CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Haldane Castle
A beautiful day had dawned over a castle that looked as if it belonged on a level with Purgatory. But it was a day of diamonds in stark contrast to the terrible journey from Edinburgh.
It had taken four long days to reach Haldane Castle, and they’d arrived very late in the night because Alphonse was eager to return home. In fact, the entire journey had been hellish in the sense that Alphonse drove his men and horses very hard. He’d not stopped during the day at all and what stop they did make at night had been very brief. No one had had more than a few hours of sleep and the animals were showing serious signs of exhaustion. But on the night they arrived at Haldane, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, including Josephine.
Finally, they had reached their destination.
Josephine had never been so exhausted in her entire life. Perhaps the only positive aspect of the difficult journey from Edinburgh was the fact that Alphonse had never touched her. He’d kept her close to him, and he’d given her more than his share of lascivious glances, but he hadn’t made a move against her.
Josephine was so relieved about his restraint that it brought tears to her eyes once they reached Haldane. Even then, Alphonse had only taken the time to introduce his steward to her, a man named Chauncey, before he departed to parts unknown within the enormous, dark castle. Josephine had been happy to see Alphonse leave but, in the back of her mind, she somehow knew he would come to her at some point. Perhaps he’d made a vow not to touch her until their wedding night, but vows were sometimes broken, especially by men of lesser character.
Or men who regarded women as chickens.
Therefore, she would have to be on her guard.
Chauncey was a tall, slender man with a hawk-nose and thin gray hair. He didn’t seem to have much of a personality other than to order men about to collect Josephine’s possessions, what there were of them, and motion for her to follow him. She did, gazing up at the tall keep silhouetted against the night sky as they headed towards it. As the enormous entry loomed up in front of her, with servants lighting the way with torches, Josephine felt rather like she was entering the belly of the beast, from which there would be no escape.
It was a surreal and sinister experience.
Haldane Castle was a large structure, sitting near the borders of England and Scotland, and built to withstand attacks and sieges. There was an enormous outer wall with great turrets on the corners but, once inside those walls, there was a vast courtyard with a moat and a massive keep sunk right into the middle of it.
The keep itself wasn’t a normal keep. It was very big, spread out over a great deal of land, with rounded towers at the entry. The entire structure was at least three stories tall and when Josephine entered the building, she was immediately in a great hall that was quite large. But it was empty at this time of night, with servants cleaning out the hearth or sweeping the room. Large iron chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with fat from their tallow tapers dripping down onto the hard-packed earth below.
Chauncey took her into an adjoining room, which was dark at this hour. Josephine hadn’t seen much of the chamber other than through the light cast by the torches, and she guessed it was a solar of some kind. Chauncey then took her through the room and to a door on the opposite side, which opened up into a small corridor.
While part of the corridor led off in to the darkness, there was only one other doorway that Josephine could see, with a heavy oak and iron door guarding it. Chauncey had opened that door to take her into a chamber beyond that could only be described as cavernous.
In fact, Josephine couldn’t even see the ceiling, it was so tall. The corners of the room were bathed in darkness until servants bustled in with banks of tallow tapers, setting them into the corners of the room and lighting it up with a golden glow. Only then did Josephine get a good look at the room and, although it was plainly furnished, it was absolutely huge.
Since it was on the ground floor of the keep, the windows were high up in the walls, towards the ceiling. They were small lancet windows that only let in air and a small amount of light. They weren’t meant for a view or for pleasure. This was a room built to withstand a siege but, to Josephine, it looked more like a prison.
She prayed it wouldn’t become her tomb.
Chauncey had mumbled something about sending her food and a companion, and Josephine really didn’t care what he’d meant by the companion part. All she wanted to do was go to bed. And after peeling off the clothes she’d been traveling in for two days, she did just that. But when she awoke in the morning, there had been a heavy-set woman bustling around in the room, silently unpacking the two trunks Josephine had brought with her, putting it all into a giant wardrobe with a broken door.
Josephine had been leery of the woman at first. She didn’t like strangers rifling through her things, which happened to be all of the dresses that the earl had sent her as wedding presents. Madelaine had found two serviceable trunks the night of her departure from Edinburgh and had packed everything up neatly.
