The Tenth Suitor by Laura Strickland

Author:Laura Strickland [Strickland, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Holiday, Medieval
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2014-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“Father, might we please speak together?”

It had taken hours for Edwina to catch her father alone. He seemed to be always on the move, everywhere at once and in the company of guests or servants, engaged in conversation or giving instruction. Now at last, when most of the guests had withdrawn to dress for the masque, she saw him pause at the head table and take up a mug of ale.

He looked at Edwina with an affectionate smile. “Daughter, come sit with me and tell me how you like this great effort staged on your behalf. Has there ever been a more wondrous way for a bride to choose her groom? All these lords,” he waved an arm at the now-empty room, “here just for you.”

Edwina slipped onto the bench beside him and covered his hand with her own. “I am well aware, Father, of the honor you do me in allowing me a say in my future.”

He looked amused. “Well, and Edwina, I think you are too much like me—stubborn and strong-willed—to be denied. I want you happy in your marriage, as I have been in mine.”

Edwina drew a breath that tasted of relief. “Your union with Mother serves as an example to me,” she said, and tightened her fingers on his. Mayhap this would not be as difficult as she feared.

He drank deep from his mug before he asked, “And so have you a preference?”

“I may indeed, yet I am still endeavoring to get to know them all better. I hoped you would share what you know of them, and why you chose these particular men.”

Cedric’s expression sobered. “We live in a difficult world, daughter—an oft-times rigid one. I have told you I came from humble beginnings. I knew the fathers of all these men in one capacity or another during my early struggles and victories. One or two, as you are aware, are neighbors, others acquaintances—some for whom I did service.” He hesitated. “Tides have turned, and all in one way or another now need what you and I can offer—a bride who brings a rich endowment.”

He frowned. “I am no fool. I know why they are here, but this kingdom of ours offers very few ways to raise oneself up from a peasant—sixth son of a blacksmith—to where I wish my descendants to be.” He reached out and touched her hair with a loving hand. “You, Edwina, will get us there.”

Edwina swallowed a lump that suddenly formed in her throat. She knew her father for a kind man, but fierce—almost single minded—in his intentions. For all the affection between them, how was she to turn his mind?

“What can you tell me of Lord Julian?”

He shot her a sharp look. “Is it young Julian you favor? His is a proud and quite elevated family that has fallen upon hard times. Lord Damian—Julian’s father—backed those who opposed Queen Mary, and though he has managed to worm his way back into her favor and return to court, it is at the cost of high levees that have more or less drained his estate.

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