The Legend (36 page)

Brian reiterated his reasoning as
the years passed until he believed them. He knew he was a coward for not
responding to the transgressions, but he simply could not force himself to
confront Nigel Warrington. Not when they shared such terrible mysteries.

But now, Nigel was intending to
bring forth his darkest nightmare and Brian was sick with it all. Nightmares no
one, save Celine, knew.

Nigel saw the man's face, his
ashen pallor, and smiled thinly. "Come now, Brian. I shall not bite."

Brian's face was taut. "Get
on with it."

"As you wish. You will break
the betrothal between Ali and Lady Ivy and wed the lady to my son. Is that
clear enough?"

Brian's jaw twitched miserably.
"I cannot break the contract. It is set and...."

"It is not set. Nothing is
set. I do not care if the bitch has been sleeping with the black animal since
she was a child, she shall wed Colin."

"Do not speak of them that
way."

"I shall speak of them
however I damn well please. I will consider the marriage to Lady Ivy small
compensation for the loss of the heiress to St. Cloven. You sorely push my
patience wedding the Lady Peyton to your son, Brian."

"What's done is done,"
Brian snapped softly. "Alec eloped with the girl, legal and just, and
there was naught I could do. They were married in Ely, no less, and nothing
short of God can dissolve the union. She is out of your reach, as is the Lady
Ivy."

"Unacceptable. The lady will
marry Colin or certain distasteful matters might not remain veiled in secrecy
much longer. Do you comprehend my meaning?"

Brian's brown eyes glared at the
man a moment. "Do not threaten me."

"'Tis certainly no threat,
brother."

"Do not call me that!"
Brian hissed viciously. "Do not ever call me that!"

Nigel smiled sinisterly.
"The truth hurts, does it not? I am the bastard of your father's loins.
Fitting that my son should reside within your walls, bastard of my loins."

Brian clenched his teeth.
"Your revenge is misplaced and sickening. What you did to Celine...."

"I did nothing but comfort
her while her warring husband was away, fighting with Henry," Nigel said
soothingly, mocking the pain in Brian's heart. "The liaison was of mutual
consent, brother. You have known that for twenty-three years and you have no
one to blame but yourself for your own neglect."

"'Twas not neglect,"
Brian said, his voice a hollow echo.

"You seduced her, you
bastard. You courted her with lies of my infidelity and convinced her that no
one but you would take care of her. While I was away warring for our king, you
enticed her beyond reason and confused her with sweet words and falsehoods, and
when she showed an ounce of refusal toward your onslaught, you raped her."

Nigel's eyes glittered like
diamonds, cold and sharp. "If you choose to believe those reasons, then
that is your choice. But Celine and I know the truth. I suspect Toby will too,
someday."

Brian refused to reply, his jaw
grinding as he studied the moldings on the great hearth. Anything to avoid
Nigel's piercing eyes, lest he strike the man down on the spot.

Truthfully, he did not know what
measure of control was preventing him from doing so. Was it the fact that he
felt a measure of pity for the man, a bastard of noble breeding, never given
the same chances in life as his half-brother? Brian did not know why he showed
so much restraint when it came to Nigel; mayhap he never would understand. The
memory of Celine's liaison with Nigel, or rape as Brian liked to believe, was
like an open wound after all of these years. A wound that Brian could not bring
himself to tend, and it seemed to ache deeper every time he gazed upon the
result of that particular encounter. Toby had no idea the pain he caused Baron
Rothwell. Or why.

After several long moments, he
spoke. "Why would you seek revenge on me for my father's indiscretions?
What have I ever done to you to warrant your hatred?"

Nigel's features twisted coldly.
"You have done nothing, my lord, except inherit our father's holdings and
titles, deny your blood ties to me, and ignore your relations."

"And you have done nothing
but shame the Summerlin name with your villainous acts and despicable horrors.
Why in the hell should I acknowledge you?"

