Chapter 11
Colin looked down at his wife and sighed. The woman kept bringing more and more people into his manor. Before he knew it, it would be filled with life and happiness. Those were two of the things Colin had worked on avoiding for a while now. Not only that, but it seemed that everyone loved her.
She smiled and they smiled back. They vied for her attention, but she gave it equally to everyone. Colin wanted her to give some of her attention to him. He wanted her to look at him with a smile, to come to him for comfort as she did earlier.
Nothing was more satisfying than feeling her in his arms. His heart had pounded and her scent had branded itself into his nose. No matter what happened, he would always remember her. He would always crave her. For once in his life, Colin wanted something. Something that made him feel emotions like no other; something that made him feel like he had a family again.
The thought made him halt in his tracks. Is that what he wanted? A family? Looking down, he realized that whether he wanted it or not, he had it. Cassandra was his wife, and Cooper was now his ward. It seemed like Colin would have to take care of a cousin by marriage also. Not that he minded. Oh no, he was happy that Ramsey was in fact a cousin.
Thinking about the man, he glanced up. The trail was empty ahead of him, but he had a feeling that Cassandra's cousin wasn't far away. He had said that she was prone to accidents. Colin had to wonder how prone she was. His arms tightened around her as he began walking again.
Cooper kept his grip on Colin's shirt and never made a sound. Colin's eyebrows knitted together. Why was the lad so quiet? He had been around children a time or two, and they were never this quiet. Usually the word 'why' was used one time to many, but this boy didn't utter a sound as they reached the manor.
Colin shrugged and threw the thought to the back of his mind. It didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was the amount of people and carriages that were in front of his manor. Men were lugging off bags full of supplies and others were lifting off trunks. What in the world could all of this be?
He thought about shaking Cassie awake, but looking down at her face, he decided against it. She had had a long day and deserved her rest. Walking to the doors, he ignored the looks and questions that were thrown at him. He would put her to bed, and then come down to handle this mess.
He got to the stairs and stopped. Looking around, he finally spotted a familiar face. "Ramsey!" he shouted. His wife shifted in his arms and he held his breath waiting for her to settle. To his relief, she just snuggled closer and resumed her sleeping.
Ramsey looked over at him with confusion, but slowly made his way towards him. Once the man got close enough, he glanced down at Cassie with concern. "Is she ill?"
"No, she's not ill. I need you to do something for me though."
"May I ask what?"
"I just need you to watch the lad while I deal with everything."
Ramsey looked down at the kid and smiled. "Would you like to play with me?"
Cooper scooted closer to Colin and shyly nodded his head. Ramsey's smile widened as he held out his hand. Cooper only hesitated for a minute before grabbing it. Colin watched as the two went out the doors. His heart clenched. Would it be like that for him one day? Would he walk out the door with his son's hand in his?
He shook his head to get away from the questions. He knew what was wrong with him. It was this woman that lay sleeping in his arms. Before she came, he didn't worry about his future, and he didn't want the things he did now. He wouldn't change anything though. He was a little bit happy that she chose to stay here with him.
He reached her door before he stopped once again. Should he bring her in there? He didn't really know the state he had left it in. It could be dirty, he told himself as he passed her door and went to his. It wasn't as if she was sleeping throughout the night in his bed. It would be just a nap.
Opening his door, he began to walk towards the large bed. He put her down as gently as possible. She looked just as her nickname had said. She looked like a princess; a woman who didn't deserve to be settled with a man like him. She deserved more, and Colin's earlier thoughts about not changing flew from his mind. If being a better man made her stay with him, then he would be more for her.
He stood and almost made it to the door before he turned around. Striding back, he placed a kiss on her forehead. He wanted to kiss a different part on her face, but he would not take liberties while she slept. Her first, real kiss by him would be something she could remember, not something that he did while she slept.
The door eased closed without a sound. As soon as he was out the room, he could hear the commotion from down stairs. What was wrong with these people? Their mistress was trying to sleep, and they were carrying on like that. His steps were filled with anger as they slammed down on the stairs. Once he reached the bottom, he grabbed the nearest person.
"Do you not know that she is trying to sleep?"
The older man looked at him with amusement. "Aye, but the Princess can sleep through anything."
Colin eased his grip on the man's shoulder. "You know her?"
"Aye. 'Tis true. I know her. Nicest lady I know. 'Tis a shame what that man did to her; caused her to run off in a hurry. None that knew the mistress believed the other rumors, but that lad did a toll on her."
The servant's eyes were filled with honesty and anger. Colin knew that she was liked by many people, but he didn't expect this kind of devotion. There weren't many servants who could honestly say good things about their employers.
"What man?" Colin asked with suppressed eagerness.
"His Grace; the man was a cad, if I can say so meself."
Colin had to smile at the servant's braveness. To call a duke anything as negative as that could be the servant's death. It was obvious that the man did not care though.
"What was this man's name?"
