WolfeStrike (De Wolfe Pack Generations #2) - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,67
am sorry to hear about your wife,” she said after a moment. “How lovely of you to accept responsibility for her sisters. That speaks so very well of your honor.”
He handed her a cup, full to the rim with wine. “What else was I to do?” he said. “They had nowhere to go, so they came to live with me. But let us not speak of them. We were speaking of you. I want to know what you do in London when you are not writing plays and attending dramas.”
Gilbert picked that moment to return to the hall and Isalyn eyed him. “My father does not know that,” she whispered, flicking her eyes towards the entry to let Tor know that Gilbert was returning. “I would be grateful if you did not speak of such things so openly.”
Properly rebuked, Tor nodded quickly. “Of course,” he said. “My apologies.”
She smiled at him, sipping at the sweet red wine. “No harm,” she said. “But in answer to your question, I have a good many friends in London. We do many things.”
“Such as?”
She shrugged. “We play games sometimes,” she said. “My aunt has a lovely home and my friends often gather there.”
“What types of games?”
“Cards, Fox and Hounds. Do you play games?”
Tor thought on that. “Not since I was very young,” he said. “Unfortunately, in my vocation, there is not a good deal of time for trivial pursuits.”
By that time, Gilbert had joined the table and he sat heavily, accepting a cup of wine from Tor and drinking down half the cup before he stopped to take a breath. He smacked his lips.
“Excellent drink,” he said. “Where do you get it?”
“From a merchant in Carlisle,” Tor said. “It comes from the Bordeaux region of France. It is my grandmother’s favorite wine.”
Gilbert eyed the red liquid with approval. “Now it is mine.”
As her father and Tor begin to toss around a variety of subjects, Isalyn sat back and watched. With Tor occupied by her father, she had the privilege of watching him unobstructed. She had very much wished her father had not interrupted their conversation because it was just starting to get interesting and from the way he was acting, she suspected that her father was going to monopolize all of Tor’s time from this point forward, which was disappointing.
She was very much hoping that she could monopolize his time.
But that was not to be.
So, she ate the eggs, some bread and cheese, and had more wine as her father and Tor rattled on about different subjects. In truth, it was her father doing the rattling and Tor doing most of the listening. Then she realized that in her past conversations with Tor, she had also done most of the speaking and he had done most of the listening. He was most definitely the strong, silent type, only speaking when he had something he considered important to say. He was not a man of inconsequential conversation.
That was something more to appreciate about him.
And the morning marched on. They had been in the hall perhaps an hour or less when they were joined buy more people. Isalyn tore her gaze from Tor long enough to notice an enormous man entering the hall along with another young man and a lovely young woman.
As they drew closer, she could see that the man in the lead was older, with blond hair, a gray beard, and the entire left side of his head badly scarred. He was missing almost all of his left ear. His face was handsome enough, but he looked as if he’d been through a horrible battle and barely made it out alive.
But the gaze in his razor-sharp eyes was fixed plainly on Gilbert.
Tor, whose back had been to the entry, realized the man was nearly upon them when Gilbert stood up. Tor quickly rose to his feet, facing the battle-scarred warrior.
“Ah,” he said. “Uncle Blayth, I am glad you have joined us. This is Gilbert de Featherstone and his daughter, Lady Isalyn. At my invitation, Lord de Featherstone has come to put to rest your poor opinion of his family. Lord de Featherstone, this is my uncle, Blayth de Wolfe, Lord Sydenham. He is the fourth son of William de Wolfe, Earl of Warenton. A greater warrior you will never meet.”
Blayth hadn’t taken his eyes off of Gilbert and the tension in the air was obvious.
“I was not aware you would be here today,” Blayth finally said. “I was just told of your arrival.”