As Josephine had climbed out of bed, preparing to confront the servant who was unpacking for her, a nearby table caught her eye. There was food upon it, and drink, and a big wooden bowl of what looked like steaming water. When Josephine sniffed it, she could smell the faint scent of rosemary. She could even see the little pieces of rosemary floating around in the water. Realizing this was meant for her to wash in, she quickly went about locating the oils and soaps that she knew Madelaine had packed.
When the heavy-set servant saw that the new mistress was awake, she jumped in to assist. Josephine quickly discovered that the woman was a mute, and had no way of speaking, but she communicated well enough with her hands and expressions. And she seemed very eager to help, so Josephine allowed the woman to bathe her as she literally inhaled all of the food on the table. She was absolutely starving. But the more she ate, and the better she began to feel, the more her thoughts wandered to her surroundings; specifically, to Haldane in general.
There was great curiosity because this was where Andrew had been born. It was his home. She could hardly believe so dark and terrible a place would have been his home, but she knew it hadn’t always been like this. Being in the hands of Alphonse had made it a terrible place.
But it was more than simply the appearance of the place, which was dark and menacing. It was the sheer mood that settled over the grounds and structure like a cloying fog. From what servants she had seen, everyone looked like beaten dogs. Even the air was heavy and full of fear. Living with a monster would do that.
Josephine didn’t want to look like they did, scared of their own shadows, and she began to seriously wonder if Andrew wasn’t right behind her, having followed her from Edinburgh. God, she hoped so. She fervently prayed that he was; somehow, she knew that he was. She knew he wouldn’t leave her here in this horrible place for his brother to feast upon.
God, please let him be close behind me!
Thoughts of Andrew were heavy on her mind as she finished her meal. The mute servant, whose name she didn’t even know, helped her into a surcote that was made from the finest wool, very light, and dyed yellow from saffron. Beneath it, she wore a shift of equally fine lamb’s wool, with long sleeves. The servant didn’t seem to be very good with hair, so Josephine brushed her hair out with a horsehair brush, braided it at the nape of her neck, and wound the braid up into a bun and pinned it. She felt clean, and rested, and ready to see the grounds of Haldane Castle. Her curiosity about the place was growing, but she was most curious about one thing in particular.
Andrew’s mother.
Thoughts of the woman had been in the back of her mind since her arrival. In fact, she thought she might have even dreamed about the woman who had been kept in the dungeons for years and years. Now, it was all she could think about. Alphonse had declared his mother to be alive, and a great part of Josephine wanted to locate the woman and see for herself. But an equally compelling part was fearful of Alphonse’s reaction should he discover she’d given in to her curiosity.
Josephine was certain Alphonse wouldn’t willingly let him see the woman. It was just a feeling she had. But Josephine was determined, and she wasn’t sure what else she was going to do with her time here at Haldane, sitting around and waiting for Andrew to make an appearance. Why not discover for herself if Andrew’s mother was still alive? Or was she simply to stay to her room, hiding away and dreading every footstep, thinking it was Alphonse finally coming for her?
But that wasn’t the way she could live. Josephine refused to live in fear. She had to believe that Andrew was coming for her, and that he would very shortly be here, and that he would be deeply grateful to know that his mother was alive. He would undoubtedly be very grateful to see the woman freed from her dungeon home.
… freed?
God’s Bones, Josephine knew that was a stupid idea, but she simply couldn’t help herself. The poor women had been locked away for so long, caged no better than an animal. It simply wasn’t right. Perhaps, she could free the woman and have her run for safety somewhere in the surrounding area to await Andrew’s return. At least she’d be out of the dungeons and not a target for Alphonse’s hatred.
Even as she entertained such thoughts, Josephine knew these were the ideals of a madwoman, yet she simply couldn’t help it. But first, she had to find the elusive mother, and that meant discovering where she was being kept. Dungeons, Alphonse had once said. So that was the place she would start.
Fortunately, the mute servant didn’t stop her when she left the chamber. The woman was still busy unpacking and made no move to follow her or prevent her from leaving. Josephine grabbed a nearby cloak hanging on a peg and swung it over her shoulders, and exited the chamber.
There was some apprehension as she set out alone in this foreboding place. The corridor outside her chamber was still dark, but not quite as dark as it had been. Last night, it had stretched off into darkness. But this morning, Josephine could see a heavily-fortified door at one end with sunlight streaming in through a small, barred window at the top. She went to the door, passing by a latrine alcove as she went, and threw both bolts on the door. Pulling it open, she stepped out into the sunny area beyond.
