The next few days passed in the same way. Angelet slept—he was told—and he could do nothing but wait. He practiced every day, always alone, though often some of the servants would come to watch him for a while. Perhaps Alric told them to, because Rafe had the sense he was never unobserved. Alric took his role seriously, and Rafe sneaking away would be difficult, though certainly not impossible…if he went alone. He’d never be able to spirit Angelet away, which meant he had to either brazen this whole situation out, or cut and run as he did before.
Before he made any decision, Alric summoned him one day. He wore what Rafe thought of as his “serious” expression.
“What’s the matter?” Rafe asked.
“I spoke to someone this morning, and heard an interesting tale. I want to believe what you told me, Rafe…”
“But you don’t,” Rafe interrupted, “because of who I am.”
Alric frowned. “Regarding your earlier, ah, error in judgment—”
A kind way to describe attempted murder, Rafe thought.
“—I have forgiven that. Truly,” he added, on seeing Rafe’s skepticism.
“So?” Rafe asked. “What is my new crime?”
“You told me your account of what happened when Lady Angelet’s cortège was attacked.”
“Yes,” Rafe said impatiently.
“But you didn’t tell me that there was a large quantity of gold in a chest. And now I’ve heard that there is speculation that you were the very person who stole it.”
That annoyed Rafe. “What?”
“There are rumors among travelers. You stole the gold, allowed the others to be killed, and made off with the woman as a hostage.”
“Does she look like a hostage?” Rafe sputtered. “I did everything I could to save her life. I even came back here! A mistake, I now know.”
“So you deny the theft?”
“Yes, I deny it! I’ll march into the chapel over there and deny it again, if that would help.”
“It wouldn’t,” Alric said flatly.
“Then what would convince you?”
“The whole truth?”
Rafe sighed, then proceeded to tell Alric the few details he’d withheld from the original account. At the end, Alric shook his head.
“Why keep this a secret?”
“Perhaps because of the accusation you just leveled at me? I know I’m not the trustworthy, upstanding knight you are. But I’m no thief, and I didn’t have anything to do with the disappearance of that gold. Angelet will confirm it. I couldn't have brought along so much treasure, even if I did steal it. Which I didn’t.”
“You might have hid it somewhere.”
“There were nearly a dozen other people with the cortège. Someone was always awake—because I set watches. There’s no way I could have spirited the chest away, snuck the key from Angelet to unlock it, unchained the whole mess, removed the money, refilled it with rocks, rebound it, relocked, and hauled it back alone, without someone seeing. And who in the world would be dumb enough to hide a cache of treasure in a countryside he barely knows? I’d be better off tossing it into the sea.”
“All right, I believe you.”
“You do?”
“You’re not the type of man to leave something that valuable behind.”
Rafe sighed. Even when he was exonerated of something, his worst traits got brought up. “Ask the lady. She’ll tell the same story.”
“Cecily insists that we don’t distress her while she recovers, so I haven’t brought it up.”
“Speaking of her recovery, can I see her at some point? She always seems to be asleep when I try.”
“Well, a crossbow bolt to the chest is no small matter. It’s amazing the bolt didn’t pierce a lung, or her heart. She’d be long buried by now. So don’t begrudge her a nap.”
“I don’t begrudge her anything. I just want to see for myself.”
“Speak to Cecily,” Alric said. “One thing I’ve learned is that it’s unwise to ignore my wife when she’s made her wishes clear.”
As it happened, Cecily found him first. Rafe had gone to the top of the outer wall, the one facing the eastern woods. He was enjoying a moment of peace, simply looking out over the greening woods, when the lady of the manor joined him.
“Did you miss Cleobury?” she asked, surveying him rather than the scene.
“Occasionally.” Every day, but he wouldn’t tell Cecily that. “Thank you for letting me stay. And for caring for Angelet.”
“Did you think I’d turn the poor woman away?”
“I knew you couldn’t. That’s why I risked the ride here.”
“You did risk quite a lot for the lady Angelet,” Cecily noted. “I want to discuss that.”
“You do?”
“You’ve seduced her, haven’t you?”
Rafe glanced at her. “You’ve grown blunt.”
“I’m not the innocent girl I once was. I know much more of the world, and I know what you’re like…what you’ve always been like when it comes to women. You see one you enjoy and then charm her to you, with no thought of what comes after. So you’ve done to Angelet.”
“No,” he snapped. Then, before he could stop himself, he hedged, “Not exactly.”
“How do you not exactly seduce a woman?”
“It was…are we really going to talk about this, you and me?”
“You’re in my home, Rafe. You once served my father. You once betrayed my husband and my family. And now you quail at a little crude talk? What did you do to her?”
“Nothing she didn’t ask for.”
“That’s no defense, if you persuaded her to ask.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said. “Not at all.”
“Then what was it? If you played with her heart simply to tumble her into a bed once or twice, it proves you’ve not changed and you’ll never change. You’ll be the same selfish knave you showed yourself to be years—”
“I’d die for her,” he said, louder than he intended.
Cecily’s eyes widened as the words fell between them.