"I heard the man's name plenty of times while working with our dear lass. She never understood the need to use titles so I know not the man's last name. I just know he is James or the Duke."
His teeth grinded together as he thought of this mysterious James person; Colin needed to know what the story was behind the man, and if his wife wouldn't tell him, he would use other means to find out.
"What about the other rumors?" Colin asked.
The servant man shook his head. "Things are better left unsaid. If it is not something my lady has told ye, then it is not something she wants ye to know."
Colin's eyes narrowed. "I will just find someone else to tell me."
"Good luck with that, man. For everyone knows what a loose tongue gets ye."
"And what is that?"
The servant smiled. "A visit with Lord Ashmore. Most come back without the very thing that got them in trouble."
With those last words, the man pulled from Colin's grasp and made his way to another trunk. Colin could have punished the man, but he admired the servant. He was also sure that his wife would frown upon him doing anything negative towards any of her people.
Following the man out the doors, Colin's eyes widened at the sight before him. Dozens of men carried various supplies that the villagers were in dire need of. Bags of seed, flour, and beans were being loaded off and set into different piles. Wood was being unloaded from another wagon. Colin had to wonder how she got everything here so quick.
She had just arrived today. There was no way that she could have sent word and gotten results this quickly. Then a thought entered his mind. Her father would not have let his daughter come to an unknown place without scouting it first. Now Colin understood how the supplies could get here this quickly.
They had known the state his manor was in before she came to live here. How foolish he felt for not thinking of it earlier. He had just thought she decided to fix it once she got here, but now he knew the truth. She had planned this all along. Colin wanted to be angry, but he couldn't. He had married her for her dowry. It seems she married him for a project.
Colin glanced around once more and caught site of livestock. There were cattle being untied and a couple of horses. They were beautiful creatures. Colin wondered if they were Cassie's or if they were a sort of present to them both. He could easily identify the black horse as an Arabian. The bottom of its legs were white as was the stripe going down its nose. The other horse was more difficult to identify with its white patches on a black coat.
Colin heard a gasp behind him, but before he could even turn to see who made the noise, a familiar pink clad woman ran passed him. Her hair flowed behind her in a mass of curls. He just watched as she ran towards the animals.
"My babies!" she screamed as she hugged one then the other. The horses preened under her attention.
Colin laughed and began to walk forward. Once he reached the three, he threw his arm around Cassie's shoulders. "What woke you?"
Her cheeks turned red, and she mumbled a quick. "Nothing."
Colin had a feeling that it was indeed something, but he didn't want to push her into telling him things she didn't want too. He looked up at the horses, which had gotten deadly still at his arrival. Reaching up, he went to pet the one on the left, but Cassie's hand stopped him.
"I wouldn't do that. Here let me introduce you. This is Dread," she said pointing at the one with the white stripe down its nose, "and this is Fury."
Colin looked at her with wide eyes. "Why would you name your horses that?"
She shrugged. "It's a warning of sorts."
Colin looked at the horses and didn't think they looked too intimidating. Sure they seemed to look at him with suspicion, but all animals did that. He stilled his nerves and reached towards Dread. Colin wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but he had somehow wound up face down in the dirt.
A giggle sounded from behind him. He smiled at the sound as he rolled to his back. Looking up, he asked, "What happened?"
Cassie gave him a large smile. "I forgot to tell you that Fury was the sneaky one. She also doesn't like when new people touch what she thinks is hers."
"She pushed me?"
Cassie shrugged. "It was more of a nudge and Dread just stepped to the side to allow you to fall. It's really good that they seem to like you though."
"They like me?" Colin asked with disbelief.
"Oh, yes. You should have seen what they did to the Duke. It was quite amusing. The poor man wouldn't even walk by the stables after that."
The smile on Cassandra's face dimmed slightly as she spoke, and Colin knew why. It was that damn Duke. Colin was tired of not knowing his wife's secrets. He would ignore the fact that she had rumors about her going around the town. What he would not ignore was this James man. Whoever he was, the man caused Cassie pain, and Colin didn't like that fact at all.
"Cassie? We need to talk."
She glared at him. "My name is Lady Ashmore."
"It's Lady Moore now. You are my wife, and if I want to call you by your Christian name, I can."
Her eyes narrowed further. "You are not even speaking my Christian name. If so, you would be calling me Cassandra. My name is Cassandra!"
"What does it matter? Never mind, we will come back to this. Now, can we talk somewhere more private?"
"You can speak to me here," she said while crossing her arms under her chest.
"It is a private matter," Colin said through clenched teeth.
"Ah, yes. Well, these are private people. Every one of them knows my secrets."
"Fine, you stubborn woman, I want to know about the Duke or James; whatever it is that you call him."
Her face turned ashen. "We will talk privately."
With that, she turned on her heel and walked back towards the manor. Colin followed behind her feeling like a complete cad. He told himself that he wouldn't push her and what had he just done? He pushed.
***Edited by Twilight_moon***
***Title by rsdlvllrxo***