Page 21 of Lion and the Lamb: Easter

“How do you know that since you just told me you know nothing about him?”

“I know that he wants the best for you.”

“Nay, he doesn’t. He doesn’t even like me and barely speaks to me unless he’s yelling. That’s why I’m leaving.” Winifred turned around and continued to pack her bag.

“Fred . . . did you ever think that mayhap your father is frightened?”

“Frightened?” Her hands stilled and she looked back over her shoulder. “My father is a warrior and has fought and killed many men. He isn’t afraid of anything.”

“Except having a daughter that he has to raise on his own when he doesn’t know how.”

“Really?” She sniffled again and turned around. “Do you think so?”

“I think you owe it to him, as well as yourself, to find out.”

“Ladies, let’s go,” bellowed Lionel from down in the courtyard. Rachael ran over to the window and looked down at him and held up her index finger, telling him to wait. Then she turned back around to talk to Winifred.

“I’m not going to force you to go to church with us, but I hope you change your mind. Think about it, and do the right thing.”

“You’d let me stay here? So, I really don’t have to go?” The girl almost looked excited about the idea, and now Rachael was kicking herself because she had hoped Winifred would change her mind on her own.

“You can do what you want. But remember, so can I.” With that last subtle warning, Rachael turned and headed for the door.

“Oh,” said the girl, probably thinking that Rachael was going to spill her secret to her father. That is what she wanted Winifred to think, but not what she really wanted to do.

Rachael stopped with her hand on the door latch, and looked back over her shoulder. “I promise I will try to convince your father not to betroth you. However, if I’m going to do that, you need to be a little more respectful to him. You also need to listen to what he says. After all, he is your father.”

Neither of them said a word, and the sound of silence was deafening between them as they stood there staring at each other. Rachael sighed softly realizing she had failed. She’d only wanted to help fix the relationship between Lionel and his daughter, but it hadn’t worked. She turned back around and pulled open the door.

“Wait!” called out Winifred, causing Rachael to stop. “Does it take long to plait hair?” She wiped away another tear with the back of her hand.

Rachael’s heart soared. So it seemed she’d managed to reach Winifred after all, and this made her very happy. Once again she closed the door.

“Go change into a gown and meet me at the dressing table. Hurry,” she told Winifred, heading across the room. “I can have your hair plaited in just a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” said the girl with a flash of a smile as she ran to the wardrobe to change.

Rachael picked up the boar’s bristle brush, wondering how in heaven’s name she was going to convince Lionel not to betroth his daughter to a noble, but to a dockworker instead.