by Ann Turner
The voyage to Normandy was rough and the ships were blown about by strong gales and tall, menacing waves. The majority of the group were seasick and they all desired to reach their destination safely.
Eventually, the fleet docked in Harfleur and Rowena gratefully disembarked. She thanked God that she and her baby had survived the crossing. Even the adventurous Aubrette was appreciative to have survived her first sea crossing. They rested there, waiting for the stragglers to dock, and received the news that two of the ships had been lost to the angry waves.
Not wanting to waste any more time, King Henry was quickly on the road again, heading south for Anjou. He marched his army hard across the countryside and reached Chinon, taking up residence in his castle there. His sons Richard and Geoffrey arrived to assist their father with the dissent.
Aubrette was immediately alert to the duke’s presence. Would he remember her from his time in England? When he saw his royal half-brother, Simon could not have been more delighted, and along with Count Geoffrey, they spent hours getting drunk, womanising and reminiscing on other campaigns and conquests on battlefields and in beds. But Aubrette did not concern herself about Simon or the duke for long, as Rowena had become very unwell and there were disturbing signs that the baby could be aborted. The physicians and midwives did as much as their knowledge allowed them to, but it was not enough and Rowena miscarried.
She lay in crisp, fresh sheets feeling empty, too empty to even cry. What would Simon say to this? He had reluctantly accepted the fact that many infants died during birth, but would not understand this. Could she ever carry and give her husband an heir? For now, all Rowena could think about was that she had failed him again.
Simon took the news of his wife’s miscarriage without any outward display of emotion. He had bedded Aubrette with his usual energy and refused to be drawn on the subject of Rowena’s struggles to produce a living child. He distanced himself from her with the excuse that she needed to recoup her strength. Aubrette knew she should tell her lover to pay more attention to his wife, but she was deeply enamoured with him and her sister’s misfortune had given her every night with him. She would stay with Rowena, keeping her company until she was asleep. Aubrette then would slip from the room to meet with Simon. She never wanted to lose him to any other woman, even her sister. And although she wanted to be close to Rowena, to be with her during her recovery, to be a shoulder for her to cry on, she couldn’t resist spending time with Simon. He was a drug, an enticement, and Aubrette never wanted to be anywhere else.
During her recovery, Rowena confided in Aubrette. ‘I think my husband has taken a permanent mistress. I know he amuses himself with other women, but this woman seems to be different. She seems more important to him. He thinks I have not noticed, but a wife knows the signs,’ she said in a constrained voice. Aubrette was instantly alert. ‘There is a secrecy about him; he seems distracted when we are together, as though some other woman is in his thoughts instead of me.’
‘Have you any idea who this woman is?’ she asked, cautiously.
‘Not yet, but I think she is in our household.’
‘What will you do if you discover her identity?’
‘I shall dismiss her, of course, though Simon would find another. Oh, I don’t know. What do you think, Aubrette?’
She thought for a few moments before speaking. ‘You have a handsome husband who many women must find attractive.’
Rowena looked shrewdly at her. ‘Do you find Simon handsome?’
‘He is pleasing to the eye.’ Aubrette admitted, but would not say more, feeling her cheeks grow hot. She hoped this did not give her secret away.
‘If my husband wanted to bed you, would you refuse?’ she asked.
Does she know? Is she trying to trap me into admission? thought Aubrette and forced a light laugh, hoping it did not sound too spurious.
‘I would refuse, as you and I are sisters and that would betray your trust in me,’ she lied affectively, with a hand on her heart.
Tears of gratitude shone in Rowena’s eyes. ‘If you hear anything, or find her, will you tell me?’ she asked.
Aubrette assured her she would.
That night, as Simon and Aubrette lay entwined in each other’s arms amid the rumpled sheets of her bed, she spoke of the conversation with Rowena. He thought about it for some time, then told her what he thought they should do.
‘Tell Rowena it is one of her kitchen maids. I’ll bed one a few of times so she cannot deny that I have had her. She must not discover my mistress is you. I’ll not give you up for anyone,’ he vowed and began to move down her body, kissing her flesh, his lips lingering, exciting her to match his rising passion.
14
In the kitchens, a young woman stood at the large wooden table, absently plucking the feathers from a goose. Her mind wandered as she pulled fistfuls of feathers and dropped them onto a cloth. The feathers would be kept, and when there was enough, they would be used to stuff pillows. She had worked for a year in the service of Sir Simon and Lady Rowena. She found life hard, but at least she had employment. The pay wasn’t much, but it was enough to send most of it to her widowed mother.
She had been excited and surprised to be included in her master’s party for the journey to France, not considering herself important enough. The French kitchen girls had not welcomed her and their hostile attitude saddened her. The adventure had soured very quickly. However, it had not stopped her from her dreaming.
