Free Unending Love by Kathryn Le Veque

you, in fact, expecting him?”
    “I was not.”
    “Then it surely stands to reason he has come to
see me.”
    “Perhaps there is another reason, I would hope.
If the man has indeed come to see you, then I will personally toss him out on
his arse.” He stood there and shook his head as if baffled by the entire
circumstance. “Is this how it is going to be from now on, Addie? A new suitor
every day that I must throw from the keep?”
    Her anger turned to a pout and, genuinely
frustrated, she plopped down on her chair, struggling not to cry. When she lost
the battle and began to weep softly, David went to her and kissed her on the
head.
    “I am sorry,” he said, giving her a gentle hug.
“I did not mean to make you cry. But this is going to become exhausting for us
both.”
    The statement did not ease her tears. She wiped
at her eyes. “I did not tell these men to come,” she said, frustrated. “It is
not as if I extended an open invitation for any fool to bid for my hand. I
never gave any of them any encouragement, but from appearances, it would seem
that I have. They made my life at Court a nightmare and now they have followed
me here. All I want is a measure of peace, Papa, please. ”
    “You told the first four suitors that you are
already betrothed,” Maddoc said from the doorway.  His voice was low, quiet.
“We will simply tell anyone else who comes to Canterbury with the intention of
courting you that you are already spoken for.”
    “They will want to know to whom and, at some
point, a wedding would be expected,” David turned to him. “Word tends to travel
and I do not want to jeopardize Addie’s chances of obtaining a true husband
with lies to throw off the rabble.”
    Maddoc’s expression didn’t change. “It would not
be a lie, my lord, if you consented to a betrothal between Adalind and me. I
will marry her if she will have me.”
    David’s jaw dropped. Adalind’s tears were
instantly forgotten and her head shot up, looking at Maddoc with such
astonishment that her jaw, too, fell open. Stunned speechless, Adalind tried to
rise from her chair but her knees gave out and she ended up toppling onto her
bum.  Maddoc rushed forward to help her as David stood there like an idiot.
    “You what? ” he managed to stammer.
“Maddoc, are you serious ?”
    Maddoc had hold of Adalind’s arms, gently
pulling her up from the floor. “I am,” he said steadily. “Moreover, she
proposed marriage to me some years ago. I have made up my mind to accept her
proposal. I apologize for the delay.”
    Adalind was staring at him as if she could
hardly comprehend what he was saying. By the time he set her to her feet, she
began to laugh, like a woman losing her mind, but just as quickly she shifted
to tears and began to weep.  She pulled out of Maddoc’s grip and knocked over
her loom in her attempt to get away from him.  Hysterical, she ended up
slumping against the wall near the hearth.
    “You… you are horrid,” she sobbed. “How can you joke
about something like this?”
    “I am most certainly not joking.”
    “You are!”
    “Addie, I swear that I am not. I have never been
more serious about anything in my life.”
    That statement only caused her eyes to widen, as
if he had just said something terribly offensive. Then she pointed an accusing
finger at him.
    “You are not serious,” she wept. “It is
only out of pity that you say such things. That is all this is to you, Maddoc -
pity. You cannot even suggest such a thing. I hate you for it!”
    Maddoc felt rather bad that he had upset her so.
His offer hadn’t been planned, in fact; it had come out of his mouth before he
could think about what he was saying but upon reflection, he wasn’t sorry at
all. The past two days with Adalind had opened an entirely new world for him,
one of a beautiful young woman with intelligence and grace that he was deeply
attracted to.  He could no longer deny it.
    He didn’t know if he loved her because