And, Rowena’s heart reminded her furiously, she would never trust a Norman. Taurin had done what no man should ever do and had even planned to kill her afterward, lest she reveal the truth about the babe.
Fury rose anew and she gritted her teeth to bottle it, leaving her shaking. As Ellie finished her ministrations on her ankle, Rowena finished her thoughts.
She had no choice but to stay here. But count on Lord Stephen to see to her best interests? Nay. Only a fool would stand behind the horse after it had kicked him.
Chapter Six
His short nap done, Stephen rose. After quick ablutions, he threw on a light cloak and took his sword. He departed through the front door, a personal guard at his heels. The only other soul awake outside, for it had been such a late night for everyone, was the soldier on guard. Stephen had even allowed Gaetan, his squire, to sleep in. The duty guard snapped to attention, and after acknowledging him, Stephen strode down the lane toward Rowena’s hut.
Yesterday had seen him weary of fighting and being ever watchful. But today Stephen felt invigorated. Now he had a plan to root out the rebels he knew lived here. They hated Rowena, and he would use the young woman to lure them out. It was the only plan that didn’t include arresting every man.
But before he could use her, he had to do a quick investigation of the fire. It was probably an accident, but Stephen was not one to leave a stone unturned.
Though dawn had just begun, the day was light enough for him to start his investigation. Rowena’s home looked a sodden, useless shell now, he decided as he closed in on it. Thankfully, a tributary of the Cam River flowed east of the village, mere yards away, and the easy access to water had helped to save the building from far worse damage. Rowena’s garden, where she’d attempted to salvage her food stocks, had been trodden down even further.
Ordering his guard to remain out front, Stephen walked slowly around the small home, thinking one more time of what Rowena had said. She would never be so foolish to put her son’s life in danger. Hadn’t she been protective of the child when he’d picked him up? She’d given Stephen a shove for all she was worth, and she’d risked punishment for it. No Saxon would dare openly attack a Norman.
Although, Stephen recalled, she was also terrified of him. In London, he could make maidens shrink back in fear with one glower and it bothered him not one jot. Rowena had flinched when he’d raised his hand to open her door.
This kitten—aye, Rowena was a kitten, fearful and yet bold at the same time—had acted in a way that had made him feel compassion, which hindered him in the way he preferred to work.
Stephen’s tasks had always been to listen for dissension, coax those whose allegiances were faltering and maneuver the intrigue of court life to keep it safe for the king. He had allowed dissidents to form plans, caught them in their lies and manipulated their friends into turning them in. Stephen had drafted the Act of Surety of the King’s Person to assist in arresting those who would want William dead. He was good at his job and knew without forethought he was doing his Lord’s work.
So, why bother investigating a simple fire? Did Rowena need protection so much that he likened her to the king?
Nay, he needed Rowena to draw out troublemakers, and there were plenty of them around. Kingstown sat too close to Ely, which housed that unpleasant Saxon abbot who nursed an inconsequential grievance against Cambridgeshire’s new Norman sheriff, all the while encouraging Hereward the Wake to come fight for England’s sovereignty. ’Twould be best, Stephen thought, that he remove all rebels here. The least he could do for his brother’s memory was to keep this town safe. And if it took using one Saxon woman and her babe to arouse rebels and arrest them, he would do exactly that.
An insect buzzed about Stephen’s head, some late-season mosquito from the marshes around Kingstown. He swatted but missed it, and it annoyed him.
With his guard waiting patiently, Stephen finished his survey and circled back to what remained of the front of Rowena’s hut. The scent of smoke lingered. The fire had been hottest here, and most of the thatch was nothing but ashes spread out on the ground. The door was charred at the top, while the wattle and daub of the short walls showed only scorching. Very little repair would be needed.
Thank You, Father, for getting her out so quickly.
