Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Fremington Castle

"I think we found her."

The announcement came from Aristeo as he stood in the doorway of his father's solar, a lavish and vast two-storied chamber that was laden from floor to ceiling with all of the things his father considered precious. Rare books, maps, trinkets—including what was reportedly a sliver of the True Cross—lined the shelves and steps and walls. There were more than a dozen mounted heads from animals Adriano and Aristeo had killed on hunts, and from those heads hung rosaries and silk ties. In all, the chamber was cluttered and full of strange and wonderful things, but those things meant nothing to Adriano at the moment.

His son's announcement did.

"Where?" he gasped. "Where is mi hija ?"

"Possibly in Devon," Aristeo said as he entered the room, heading for the pitcher of wine on a table near the window. "You know that I have had men all over the roads now for months, traveling in small towns, large towns, looking everywhere for her."

"And?" Adriano said eagerly. "What have they said? And how do they know it is her? Some of those men do not even know her!"

"True," Aristeo said, pouring himself a sloppy cup of wine. He lifted it to his lips and drank deeply before answering. "But I have described her well to them. Pale eyes, very dark hair, freckles on her nose… They know she is a beauty. One man believes he saw her in the village of Exebridge, in a tavern, breaking up a fight."

"A fight?" Adriano exclaimed. Then he put his hand over his heart and sank back into his chair. "Sweet Mary. What is she doing in a tavern? She is an innocent!"

Aristeo cast his father a long look. "Papa, we must face the reality that she may not be innocent any longer," he said. "You know I love my sister and would never disparage her, but what do you think she has done in order to survive?"

Adriano's features rippled with pain. "You will not think such things about her."

Aristeo went to his father, putting his hand on the man's head. "Papa, I do not want to say such things about her," he insisted softly. "But we must face the truth. It is possible she has sold herself to survive."

Adriano put his hand over his face in despair. "Then if she did, it would be better had she died," he said. "It is too much shame for her mother and I to bear. Why could she have not simply married Adolph? He would make a good husband. He will still make a good husband. He has agreed to wait, you know."

Aristeo's expression darkened. "Because he is greedy and without prospects," he muttered. "I do not like the man, Papa. He is not good enough for Lisi."

"After she has run away, she will not be good enough for him !"

Aristeo sighed heavily. "He will wait because he knows she will be without prospects after this," he muttered. "This was never a good match, Papa. I wish you had not forced this."

Adriano frowned. "Are you saying I pushed her into running away?"

"I am saying that you should have listened to her," Aristeo said. "She told you that she did not want Uncle Robert's new wife's son. Rather than try to find someone appealing to her, you pushed that pale lump of a man on her."

"He brings money with him, Téo."

"He looks like melted cheese!"

Adriano wasn't prepared to argue with his son. They'd done nothing but argue for six months, ever since Elisiana ran off as Adriano tried to foist a marriage on her. Aristeo wasn't wrong about that—Elisiana had never been obtuse with her wants or desires when it came to Adolph de Rade, but Adriano hadn't listened. He wanted his daughter married and he wanted grandchildren, and Elisiana had reacted by running away and staying away. Perhaps he was willing to admit he had done a few things wrong, but not in front of his son.

He didn't want to give the man the satisfaction.

"Enough," he snapped softly. "Your opinion of de Norbury does not interest me. What does interest me is getting my daughter back. Well? What have you planned now that we know where she is? Where is this Exebridge?"

Aristeo drained his cup. "It is a small village near the Exmoor Forest," he said. "It is also near the Blackchurch Guild, which is why no one thought she would make it that far into Devon. At least not near Blackchurch. Everyone knows those lands are full of murderers and pirates."

Adriano grunted. "Your sister is as foolish as she is brave," he said. "She more than likely went that way thinking we would not suspect her to take that path."

"And that is why I am inclined to believe that it is, indeed, my little sister," Aristeo said. "The man who saw her says she spends a good deal of time there. He saw her for three straight days before he left to give me the message."

Adriano pondered the news for a moment before shaking his head. "She has been little more than a day's ride from us all the time," he murmured. "She has been hiding in plain sight."

Aristeo could hear the irony in his father's voice. "She did not go far," he agreed. "Not to worry, Papa. I will bring her home, but I suggest you not tell Adolph. If you have any hope of making her stay, I would not bring him around."

Adriano didn't say anything, but he did nod. That was simply to avoid more arguing with his son. Of course he was going to tell Adolph. He wanted his daughter married, didn't he? A marriage to Adolph would keep her close to him, married to his wife's brother's new wife's son. But he had to make sure the marriage happened. Bringing a runaway bride, who had been living—and surviving—on her own for six months back into the fold was bound to bring up all kinds of questions that Adriano didn't want answered before the marriage could take place.

He had to make sure of it.

As Aristeo went to arrange for the reclamation of his sister, Adriano wrote a missive to his brother-in-law, Robert, telling him the news. Robert only lived about a day's ride south in Hatherleigh. Adriano would make sure that Adolph was at Fremington when Elisiana arrived. In the end, he would have what he wanted.

A marriage to Adolph to pay off the debt he owed Robert.

The man had loaned him a great deal of money a few years ago, something Adriano used to pay some debts he owed to others, but the fact of the matter was that he now owed his wife's brother a good deal of money. But it was something he had never, ever mentioned to Aristeo, knowing how his son felt about his father's scheming dealings and their relationship to one of the most feared Spanish pirates in recent history. Aristeo had tried to distance himself from the feared Santiago Fernandez, leader of the band of pirates known as the demonios del mar , or the Demons of the Sea, while Adriano was more apt to accept his family ties.

Distasteful as they were.

But that was the truth.

And now Elisiana was involved in Adriano's underhanded dealings, this one with his own brother-in-law. A marriage for the money , Robert had said.

And Elisiana was the one to settle the debt.