The Wise Woman

by Philippa Gregory

  'This time next year,' Hugo said. He came back towards his father in his eagerness. 'But he needs to have the firm promise of it by the autumn.'

  'I'll do this for you then,' the old lord said. 'If Catherine has a son safely delivered in the October, then I'll find the thousand pounds for you. And it shall be your money and your son's money. A gift to celebrate his birth. You may do as you wish with it. Buy land in good heart and with set rents, or throw it to the winds and the seas with this venture. Let us see how your judgement is, when you have a son in your arms to be provided for, another generation to come after you.'

  'If Catherine has a son, I have a thousand pounds?' Hugo asked. The old lord nodded. 'You have my word,' he said. Hugo stepped quickly towards his father, dropped to one knee and kissed his hand. 'I shall make my fortune then,' he said delightedly. 'For Catherine is certain she is carrying a boy. Isn't she, Alys? You think so, don't you?'

  Alys nodded stiffly. Her neck was tight with strain. 'I'll go to her now and see how she fares,' Hugo said delightedly. He bowed to his father, nodded blithely at Alys and strode from the room. Alys did not move as the door shut behind him.

  The old lord chuckled. 'I shall have some peace in this castle yet,' he observed. 'I shall set myself up as a marriage broker. Wait till you see how he cossets her now that she means an heir, a future and a thousand pounds for him!'

  Alys moved her stiff lips in a smile, and took up the book she was reading to him.

  Fifteen

  Alys spent the evening on the other side of the ladies' gallery fireplace from Hugo and watched with an impassive face as Catherine tapped him on the shoulder in reproof at a jest, rested her hand on his shoulder and twisted one of his dark curls around her finger.

  Alys was ordered to bring Hugo some more Osney wine from the sideboard. She went down on one knee to serve him. He smiled down at her.

  'Are you well, Alys?' he asked under his breath, so that only she could hear. 'When I wrote to my father of all my doings I thought of you, reading the letters. I wrote to you as well as to him, you know.'

  Alys' hand pouring the wine shook a little and the bottle rattled on the lip of the cup.

  'When I lay with a whore I thought of you, Alys,' he said, his voice very low. 'I wondered if you were playing with me. If you have played with me all along, and with my father, and with my wife. What dark games do you have, Alys? Have you truly given up play and magic after all, as you promised?'

  He glanced swiftly round. No one was watching them. 'I went away half mad for you,' he whispered. 'Everywhere I went in Newcastle the edge was off my pleasure. I kept wondering what you would think of a thing, how you would like it. And then I was angry with you, Alys. I believe you bewitched me after all. I believe you have played with me to spoil my peace.'

  'I have no magic, my lord,' Alys said stiffly. 'I have a little skill with herbs, sickness and childbirth.' She shot a quick look at him from under her eyelashes, then she stood with the bottle of wine still in her hands. 'And my peace is spoiled too,' she said.

  Hugo laughed up at her, his white teeth sharp in his smile. 'I'm ready to be witched,' he said. 'I'm ready to be tempted! But see how I am placed now, Alys! There can be nothing in my life till October -I get everything then. We could make merry till then, you and I. But in secret.'

  'What are you saying?' Catherine interrupted. 'What are you saying to my lord, Alys? Don't you think she has grown thin, Hugo? Thin and white. I am afraid we are not feeding her well enough. She was so pretty when she first came to the castle and now she is as boney as a spinster at her distaff!'

  The women laughed in an obedient chorus. Alys met Hugo's quick scrutiny with a look of blank resentment.

  'Are you unwell?' he asked neutrally so that they could all hear.

  'No,' Alys said in a tone as level as his. 'I am weary with being indoors so much. That is all.'

  'Leave us now,' Catherine interrupted. 'One of you check that my bed is warm.' She shot a look at Hugo. 'Though I will be hot enough in a moment, I reckon,' she said in a loud whisper.

  Hugo laughed and took the hand she reached out for him. 'Away to bed, my lady,' he said caressingly. 'You must rest for the health of my son. You don't know what a fortune I have riding on him!'

  Eliza went into Catherine's bedroom and checked there were fresh herbs on the floor and under the pillows. Then she bobbed a half-curtsey to the two of them before the fire and she, and all the ladies, went to their rooms.