The prayer came unbidden to his forethought, for he usually reserved his prayers for the king alone. With a slight frown, Stephen opened the door beneath the bared roof. Dawn was now complete and the sun high enough that he could easily see into the single-room home. Mud pooled in slurries, and as he stepped into one, something between the puddles caught the sun’s first rays as they slipped through the open door.
The spark box, he noted as he picked it up. With all the water that had been tossed on the house, the box now gleamed. He weighed it in his palm. ’Twas still warm.
And fully closed. Snapped shut firmly.
Stephen’s heart chilled. With a single deft movement, he flicked open the lid. ’Twas exactly as Rowena had said. A small piece of bone glowed within.
Dry bone was good in a spark box. It burned far slower than a hunk of hardwood. With the sudden breath he streamed out in a sigh, the bone flared from its slumber. Jaw tight, Stephen snapped the lid closed. He looked back toward the small front door and the shelf beside it. Only for ease of access was the spark box shelf there at all. Now, as morning lit the sky, Stephen could see how the shelf, though charred, was still intact.
Rowena had been correct when she’d said that ’twere not possible for the spark box to have caused the fire, for surely the whole shelf would have burned and the wall scorched. Stephen set the box on the mantel above the small, crude hearth. His heart hammered at the truth before him.
’Twas arson, indeed. As he’d surmised last evening, Rowena’s enemy had struck two nights in a row. If he’d known that would happen, he’d have hid a guard beyond the village gate to ambush this troublemaker. But he’d thought that his presence yesterday morning would have deterred them for at least a day. His jaw tightened, his neck heated. Rowena had been vandalized and then attacked. More than attacked. Someone wanted her dead.
Aye, his plan to use Rowena would work well. ’Twas the only reason for his sudden interest in her, and nothing more, not a weakened heart or her fawn-like eyes, as Josane suggested. Not even that curious ability of hers to read people. ’Twas only how she’d fit into his plan. By openly assisting her as she convalesced, Stephen would be riling up this malcontent to attack again.
He left the hut shortly after. Movement caught his eye, and he noticed Alfred the Barrett pushing open the village gate to approach him. The guard stopped the old cottager, but Stephen motioned the man closer. Mayhap he knew something of value to this investigation.
However, Stephen doubted it. The man lived up to his Saxon family name, which meant “quarrelsome.” Stephen’s servants said Alfred’s father had been the same, as his grandfather before him, so the surname stuck like mud in the welt of a boot. Automatically stiffening, Stephen waited for the man to approach and speak.
“Milord,” he started, “you need not be concerned with this fire. ’Twas a simple accident. We will see to it that the girl has a new roof before long, let me assure you.”
Stephen felt the hairs on his neck rise but said nothing. Alfred Barrett was volunteering his village to help Rowena? Would they also give her food and lodging until she was able to manage on her own? Would they pay for a new roof, when they barely had two coins to rub together?
Stephen doubted that very much, for if such generosity existed, ’twould have been displayed last night. Aye, they saved the house, but not one villager except Ellie had even spoken to her.
“’Tis good of you to offer this. Rowena has hurt her ankle, so for the moment she will remain in my maids’ quarters under my care.”
The man’s mouth tightened, Stephe
n noticed. ’Twas as brief as a blink, but perceptible. And expected.
“Would you start the work immediately?” Stephen asked, though he knew the only thatcher in the village was currently employed.
Barrett’s eyes narrowed. “Mayhap with your lordship’s permission, we could gather the thatch today instead of working in your gardens or building the king’s palisade. We do have one thatcher in the village, but he’s busy.” Barrett’s tone turned sly. “Rethatching one of your barns, milord.”
Stephen nodded, pretending not to hear the change in tone. “Aye, he does excellent work.”
Barrett rubbed his grimy hands together. “It costs so much to rethatch, doesn’t it, milord? I don’t know how this girl will pay for it.”
Forming a grim smile, Stephen agreed. He’d already decided to pay for the repairs while standing in the hut, but this sly verbal dance he was doing with Barrett curbed his words.