She had ambitions to become a head cook in a grand house and prepare impressive banquets, with underlings, just like herself, at her bidding. She would create magic dishes to serve up to lords and ladies, and their visiting guests. They would praise her and lure her away to work for them. She would become famous, and even the king himself would hear of this incredible woman and command her to work for him and the royal family.
She briefly stopped plucking and her attention drifted to the future, imagining King Henry standing in front of her. He was congratulating her, holding out a bag of gold coins, telling her to fetch her mother, and they would both join his service, to be installed in one of his many castles across his empire. They would never be poor or go hungry again.
A clip around her ear brought her back to the task she was performing. ‘You scullion! You are not here to daydream; get that bird prepared and on the spit for the kitchen-boy,’ the cook shouted in her ear.
Not understanding the language, but realising she was being reprimanded, she apologised and turned her attention back to the goose. Once this was completed, there was an endless list of chores waiting for her attention.
It came as a complete surprise to everyone when Sir Simon entered the kitchen. He spoke to the cook to say his wife needed a special diet to aid recovery from her miscarriage, and to boost her chances to conceive and carry a child successfully. What he was actually doing, however, was selecting a victim from the scullery maids.
He saw the young woman; she was plain, thin-faced, had a sad down-turned mouth and was obviously a virgin – destined to remain so. He had heard her speak and realised she was one of his party, brought from England, and still being treated as an outcast. She would be ideal to use and abuse, but not yet – he would send for her and take his time on her to ensure she fell hopelessly in love with him. Rowena would realise with surprise that this wretched creature was the siren that had caught his eye and Aubrette would remain without suspicion. They would be able to continue their affair unaffected. What could go wrong? It was a plan that could not fail.
The young woman received a summons from Lady Rowena herself. She commanded she attended her on a private matter. The maid was astonished and bemused to be called by her mistress. The other maids taunted her that she was going to be dismissed and would be cast out on the street as she was too ugly to be employed by anyone else. They said she could curdle milk by just looking at it. Cruel wo
rds hurt her; she knew she was no beauty and was accustomed to the jibes from the French kitchen girls who were prettier and bolder than her.
Trembling, she stood at the door to Lady Rowena’s chamber, convinced now of her dismissal. She tapped timorously and waited for the command to enter. The voice on the other side of the door did not sound like Lady Rowena’s. Slowly, she lifted the latch and entered, surprised to see Sir Simon sitting at the table. So, her mistress had asked her husband to do the deed – she always had appeared too gentle for unpleasant acts. He sat there, fingers linked, arms resting on the table, and looked at her as she stood in the middle of the room. Her eyes were focused on the floor, and she felt uncomfortable, waiting for her orders to leave the premises.
‘My wife does not know that I have requested your company. She is out riding with her ladies,’ Simon said, calmly. ‘She, and no one else is not to know about this, understand?’
The young woman nodded silently. Simon rose to his feet and came to stand in front of the table to face her. She guessed it was for a tumble; why else would he have sent for her while his wife was absent? And why her? There were so many more attractive ladies here, some of which he had already dallied with.
‘Whatever you ask of me, I shall comply willingly,’ she said meekly.
Simon smiled. ‘That is good to know. Do you know why I have sent for you?’ he asked and she shook her head. ‘I need to talk about my life and I need someone I can trust not to blather and tell others. When I came to the kitchens the other day, I noticed you. You have an honest face – a face of a woman I can trust and talk safely with.’
She flushed with pleasure and embarrassment.
Dear God, she is foolish, Simon thought to himself. She would be very easy to manipulate and to make fall in love with him.
He offered the young woman a seat. After she had sat down, he began the lies about how he worried for his wife, how her delicate constitution concerned him, how he loved his wife and did not want to hurt her by casting her aside, divorcing her and taking another woman in matrimony to give him an heir.
The young woman sat listening to his words, believing everything he said and marvelling that Sir Simon had picked her out from all the women – not for her looks, not for another of his conquests, but to confide in her. This moment meant so much more than a quick tumble behind closed doors.
‘Your name?’ he asked and she replied in a quiet voice.
‘Charming.’ He took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it softly. ‘I mean no harm to you, I would not force you to do anything against your will,’ he assured smoothly, leaving the girl giddy with confusion. ‘I have spoken enough; tell me about your life. What do you do in the kitchen? How does your day begin and when does it end?’
Why did he want to know about her day? She was a nobody – everyone had told her that so often, she now believed it herself. She began to tell him things, and he smiled and nodded. He feigned interest very well, but this must be taken slowly. He would win her trust before going in for the seduction.
Once they had spoken for a while, Simon raised her back to her feet. ‘You may go now. Remember this is our secret, no one else must know.’
The girl left his chamber and returned to the kitchen, where the curious maids were waiting to know when they should expect her departure. She said nothing and returned to her duties, amused that all these maids wanted to talk to her now. However, they quickly grew bored with her; they too had chores to attend to and were reprimanded by the cook for wasting so much time on a worthless drudge of a girl. The girl smiled inwardly at this. She shared a secret with their master and who else could boast of such delicious secrecy.