The day was bright but cool. Josephine was cautious as she walked outside, peering around the side yard that she was in and not really seeing anyone at all. There were a couple of servants over near the moat, but she couldn’t tell what they were doing. They noticed her, however, and eyed her as she walked around the side of the building, heading to the front entry. They noticed her but said nothing, and Josephine moved on.
Looking up at the great structure, Josephine could see why it seemed so dark – it was made with dark stone and up towards the top, there were great streaks of white, either bird dung or some other kind of effect caused by the moisture and weather. It was as if the stones weren’t wearing well. But the walls were very tall, pocked with small lancet windows here and there. Truly, the keep was a very dark place with only these tiny windows for ventilation and light but, as Josephine had observed, the building was most definitely made to withstand an attack.
And the moat… as Josephine crossed over the lowered drawbridge, with absolutely no one questioning her or speaking to her, she noticed that there were all kinds of rotting animal carcasses thrown into it, and she swore she even saw a man or two. It was appalling and the stench was overwhelming. Quickly, she crossed the moat and headed into the vast bailey beyond.
The main bailey was wide open, with stables off to the left and a gatehouse directly in front of her. The gatehouse was nearly as big as the keep, a truly gigantic structure built into equally gigantic walls, but now that it was daylight, she could see much more detail to the interior walls.
Everything was built against them, from stables to smithy shacks to barracks. The first thing that caught her eye was a large structure on the north side of the bailey, just to the north of the gatehouse. It was in the shape of a half-circle; literally, as if someone had cut a circle in half, and long lancet windows were built into the rounded edge of it. She could also see that there was precious glass in the windows, one in the shape of a cross, suggesting that it was the chapel of Haldane. Josephine thought it rather odd to find such a prominent chapel in so horrible a place.
She moved on. Opposite the chapel and on the south side of the bailey was a long, thatched-roof structure near the stables that had men coming in and out of it, and she assumed that was the barracks. There was also a second building, smaller, that had heavy smoke pumping from the chimney. Men were going into that structure, too. As she stood there and watched it all quite curiously, Chauncey suddenly appeared beside her.
“Where are you going, my lady?” he asked, mumbling like he had rocks in his mouth. “You should return to the keep.”
Josephine was startled by his appearance but quickly regained her composure. “I simply wanted to look around,” she said. “Do not worry; I am not attempting to escape. I am simply curious about the castle. Chauncey, what is that building over there?”
She was pointing to the long, thatched-roof structure. “Those are the barracks, my lady,” Chauncey said. “My lady, we should go back.”
Josephine could hear anxiety in his tone, but she ignored it. “Then what is the building next to it? The one with the smoking chimney?”
“That is where the soldiers eat, my lady. Lord Alphonse does not like the soldiers in his hall.”
She turned to look at him. “He doesn’t?” she said. “Why not?”
“He says they are not fit for his table and should eat with the animals,” he said. “Please, my lady. We should return.”
Josephine didn’t want to. “There is no harm in getting some fresh air,” she said. Then, she asked the most important question, the one she’d been lingering on since she awoke. “Where are the dungeons?”
It was a casual question, much as she’d asked about the other features of the castle, so Chauncey had no idea she was asking for a reason. “In the gatehouse,” he said, pointing to the enormous building that towered over the walls. “Do you see where that soldier just emerged? That is where they are. My lady, if Lord Alphonse sees you out here, he will become angry. You must go back.”
Josephine had, indeed, seen the soldier emerge from a doorway that faced the courtyard. It was built into the south side of the gatehouse and didn’t look like anything special, other than a doorway, but now she knew it for what it was.
It was the gateway to locating Andrew’s mother.
Insatiable curiosity had her leaning in that direction, but she didn’t want to do it with Chauncey hanging by her. She turned to the man.
“I really must stretch my legs,” she said evenly. “We have been riding for two days and my legs are fairly aching. I will simply walk the bailey and come back in. Tell me, Chauncey. Is the gatehouse always open like that?”
She was pointing to the gatehouse and the raised portcullis. Farmers were passing in and out, doing business with the kitchens at this time of day. Chauncey nervously looked in that direction.
