Chapter 29
Angelet had slipped back into her bedchamber in the manor house before dawn, and Rafe had gone to his own bed after seeing she was safe. Her absence had been noticed the previous night, but when she said she’d gone to the church to pray for a while and then had fallen asleep—which was not precisely a lie—the answer was accepted instantly, not only by the various servants who tended the house, but by Lady Cecily as well.
“You must be careful,” Cecily reprimanded her. “Even praiseworthy tasks such as prayer can be overdone. And you are still weak. I hope you did not suffer from cold, or exert yourself too much.”
“I assure you that was not the case,” Angelet replied, her eyes on the floor. Not at all.
“And today? What do you have in mind?”
“I have some items to work on,” she said, “and with the day being so warm, I thought I would embroider in the gardens.”
“Very good. I’ll send one of the maids out to check on you around the midday meal.”
The day was indeed finer than any before it that spring. The air was marvelously soft, the breezes gentle and the sun warm. Puffs of clouds raced in the sky above.
Below, a pack of boys raced around at about the same speed as the clouds, dashing more erratically, and shouting the whole time. Angelet spied the bright orange head of Goswin among them, and was glad he could enjoy some simple pleasures. After a time, the whole rowdy pack ran through the wide open gate to play in the fields and woods outside. Spring days seemed to be specially made for children.
Angelet settled down beneath a spreading apple tree to work. She wanted to complete the embroidery she’d started on the gown for Cecily’s coming infant. It was an inadequate repayment, but she had to start somewhere.
She lost track of time, but when a shadow eclipsed her work, she looked up.
The man towering over her was a stranger, but since he was dressed in the same manner as all the men-at-arms she’d seen at Cleobury, he must have been one of them.
“My lady,” he said. His tone was in marked contrast to his size—diffident and very soft. “I’m sorry to tell you that your boy Goswin is hurt. He wants to see you.”
Angelet’s sewing dropped into her lap, and her breath caught in fear. “Hurt? How?”
“The boys were climbing trees, and he fell.”
“Oh, no! Where is he?”
“Still there. The boys feared to move him. Will you come? He asked for you specifically.”
As she started to scramble to her feet, she said, “Yes, of course, but shouldn’t we also bring Lady Cecily? She’s the healer.”
He offered a giant hand to help her up. “Someone’s already gone to find her, my lady. Please, we ought to hurry.”
“How far?”
“Not very. Just in the woods past the western fields.” He started to walk, assuming that she’d follow in his wake. She cast about briefly, confused about whether she ought to take anything, and if so what. She ended up bundling several things in a sewing basket, but she was far too distracted to know if she was bringing the right things. She didn’t even know how Goswin got hurt.
Angelet hurried to catch up to the big man. “What happened? Did he break a bone? Is he bleeding? It’s not his head, is it?” she asked fearfully.
“Not sure,” the man said. It was hard to hear him, since he spoke so quietly and also because he was facing the woods, not her. “He asked for you.”
That didn’t clarify much, but at least it meant Goswin was conscious. She kept up the pace set by the big man, though it meant that she was nearly breathless by the time they crossed the fields to the fringe of the woods.
“Wait. A moment,” she gasped, putting her hand against a tree trunk. “I need to rest.”
The man stopped abruptly, looking back at her, then at Cleobury. “Yes, a moment. But we can’t waste time, my lady.”
“No,” she agreed. “It’s just that I was hurt too, not long ago. I’m not supposed to…” She stopped talking, gasping again.
“Just breathe,” the man said, looking alarmed. “They didn’t say you were so weak.”
“Who said?”
He gave a shrug. “Everyone, my lady. People talk. No offense meant.”
She closed her eyes, trying to get her breathing back to normal. “I’m better now…what’s your name?”
“Ulmar,” he said.
“Very well, Ulmar. We can go on.”
The man-at-arms looked rather uncertain, but he nodded and turned to keep walking. “Follow me. It’s not far.”
They went a bit slower through the woods, but Angelet thought they’d reach Goswin soon, and instead Ulmar just kept walking. She also expected to hear voices—boys shouting, perhaps. Or running to see when help would come.
“Where is he?” she asked.
“Not far. Almost there.” Ulmar slowed his pace to let her catch up, then took her by the elbow. “Just a little further.”
Something made her hesitate, and she stopped in her tracks. “This is too far.”
Ulmar’s grip tightened. “Sorry, my lady.”