  'Not so hot for you these days,' Morach commented as she and Alys stripped off their gowns and scurried into the cold bed in their shifts. 'No,' Alys said shortly. 'Why's that d'you think?' Morach pried. 'I don't know,' Alys said. 'I wonder why,' Morach said, undeterred. "The old lord has him fast,' Alys said, in sudden impatience. 'He did it today, I heard every word. He will make Hugo's fortune if Catherine bears a healthy son. He has promised him a thousand pounds for his own free use.'

  Morach gave a low whistle. 'So Hugo's bought off!' she said. 'No future for you then, Alys. I reckon that work you did with the moppets worked better than you thought!' 'I've wished that away a thousand times,' Alys said. 'Why?' Morach asked. 'Because you love him and desire him now? Because you want him so much that you will risk everything to lie with him? While you look at him so coldly and walk past him without looking back, are you praying he will put her aside and come to you; as hot for you, as you are for him?'

  Alys pushed back the covers and jumped down to the cold floor.

  'Yes,' she said through her teeth. She rattled the wood basket and threw a log on the fire. 'I am sick to my very soul for him. I cannot eat, I cannot sleep, and now tonight he lies with her again, and after this child there will be another, and another, and all there will be for me will be the leavings from her dinner.'

  Morach chuckled delightedly. 'Pass me my shawl,' she said. 'And put on another log to bank up the fire. It's as good as the mummers, life in this castle. You're lost now she's with child, you know. Even without the money he wouldn't stop going with her. He has the taste of her now.'

  Alys threw the shawl to Morach. 'What d'you mean?' she asked. She took a comb from the chest of clothes and a steel mirror and started to comb her hair. It was shoulder length now, a tangle of brass and gold. Alys picked impatiently at the knots.

  'The taste of her?' Morach asked. 'Oh, men are trapped by it. When their women are carrying a child. Men see their women's breasts grow fuller, their rounded bellies. They like the evidence of their own rutting, even as they do it. It's two parts male swagger, and one part something else. Something old, deeper. And Hugo has it badly.'

  Alys pulled at her hair mercilessly and coiled it into a rough plait. 'Badly?' she asked.

  Morach cocked an eyebrow at her. 'Sure you want to hear?' she asked. Alys nodded.

  'He had her this afternoon,' Morach said. 'After he had been with his father. You were still in the old lord's chambers. He came striding down here and shooed all the women out of the room and he took her like he was possessed. If this is your magic moppets then they've done their job well. He can't leave her alone. First this afternoon and then tonight again.'

  Alys' face was shocked. 'How were they together? Was he as rough with her as ever? He was never tender with her?'

  Morach shook her head. 'He didn't bind her this time,' she said. 'But he did everything else he had a mind to do. He slapped her a little and he pulled her hair. Then he made her take him in her mouth. He's careful for the child so he would not lie on her. He thrust himself into her mouth and bellowed like a bull with pleasure.'

  'Stop it,' Alys said abruptly. 'You're disgusting, Morach. How d'you know all this? You're lying.'

  'I watched,' Morach said, smiling, tucking the fine shawl around her shoulders and moving the pillow behind her tousled head. 'I needed to know. Of course I watched.'

  Alys nodded. Nothing Morach could do would surprise her.

  'And what about her?' Alys said abruptly. 'Why does she permit it? Now that she has his
child. Why is she still so demanding?'

  Morach chuckled 'She's not demanding – you silly little virgin!' she exclaimed. 'What should she demand? She's getting everything a woman could want – and more than a decent woman would admit to wanting. She lies there, like a pink soft mountain, and lets him crawl all over her.'

  Alys scowled. 'He said he would go to her no more once she was pregnant,' she said. 'He said he had to have a son, and then he would come to me. Then he said he would go to Newcastle to think what to do -that he longed to live with me and yet he had to keep her sweet. All this time I have been waiting and waiting. All this time, Morach! Waiting and waiting for him.'

  Morach looked at her without sympathy. 'Go to him then,' she said. 'You cannot fight her whelping heat with your convent coldness. Go to him and tell him you want him, and that he's to leave her. Hex him, promise him darkness and passion. Pain beyond pain and pleasure beyond pleasure. There are things you could give him, there are things you could do, that he has never even dreamed of with his little drabs. Tell him you're a witch and that if he comes to you you can give him pleasures that mortal men only dream of. He's like any man – they all long for witchery and wickedness at night. If you want him, Alys, take him! You don't have much time, you know.'