“Aye, my lady,” he said. “No one would dare make war against Lord Alphonse’s castle. But I do not think you should go outside of the walls.”
She looked at him, seeing that the poor man was truly terrified. She forced a smile. “I do not plan on it,” she said. “I was simply curious. Go back inside and I shall finish my walk and come in. Do not worry; I will not run off. I told you that.”
Chauncey wasn’t quite so convinced. He stood there, wringing his hands, as Josephine walked away. She didn’t seem to want to listen to him but, for certain, she would listen to Lord Alphonse. The man wasn’t awake yet, but Chauncey thought to check on that situation and see if his lord had risen. If he had, then perhaps he would tell Lord Alphonse about the headstrong young woman he’d brought to Haldane so the lord himself could tell her not to wander about. It simply wasn’t safe. It simply wasn’t done. With a lingering glance at the bold young woman, Chauncey headed back for the keep.
Oblivious to the fact that Alphonse’s steward was apparently running off to tattle on her, Josephine headed for the gatehouse. She was simply going to take a look around to see if she saw anything… like a woman being held captive. She truly didn’t have any plans on trying to release the woman, at least not without a plan. But as she moved to the gatehouse, she could see how very vacant it seemed to be at this hour. Smelling the smoke from the hall where the soldiers ate, she was coming to suspect why.
They were all eating their morning meal.
God’s Bones! Perhaps there would never be a better time to release Andrew’s mother if, in fact, she was truly in that dungeon as Alphonse had said. Would they even miss her? Was she closely watched? At the moment, it didn’t seem like anyone was about, so Josephine thought that this might be the perfect time to see for herself what had really become of Andrew’s mother. As she neared the door that Chauncey had indicated, she disappeared into the archway, unnoticed by anyone.
Immediately, she was overcome by the smell of mold and rot. It smelled like a thousand dead bodies were all moldering right under her nostrils. In fact, she pinched her nose shut as she began to take the stairs down into the dark, dank depths. Josephine had to watch her step and be careful that she did not slip on the algae-strewn stairs. With each step, her anxiety increased; she knew she shouldn’t be here. But she couldn’t help herself. She could hear nothing as she descended into the depths save the pounding in her ears.
Her sturdy boots were dull against the stone as she reached the landing below. A torch flickered down here, wedged into an iron sconce and sending black smoke against the low ceiling. As Josephine’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could see there were two cells on this level, barred cages that were full of wet straw. There was no one in them. But immediately to her right was a door of rotting oak, held together by strips of iron, and a broken iron handle.
A door, she thought. It could open up to more stairs or it could actually be another cell. Nervously, Josephine fumbled with the bolt, and pushed as hard as she could until it finally gave and jerked from its hole. Timidly, she pushed firmly on the door until it gave way and yawned open into the dark abyss beyond.
Josephine saw nothing in the black. Hastily, she grabbed the fatted torch from its iron sconce and thrust it into the darkness. A room came into view, but not just any room; there was a neatly made cot, a table and chair, and fresh straw on the floor that led her to believe someone was inside.
“Is anyone here?” she called softly. “Can anyone hear me?”
There was no answer. Holding the torch lower, she could see a bucket in the corner for a privy, and a stool with neatly stacked blankets against the wall. Taking a hesitant step into the chamber, she was startled when, off to her right, she saw a flint spark twice before it lit a fish-oil lamp. As she looked over, a woman’s face suddenly came into the light.
“Put out the torch; it hurts,” the woman said feebly.
Shocked, Josephine instantly complied. Her eyes strained against the barely-visible flame from the lamp as she tried to get a better look at the woman.
“My lady?” she said in disbelief. “Are you… may I ask who you are?”
The woman tried to look more closely at her, but her eyesight was so bad in the weak light that it made it very difficult.
“Who are you?” she asked.
Josephine took a few steps closer and peered into the woman’s eyes as her own eyes adjusted to the darkness. It took her a moment to realize that she was looking into Andrew’s eyes, and the awareness made her breath catch in her throat.
My God… could it be?
“My name is Lady Josephine de Carron,” she said after a moment.
