Page 99 of Viking in Love

She waved a hand dismissively. “’Tis true I have a sizeable dowry, but the men who have come courting with that in mind have not gained favor with me. In truth, I would rather not marry, and instead use my dowry to open a woodworker’s trading stall in Coppergate, have my own home, be dependent on no one, especially not a husband. I make special hand-carved chairs that would do well for a start. And I could make matching tables and benches.”

He put up his hands, as if in surrender. “I did not mean to give offense.”

“Yea, you did. You enjoy pricking me to ill temper.”

“May I say one last thing on the subject without you flaying me with your tongue?”

“Why stop now?” Is that what I have become? Am I now a shrew?

“You are a passionate woman. Do not try to deny it. I have seen and felt the evidence of that passion. How will you do without?”

I do not yearn for sex play. I yearn for you, fool. “What makes you think that I will deprive myself now that I have tasted of this forbidden fruit?”

“Am I your forbidden fruit?”

Hah! If we were in that Christian Garden of Eden, you would be the apple AND the snake. “You are at the moment, but I am sure there will be other fruit in my future.”

She could tell he did not like her answer, for he heeled his horse into a gallop and rode off.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Some knots are harder to unravel than others…

There was so much hugging and weeping between Breanne and her sisters that you would have thought they had been separated for years, not days.

Caedmon had never yearned for a close family, not having experienced it himself, growing up the third son of a third son of a hardened man always struggling for daily bread. It was through his mother’s side of the family that noble blood flowed through his body, and then just a trickle. ’Twas only mischance that his maternal uncle had no heirs, thus granting him Larkspur. Mayhap that was why he was so quick to welcome all those children into his “family,” because in truth that was the only family he would ever have. Mayhap that was why Larkspur was so important to him, small as it was by other standards.

The archbishop and his group had already dismounted and gone inside with Geoff, who had rolled his eyes at him when Dunstan was not looking. The women had not yet reunited, and Lady Moreton had been delayed by some lastminute clothing disaster…soot on a white apron, or some such thing.

Dunstan had seen Rashid, though, and made a remark about heathen Arabs. Rashid just pretended to speak no English.

Rashid walked up to Caedmon now, and they both stared at the women.

“What is it about women and tears?” Caedmon mused, not really expecting an answer.

However, Rashid never was one to be without an opinion. “’Tis not just women. Men cry on occasion, too, even if they keep the tears inside.”

Caedmon raised his eyes skeptically. He could not recall the last time he had succumbed to leaking eyes. Mayhap when he was nine and his mother had died.

“If there were no tears, our ribs would burn,” Rashid pontificated.

What a load of rubbish! “Tears are a sign of weakness.”

“A thousand pardons, but I notice how your gaze keeps going to Lady Breanne,” Rashid observed. “And one of your men mentioned something about a betrothal ceremony. Is there a need for such?”

“Huh?” Does he mean pregnancy? “Oh, good Lord, nay. ’Tis just a ruse we have concocted to account for the princess’s having been at my castle without a chaperon.” At Rashid’s disapproving expression, he added, “No offense to the princess or her family, but I have no intention of marrying ever again. Twice was enough, thank you very much.”

“He who is bitten by a snake is ofttimes scared of any rope on the ground.”

By the time Caedmon figured out what he meant, the Arab was off on another subject, “Have you heard from Lady Havenshire?”

He shook his head. “Do not fret, though. She is in good hands with Wulf.”

“And with her two Norse guards,” Rashid added.

“That, too. ’Tis my hope that she is on a longship back to her father in the Norselands. Edgar and Dunstan would have no way of reaching her there.”

Rashid frowned. “But then it will appear as if she is guilty. Never will she get a fair hearing to prove that she had just cause.”