Matthew Harley. I will hear today that she is betrothed to you or I will see you outside with your fists at the ready.”
“Yes, Ninian,” Aled said, his eyes on Ceris. She was stirring a pot of soup that was suspended over the fire, her eyes downcast. “But it takes two to make such an announcement. I will talk privately with Ceris, will I?”
“My daughter lied to us last night,” Ninian said. “And then she shamed us and herself and her chapel by fornicating with you while she was betrothed to another man. I am not sure there can be forgiveness for such behavior. We will have to speak with the Reverend Llwyd. But marriage between those who have fornicated together is one step in the right direction. My daughter’s consent in the matter is unnecessary.”
His dear, gentle Ceris. Obviously after her ordeal of the morning she had made a clean breast of everything to her parents. And Ninian was reacting as any father might be expected to react. He had probably been scared out of his wits when Ceris was dragged off to Tegfan.
“Oh, Ninian.” Mrs. Williams lifted her apron over her face. “There is hard you are being on your own daughter. And you a follower of Rebecca yourself if it were not for your legs.”
“It is not the following of Rebecca I object to, woman,” he said. “It is the lies and the fornicating.”
“Ceris,” Aled said. “We will step outside together and talk about it, is it?”
Her hand paused in its stirring motion though she did not look up. “Yes,” she said. She set down the spoon, wiped her hands on her apron, and turned to the door. Aled followed her out.
“You stay within sight of the house, mind,” Ninian said.
Aled nodded.
She crossed the yard to the gate leading to the lane. But she did not open the gate. She turned to lean back against it and raised her eyes to his at last.
“Aled,” she said, “I told the truth when I said I would not be ashamed today. I should be, but I am not. But you owe me nothing. What I did, I did freely and knowingly.”
“Cariad,” he said, coming to stand close to her despite her father’s eyes, which he could almost feel on the back of his neck. “Geraint told me that you were very brave. I am proud of you.”
“Geraint?” She frowned for a moment.
“He was my friend,” he said. “He still is my friend.”
“And your enemy too,” she said sadly. “We live in hard times.”
“Did they hurt you?” he asked. “I wish I could have been with you to take the burden from you.”
“The constables were a little rough,” she said, “though not deliberately hurtful, I think. The earl stopped Sir Hector Webb when he would have struck me. I cannot believe the earl is altogether a bad man, Aled. I think that in some way he is as much a victim of circumstances as we are.”
It was something he had to say, though he did not want to know about it. He was afraid to know about it despite the way she had started their conversation. “Harley lied to set you free,” he said. It was not a question.
“Yes.” Her eyes grew sadder. “We betrayed each other last night, Aled, and of course the betrothal is at an end. But I believe he must still care for me a little to have done what he did this morning. I cannot hate him. But I do not love him and never did. I just—wanted to be married and thought it might work with him. I was foolish.”
“We will marry, then, cariad?” he asked her. He found his heart beating faster and his breath becoming labored. “Your dada demands it and the Reverend Llwyd will too if he finds out. And indeed it is the only right thing to do when we have been together as we were last night. If I must, if it will make you feel better, I will give up following Rebecca. I will talk to the Reverend Llwyd and set a date for wedding you, will I?”
She was smiling, though her eyes were still sad. “That is the nicest, most loving thing you have ever said to me,” she said. “A precious gift. Let me give you one of equal value in return. I will marry you, Aled, and make your home comfortable and bear your little ones and love you dearly for the rest of my