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”
What did she want? God’s Bones, she wanted to help the woman! She wanted to take her out of this hellish existence and take her someplace safe until Andrew could arrive. Tears sprang to Josephine’s eyes as she thought of the joy on Andrew’s face when he realized his mother was alive. This was such an important moment, and one not lost on Josephine. She was so overwhelmed that she was starting to tremble.
“I came to find you,” she said simply. “Alphonse said you were alive but I did not believe it until this very moment.”
The woman was still suspicious. “What do you want of me?”
Josephine shook her head. “I want nothing, I swear it,” she said. “May I have your name, please? I do not even know it.”
The woman hesitated quite some time before speaking. “I am Elaine.”
Elaine. Such a beautiful name. Josephine smiled at her, hoping to alleviate some of the woman’s suspicion. “As I said, my name is Josephine de Carron. I am not sure where to start with all of this, but your son, Andrew, told me…”
That drew a strong reaction from Elaine and her voice cracked. “Andrew?” she gasped, interrupting her. “You know my Andrew?”
“I do, my lady.”
“He is alive?”
“He is, indeed.”
Elaine stared at her for a moment longer, utter and complete shock in her eyes, before the threat of tears became very real. As Josephine watched, tears began to trickle from the woman’s old, tired eyes.
“Alive,” Elaine breathed. “My prayers have been answered, then. My Andrew survived.”
Josephine could see how joyful she was, but it was more than joy. It was a mother’s belief in the power of prayer, the only power she had caged up in this dark and terrible prison. It was the only thing she had to cling to. When Elaine finally closed her eyes, tears streamed down her face. Josephine was elated with the woman’s joy, but she also felt terrible for Elaine and the circumstances she’d had to endure. She hastened to reassure her that her beloved Andrew was, indeed, alive and well.
“He is a powerful knight,” she said. “He is a mercenary, my lady, the greatest mercenary in all of Scotland. He is coming for you, I promise. He will not leave you here to die.”
Elaine looked at her, confused by the suggestion. Although logically, she knew Andrew was a grown man, the last time she’d seen him, he’d been a youth. In her mind, he was still young and small and a child.
“But… he cannot, not against Alphonse,” she whispered. “He must not. And you… why are you here?
Josephine sighed. How do I explain this? she thought. “I am a cousin of King Alexander,” she said. “The king betrothed me to Alphonse, Earl of Annan and Blackbank. But my love, my heart, belongs to his brother, Andrew. The king dissolved my betrothal to Andrew so that I could marry Alphonse.”
Lady Elaine put up a ghostly white hand. “Beg pardon, my lady,” she said. “You tell me that you love my son, Andrew, yet you have married Alphonse?”
“I have yet to marry Alphonse,” Josephine said firmly. As she looked at the women, she began to wonder just how long that would hold true. If Alphonse wanted to marry her on this day, she would have no choice. She started to feel rather panicky about it. “Andrew will come for us before that happens, I promise. You will not have to live down here any longer.”
Lady Elaine seemed to be grasping the gist of the situation; was there actually hope on the horizon? Was it even possible? She’d spent nineteen years in this hole, although she only knew how long it had been because Alphonse gleefully told her nearly every time he visited her, which wasn’t too often, thankfully.
Still, he did come. And he did gloat. But now… was it possible the end was in sight? As she stood there, her bony knees gave way and she sank forward onto the straw-covered floor. Josephine sank beside her, reaching out to grasp her ice-cold hands.
“He is coming?” Elaine breathed. “My… my Andrew is coming? He is a great man now?”
Josephine smiled at the woman, feeling flesh in her hands that was colder than anything she’d ever felt in her life. She immediately moved to untie the cloak around her neck.
“He is a great man, indeed,” she said softly, swinging the cloak over the woman’s tiny shoulders to try and warm her icy flesh. “He has not forgotten you, not in all of these years. But I do not believe he realizes you are alive. I believe he thinks Alphonse killed you those years ago when he imprisoned you. He has sworn vengeance because of it.”
Elaine could feel the soft fur lining of the cloak against her skin, warm and comforting. As Josephine pulled it tightly around the old woman, Elaine’s suspicion transformed into disbelief and, quite possibly, elation. She could hardly believe what was happening. She couldn’t take her eyes from Josephine.
“But… he should not come,” she said softly, her voice weak from hardly every being used. “He must stay away. Alphonse will kill him.”