  'Time?' Alys asked instantly. 'You've foreseen something, Morach?'

  'Away.' Morach flapped her hands, fending Alys off. 'You've not much time while you're young and beautiful. The plague could come any day and mark your face. The wind could blow and scar you. You could fall sick and lose the clear colour of your skin and your eyes and hair. You're getting thinner every day with this passion burning up inside you – a month from now and you'll be a plain spinster. If you want something you should get it at once. Waiting is a trial for no one but yourself.'

  Alys nodded. 'I am on a rack of desire for him,' she said softly.

  'Shall I tell him?' Morach asked. 'I'm the last person to leave them at night. I could take him to one side and tell him that if he leaves Catherine's room he can come here. And I'll keep guard till the two of you are done.'

  Alys turned towards the bed and looked at the old woman. Her face was suspicious. 'Why?' she asked. 'Why would you risk offending Lady Catherine – you who stand so high in her favour, paid twice what the rest get, free to come and go, eating like a pig and free to speak your mind to her? Why risk it?'

  Morach chuckled. 'It's a game, child,' she said indulgently. 'It's like casting the runes, or reading the cards, or making herbs. It's a game. What will happen next? All magic is the question – what will happen if…? I want to know what will happen to you when Hugo has you. I want to see that happen. It takes my fancy, that's all.'

  'Can't you see it?' Alys asked. 'Why can't you see the future as you used to see it, Morach?'

  The old woman shrugged. 'I can see you don't have long; that should be enough for you. When I look, it all goes dark, I can see nothing except darkness and water. So you'd best act as any woman would – never mind the Sight. What will it be? Shall I tell him you want to see him?'

  Alys paused. 'Yes,' she said, with sudden decision. 'Now. Call him out now. Get him away from Catherine now. I can't bear him to lie with her tonight.'

  The old woman nodded and slipped from the bed, spread the shawl around her shoulders and crept through the door. Alys took up the mirror again, ruffled her hand through her thick hair, watched the colour rise in her pale cheeks. Across the gallery she could hear Morach's peremptory knock on the door and her call: 'Lord Hugo! The old lord is asking for you. He said you were to come at once!'

  She heard Hugo's muttered oath and his quick step to the door. She heard him call to Catherine, telling her to sleep, and then the bedroom door slam behind him. He stepped out into the gallery.

  Alys tossed aside the mirror and went out of her room to meet him.

  'Lord Hugh does not need you, I sent Morach to call you out,' she said. She held her head very high and her hair fell in a ripple of gold away from her face. Hugo stared at her, at the thin cotton of her nightgown and at the rapid pulse beating at the hollow of her neck under the half-open gown.

  'Alys,' he said softly.

  He could see the muscles in her neck move as she swallowed.

  'I cannot bear you to lie with her,' Alys said. 'You told me to wait until you came back from Newcastle and I have waited. I want you as my lover. I have dreamed and dreamed of you coming home to me.'

  Hugo's dark gleam of a smile came, and faded. 'You heard my father,' he said. 'You know how much I need an heir. You know that my future and my family's future depends on an heir to this castle and these lands. And he has promised me that money, Alys. I cannot distress Catherine when she is carrying the child I need more than anything else in the world!'

  'What about me!' Alys broke out. 'I see what Catherine needs – aye, and gets! And I see what you need! But what about me?'

  Hugo looked at her, his smile crinkling around his eyes. 'You want me,' he said. It was not a question. Alys nodded.

  'Is Morach gone from your room?' he asked. Alys did not look up; she nodded again. 'Come then,' he said and slid his arm around her waist, and she let him lead her to her bedroom, swing her off her feet and lay her on the bed.

  He pulled up her gown to see her naked and gave a little grunt of pleasure at the sight – like an animal, Alys thought. She closed her eyes and thought of the nights and days she had longed for him, had longed for this moment. 'This is Hugo,' she said to herself. 'Hugo, that I have dreamed of and longed for, and desired more than I have ever desired anyone in my life.'

