Edmund out of Wark in a hurry.

He had hoped it was a positive conversation but the expression on his father’s face led him to believe that all was not well.

Edmund was fleeing and William wasn’t happy.

Perhaps he wasn’t so eager to hear what had been said, after all.

Pushing that all aside, Thomas gave the order to move out once Northumbria was clear of the gatehouse, and Thomas, Desmond, Maitland, Tibelda, and fifty heavily-armed soldiers passed beneath the two-storied gatehouse also, taking the road that would lead them north and east, while the Northumbria party headed southeast. Thomas wasn’t sorry to see them go but, the more time passed, the more he was very anxious to know what had been said between Northumbria and his father.

A conversation that would control his destiny.

With that on his mind, Thomas took his party north into Scotland.