She tried to pull away, but there wasn’t much she could do against a guard twice her size. “Let me go,” she said. Her heart sped up, and she could feel the pricks of pain in her chest from the exertion.
“Can’t do that, my lady.” Ulmar’s voice was still soft. “Orders.”
“Whose orders? Where’s Goswin?”
“He’s got him,” Ulmar said. “Lord Ernald. So you see, my lady, the boy does need you. Ernald will hurt him if you don’t arrive soon.”
Angelet swallowed, tasting a metallic bitterness in her mouth as her limbs shook in fear. She took a deeper breath, then tried to run. She had to get back to Cleobury.
She made it about twenty paces. And only that far because Ulmar stumbled on a tree root for a moment. But he gained on her immediately, and she screamed when he grabbed her by the arm.
Ulmar jerked her toward him, swinging her body to his and muffling her mouth with a big hand. “Don’t scream, my lady. Won’t do a bit of good. You’re too far from the manor and no one will hear.”
She struggled for a moment, but already her lungs protested. She slumped in defeat.
The big man removed his hand, and she gasped several times.
“Scream again and I’ll have to do something about it,” he warned her.
“Let me go.”
“Can’t. And there’s still the matter of the boy. You don’t want him to suffer.”
“Where is he?”
“Close.” Ulmar took her by the elbow once more, this time making it clear that she’d be stupid to try to get free. Angelet stumbled along beside him, furious with herself for getting into this mess. She should have known something was wrong! She should have told someone, or insisted on more people joining them. But she had been so worried about Goswin.
A moment later, they entered a clearing, where several horses were tethered at one side, and people gathered on the other.
One of them turned at their arrival. “Oh, there she is. The elusive Angelet!”
Angelet took in the sight of Ernald, who appeared incredibly satisfied with himself. Next to him stood none other than Bethany, who clearly survived the attack to the cortège—and was probably never even in danger. The way she hovered possessively close to Ernald suggested that she was his lover. So that was the reason Bethany volunteered to join Angelet on the journey. Ernald must have told her to.
She noticed another man dressed as a soldier, who held a bound and gagged Goswin. Angelet saw the fear in the boy’s eyes, and understood exactly how he felt.
Ernald circled Angelet like a wolf around a sheep.
“You’re looking well, sister,” he said. “Despite all that’s befallen you since your departure from Dryton. And I know about everything you’ve done because I’ve been tracking you for weeks now.”
Considering Bethany had obviously been passing on information to him during the first part of the journey, that news was not surprising. Still, she knew Ernald wanted to be dramatic, so she indulged him. He’d tell her more that way, since Ernald adored the sound of his own voice.
“How did you find me here?” she asked.
“Silly girl, it was simple. One of my hired men saw you flee from the site of the original attack. Your champion, dressed in black armor, riding a black horse. You in your fine gown and jewels, with your lovely blonde tresses, riding a white horse. That’s a remarkable looking pair. It was not hard to follow the trail once we found someone who had seen you.” Ernald’s grin widened. “Where the hell did you plan to go, though? I never could tell.”
“We were riding for Wareham,” she said, deliberately avoiding mention of Henry.
“Ah, yes. You’d get aboard a ship and sail back to your family!” He laughed.
“Why does that sound so funny to you?” she asked. “It’s not as if I ever could call the Yarboroughs family. After Hubert died, I was forgotten.”
“Hardly forgotten, Angelet.” Ernald put a finger on her throat. “I thought about you quite often.”
“All the more reason for me to return to my own family,” she said, jerking away.
He chuckled again. “Ah, yes. One small hurdle for that course, Angelet. You have no family in Anjou.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the d’Hivers are no more. Both your parents are dead now, your brother is who the hell knows where. A rival has taken your lands by force… You have no allies, and no home to go back to.”
Her heart quailed, but she kept a brave face. “I don’t believe you. These are lies to hurt me.”
He shrugged. “You may think that if you like. But did you never wonder why no one came to claim you? Why Otto could keep you in his grip as he did? Why your mother or father never wrote to you? Never asked after you?”
“Otto kept letters from me,” she guessed, uncertainly. “Or stopped messengers from speaking with me.”
“A few, early on. But then there were no more letters. Because there were no more d’Hivers to write them.”
“I don’t believe you,” she repeated, except this time her voice shook.
“Oh, it’s true. Otto was just waiting for the right opportunity to unload you, since you long outserved your purpose as the vessel for the heir. Hence the nunnery.”
