Page 12 of Wolfehound (De Wolfe Pack Generations #11)

She was a woman concerned for all living creatures, everywhere.

It was a busy day in the bailey of Folkingham as Carlton headed for the kitchen yard.

It was located on the north side of the keep, a big area between the stables and the outdoor kitchen area.

There were fences and gates to keep the livestock in their yard and away from the kitchen, and he had to pass through two of those gates to get to the yard he was looking for.

And there she was.

Her dark hair stood out anywhere she went.

Black, like coal, and falling in silken curls to her buttocks.

She was always pushing it out of the way, out of her eyes, over her shoulder, because her hair seemed to have some affection for her face.

It always wanted to touch it. He didn’t blame her hair, of course, because Cambria had the most angelic face, round and sweet, with skin the color of cream.

Black, arched eyebrows and black lashes framed eyes the color of cornflowers.

They were an unnaturally bright shade of blue, always warm, always kind.

Cambria didn’t have a nasty bone in her body unless she didn’t get what she wanted, which wasn’t often, or she was incensed about something.

When that happened, men ran for cover. But Carlton rather liked that about her.

What was it Warenton had told him? Not to spoil her?

He had disobeyed.

“Bria?” he said. Then he glanced around the yard. “Where’s your mother, Dearest?”

Cambria had been bent over one of her dogs, inspecting an eye that seemed to be crusty. “With the cook,” she said, standing up to face her father. “Why? Shall I fetch her?”

He shrugged. “Nay,” he said. “That is not necessary. You can simply tell her that Liam Herringthorpe will be our guest today. I thought you might like to know.”

As he anticipated, her blue eyes flashed.

Liam Herringthorpe . Those were magic words as far as his fourteen-year-old daughter was concerned because the affection she’d always felt for Liam had never died.

It was still there as she grew older, part of her as much as an arm or a leg.

She’d known of her betrothal to Liam since she’d been a child, so she knew that whenever he showed up, it was her husband coming to call. Someday he would actually marry her.

They all knew she looked forward to that day.

But she was stubborn. Somewhere over the past year, she’d mentioned outgrowing him, being no longer interested in him.

He hadn’t come to see her in so long that her pride was wounded.

Carlton knew any talk of disinterest was a bold-faced lie, because any mention of the man and her features would light up, like the sun bursting through the clouds.

Just like now. But she must have known her father was onto her game because Cambria stilled her reaction almost immediately.

The flash in her eyes dimmed and her expression hardened.

Carlton could see the ruse coming a mile away.

“Why should I like to know?” she said, turning back to her dog. “He has not been here for over two years. I’d forgotten all about him.”

Carlton had to fight off a grin. “Truly?” he said, rubbing his chin. “You’ve forgotten the man you are to marry?”

She bent over the dog again. “He is of no consequence to me,” she said. “And clearly, I am not to him, either, or he would have come sooner.”

“He has probably been busy.”

“With what, pray tell?”

Carlton shrugged. “There has been a good deal of action on the borders as of late,” he said. “Especially Berwick, and that is a de Wolfe property. I hear the Scots want it badly and there have been battles. Mayhap he has been busy with that. He is a knight, after all.”

She grunted, disinterested. “I have nothing to say to him, Papa,” she said. “If he has come to see me, tell him I am busy.”

“I will do no such thing.”

“Why not?”

“Because you are betrothed to the man,” Carlton said, pointing out what she already knew. “If you want him to think you are too busy to see him, then you tell him.”

She stopped fussing with the dog’s eye and looked at her father, frowning. “You will not do that for me?”

“I will not because you are being foolish.”

The frown on her face deepened. “How can you say such a thing to me?”

His smile broke through. “Because you adore Liam and you always have,” he said. “You are lying if you say otherwise and we both know it. You should never lie to your father.”

Cambria could only hold the frown for a few more seconds before she broke into a grin like her father had. “I did not lie to you,” she said. “I only told you what I was feeling at that moment.”