Nay, Barrett had come here for another reason. What it was, Stephen wasn’t sure, but he’d discover it soon enough. He had patience to spare, and Rowena wasn’t leaving his manor anytime soon.
With deliberate heartiness, Stephen pressed his hand down on the other man’s bony shoulder as he guided him out of the small parcel of land. “We are just grateful there wasn’t more damage and that no one was hurt, aren’t we?”
“Oh, aye, milord! But I am concerned for the work to be done, and we all know we must be about your harvest or cutting your trees.” Barrett waved his hand. “But, milord, ’tis a matter for us villagers, and not your concern. We’ll make the best of it. We Saxons take care of our own. In fact, I can arrange for the girl’s care, if you like.”
His expression calm, Stephen studied the man, wishing he had Rowena at his side to discern Barrett’s motives. Stephen’s first instinct was to send the man back to his home with a curt announcement that only when Rowena was well enough would she leave his manor. But he thought carefully before answering.
“’Tis a good offer, Barrett. Let us see what the day brings, as I plan to inspect the thatcher’s work.” With that, he strode ahead of the Saxon, hearing his guard also step past the man.
At the manor, Stephen found Rowena in the maids’ chamber, mending hose with her ankle propped up. Weed stalks were drying nearby, obviously destined for rope. Her babe sat on the nearest pallet, flicking small scraps of cloth, as was a babe’s custom. Stephen saw that Rowena had been given one of Josane’s old cyrtels. The dark blue complemented her milky complexion and pale hair. Though Rowena didn’t fill it as his sister had, the color was better on her than on his sallow-complected sibling.
At his entrance, Rowena looked up quickly, expectant yet nervous. Shifting his sword, for in his haste to come here, he had not surrendered it to his squire, Stephen sat down beside her. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, milord,” she whispered. “Forgive me for not rising.”
He waved his hand. “No matter. How is the ankle?”
“Far more swollen than yesterday, I fear. Ellie has gone to the well for cold water.” She set down her mending with a small shrug. “I had to do something while my stalks dry. Mending was the only thing I could manage, and Lady Josane was quick to take my offer. But,” she hastily added, “Ellie has promised she will get everything I need to make your rope.”
Stephen shrugged. “Both are always needed, I suspect. Although I have neither mended nor made rope in my life. I expect my fingers would be too clumsy.”
Rowena looked down at his hands.
The urge to wiggle his fingers raced through him, just to bring a smile to her face. But ’twas not the time for jocularity. Nor was he the type to engage in it.
“I’ve just returned from your hut,” he said grimly.
Rowena drew in a quick breath as apprehension flashed in those pale blue eyes.
Her lips parted, then shut firmly as she looked away. In her lap, her hands shook. Would they be cool if he covered them with his own? Suddenly, the room was becoming uncomfortably warm, and Stephen was glad he’d left the door ajar.
“You found something that disturbs you,” she commented.
He glanced around. Though this cramped chamber was one of many in his manor, before last night he’d not stepped foot in it, let alone sat in one of its chairs. This whole wing was new to him. ’Twas Josane’s business to deal with the kitchen and maids’ quarters.
He pulled in a breath and found it filled with the warm scent of sweet herbs and late-season blooms, instead of the expectant smell of smoke from the single bare lamp on the table. The hall where his soldiers slept, indeed his own room, had never smelled this pleasant.
’Twas most likely due to the many plants drying within. As Stephen stood to remove his cloak, he cleared his throat. He would not focus on such foolishness, not whilst he planned to use her as bait. “I found your spark box.”
Rowena stared up with a surprised expression. “The lid was clicked shut, was it not?”
“Aye, it was shut tight.” He sat down. “And the fire did start over the door. One has only to see where the center of the blaze had been to know that.”
“I saw the glow over the door first! I smelled something burning and turned, and that’s when it burst into flame. It had already burned through the thatch.”
“The top layer of the roof would be damp with dew, so whoever set it would have had to light the cut end of the thatch, which would burn upward. That may be why it appeared to have started from the inside, but the spark-box shelf was barely scorched.”