“That was a compromise,” she said. “I would be allowed visits from my son, and that abbey is known for healing. My affliction could be cured there.”
He chuckled. “Basingwerke is not known for its healing or its infirmary. It’s known for its visionaries. Both men and women touched by God with divine visions that they shout out or mumble or ramble on. You’ll embroider yours, I suppose. The abbot doesn’t seek to cure anyone’s suffering. He collects people like you, and then profits from the spectacle of the visions. Whether they’re beautiful or terrible or prophetic…it doesn’t matter. People come to watch.”
“The abbot permits that?”
“He encourages it! If your sufferings are dramatic enough, you’ll be locked up in an anchorite’s cell, or chained to the wall, and there people will come and gawk as you go through your ordeal. They call it a pilgrimage, like visiting a shrine of a saint. But they leave…you don’t. You remain there on display until you die, or you bring in no more money. See, the gawkers pay the abbey in coin for your care…a donation, which the abbot keeps for himself.”
“That cannot be true.”
“As if you’d know, woman. Otto told you nothing of the place. He didn’t allow you to visit first, or decide for yourself.”
Angelet swallowed nervously. “What do you care if I end up in a nunnery or run off alone. I don't know why anyone in your family cares what happens to me!”
Ernald leaned in, his mouth right by her ear. “Because you are family, little lamb.”
She shivered at the feel of his breath on her skin. “Get away from me. This isn’t seemly.”
He straightened up, saying, “Neither is riding around half the country with only a nameless bastard of a soldier for company. You’re no better than a common slut.”
“Then why bother with me? Just let me go.”
“Ah, no, I still have some business with you, Angelet. First, after your behavior, you’ve dishonored the family name, which is intolerable. Second, there’s the matter of your missing dowry. Third, I intend to discover exactly how depraved your nighttime activities have been, by testing you myself, starting tonight.”
“You will not,” Angelet retorted. Her words were echoed strangely, and she realized someone else said the same words.
Bethany stood aghast, staring at both Angelet and Ernald. She had also spoken. Now she added, “My lord, you can’t. Not her. Not after she’s given herself to that man. She doesn’t deserve you!”
All at once, many things became clear to Angelet. Bethany’s often rude behavior, her cutting remarks. The maid wasn’t just a casual lover. She truly loved Ernald. No wonder she’d hated Angelet for so long. Angelet felt sick.
But Ernald just said, “Silence, lamb. No woman orders me.”
Bethany looked as if she was going to retort, but then clenched her fists and bowed her head. “Yes, my lord.”
“Good girl. Don’t worry about what transpires between Angelet and me. She’ll be dealt with soon enough.”
Angelet closed her eyes. That did not sound promising. She had to get away from Ernald. “You tracked me for weeks just to punish me?” she asked.
“No. I tracked you for weeks because what I wanted to retrieve from your cortège wasn’t there. What happened to the gold, Angelet?”
She blinked in confusion. “Surely Bethany told you. The thieves—your thieves—dropped the chest and we all saw it. There was no gold.”
“Yes, everyone saw it. No one liked it.” Ernald’s eyes narrowed. “Those men almost turned on me afterward. They thought I lied to them, but I managed to convince them you were at fault.”
“But I wasn’t!”
“Otto gave the key to you. You had half the men-at-arms dancing to your tune. You must have used them to sneak the gold out of the chest. How’d you do it? A little night by night? Or one bold move? Where’d you hide it all?”
“Nowhere! For the last time, I didn’t open that chest at all. Whoever stole the gold did it without using my key, and without my knowledge.”
He raised a hand, about to strike her across the face. “Don’t lie to me, Angelet.”
She watched his hand, certain that whatever she said, it would result in pain. But she wasn’t going to be made into a thief. “I had nothing to do with the gold going missing,” she said, very slowly.
Ernald’s arm jerked, but he stayed his hand for the moment. She saw the calculation in his eyes. “Perhaps it wasn’t you. That knight could have done it, maybe by stealing the key after he enjoyed you.”
“Stop it.”
“If it was him,” Ernald went on, ignoring her, “then I’ll need to chat with him. And keeping you close will make that easier.” He looked to Ulmar. “Now that we have her, it’s time to ride to meet the others. When we get there, take her to the stone hut and make sure she stays locked up inside. I have to consider my options.”
The way Ernald smiled at Angelet made her grow cold.