“I’d die for her,” Rafe repeated, more calmly. “In fact, I was attacked multiple times on her account. If things had gone a bit differently, it might have been me with a wound in my chest. Sorry to disappoint. Again.”
“You love her?” Cecily asked softly.
“I’ve never been in love,” he said, shrugging off the suggestion. “I protected her because that’s what I was hired to do. That’s all I meant. Anything more would complicate things, and they’re complicated enough as it is.”
“You’ve slept with her, though,” Cecily guessed.
“Dear God, what’s it to you if we have? She’s a widow. She was no innocent for me to ruin. We both wanted something. If there was a seduction, it was entirely mutual.”
“So it might have been, but the consequences are not equal! What if she bears your child?”
“No.”
“That’s your defense? A simple denial? That’s—”
“She had one son, and that is all she will ever have. She told me she can no longer bear children.”
Cecily suddenly put a hand to her mouth, her cheeks reddening. It wasn’t hard to guess why. Cecily’s rounding belly made her current state obvious. She must have chattered away of her hopes to Angelet, who naturally would have said nothing to destroy the happy mood.
“Whatever is between Angelet and me is our problem,” Rafe said.
“But now you’re both here,” Cecily countered. “And I insist that until you both leave, you treat her as a lady, not one of your conquests. Your reputation at Cleobury is damaged enough. Don’t make it worse.”
“Thank you for reminding me,” he muttered.
“Was there a chance you’d forget?”
No, not till he died. One more reason to get out of Cleobury as soon as humanly possible.
Chapter 25
Angelet seemed to spend a long time adrift, half asleep, half awake. She remembered fragments of
conversations with Cecily and a few other women, but no details. The room was sometimes light and sometimes dark. Breathing occupied much of her attention, since every time she inhaled, an ache pulsed through her whole chest. She was very lucky to be alive, and she sent several prayers to Mary in thanks. The mother of God must have extended a hand to deflect the shot, protecting another mother out of compassion.
Her dreams sometimes included scenes of the visions she had in the past, from the golden city in the clouds to the black figure she thought of as an angel. But she never lost control of her body as she did when the seizures came upon her, and for that she prayed thanks to her nameless angelic protector.
Even after she awoke from her deeper dreams, Angelet still felt adrift and lost. But at least she could enjoy a new gown. When Angelet was well enough to get out of bed and walk around the chamber, Cecily offered her one that she had recently put away due to her pregnancy. It was a lovely soft blue wool. Along with a new shift in a crisp white, Angelet felt like a different person. Perhaps she was, considering how much had changed for her in a few short weeks.
While walking, she stumbled, and Cecily reached out to steady her. “Careful! You don’t want to turn an ankle and be stuck abed longer!”
“I don’t know what I want anymore,” Angelet said miserably, as she shuffled to the bed. She felt winded after only a few steps.
“Then you should stay here while you decide,” Cecily replied.
“You’ve done so much already, my lady. I cannot impose.”
“Nonsense. Guests are rare enough. Don’t deny me a lady’s company for a while. I’ll send word to your family at Dryton—”
“No, you must not do that!” Angelet said.
“Why ever not? They will worry once they hear you’ve not arrived at Basingwerke. They’re likely already worried, if news of your broken carriage and the bodies of the slain are reported to them.”
That had undoubtedly already happened. But Angelet still shook her head. “Please don’t send word, at least not until you’ve spoken to Sir Rafe about it. Heed him—he’ll know what to do. There were men following us and I’m not sure it’s wise to alert anyone to where we are. Not yet.”
“You set great trust in Rafe,” Cecily observed.
“He earned it! He defended me, and brought me here. Without him, I would be dead.”
Cecily said, “Rafe does seem to have cared for your well being. But if I may be so bold as to counsel you, don’t blind yourself with gratitude.”
Angelet blushed. Did the other woman somehow guess that she and Rafe had shared a bed? “I don’t think Rafe is like most men.”
“No, he’s not at all, and that’s what worries me. You think you know Rafe, but I’ll wager there’s much in his past he’s told you nothing of.”
“What?” She knew there was something, but Rafe had never confided in her.
Cecily sighed. “I’ll leave him to tell it, if he dares. I would not tell the story properly. We’re all too close to it.”
It was a cryptic line, but Angelet didn’t want to press the other woman since the topic obviously distressed her. But when she next saw Rafe, she would try to steer the conversation to learn more.
In the great hall, she slowly ate some hot broth with warm, crusty bread speckled with green bits of wild onion. Rafe joined her at the table, his eyes filled with questions he couldn’t ask out loud. Beneath the innocuous talk they exchanged, she sensed his concern. She also recognized how fiercely she’d missed him during their time apart. Cecily’s warning seemed to evaporate when she looked at the face of the man across from her. Still, she wanted to know more about him.
Angelet asked him, “How did you come to be in training here? Under de Vere specifically, I mean. Isn’t that usually reserved for sons of relations, or friends, or those in alliance? That’s why my Henry was fostered where he is now.”
