“Do ye think that mon will be of any help to you?”
“Nay,” she replied as they stopped outside her bedchamber door and she struggled not to think of what had happened the last time they had stood there together. “He was verra angry when David chose to marry me. I was to be Nigel’s wife, nay David’s, he said, and since Nigel was dead, I should just be sent back home. Me and my dowry, of course. David wouldnae send me home as he kenned it wasnae a good place for me to be, nor could he give up my dowry. Many of the improvements we now enjoy were made with it.”
“Then why write to the mon if ye ken that he willnae help?”
“So that I can honestly say that I tried to get the family to help, tried to seek aid from my late husband’s kinsmen. It may prove important if Sir Adam gets himself killed.” She sighed. “And he hasnae actually hurt us yet so I would like it ended ere that happens.”
“He killed David.”
“We ken it, but unless we can catch who put the poison in David’s food, I can ne’er prove that.”
“And ye dinnae think he was planning to hurt you today?”
“What good would that have done him? Benet wasnae with me.”
“Because without ye, Benet would be even more vulnerable. Aye, we would still be here to protect him, but Sir Adam may nay believe that. I think he believes we would leave, that ’tis only ye who hold us here.” He nodded when she frowned, her expression revealing her doubt of his words. “The mon doesnae think a plan through. That is a belief I have become more certain of each time he tries something.”
“I am nay sure any of David’s family has the wit to do so,” she said. “Nay any of the ones I have met. David was their brightest light once Nigel was gone. I oftimes felt they all resented him for that, for being such a respected, learned man.”
“There is one thing that puzzles me.” He hesitated, uncertain of how to ask his questions without risking offense, and then decided to simply ask, “Why, if ye were chosen to marry Nigel, did ye wed David?”
“Ye do ken, dinnae ye, that I was betrothed whilst little more than a bairn?”
“Ah, one of those marriages arranged to make some sort of alliance.”
“Exactly. I was just nearing the age to be old enough to marry when I was brought here to learn all about being the lady of this keep. It wasnae long after that when Nigel sailed off to France. He had heard too many tales of men making plenty of coin fighting for the French and how that might e’en give him a verra good chance of fighting the English. I wasnae heartbroken when he left though I had spent enough time with him to think he would be a suitable husband. So I waited. And waited. And waited. David sent out inquiries when we had gone a year without any word from him. Then we got a short visit from a mon who claimed he had fought alongside Nigel and his men and that he was dead.”
“With all the men that went with him? I assume he took some men with him?”
“Aye, some. I fear he did take our best-trained men but that was only a half dozen or so. But, this mon had no information to give us on their fate. He said Nigel was alone by the time he met up with him.”
“And David accepted the mon’s word?”
“Nay, not fully, although he couldnae think of any reason for the mon to travel so far just to tell us a lie. But, he didnae really want it to be true if only because Nigel was the last of his family. His father died ere I came here and his mother died soon after. We have ne’er received any word that would reveal that mon to have been a liar though.”
“And so then ye married David. Did ye nay ken the truth about his injury?”
“I did. Joan told me. E’en David tried to stutter through an explanation. It didnae matter. E’en a childless marriage was better than being sent back home.” She could see that he now meant to ask her about that last statement so she opened the door to her room. “I must see to getting the letter to Sir Adam’s father written now.”
Before Harcourt could say another word he found himself staring at a shut door. He was already reaching for the latch, intending to follow her into the room, when he accepted that it would be a mistake. The need to know why she would dread going back home to her own family was strong, but he knew he had to stand back and allow her to tell him when she was ready to. Cursing softly, he turned to leave. There was more than enough work for him to do to stop his mind from preying on what Annys had not told him.