Page 59 of Lord of Mistrust

Suddenly the door to her chamber opened, and two people marched into the room.

But not her aunt and uncle. One was her mother, Dela. The other was a man she’d never seen before, whose scowl seemed to flay the very flesh from her bones.

In an instant, Robert was on his feet, pushing her behind him and squaring up to the intruder. Looking past them, Chloe caught her mother’s eye. Dela’s face was suffused with smiles.

Robert’s anger was palpable. “Sir Mortimer. How dare you enter this lady’s bedchamber without knocking?”

Sir Mortimer? Chloe’s breath seemed to fly from her body, and she clung to the back of Robert’s doublet to keep from falling.

What a circumstance under which to meet one’s father for the very first time!

Chapter Thirty-Five

“You, sir. Unhand my daughter!”

Robert refused to move. “Calm yourself, Sir Mortimer. This is no place for a skirmish.”

“Indeed, Mortimer. I brought you here to meet Chloe, not to meddle in her affairs or insult her suitor. What right have you to be angry, in any case? You have never publicly acknowledged her. Fie! You’ve become even more of a hypocrite in your old age.”

Robert allowed his shoulders to relax a little. It looked as if he might have an ally in Mistress Dela Riviere. And, by the rood, he needed one!

“God give you good day, sir.” Chloe stepped out from behind Robert’s back and made Sir Mortimer Fowler a formal curtsey. “I see you’ve finally sought me out. My apologies—I had meant it to be the other way around.”

Robert could see the slight tremble in Chloe’s fingers and loved her for her courage. Sir Mortimer wasn’t an easy man to stand up to.

“Saucy wench. You meant to seek me out, against the wishes of your aunt and uncle?”

“I did, sir. The plain fact of the matter is that Uncle Matthew tried to arrange a match for me that I simply couldn’t accept.”

Sir Mortimer turned an inimical eye on her. Robert put his arm around her waist and stared the man down. He was uncomfortably aware he’d left his sword belt in the hall below—also that Chloe’s father still carried his own weapon. What was Whiteley thinking of, letting an armed man come up here? Wasn’t he supposed to have been guarding the stairs against all invaders?

Sir Mortimer’s face reddened. “Ah, yes. Indeed. Matthew and I were in error there, confound it. Lord Brooke had us all fooled.”

“Not me,” Chloe stated.

“Nor me,” echoed her mother.

Robert fought the urge to smile. Neither of these women was afraid of the blustering gentleman. Nor, he discovered, was he. He knew he had Chloe’s heart, and that knowledge buoyed him up more than anything else could have done. He’d face a fire-breathing dragon if it meant he could have her.

“And thanks in part to Sir Robert, Lord Brooke has been brought down.” Chloe’s mother looked smug.

“What do you know of this, Woman? Are all the nation’s affairs laid bare? I shall have to speak to Walsingham about this.”

“Sir Francis sent me a note to say they’d captured their man, partly thanks to Sir Robert. I was going to tell everyone about it when we arrived, but nay—you had no patience. No sooner did you recognize the gentleman at the foot of the stairs, than you must go off like a powder keg.”

For a moment, the man looked nonplussed. Then the frown returned. “I knew that if that miscreant Whiteley was lurking here, Sir Robert wouldn’t be far away. Rascals and rakes, the pair of them.”

There was a movement beyond the doorway. Whiteley stood behind Sir Mortimer’s back, Robert’s sword in his hand and his eyebrows raised in question.

Robert gave a subtle shake of his head. It wouldn’t do to fight Chloe’s father. He needed the man on his side.

“Sir, may I remind you of our agreement?”

“Which one? The one where I beat you fair and square at the gaming table and generously allowed you to pay what you owed in installments?”

Robert felt his face heat. “Nay. The one where you said you’d cancel all debt if I delivered Lord Brooke to Sir Francis. It would seem I’ve fulfilled my part of the bargain.”

“Aye.” Dela nodded gleefully. “Walsingham’s note said the man Sir Robert captured yesterday, the one with the torn ear, was happy to reveal all he knew about Lord Brooke. Give Sir Robert his due, sir—he’s been heroic and courageous. And saved your own daughter’s life. ’Tis time you did the honorable thing for a change. You preferred to let your child be born a bastard all those years ago. Now you are old enough to know better.”