by Tamara Gill
Veronica smiled and toasted him. “Thank you, brother. That is very kind. I look forward to it with relish.”
Lord Ribald huffed and stared out at his land. His thoughts were on the Lady Madeline and the fun that was about to begin.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The horns sounded loud and clear. Maddie started in her chair, her earlier thoughts lost in the flickering flames in the hearth. She looked to Mistress Rhode, who sat bent over her embroidery.
“’Twould be Lord William, m’lady.”
Maddie ran to the window and looked out to the hills she could see over the outer castle walls. Noted some dust rising on a distant hill. “Do you think so? I can’t make out the party from here,” she said.
“It is he, m’lady. The horn sounded the lord’s sign,” Mistress Rhode said, continuing to sew.
“He has his own tune?”
“Aye,” her maid said, laughter in her eyes.
Maddie turned back to the view, her body a chorus of nerves and excitement. Three months, one week, and two days had seemed such a long time. William was home. Finally.
She clasped Mistress Rhodes’ hand and pulled her from the room. Almost ran through the Great Hall and out into the bailey. A gruelling half hour later, a cavalcade of horses passed over the drawbridge, a page riding out front, holding the family flag.
Maddie spotted William and her smile felt huge on her face. But she could not stop the absurd gesture if she tried. He was home, and he was safe.
Maddie stood and waited for him to dismount, watched him pass the reins of his horse to a serf who stood in wait. His eyes searched the yard and came to rest on her. Her body quivered in response to his wolfish smile.
She drank up his every feature. His clothes, although fine, were dusty from the many miles of travel, his face weary but happy. His horse moved away at a slow pace, sweat coating its hair beneath the saddle, spittle frothed at its mouth. They had ridden hard, eager for home, it would seem.
William walked toward her, stood looking down at her before he picked her up and kissed her soundly. Maddie’s arms twined around his neck, her hands twisting in the lengthened locks at his nape.
“I missed you, William.” She hugged him close. “What took you so long?” she mumbled into his shoulder.
William laughed and set her down. “The king. I have missed you too, ma chère.”
Maddie drew him down for another kiss. His mouth, warm and eager for more, took control of the embrace. His arms around her waist tightened. Maddie mewled in protest when he pulled away. She stepped back and made a point of taking in his dusty appearance.
“Would you like a bath, my lord?”
“’Twould be welcome indeed,” he said, winking.
A member of the troop that had accompanied William came up and bowed. Maddie stood beside him and clasped William’s hand, not willing to forgo all contact while he discussed details concerning security.
His business at an end, William turned and ushered her inside. Maddie sent orders for a bath to be prepared immediately for his lordship. Maids scattered to do her bidding. Making their chamber, Maddie paused to open the door and felt William’s lips graze the back of her neck. Anticipation shivered through her as his breath caressed her skin. She leaned into the embrace and revelled in his touch.
“’Tis best if we took this inside, ma chère,” he whispered against her ear. Maddie chuckled and opened the door and stepped aside to allow him enter. He paused in the center of the room and started to remove his armour. She walked over to him, and bent to undo the buckles on his leg armour. She placed them on the trunk then came to help with his chain mail.
He seemed so much larger after his long absence. The stubble on his jaw was a dark growth, his hair, in need of washing, was longer and unkempt. Maddie took a calming breath and could almost smell the male power that resonated from him.
She went and lay the chainmail down just as the bath and water arrived. William sat down before the hearth and sighed.
Maddie followed the servants to the door and closed it behind them.
“You’re tired, William.” She came and sat before him and pulled off his boots. “You have dark shadows beneath your eyes.”
William lent forward and kissed her. “I’m tired. But never too tired for you, ma chère.”
She threw him a smile then pulled the tunic over his head. “Did you finish your business in London?”
He pulled a folded piece of fabric from a pouch on his belt and handed it to her. Maddie frowned at the dark blue velvet. “What is it?” she asked looking up.
William started to take down her hair. “Open it and find out.”
Maddie did as he asked and gasped when a golden bangle sparkled bright in the cloth. Its heavy weight spoke of its expense. Not to mention the various coloured stones set in the band.
“For me,” she asked, smiling.
“Nay, ’tis for the farmer’s wife,” William said, laughing.
Maddie slipped the bracelet around her wrist and gazed down at it lovingly. “It’s beautiful, William. Thank you.”
