Emily smiled at her father, never had she been prouder of him, and by the look on Draven’s face she could tell how much her father’s words meant to him.
“My thanks, Hugh.”
“Father,” he corrected.
Draven nodded. “My thanks, Father.”
Her father turned to leave.
“Hugh?”
Her father turned back with an exasperated sigh. “I can see you’ll have to practice the father address, eh?”
“I will work on it,” Draven promised. “But I was wondering who it was you killed today.”
Her father looked to her, his gaze troubled. “You didn’t tell him?”
“I didn’t have the chance.”
He nodded and looked back at Draven. “It was Niles who wore your surcoat. The man you threw your dagger into was his cousin Theodore.”
Draven looked back and forth between them. “But why?”
“According to Joanne, he married her wanting my property. And his finances were such that couldn’t wait for me to die of natural causes. Since he didn’t dare kill me for it, he devised a scheme to set us at odds so that you would do it for him.”
“Why did he not marry a rich heiress or widow?”
“He tried, but since he was out of favor with the crown, he could never get Henry’s approval. It seems his reputation for brutality was well known to all save myself.” Her father clenched his teeth and she saw the sorrow on his face. “I’ve been such a fool. I welcomed the son who was unworthy and turned my back on the one who was decent.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself, Hugh.”
“Father!” he snapped.
Draven’s gaze mellowed. “Father.”
“Good boy, now rest yourself. My grandson needs a father of his own.”
Emily couldn’t resist teasing her father. “How do you know it’s a boy?”
“After having three daughters, I figure the good Lord owes me a boy.”
Emily laughed.
Her father bid them a good night, then left them alone.
She turned back to Draven and gasped as she felt a slight stirring in her belly.
“What?” he asked.
Joy filled her. “‘Tis the quickening. I just felt the babe for the first time.”
And to her even greater delight, Draven smiled.
Epilogue
“Emily, help!”
Emily came running into the courtyard at Draven’s frantic shout. She stopped as she caught sight of him surrounded by six boys who pummeled him with wooden swords.