Josephine shook her head. “You do not seem to understand,” she said, rubbing the woman’s hands to try to bring some warmth into them. “Andrew is a great warrior. He will kill Alphonse and you will not have to live in this cell any longer.”
Elaine could hardly dare to believe any of this. Her expression took on a fearful countenance. Finally, she asked the question she’d been thinking all along.
“Am I dreaming?”
Josephine laughed softly. “You are not dreaming. This is real.”
Elaine was struggling to digest everything. Her world was one of blackness, a perpetual darkness that erased any concept of day or night. It was like a perpetual dream state, one she was now being awoken from. She tore her eyes away from Josephine, looking around the chamber that was hardly tall enough for her to stand up in. The ceiling was very low, and she’d had to walk hunched over. So, over the years she’d developed a hump in her back. She had been living in darkness for so very long, condemned to a horrific existence by a man she’d given birth to. But now, it seemed that darkness was soon to end.
Her Andrew was coming.
“Tell me, Lady Josephine,” she said after a moment. “Is the sky just as blue as I remember it?”
Josephine felt a lump in her throat at the question. “Aye,” she said. “It is a beautiful day today. No rain.”
Elaine nodded, trying to picture a sky she hadn’t seen in so many years. “I always know when it is raining,” she said. “Water comes down the stairs and pools at my door. I knew it was not raining today.”
Josephine continued to rub the old woman’s hands, feeling some warmth coming back into them. “Nay, it was not,” she said. “It is early autumn. The trees are beginning to turn colors and soon, the days of winter will come.”
Elaine’s thoughts turned to the trees of the land, trees that were now like wraiths to her fragile mind. Did they even really exist? She could hardly remember.
“It would be nice to see the trees again,” she said. “And you, Lady Josephine; where did you come from?”
Josephine could see the light of interest in the old woman’s eyes, as if she were finally coming to understand that she was real, that all of this was real, and that there was hope for her future.
“I was born not far from here, actually,” she said. “My family home is Torridon Castle. My father was the Earl of Ayr.”
Elaine smiled faintly, revealing yellowed, damaged teeth. “Ayr,” she murmured. “I visited Ayr once, right after I married my husband. We took our wedding trip there. It is a beautiful town.”
Josephine nodded. “It is,” she said. “And you shall see it someday again, very soon. Mayhap Andrew will take us to visit one day.”
Elaine couldn’t really grasp leaving the dungeon much less being allowed to travel freely, but the concept was exciting. Her smile broadened because Josephine was smiling so broadly at her. She rather liked the young woman who suddenly appeared in her cell, as if from a dream. She still wasn’t entirely convinced that Josephine was flesh and blood. Perhaps, she was going mad and this is where it all started. But if that was the case, she could think of no sweeter madness than sitting on the floor of her cell, holding hands with a beautiful young woman. It was too good to believe. But all of that hope, that joy, came crashing down when a familiar voice spoke from the doorway.
“They had told me you’d come down here, but I did not believe it,” Alphonse said, his big body filling up the tiny doorway. “Soldiers told me they saw you come down here, but I accused them of lying. She would not be so foolish, I told them. But I see that I was wrong.”
Josephine had never felt so much fear in her life as she did when she heard his voice. She heard Elaine gasp as she turned to Alphonse, whom she could barely see in the darkness. All she could see was his face; his ugly, evil face.
Oh, God, she thought, feeling that, perhaps, she was about to be severely punished. In fact, she was terrified he was going to beat her to death right in front of Elaine. It was a struggle not to cower, or to plead for mercy, because she suspected either of those things might make the situation worse. Instead, she did the only thing she could. She pretended not to understand the severity of her actions.
It was her only defense.
“Did I do wrong?” she asked, sounding as innocent as she could. “I wanted to walk and stretch my legs, and I recalled that you told me of your mother. I came down here to visit her. We are to be married, after all. Should I not introduce myself?”
It was an answer Alphonse had not expected. He couldn’t decide whether he was furious or whether he truly didn’t care. He watched Josephine as she stood up, pulling his mother to her feet, and then helping the woman over to her bed so she could sit down.
“You should not have left your chamber,” Alphonse growled. “If you wanted to walk about, you should have asked for permission. You are not free to go where you wish, Lady Josephine. It is I who gives you permission to even breathe at Haldane. Is this in any way unclear?”