“Took many weeks to make. Delayed my return, not to mention the king and the many reports he required of Kingston, Aimecourt and,” he paused. “Our marriage,” William said, meeting her eye.
“Do I still have to beget you an heir before the year is up?” Maddie asked, twisting the bangle in the firelight, liking the way the stones glittered up at her.
“Aye.”
At his single worded response, Maddie looked away from her gift. “What’s the matter?”
William stood and stretched, then undressed and stepped into the bath. Maddie walked over to where she kept her soap and walked toward him.
“Do ye still wear the ring?” he asked.
Maddie frowned and pulled it forth from her gown. “I do. William,” she said, rubbing the soap through his hair. “I think I should throw it away. It makes me uneasy.”
William nodded. “’Twould seem we have the same affliction then. When we return to Kingston we will dispense with it there. It is a family ring. I should keep it at least for our future generations.”
Maddie collected a jug and rinsed his hair. “Okay.” She paused. “Did Lady Veronica cause trouble when you left her?”
William looked at her knowingly and smiled. “Nay. Not a cursed word from her.”
Maddie laughed and started to lather his dark, sun-bronzed arms. “Did the king mention the letter I sent him?” Maddie shook her head. “I feel like such an idiot for writing him. What he must have thought.”
William grinned and flicked her nose with his finger. “Addled wits, I believe his words were.” William frowned. “’Twas the main reason for my journey, Madeline. King Henry had received word that you were not of sound mind. I’m afraid our audience with Tshilaba has reached his ears and added wood to the fire.”
Maddie dropped the soap then scrounged around in the water for it. “What is his thinking now?” she asked, images of being burnt alive at the stake for witchcraft or Satan worship whizzing through her mind.
William grinned and passed her the soap when her hand grasped another round object. “I explained to his majesty Tshilaba’s history with Aimecourt. How her daughter has been your maid since birth. That your change of character is solely due to me and your contentment at being married to a man of strong character and abilities you cannot deny.”
Maddie snorted and scrubbed down his legs, made a point of washing between them most decidedly. “Abilities, my lord? Why,” she said, with a mock sigh. “It has been so long, one could almost forget a husbands ‘abilities.’”
Maddie gasped as William stood and stepped from the bath, his strong arms picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder like a bag of grain. Maddie shrieked and slapped his naked bottom. William growled, then tossed her on the bed.
“’Twould be an appropriate time for reacquainting ourselves, I believe, my lady,” he said, pulling her slippers from her feet.
; Maddie bit her lip and allowed William to undress her. “Aye husband. I’m in need of thorough tutoring,” she said, laying back and revelling in his homecoming.
William kissed her and proved an excellent teacher.
***
The following morn, Maddie sat in the great hall sewing in front of the massive fire and watched the third servant that day to cross their chest in her presence. She looked to Mistress Rhode, busy with her own needle and wondered what was going on.
“Someone just did it again,” she said.
“Mistress Rhode looked up and frowned. Maddie did not miss the concern that flickered in her eye. “Ignore it, m’lady. Silly superstitions, that is all.”
“Why are they crossing themselves only around me? What does it mean when someone does that?” Maddie asked, looking toward the door as another serf walked past.
Her maid winced. “M’lady, do not fret, all is well.”
“Mistress Rhode, you will answer my question, or I’ll...I’ll make you fix my atrocious needlework.”
Her maid laughed. “Well then, pass it over,” she gestured.
“Mistress Rhode,” Maddie begged. “Please.” She needed to know what was happening around here. Everyone seemed to be acting strangely. Even the priest recommended more prayer time. Surely five times a day was ample enough already. Her maid sighed, and sat back in her chair.
“It means, my child that they believe you may bring them bad luck, harm them in some way unless they seek the protection of God.”
Maddie felt her jaw drop. A prickle of fear trickled down her spine. “They think me a witch?” she said, at length.
“I do not know, m’lady. The villagers are becoming more and more superstitious and I do not understand where the concern is coming from. I have tried to stem their fears, but nothing I say seems to sway them.”
Maddie clasped her rosary. First the king, and now her people were suspicious of her. “What will happen if they continue this way? Will I be forced to prove my innocence?” she asked.
A pained expression crossed her maid’s face. Maddie swallowed her rising panic and looked around the hall. Her glare dared the castle staff that went about their chores to cross themselves.
