Free Castle of the Wolf by Margaret Moore - Castle of the Wolf Page A

good to me now.”
    “Father, you must pay or try to rescue her!” Mavis cried. “You’re her uncle, her guardian. Even if she’s been...” Mavis blinked back tears as she thought of what Tamsin might have been forced to endure. “ Especially if she’s no longer a virgin, it’s your duty to—”
    “Duty!” her father snarled as he pushed her away. “I’ve done my duty! I took the brat in! I got her a husband. And for what? Nothing! She was worthless then and she’s more than worthless now!” His eyes bloodshot, he glared at his daughter as she got to her feet. “What are you so worried about? Can’t you guess what’s really happened? She didn’t want to marry Blane, so she got that Welshman to take her away. Probably seduced him first, or paid him. For all I know, the little whore’s been sleeping with half the servants and most of the garrison, too.”
    “Father!” Mavis gasped. “Tamsin is the most honorable, virtuous—”
    DeLac sat up abruptly and glared at his daughter. “More virtuous than you? Are you a whore, too?”
    “No, of course not, Father, and neither is Tamsin!”
    Lord DeLac threw himself back in his chair and reached for the wineskin at his elbow. He lifted it to his lips and drank, ignoring the wine spilling down his already stained tunic. “Well, whatever she is, she’s gone and now you have to marry Blane.” His mouth slid into a terrible smile when he saw the look on Mavis’s face. “Yes, my daughter, an agreement has been made, a contract signed. One of you has to marry the man, and since Tamsin has found a way to avoid it, you must take her place. Not so loving toward her now, are you?”
    “You have no proof she wanted to go with Rheged, and I’m sure she didn’t.”
    “Doesn’t matter. She’s gone and her reputation is ruined, and I must have the alliance with Blane, so you’ll have to marry the man—and don’t even think of trying to run. I’ll lock you in your room. Maybe I should anyway, just to be sure. Who knows what that little slut’s put into your head?”
    He was right to think Tamsin had influenced Mavis, but not in the way he imagined.
    She straightened her shoulders and regarded him with calm dignity and resolve, just as Tamsin would. “If I agree to marry Sir Blane, will you pay a ransom for her?”
    “I don’t need your agreement. And I told you, she’s worthless to me.”
    “But I’m not, and although the betrothal contract has already been signed, surely you can seek better terms if I am the bride, especially if I make myself pleasing to the groom. I give you my word that I shall do my utmost to do that if you bring Tamsin home before Sir Blane arrives. If you don’t agree, I may have to marry the man, but I don’t have to pretend to like him. What do you think he’ll do if I refuse to speak to him? Or bar the nuptial chamber door?”
    “You wouldn’t dare!”
    “There is more I could do, too,” she continued, desperate and determined to save her cousin. “It’s not difficult for a pretty girl to make herself ugly—and I will. I can feign a squint, or lisp. Or forget to wash.”
    Simon DeLac stared at this daughter he didn’t really know and who had always meant far less to him than a son would have. It was like discovering a puppy had the fangs of a wolf, and every intention of biting. And if she chose to make trouble with Blane... “I’ll pay whatever the Welshman demands for Tamsin’s safe return. Within reason.”
    “ Whatever he asks,” Mavis insisted.
    Her father scowled, until he realized that with Mavis for the bride, he should be able to lower the dowry, or perhaps even forgo it entirely. “Very well, but if you refuse to marry Blane, or make any difficulties about the marriage, I’ll leave Tamsin with the Welshman, or any other man who wants her.”
    Mavis nodded. “Then, Father, we are agreed.”
    “Good. Now get back to your sewing or whatever it is you do all day.”
    “Yes, Father,” Mavis replied