Rowena eased back in the chair. “My provisions for the winter were trampled. And my chicken let loose and the rabbit hutch ruined. But that wasn’t enough for whoever did this. Someone wants me dead, at first by starvation, but when you offered me food they decided to try to kill me quickly.” She dropped her head, her hands covering her face.
Stephen’s fingers curled to make fists. If he’d had enough soldiers, he would have taken full, unyielding control of this village, herded all the villagers into a single group and demanded the truth from them.
But his full complement of men had not yet arrived. Stephen knew ’twould be foolish to start something he could not finish. King William had promised him a company to help build the palisade and prepare for fighting should those rebels in Ely move south. Except that the king was ready to push north to York to raze that county and prove his sovereignty there.
Stephen worked his jaw. He’d be addled to do anything drastic with only a dozen and a half soldiers at his disposal. Especially against Saxons with murder on their minds and deadly pitchforks in their hands.
“I’ll continue my investigation,” he said briskly, “until I discover who did this.”
Rowena’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “No one here will surrender that person, milord. They feel threatened by me, for I gave birth to a Norman child. They’ll be threatened all the more by you. Who knows what will happen if they think we are working together? Even you will have to be careful.”
Though she was young, Rowena seemed quite well versed in intrigue and plotting. She’d either been taught this or learned it the hard way. More likely the latter, Stephen decided as he glanced over at the babe, who’d discovered he could move to his hands and knees and rock back and forth in preparation for crawling. Why would anyone feel threatened by her? Did the answer lie with her child’s sire? Did the villagers know more than he did? “Rowena, who is this child’s father?”
Silence answered him first. Then finally, she spoke. “Didn’t Lord Adrien tell you? I thought he would in his letter explaining me.”
“Adrien and I are friends, but he is worse than I am at not volunteering information. Nay, he asked only that I find a home for you.”
“Why you?”
Stephen shrugged. “Mayhap because this village is only a day’s brisk walk from Dunmow Keep. Mayh
ap because he knows I would not say no.”
Rowena’s lips parted as she considered his answer. “Are you that good a friend?”
“Aye,” he said with a nod. “But unless I speak directly to Adrien, ’tis hard for me to guess his reasoning. He said nothing of the child, just that you were freed from slavery by King William. This child’s father is Norman, isn’t he? I know of no Saxon so swarthy.”
She looked down at her fingers, now meshed together in her lap. “Aye. Lord Taurin bought me from my father to be his slave. I didn’t realize until later that I was to be bred because Lord Taurin’s wife is barren. I remember the day my father boasted that all his other daughters had provided strong, healthy sons. I didn’t understand why he was saying that to a Norman who seemed just to be passing through.”
Stephen swallowed. “Did Taurin treat you poorly?”
Rowena lowered her eyes, and again her hands began to shake. “I think you know that answer, milord. At first, Lord Taurin told me I was going to have a better life, one where my father could never hurt me again. I believed him, for my father...well, he was not like other parents...”
“How so? Besides selling you?”
“Other fathers love their children.” Rowena swallowed. “Even Lord Taurin had been interested in the babe within me, though only because he was a means to receive land.”
She wet her lips. “My father had no interest in me. He acknowledged that I was alive, that’s all. For I was a burden. I had no dowry, no prospects to bring income through marriage. I was also small and couldn’t manage even the simplest farm tasks.” She sniffed. “I could have if they’d fed me.”
Shock rattled through him. “You mean you weren’t given food?”
Rowena didn’t look up, choosing only to toy with her fingers. “After the dog ate. He could herd the sheep and guard the barn. I ate what he left. The barn was a separate hut, for only the most valuable animals, breeding stock or hens that laid regularly were kept in the farmhouse.” A soft sound akin to a sniffle broke up her words. She then shrugged sadly. “You don’t feed the runt, for it cannot give you anything worthwhile.”
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