Brides of Scotland by Kathryn Le Veque

Author:Kathryn Le Veque [Veque, Kathryn Le]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Medieval
Published: 2018-02-07T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

FOR A DAY that had started so beautiful, the weather turned bad quickly. It was just a few miles from Brampton to Kirklinton Castle but as the weather threatened, Mathias picked up the pace.

He was disappointed, too, because the first hour of their ride had been very pleasant and leisurely. He and Cathlina had spoken of trivial things, like little stories from when they were younger or, in Cathlina’s case, a grandfather who had no teeth and spent all of his time gnawing on animal bones like a dog. She had giggled through the story and Mathias had been charmed by the way she told it. The more time he spent with her, the more he felt his wall of self-protection crumbling. De Lara or no, he was deeply attracted to her.

But then the clouds rolled in and the breeze began to pick up. He watched the sky turn dark but Kirklinton was at least another hour away so he gently prodded Cathlina to move a bit faster. But she wasn’t interested in returning home any time soon. She was more interested in their conversation and truth be told, so was he. Their quickened pace didn’t last long before they were back to a leisure stroll.

Mathias rode a big, heavy gray charger that was well past its prime. When he’d had his knighthood stripped, they’d taken his charger as well and he missed the horse very much. It had been Justus who had purchased the old charger for his son a few months after that fateful day and Mathias was rather fond of the beast, but he soon discovered it was rather skittish. It particularly didn’t like thunder. Every time the clouds rolled, the horse would jump. As Cathlina chattered on, it was taking increasing effort to control the old stud.

“Now you know all about my silly grandfather,” she said as fat drops of rain began to splatter. “Tell me about your family, Mathias. I have met your father and brother. Where is your mother?”

He clucked to the big horse to soothe it. “My mother died a few years ago,” he told her. “In fact, I was away at the time. My mother and I were rather close and it was always a regret that I was not with her in her final hours.”

Cathlina turned serious as he spoke of his mother. “I am sorry,” she said softly. “Was your mother ill for a long time?”

Mathias nodded. “She was,” he said. “I tried to spend as much time as I could with her but at that time in my life, I was traveling quite a bit and could not stay by her side for an over amount of time.”

“Traveling?” Cathlina asked, cocking her head. “Where were you traveling to?”

Mathias had been very careful throughout the conversation to avoid any mention of his knightly past. He’d done a good job of it so far but questions like the one Cathlina proposed could get him into trouble, so he was very careful in how he answered it.

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