"I Do not bear the Summerlin
name. I bear the name of the man who raised me, my mother's husband."

Brian did not reply for a moment.
With a long sigh, he turned from the cold hearth. "Your mother and my
father loved each other, Nigel. My own mother was sickly and cold, and your
mother's husband was a beast of a man. The fact that our father sought comfort
in your mother's arms was not surprising, and neither is the fact that their
relationship resulted in you. Yet you know full well why my father could not
acknowledge you as his own."

"Would not, you mean,"
Nigel corrected with restrained bitterness. "He already had his heir. What
would he do with a bastard son?"

Brian sat heavily opposite Nigel,
the table not the only barrier between them. "To acknowledge you would
have been to bring great scandal to two noble households, pure and simple. He
could not risk it."

Nigel suddenly brought his fists
to bear on the oak table, a loud boom echoing against the vaulted ceiling.
"He had to spare his own pride, Brian! He cared not what scandal would
ravage the House of Warrington, only the House of Summerlin. He never gave a
damn about me, only you."

Brian gazed at his half-brother,
two years younger than himself. His eyes were guarded, almost sad. They'd had
this conversation before, a few times, and it always ended the same way. Nigel
never did understand why William Summerlin refused to acknowledge him as his
son, and it cut him deeply. Therefore, his anger, his hurt, was directed
against Brian.

"This is not about the
Summerlins or the Warringtons, it's about Colin's betrothal," Brian said
softly, refocusing the subject. "As I said before, I cannot break Lady
Ivy's contract and furthermore, I do not understand why it is so important that
I do. There are several eligible young ladies in the province."

Nigel faltered for a brief
moment, a peculiar ripple of emotion crossing his features.  He did not want
any other young ladies for Colin; he wanted a de Fluornoy. He wanted St.
Cloven.

"They are not suitable for
Colin. As the nephew of Baron Rothwell, surely he is entitled to a woman of
equal standing."

"The Lady Caroline Morford
is available. Surely she is...."

"A trollop, unfit for my
son."

"And Lady Ivy, though
compromised, is considered appropriate? You are not making sense."

Nigel's nostrils flared, a far
cry from the relaxed man who had entered the room moments earlier. "Lady
Ivy will marry Colin or a great many people will be privy to information only a
select few know. I swear it."

Brian stared at his half-brother.
Again, he wondered why he hadn't killed him before now, seeking the services of
faceless assassins and having the man done in. And God only knew why he had
spent his life avoiding his bastard blood. He thought, mayhap, if he ignored
him, or humored him when so required, that Nigel would remain pacified. But
much to his concern, it was increasingly apparent that Nigel would no longer
play the game.

Nigel read the hesitation and,
suddenly, he felt his advantage rise again. "I would wager to say that
Alec doesn't know that I am his uncle, or that Toby is my son. And I would also
wager to say that Thia had no knowledge of her blood relations. Certainly Colin
doesn't know, for I have never found it necessary to tell him. I wonder how
they would react to such knowledge?"

"After the initial shock,
they would recover," Brian replied steadily, although the very idea Nigel
was suggesting was by far his greatest fear.

In truth, he had no idea how his
children would react. And Toby; the lad had never been told who his real father
was. How would he respond to the knowledge that dastardly Nigel Warrington was
his true father? And, God forbid, what if he should demand to know the
circumstances of his birth? How could Brian bring himself to tell the lad he
was the result of a rape?

Nigel shifted on the hard bench,
rising slowly against his protesting joints. Not only were his joints achier
than usual, but his feet were swelling with the gout and his one desire after
this meeting was to retire until the evening meal.

"I shall give you a choice,
then," he said quietly. "You may choose your prospects. If you will
not marry Colin to the Lady Ivy, then marry him to Thia. Surely your daughter
has not found a suitor yet."

Brian stiffened; he'd kill both
Colin and Nigel himself before he would allow Thia to fall into their clutches.
"That is not a fair choice, Nigel. Thia is not ready to wed."