“I don’t know,” Rafe said. “I asked him directly, only once. He said he did it out of Christian charity, and could tell me nothing more. Perhaps he owed a favor to someone, and taking me on was sufficient to repay it.”
“Or someone owed him a favor,” she countered. “After all, having you as knight must have benefited him. He had one more to send when the king asked, and one more to defend his own walls. Although no one could have predicted your skill, not if you were only…eleven, did you say, when you came here?”
“Eleven or close to it. Too young to know if I had a gift for fighting.”
“Well, no one can now dispute that you have.” She gave a little laugh, then winced, putting a hand to her aching chest.
Rafe leaned forward. “What’s wrong? Should I find Lady Cecily?”
“No, I just need to mind how I react. Too deep a breath or too sudden a movement and I can feel it.”
“I can walk you up to your chamber. You should rest.”
“I’m sick of resting,” she said. “I’ll go mad if I’m confined to that bedchamber another day.”
“You won’t, and it’s not worth it to push yourself if you only collapse back. Don’t you want to get to your son in Dorset? Think of him. I can’t escort you there if you can’t even walk from one floor to another.”
“It feels so far away.”
“Yes, but if that’s where you want to go, then that’s where I’ll take you. You didn’t hire me to sit around, after all.”
Was he annoyed by the diversion in their journey? Well, of course he was. He didn’t want to be at Cleobury. “If you wish to leave, Sir Rafe, you can. You can make a better living if you return to fighting tourneys, or hiring out for someone else. I have no claim on you.”
He didn’t respond for a moment, then said, “Not many tourneys to fight in, once summer comes. That’s when the real battles begin again. Who knows what Stephen or Maud have planned for England? I don’t want to be in the midst of that.”
“So you’ll stay?” she asked, trying hard not to sound as if she were begging.
“I suppose,” he replied. “But you must rest. The second I hear you’re violating Cecily’s instructions, I ride out that gate.”
She smiled, unreasonably happy with that response. “Thank you.”
“Good. Now, I’m taking you to bed.”
“Rafe!” she warned.
He gave her a too-innocent smile. “So you can rest. What’s the matter, my lady? Did you think I meant something else?”
“Stop that,” she said in a low voice, though she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. “This is hardly an appropriate time.”
“But eventually it will be, and we still have an agreement, don’t we?”
Was that why he agreed to stay on? Angelet doubted it, since Rafe could have any woman he wanted. Still, the idea that he was only interested in her recovery so they could resume their more intimate relations chilled her.
“Angelet?” Rafe took her hand. “You know I’m only teasing you.”
“Of course I know that. I’m just tired. I should rest after all.”
Rafe walked her back to her room, behaving perfectly the whole time. He’d always been able to do that, she recalled. Proper in public, and very improper once they were alone. She wished he wasn’t so good at switching his demeanor. It made it impossible to judge his true feelings, assuming he had any feelings for her deeper than lust.
When she was alone in the bedchamber once more, sleep eluded her. Instead, she thought of Rafe, realizing how little she knew of his past actions or his future intentions.
* * * *
The days passed quietly. In general, Angelet was recovering well, and soon felt much closer to normal in a physical sense. She could move and walk and perform all her usual tasks just as well as she used to. She explored the manor’s house and grounds as her strength returned.
Cleobury was about the same size as Dryton, but it felt much busier, with steady traffic coming through the gates from the nearby village and the surrounding countryside. Some folk carried in goods that had been made by the town’s
craftsmen. Others brought in food—a cart of grain in one case, several braces of rabbits in another, or a basket full of pungent mushrooms harvested from the forest to the west. Everyone seemed to know each other, at least to call out greetings or chat for a few moments. Laughter broke out frequently, and the whole mood was so different from the grim atmosphere of Dryton.
The reason had to lie with those who ruled here. Lady Cecily appeared to have business in every building and field at some point. If she wasn’t directing some effort, her lord Alric was. The man was on his feet from sunup to sundown. Angelet had to struggle to remember Otto when he wasn’t at ease. Apparently, the real lord of the manor—Cecily’s father—was away. But Alric seemed to be well prepared for the part. Cleobury would be in good hands for another generation. Or two, considering Cecily’s condition.
Watching the lady absent-mindedly put her hand on her belly made Angelet think of her own child. She had to reach Henry before Otto found her. And she couldn’t do that until she got well enough to travel. Everything was in the air till she recovered, so she dutifully swallowed every tisane and followed every command when it came to her health. At Cecily’s orders, she did not overexert herself, though she did not enjoy feeling useless.
She didn’t have funds to repay Cecily for all her charity, so she instead offered her labor. Luckily, she could mend, and the ladies of Cleobury had plenty of mending to do. There were so many people about, there was always a supply of things to be repaired or improved—clothing, linens, sacks, and more. Angelet joined the group of women as if she had every right to, and soon she was quite happily stitching away.
She sewed several items for Cecily’s expected child, and used her skills with embroidery to make those items special. The women who worked as seamstresses in Cleobury all cooed in approval, and several of them asked for advice. Angelet gave it happily. At last her few domestic skills were proving useful in a small way. As she worked, she listened to the ladies gossip around her.
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