“And what do you feel in this moment?”

Cambria’s smile widened and her cheeks flushed a sweet shade of pink. She didn’t even have to say what she was feeling because it was written all over her face. Carlton laughed softly and kissed her on the top of her dark head.

“Since I do not know when he is arriving, mayhap you would like to go now and change into something that the dogs have not pawed over,” he said. “Surely you want to look clean for the man or he’ll think he’s marrying one of the puppies in the pile.”

Cambria snorted. “I will,” she said. “It has been more than two years. He may not even recognize me.”

Carlton eyed her, though he tried not to.

She’d developed quite a womanly figure over the past two years, narrow of waist and big of breast. She was still a little slender in the hips, though Fair Lydia assured him that rounding out would come with time.

A young woman’s body was a constantly growing thing, especially at this age, but Carlton didn’t like to think about her growing into a woman at all.

He had only just been getting to know the little girl.

“I think he’ll be surprised with how much you’ve grown,” he assured her softly. “Your teeth are straight now. I think you were missing one or two the last time.”

Cambria instinctively touched her teeth, straight and nicely shaped as they were. “But they look well enough now, don’t they?”

She peeled her lips back, baring her teeth at him, and he chuckled softly. “They do, Dearest,” he said. Then he pointed to the keep. “Hurry, now. Wash the dog smell off your hands and change your dress. Liam will be here any moment.”

That was enough to get Cambria moving, rushing toward the keep with her long hair waving behind her like a banner.

Carlton watched her go, a smile on his lips, thinking of his daughter and what the future would hold for her.

He hoped she would outgrow that stubborn stance once she married Liam, because he wouldn’t take any of her foolishness either.

He began to head out to the bailey once more, reflecting on the future Lady Herringthorpe and thinking about what he’d told Colm.

She’d be living in the north with her husband and the entire de Wolfe Pack.

She would be safe then and his role in this great deception would essentially be over.

That was the sad part. He wouldn’t have the pleasure of seeing her grow into the role of wife and mother.

He had to consider himself fortunate with the time he did spend with her.

But it could have been so different.

He couldn’t imagine her living in a convent.

He thought of that often, actually. That bright, lovely, brilliant creature hidden away in a convent, praying twelve times a day, married to Christ. Carlton wasn’t particularly religious, but even he knew what a cold husband Jesus would be.

The loneliness would surely be staggering.

But instead, a farmer’s daughter was living that life while Gwenllian was living as an English noblewoman.

She didn’t even know the Welsh language or anything else about Wales other than it was a country that gave England a good deal of trouble.

That very trouble was why the Earl of Warenton had wanted vengeance for his son’s death, but there was the irony of it all.

James hadn’t been killed after all.

It was all quite the mess, from what Carlton had heard.

Five years after James’ alleged death at Llandeilo, the man had turned up in the midst of a Welsh rebellion as a rebel.

Somehow, someway, James de Wolfe had survived that horrible ambush, but at a very great price.

He had been saved by a Welshman who raised him to believe that he was a Welsh rebel himself and that the English were enemies, and because the morning star had damaged his memory so much, James hadn’t known any differently.

It had been a very rocky time for William and his family, trying to navigate a new world where James had returned as somebody completely different.

Carlton didn’t know all the details, but it had been implied that they were quite emotional and difficult.

But William had never said anything more about it to Carlton in person.

In truth, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway because Carlton and Fair Lydia, by that point, were completely in love with their daughter as only parents could be.

The return of Warenton’s son didn’t affect them one way or the other.

If Warenton’s vengeance was satisfied with the return of his son, Carlton’s life would not have changed because Cambra was his daughter.

He would not have given her up, or returned her to the Welsh, or anything else Warenton wanted.

He would have continued to raise her as his own and love her as much as he could.

But Warenton had never made mention of it, thankfully, and everything went on as it should.