Josephine thought she was quite fortunate if this was the worst he was going to do. But she felt as if she were walking on thin ice, waiting for it to shatter at any moment. Now was the time for her to ask for forgiveness.
“Then I apologize,” she said sincerely. “I did not know. I am used to being able to move about freely, so please forgive me. I will ask the next time I wish to walk about and visit your mother.”
Alphonse stepped into the low-ceilinged cell, bent over as his gaze moved between Josephine and his mother. The older woman was sitting on her bed, wrapped up in a lovely cloak that, upon closer inspection, Alphonse realized he’d given to Josephine as a wedding gift. With a sigh if exasperation, he moved over to his mother and snatched the cloak from her, all but throwing it at Josephine, who caught it deftly.
“That is not for my mother,” he said to her. “You will not give her anything I did not tell you to give her.”
Josephine felt very sorry for the frightened woman on the bed. “Aye, my lord.”
She was being very obedient, not wanting to tweak Alphonse’s anger any more than she already had. She especially didn’t want him to take it out on his mother. She put the cloak on, trying to at least appear contrite, as he glared at her. But that glare soon turned towards his mother, sitting tiny and frail on the bed.
“Now you have met the mother of my sons,” he said to her. “If she displeases me, she will end up in this cell with you.”
Elaine simply kept her head down, nodding to her son’s statement but not replying. Josephine watched the woman, thinking that she behaved like everyone else at Haldane – head down, tail between their legs… like beaten dogs. Her gaze drifted to Alphonse, who was standing over his mother in a threatening manner.
He’s enjoying this, she thought.
“I hope I will not displease you, my lord,” Josephine said, trying to draw his attention away from his frightened mother. “Now that you have made clear the rules, may I ask you to show me your grand castle? You have an impressive empire, my lord.”
Alphonse turned to look at her and she was struck by the sheer evil in the man’s eyes. Every time he looked at her, that evil became deeper and darker. At this moment, it seemed worse than she’d ever seen it. There was something so terribly black and wicked inside him.
“You will see it soon enough,” he said. “For now, you will return to your chamber and you shall remain there until our wedding.”
Josephine didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Have you decided when that shall be, my lord?”
He moved away from his mother, grabbing Josephine by the arm as he went. “I believe I told you in a fit of madness that I would not touch you until our wedding night,” he said. “It was stupid of me. I was thinking during the entire journey from Edinburgh, how very stupid it was of me to tell you that. It must have been the drink talking. In any case, I have decided that I will wait no longer. We shall be married tonight.”
Josephine was seized with fear; tonight! She had no way of knowing where Andrew was, or how close he was, or if he would even come in time. God, could she put this off? Could she delay? She’d already delayed at Edinburgh with excuses of her menses. She couldn’t do that again, not so soon. She couldn’t run from him and she couldn’t hide; there was nothing she could do to escape this.
God… help me!
“As… as you say, my lord,” she said as he practically shoved her out of the cell and yanked the door shut behind him. “Will… will it be in the hall? Is there anything I can do to help with the arrangements?”
Alphonse still had a good grip on her, as if afraid she might try to escape him. They headed up the slippery stone stairs.
“You will go to your chamber and you will prepare for me,” he grumbled. “Wear the white gown I gifted you with, the one you refused to wear in Edinburgh. Do not lie to me and tell me the gown was ruined, for I know it was not. You will wear it tonight. And do not wear anything underneath. I do not wish to have any encumbrances when I consummate our marriage.”
They were reaching the top of the stairs and Josephine was feeling ill at the mere thought of what he was suggesting. The mental image was too horrific to entertain. All she could think to say was the obvious response, the response he would be expecting.
“Aye, my lord.”
They were out in the sunshine now, beneath skies she’d once thought to be beautiful. Now, it was the ugliest day she could ever recall, a day full of fear and horror, the day she would meet her end unless Andrew arrived in time.
But he had no way of knowing the wedding would be this evening, no way of knowing she was in mortal danger. Dear God, was it really going to end this way? Would she be forced to marry this beast of a man and then spread her legs for him, only for him to tear her apart with his size and watch her bleed to death?
Women are like chickens; a penny for a dozen, so I shall never go hungry.
That was what he’d told her. They were words nightmares were made of.
Oh, God… Andrew… where are you?