Warwolfe (de Wolfe Pack Book 0)(45)

It was foolish and he knew it.

It could even be deadly.

“I summoned you to discuss the area we are in and to ask what you know of it,” he said, reining in the curiosity of her that had gotten the better of him. He felt foolish for it. “We are east of London now and this is the Roman road you have indicated we follow. What can we expect from here on out?”

He was back to business, away from a personal conversation, and Ghislaine wasn’t sure how she felt about it. It was true that she essentially told him that her life, her past, was none of his affair, but the truth was that it felt rather good to have someone interested in her for once. Even if he thought she didn’t dress like a lady should, or even if he had made remarks she considered rude, there was still something about the man that didn’t make him completely boorish. She’d seen glimpses of the humanity beneath.

“This is the road that runs between Edwin’s holdings and London, so we have traveled it many a time,” she said. “Up ahead, there is a great lord known as Lord Boltolph and his domain is Westerham. He has a large home and a very large hall.”

Gaetan was interested in this lord. “Did he go to war with Harold?”

Ghislaine shook her head. “I did not see him there,” she said. “The last I heard, he went to fight in the north with Harold when the Danes were causing trouble, but I do not know if he has returned.”

The thought of sleeping in a home and not a tent or on a moving ship was appealing to Gaetan but he had over two thousand men with him and accommodating such a crowd by a generous lord would be difficult and expensive.

“Is he a powerful lord?” he asked.

Ghislaine nodded. “He has a great house that has tiled floors, left from the Romans, and there is a large village that he both supports and protects.”

“How many men does he have?”

“Five hundred, mayhap. I do not exactly know.”

Gaetan pondered that. It would be a good opportunity for him to try to make an alliance with a local lord, something that would benefit William in managing the land that would soon become his kingdom. He had come north for a reason, after all, and that was to help subdue the natives for William. He may as well start with a local lord.

“Then mayhap we shall call upon him,” Gaetan said. “Mayhap he shall accept my offering of peace if he will support William.”

Ghislaine cast him a long look. “And if he does not?”

Gaetan was looking at the road ahead. “Then I have two thousand men to raze his home, kill his people, and steal his wealth. It would be in his best interest to cooperate.”

It wasn’t a threat, simply a statement of fact. Ghislaine knew the Normans had come to conquer but, still, it was difficult to hear that conquest put into words. It was the scorched earth mentality she was coming to see.

“Then let me go ahead and tell him of your approach,” she said. “He knows me, as Edwin’s sister. Perhaps I can convince him to cooperate so you do not have to destroy the man. His daughter has always been very kind to me. I would hate to see her fall to your men.”

Gaetan looked at her, then, seeing the woman in the weakening light of the day and his thoughts began to wander again. She was wearing one of Adéle’s cotes, too baggy on her frame, but she looked markedly better than she had since he’d known her. At least she was out of that tunic and men’s hose she liked to favor. Her face was a little dirty but, on her, it looked rather charming.

He had to shake himself of those thoughts, however, and remind himself that she was the enemy. She had made an offer to contact a local lord, a Saxon nobleman, on behalf of the Normans but he didn’t entirely trust her. Men who were too trusting often ended up dead.

“I will send you with Jathan,” he finally said. “Convince this lord that being a pleasant host to me and my men will only be to his benefit.”

Ghislaine pondered his words. “He is a good man, my lord,” she said, deliberately addressing him formally because she wanted him to soften a bit. “In fact, he is known as Boltolph the Sane. He is known for his just and fair ways, so you need not threaten him. Show him a man of good will and I am sure he will react in kind.”

Gaetan wasn’t used to be questioned or lectured, which was what Ghislaine seemed to be doing. Part of him wanted to listen to her because she made sense but the other part of him was incensed. “Men of too much good will often end up dead,” he told her flatly. Turning to the nearest squire, he had the lad summon Jathan. As the boy went charging back into the column, Gaetan returned his focus to Ghislaine. “How far ahead is this lord’s home?”

Ghislaine could see that he wasn’t apt to take her advice. She sighed sharply. “Less than an hour ride, I think,” she said, looking at their surroundings. “We should start seeing the outskirts of the village shortly.”

“Then waste no time. Tell Boltolph the Sane that Harold Godwinson was killed three days ago and that William, Duke of Normandy, is now the king. Tell him that I come in peace but if he thinks to dispute me, I will burn everything he owns to the ground.”

Ghislaine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Is that how you make peace? By threatening a man with death unless he submits?”

There was an unexpected twinkle of mirth in Gaetan’s eyes. “How else should I make peace?”

Ghislaine could see the mirth and it both confused and infuriated her. Was he making light of her concerns? “Not by threatening men with death and destruction,” she said. “Can you not simply be polite?”