The following day, she received a second summons. The cook and other senior members of the kitchen could not understand why she had been selected. Again, she sat, this time in his privy chamber while he confided his false secrets to her, didn’t make a move and then sent her on her way again. This strange dance of false emotion carried on. She gradually became more open and talked to him, still with deference, with the silly belief that he enjoyed her company. He continued to tell her she was someone he could trust with the confusions in his life.
It was then that Simon made his move on her. This silly, plain girl had quickly fallen in love with him and she would now do anything he asked of her. On this day, he asked her to lay with him, as he said she had an inner beauty, not obvious to all, which made her exceptional, and he could not deny his feelings any longer for her. Her smile lit up her drab face, and widened, agreeing to his request willingly.
He wrapped his arms around her, whispering false words of love in her ear, charming her, enticing her. She was his and she gave herself to him, knowing that the other maids would be insanely jealous as he truly loved her. Had he not instigated this precious moment himself? If this was not an act of love, then what was?
Simon kept up the pretence with the girl, letting her believe their union was unique. He confided in her that he had a wife who no longer satisfied him. She believed his lies, with no idea that she was a pawn in his devious plan.
Aubrette and Simon continued to meet in secret during this time. Once he had satisfied his lust, he talked about how the plan was proceeding and that it was time to bring it to its conclusion.
‘She is besotted with me and the revelation will break her heart. But it has to be done if we are to stay together.’ He stated. Aubrette watched him dress, while she lay naked in her bed. He turned and threw her dress at her. ‘Confide in Rowena of your suspicions and then fetch that wretched creature to her. She will not be in a position to deny anything.’ Simon paused and laughed, coldly. ‘I find it almost impossible to feign affection for such a pitiful excuse of a female. I am not at my best; my prowess almost fails me every time I lay with her. I told her she makes me feel a rampant man again and she believed me, she knows no difference.’
‘Almost?’ Aubrette echoed, and Simon grinned at her.
‘Almost,’ he affirmed. ‘By God’s teeth, I only was able to slot my member into that dry cunny by imagining it was you under me.’
Aubrette felt guilty in naming the kitchen maid as Simon’s mistress. Still, she stood behind Rowena, pale-faced and delicate in her grand chair, while the poor maid wept into her apron in front of them, confessing to sleeping with her husband on more than one occasion. Her reasoning that Simon had said he loved her only infuriated Rowena more.
Simon who had been loitering towards the rear of the room, now came and stood behind his wife and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He laughed spitefully at the maid’s reasoning and said she must be desperate to think he had ever spoken such words. Yes, he had taken her, he would not deny that, but he had never intended for their relationship to develop in the fashion she was imagining. It was all in her mind and he loved his wife.
The maid’s heart broke at these revelations and the tears clouded her vision, as she looked at his cold, emotionless face. He had callously used her; how could she have been so credulous? Who would, in truth, look at a plain scullery maid? She would remain forgotten, not noticed by anyone, to grow old and bitter alone. For her actions and her lies, she was banished from the household.
The sisters watched as the young woman, disgraced and dishonoured, left the room. Her shoulders were hunched in shame; she did not understand, in her ignorance, that she was the innocent part of the plot set to hide another love affair. Dismissed from her employment, she had nowhere to go but to beg on the streets for alms. She was alone in France with no way to finance her way back to England. She was desolate and penniless.
‘This will bring Simon back to me and we shall be happy together again. If I dare to hope, this will make us close once more and we shall yet have a son,’ Rowena said, looking at her sister with affection.
Aubrette remained silent, forcing herself to look into the face of her sister, knowing the dec
eit was to continue, and that Rowena was still unaware.
A week later, the body of the disgraced young woman was found, She had taken her own life, unable to live with the realisation that she had been foolish enough to believe that Sir Simon could love her, and that she had been used in a most cruel manner. Rowena was briefly sad to learn of this news, but could not understand why her sister had received the news so badly. Surely Aubrette had nothing to do with the lying, cheating creature.
15
Simon was called to help end the rebellion and rode out to stand alongside the duke and the count, who were prepared to restore order by the sword. The disturbance was quickly resolved without a battle, through clever negotiations from the king.
The Plantagenet sons were left feeling cheated of a war, so, against the king’s command, Duke Richard had the ringleaders hung from the castle walls as a warning to those who thought they could outwit the Plantagenets. King Henry was furious with his son’s disobedience and berated Richard with his infamous temper, throwing cups, plates and food on the floor and at his son. This resulted in the duke storming back at his father with equal ferocity.
Henry’s comeback was that he would take Aquitaine away from him and give it to the one remaining son who truly loved him, John. Richard countered that Aquitaine had belonged to his mother and that Eleanor, who was duchess in her own right, had given the fertile region to her best loved son. It was not the kings to dispose of.