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inquired as to her welfare at the abbey, but he was her father. He was a man who had lost everything—his son, the grandson who would have become his heir, his home, and now his dignity. Everything gone. Would the remainder of his mind go too?
    Her eyes pricking with tears, her throat tightening, Graeye laid her hand to his shoulder. She wanted to embrace him, yet knew she risked much with just this simple gesture. "Father," she said softly.
    He did not move.
    She spoke again, but still no response. Was he ill?
    Moving nearer, she slid an arm around his shoulders. "Father, 'tis I, Graeye."
    Lifting his head, Edward stared at her. Then, suddenly, he came to life. "You! 'Twas you who brought this upon me. Aye! Spawn of the devil." Swinging his arm, he landed his hand to her chest, knocking her over.
    Her back to the cold floor, Graeye drew a shuddering breath, surprised she was able to do so at all.
    "I should have left you with the Church!" Edward roared, lurching upright to stand over her before she could gain her feet. "For this offense I am to be punished to everlasting hell!"
    Glancing at the knight, who remained unmoving in the doorway, Graeye slowly rose and stepped back a pace. "I have come to see to your needs," she said, clasping her hands before her.
    "My needs!" Edward spat, then thrust his face close to hers. "And what else have you come for?"
    She met his stare. "I would also know what is to become of me," she answered truthfully.
    He laughed, a loud, raucous noise that died abruptly. "And what do you think your fate should be, daughter?"
    "I—I would stay with you."
    "Stay with me?" he repeated, mimicking her voice.
    "And of what use would you be now that all has been taken?"
    "I would care for you. You will need—"
    He seized hold of her. "I do not need the devil on my shoulder."
    " 'Tis not true—"
    "Know you that twice your mother bore me sons. Sickly things that lived no more than a few days? Then she bore me you with the devil's mark full upon your face—strong and healthy. And then no more."
    This was the first Graeye had heard of it. Never had her mother spoken to her of those children who had come before. It explained so much of her father's treatment of her. But now that she knew, mayhap she could do battle with it—find a way to reach him.
    "Nay," he continued, "you will return to the abbey. As the Church has already received your dowry, your place there is secure. That Balmaine cannot take from me."
    She pulled free from his punishing hands. "I do not wish to return!"
    "Think you I care what your preference is?" he ground out, hate coursing from his every pore as he advanced on her again. "You are ungrateful. Many a daughter would vie for the soft life of a nun. But you— 'tis the devil in you that resists. Nay, 'twill be my final offering to God. You will return."
    "You need me!" she declared. Deny it he might, but it was true. What would become of an old man alone in a world so changed from what he had previously known? And what of her? She could hot simply wander out into the world without a man to protect her.
    "Need you? Nay, I needed but your body. Blood of my blood. A vessel for the heir you would have made with William. Now— ," he gave a short burst of crackling laughter—"you may either return to the abbey or go back to the devil whence you came. That is the only choice I give you."
    His words—the air of hate they drifted upon—cut deeply. Hope faltering, dread fear-in her heart, Graeye backed away.
    "And do not let me see you again without your nun's clothing!" he yelled.
    She was surprised when she came up against the knight standing in the doorway. Wordlessly, the man drew her outside and slammed the door closed on Edward. There was silence; then a great clamor arose as the old man threw himself against the door, his curses vibrating through the wooden planks.
    "My lady," the knight spoke to Graeye's bowed head, "'twould be best if you returned to the donjon now." At her sullen