  It did not help. She felt cold and arid. She was nervous of the pain and the weight of him. Hugo hitched his nightshirt up around his waist. 'If you were a witch indeed then you would enchant me,' he said. 'They were talking of witchery in Newcastle. They say if a man so much as touches their skin then no other woman can ever excite him again.'

  Alys shook her head. 'I'm no witch,' she said. 'You told me to put all that aside, I did as you hid me. I cannot enchant you.' She was getting cold, half naked before him.

  Hugo dropped on top of her and Alys was crushed beneath his weight. He had eaten spicy meat at supper and his breath was sour. She threw her arms around his broad shoulders and said, 'Hugo,' thinking how she had longed for this moment – that it must be what she wanted, since she had wanted it for so long.

  'If you were a witch,' Hugo said, rubbing himself gently against her, 'what pleasures would you give me, Alys? Do you think witches can make men fly? Do you think they can make them lust all night and all day? Would you conjure for me virgin after virgin? All of them wet with desire, all longing for me. All lying with me and with each other? A great rolling bed of women with mouths and hands and bodies for my pleasure alone?'

  As his words excited him he arched his back and leaned up on his hands and pushed into her. Alys screamed – a sharp scream of pain – and wriggled at once away from him. 'No!'

  Hugo laughed, put his hands on her thin shoulders and said breathlessly: 'Take it, Alys! It's what you've been hot for! It's what you've been pining for! What did you expect? A touch as gentle as your own busy little fingers? This is what a man does, Alys! Learn to like it!' At every word he spoke he thrust deeper into her. Alys scrabbled frantically against him, trying to pull herself up and away from his greedy lust. 'Oh!' Hugo said suddenly, and he fell heavily on her.

  They lay very still for a few moments. The pain inside her eased a little and she felt his cock grow limp and slide away. She smelled her blood and felt it trickle on her cold thighs. She felt the skin around her eyes tighten and grow cold with drying tears. She moved a little and Hugo rolled off her, like a pig in a wallow, and lay on his back, gazing blankly at the ceiling.

  Alys crept a little closer and put her warm head on his shoulder. She could hear his heart thudding and slowing. His arm came around her and held her.

  'I hurt,' Alys said in a little voice, like an injured child.

  Hugo chuckled. 'Not a witch th
en,' he said. 'You've done no shagging with the devil, that's for sure.'

  'I told you I was no witch,' Alys said impatiently. 'I was a virgin. You have taken my virginity. And you hurt me, Hugo.'

  He nodded, as if it did not matter much. 'It always hurts maids the first time,' he said indifferently. 'What did you expect?'

  Alys said nothing, but the world of her expectations was laid out before her in bitter colours.

  Hugo gave a yawn and sat up. 'Give me a cloth,' he said. 'I cannot go back to Catherine like this.'

  Alys slipped from the bed and walked awkwardly over to the linen chest. She could feel a trickle of blood flow warm down her thigh. She passed him a length of linen. 'Go back to Catherine?' she said stupidly.

  'Of course,' he said. He mopped at his crutch with quick, hard gestures, wiping her blood away. Wiping the smell of her away. He looked up at her shocked face and shrugged.

  'Come on, Alys,' he said impatiently. 'You heard my father, you know what this child means to me. Every night of my life until the baby is born I shall sleep in Catherine's bed. I shall make her as content and serene as I can. I owe it to my son, I owe it to my line and, by God, I owe it to myself! I have waited to sire a son for eighteen years! One woman after another has been barren with me. Now my wife, my own legal wife, is with my child and they all say it will be a son. Of course I shall watch over her, and anything she wants will be hers!'

  'I dreamed of a son that we would have,' Alys started. 'You and me.'

  Hugo leaned forward and patted her white cheek. 'When you are pregnant with my son you will be my favourite,' he said carelessly. 'While Catherine carries my son I am hers to command. Right now there is only one thing in the world which could keep me from Catherine.' 'And what is that?' Alys asked. Her throat was aching from holding in her anger and her pain.

  Hugo grinned. 'The rutting I have dreamed of with you!' he said, laughing. 'Ever since I saw you, and especially since they all thought you were a witch, I thought you would take me – like witches are said to take men. I thought you would ride me like I mount a horse. I thought you would know ways which would drive me mad with lust for you.'