what was best for her. As she turned into his arms, the ring slipped from her fingers and clattered to the wooden floor.
"I love you too, Papa," she said.
IT WAS A LONG time before she bent to pick up the ring, an even longer time before Robert came in to find her staring at it.
He stood over her. "You still working on that damned signet?"
She looked up at him, but couldn't find the energy to summon as much as annoyance.
"It's finished," she said. "I'll have it delivered in the morning."
CHAPTER THREE
"COLIN! DOWN here!"
From along the ridge where he and nine others were grappling with a huge block of limestone, Colin glanced to the path below to see his brothers climbing from the carriage and Kendra leaning halfway out the window, waving wildly.
"You're early," he called a minute later, heading down the rise. He wiped gritty palms on his linen breeches, his shirt billowing in the light wind that buffeted across Greystone's quarry.
"Early?" His older brother Jason laughed, pointing at the sky.
Colin glanced straight up and then west to where the sun was nearly setting. "Sorry." He shrugged. "I've been about since six this morn. In the woods, the fields…I reckon I lost track of the time."
"I reckon you lost your hat as well?" Kendra fixed him with a half-serious frown of reproach. "Look at you, brown as a gypsy!"
With the back of one hand, he wiped at the sweat on his forehead. "Have you come to see the renovations, or to harp on my appearance?"
"To harp on your appearance," Kendra's twin, Ford, answered for her. "But I've a curiosity to see your new kitchen. Pipes and taps…do they work due to a siphon effect, or is it simple gravity? In Isaac Newton's new paper, he says—"
"Od's fish—how the hell should I know? I'm a farmer, not a bloody scientist. They work because the mason put them in right."
"What I want to know"—Jason patted his stomach meaningfully—"is whether we'll find food in this kitchen."
"Hell, yes." Colin laughed. "Benchley's been slaving since dawn, I expect. Go on up to the castle, and I'll follow along shortly. Four quarrymen are down with the ague, and we've two more slabs to bring up."
"GOD, IT'S QUIET here." Kendra paused before climbing from the carriage into Greystone's little courtyard. "Listen." A few low birdcalls, distant bleating from the fields, a faint rustle from the smattering of trees that stood sentinel around the tiny circular drive. "It sounds like no one's home."
"No one is home," Jason reminded her. "Colin has only Benchley for company until the renovations are further along, and he's likely in the kitchen."
"Let's go see the kitchen." Ford urged them along. "Those pipes—"
"That food—"
"Those Chase stomachs!" Kendra laughed as they walked toward the door to Greystone's modest living quarters. "I cannot say I'm surprised that Colin restored the kitchen first."
"A man's got to eat," Ford declared.
"I could feed an entire village on what you three pack away in a day. Look…the door is ajar." Her hand on the latch, she stopped and turned back to watch their carriage pass under the barbican gate, the driver heading out to Colin's stables. "And the drawbridge is down."
Jason's green eyes sparkled with suppressed laughter. "It probably hasn't been up in a hundred years. What would be the point? There's naught in this old place of interest to anyone."
"Something doesn't feel right."
"There she goes, leaping to conclusions again." Ford pushed the door open and stepped inside the plain, square entry. "Good Lord, what is that on the floor?"
"What?" Kendra took a step back.
"Ouch!" Jason wrenched his foot from under hers. "Why do you insist on wearing those blasted high heels?" He shouldered his way past the twins. "Something spilled, is all."
Leaning down to touch one of the dark splotches, he rubbed the substance between his fingers, then sniffed and turned back to them slowly.
"It's blood."
"Blood?" Kendra squeaked.
"Don't get overwrought." Jason
"I love you too, Papa," she said.
IT WAS A LONG time before she bent to pick up the ring, an even longer time before Robert came in to find her staring at it.
He stood over her. "You still working on that damned signet?"
She looked up at him, but couldn't find the energy to summon as much as annoyance.
"It's finished," she said. "I'll have it delivered in the morning."
CHAPTER THREE
"COLIN! DOWN here!"
From along the ridge where he and nine others were grappling with a huge block of limestone, Colin glanced to the path below to see his brothers climbing from the carriage and Kendra leaning halfway out the window, waving wildly.
"You're early," he called a minute later, heading down the rise. He wiped gritty palms on his linen breeches, his shirt billowing in the light wind that buffeted across Greystone's quarry.
"Early?" His older brother Jason laughed, pointing at the sky.
Colin glanced straight up and then west to where the sun was nearly setting. "Sorry." He shrugged. "I've been about since six this morn. In the woods, the fields…I reckon I lost track of the time."
"I reckon you lost your hat as well?" Kendra fixed him with a half-serious frown of reproach. "Look at you, brown as a gypsy!"
With the back of one hand, he wiped at the sweat on his forehead. "Have you come to see the renovations, or to harp on my appearance?"
"To harp on your appearance," Kendra's twin, Ford, answered for her. "But I've a curiosity to see your new kitchen. Pipes and taps…do they work due to a siphon effect, or is it simple gravity? In Isaac Newton's new paper, he says—"
"Od's fish—how the hell should I know? I'm a farmer, not a bloody scientist. They work because the mason put them in right."
"What I want to know"—Jason patted his stomach meaningfully—"is whether we'll find food in this kitchen."
"Hell, yes." Colin laughed. "Benchley's been slaving since dawn, I expect. Go on up to the castle, and I'll follow along shortly. Four quarrymen are down with the ague, and we've two more slabs to bring up."
"GOD, IT'S QUIET here." Kendra paused before climbing from the carriage into Greystone's little courtyard. "Listen." A few low birdcalls, distant bleating from the fields, a faint rustle from the smattering of trees that stood sentinel around the tiny circular drive. "It sounds like no one's home."
"No one is home," Jason reminded her. "Colin has only Benchley for company until the renovations are further along, and he's likely in the kitchen."
"Let's go see the kitchen." Ford urged them along. "Those pipes—"
"That food—"
"Those Chase stomachs!" Kendra laughed as they walked toward the door to Greystone's modest living quarters. "I cannot say I'm surprised that Colin restored the kitchen first."
"A man's got to eat," Ford declared.
"I could feed an entire village on what you three pack away in a day. Look…the door is ajar." Her hand on the latch, she stopped and turned back to watch their carriage pass under the barbican gate, the driver heading out to Colin's stables. "And the drawbridge is down."
Jason's green eyes sparkled with suppressed laughter. "It probably hasn't been up in a hundred years. What would be the point? There's naught in this old place of interest to anyone."
"Something doesn't feel right."
"There she goes, leaping to conclusions again." Ford pushed the door open and stepped inside the plain, square entry. "Good Lord, what is that on the floor?"
"What?" Kendra took a step back.
"Ouch!" Jason wrenched his foot from under hers. "Why do you insist on wearing those blasted high heels?" He shouldered his way past the twins. "Something spilled, is all."
Leaning down to touch one of the dark splotches, he rubbed the substance between his fingers, then sniffed and turned back to them slowly.
"It's blood."
"Blood?" Kendra squeaked.
"Don't get overwrought." Jason
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