"She is seventeen years old
and of marriageable age," Nigel returned. "Ivy or Thia. Make your
choice."

Brian's face darkened as he
mulled over his options. To marry his daughter to the Warrington heir was out
of the question; therefore, if he failed to pledge Ivy, he had no doubt that
the entire province would be aware of ugly family secrets and the Summerlin
name would be cast in disgrace.

The House of Summerlin had
suffered the blow of Alec's vow to lay down his arms, a scandal that rocked
Edward's court to the very foundation simply because Alec had been the best
knight in the realm at the tender age of twenty-one. Aye, Brian had withstood
the dishonor of a son who was labeled a coward, and the Summerlin name still
stood with its pride intact. But if Nigel's dark secrets were to become common
knowledge, then there would be no recovery for the distinguished Summerlins.

His jaw ticked as he realized he
had one choice, as cowardly as that choice was. Dear God, sometimes he felt so
unworthy to be labeled a man. For a fierce knight who had fought with his king
and who had braved the searing sands of the Holy Land to battle the
insurrectors, he was showing a tremendous lack of bravery against a solitary
man. The one man who could ruin him.

"All right," he
whispered, his voice barely audible. "Allow me to explain my actions to
Lady Ivy before you announce your victory to Colin."

Nigel smiled, a sinister gesture.
"How wise, dear brother. How generous."

Brian couldn't bring himself to
look at him, the man who would make him appear most feeble and untrustworthy to
those he cared for. He couldn't imagine how Ali was going to react, or Alec for
that matter. God, he hated himself.

Brian moved past Nigel, leaving
the man smirking victoriously in his wake.

***

Alec and Colin were still
standing in the solar, neither man having moved a muscle. Brian motioned
sharply to his son.

"With me."

Alec obediently followed his
father up to the second floor, to a seldom used room usually reserved for
reading or lounging. Alec watched his father with concern, for the man was
visible upset as he paced and scratched agitatedly.

"There is no easy way to say
this, Alec. I have changed my mind regarding Ali and Ivy's betrothal. The lady
will wed Colin."

"What?" Alec's mouth
opened in surprise. "But.... you cannot! You already gave Ali your
word!"

"I made no such
promise!" Brian shouted. "I simply sent him ahead for a lawyer, but I
gave him no assurance that the marriage would indeed take place. After a most
involved discussion with Nigel, I see that it is in Lady Ivy's best interests
to marry Colin and you will not question my decision."

Alec's face was a mask of
astonishment. "Then if I may not question your decision, I will certainly
question your sanity. Why in the hell would you change your mind?"

Brian's chest was beginning to
harbor the familiar ache that it did so often when he was upset or
over-exerted. His hand moved to his sternum as if to massage away the pain.
"I have my reasons, Alec," he said quietly, his tone laced with
defeat. "You will retrieve Lady Ivy and bring her to my bower. I will
leave you to inform your wife and make it clear that I will not tolerate any
confrontations from her. She seems to want to pry into affairs that do not
concern her."

Over his initial shock, Alec
calmed dramatically and fixed his father with a heady glare. "I cannot
promise that she will not come storming after you with a dirk in her hand and I
furthermore would not blame her. If you expect me to control her, then you must
give me a valid reason for your abrupt change of mind. And what about Ivy? Have
you considered her feelings for one moment, dissolving her betrothal to Ali,
then restoring it, now snatching it away once more? More than likely, she and
her sister will both come after you with murder on their minds."

Brian's nostrils flared as the
pain in his chest grew. "I cannot.... suffice it to say that I saw Nigel's
reasoning in the matter and it makes sense. As I explained to you before, Colin
is heir to Wisseyham and in need of a viable consort. Lady Ivy is such a
person. Can you not see the advantages of her being chatelaine of Wisseyham
instead of playing her sister's shadow at St. Cloven? It a far more attractive
offer for her to become mistress over her own manor."