Page 8 of A Knight in Tarnished Armor

The earl looked at him with accusation in his aged eyes. "He gave you your title."

William shrugged. "As I recall your own title was bestowed in the same manner. Only by his father."

"As were those of over half the realm."

"I foiled your plans to keep her to yourself."

"I cherish my granddaughter, Warbrooke." The earl of Arden pinned him with a hard stare that matched his own. "Aye, I had thought to keep her safe and with me."

"I will not cause her any harm. I will keep her safe, and she will want for nothing. I gave you my word when we met in London."

Arden's eyes grew icier. "And I told you my terms."

"Does she know of my offers?"

"She does not."

"Who told her such drivel about me?"

The earl shrugged. "Servants talk."

"Prompted by their lords with the right tales to tell?"

The old man said nothing.

"What were you trying to do? Weight the scale in your favor? Rather like a merchant who adds chalk to the salt, Arden."

The earl returned his direct look. "If you don't care for the terms, find yourself another woman to wed."

"I want Linnet."

"You have one week to convince her you aren't what she thinks."

"You filled her head with this nonsense."

"‘Twas your idea that she not know who you are."

"I had thought to talk to her first, to ease the way before she heard of my offer of marriage. I'm not the monster you painted me."

"Your reasons for dealing with Linnet are your own, Warbrooke. I have my reasons too. I'll not force her to wed anyone. Not even a royal favorite. I gave her mother my word I would never do so. I will not break an oath to my dead daughter."

William eyed the older man, a knight who was still tall and lean but weathered by too many fights over too many years. And as angry as William was, he also couldn't blame Arden.

Until that moment, he had not heard of the old man's vow. It could be debated in Arden's favor that a blood oath to one's dying daughter superseded even a forced agreement. Royal or not.

William knew well that this was a time when men sold their brothers for power or for wealth. Yet here before him was a regal old knight who wouldn't betray his daughter or her memory.

And he couldn't fault the man for wanting to keep Linnet with him. Wasn't that exactly why he was wedding her himself? This strange need to have her in his life?

"At the end of that week she will wed you willingly, or she will not wed you at all."

William stood, his breadth almost twice that of the earl's, and he looked down at him. "She will wed me. ‘Tis not a battle I intend to lose."

The earl regarded him for a time before he stood so they were almost eye to eye. "Perhaps. But my granddaughter has a special gift for getting one to agree with her ideas before one realizes they've been hoodwinked."

William handed the old earl the extra tankard, then raised his own. "I believe, Arden, that standing before me is the person from whom she inherited that trait."

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