How dare they think such things of her? She wasn’t a witch, she was just some poor twenty-first century chit who happened to accidentally land in twelfth century.
“Do not worry, my child. Lord William will see it settled.”
“Do you think someone knows about me and what I told you when I first arrived?” she whispered.
“I do not think so, m’lady. I believe someone,” she said, her brow puckered, “is determined to ruin you any way they can.”
Maddie gaped. “You suspect Lady Veronica, don’t you? But how could she? She is settled with her brother, many miles away in Cheshire,” Maddie said.
“’Twould be wise, my dear, not to underestimate Lady Veronica and her family. I do believe they are known far and wide as powerful allies of the king, however, not the most savory ones.”
Maddie frowned over her maid’s words. Was Veronica in some way placing the seed of doubt in her people’s minds? But that was impossible, unless someone here was working for her.
She jumped as the great hall door swung open and knights entered seeking their evening meal. Maddie glanced at them as she packed away her sewing. At least none of them followed the latest craze and crossed themselves. She absently smiled at Sir Alex as she made her way upstairs.
Perhaps Mistress Rhode was correct. Perhaps she should stop worrying and allow it to all blow over. Surely it would if she ignored it. She stopped and stared, incredulous, at a laundress passing on the stairs crossing herself. Hurried past Madeline like the devil himself was chasing her brown skirts.
It took all Maddie’s will not to dismiss the woman on the spot.
This was absurd and something had to be done about it.
***
“Do you think it possible, William?” Maddie asked, looking over the knights breaking their fast in the hall.
“What would she have to gain from it, Madeline? She has no cause to strike against you,” he said, chewing a leg of some cooked animal.
Maddie furrowed her brow and wondered what it was the woman wanted to achieve. For William was right. Lady Veronica couldn’t gain anything, per se. But she could eliminate her from the face of the earth out of spite and jealousy. A woman scorned and all that. Maddie tapped her finger against the dais, only halting when William placed his hand over hers.
“She wouldn’t dare touch you,” he declared, his eyes holding a feral edge only his enemies would see.
“William, people are crossing themselves when I walk past. They think I’m a witch or something.” She shook her head, baffled. He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers, a consoling smile quirked his lips. It didn’t make her feel any better.
“William, stop. I’m scared. What if they decide to burn me at the stake?”
“They would have to get through me first, ma chère. And I can guarantee you that will never happen. We don’t burn witches in 1102,” he said, grinning.
“William, stop being an arse, it’s not funny,” she said, staring blandly at him when he choked on his mead. And it wasn’t funny. Not only was she out of her time, but she was in one that was hard, guarded, and unforgivable to the strange. She couldn’t stop the fear that in some way her people now feared her. She looked away, not really knowing what to do.
“’Twill be alright, ma chère. I have spoken to certain members of the staff to quell such notions in the household. No one knows what happened to you on the day of our wedding, and I intend to keep it that way. You’ll see, all this worry will be for naught.”
Maddie tried to smile as he chastely kissed her lips. She hoped that was true. However, something inside her was screaming for care. Something was not quite right here at Aimecourt. Someone was out for her blood. She looked around the hall as William continued his banter with his knights and wondered who it was among the servants who would dare slander her name.
Most, she noted, stood to the side, in wait for a summons or task. None looked like troublemakers. Her gaze moved over the few that stood patiently, further to the end of the room. Maddie’s inspection stopped on a young woman, perhaps in her early teens. Her eyes gave her away. They flicked about, reminded her of a nosy squirrel on the prowl for a chestnut.
Maddie sat up and looked at her, waited for the girl’s gaze to meet her own, silently hoping her actions were not the start of some sort of paranoia.
The young woman’s gaze eventually came to settle on the dais. She glanced along the seats. Maddie raised her brows as the girl looked at her and she frowned when the woman physically blanched and scuttled away like vermin.
She was the one.
Maddie sat and looked at the empty doorway the servant had gone through. She had never seen her before, not even when the Lady Veronica had been in residence. William pulled her into the conversation and Maddie attempted to listen. Tomorrow she would find out who the girl was and then have it out with the little traitor. And she would see who ended up on the stake. Well, perhaps she wasn’t that blood thirsty. But the woman would think twice before she thought to earn coin by doing bad deeds. She would make sure of it.
***
The next morning, Madeline rode out with William, her unease almost palatable between them.
“I tell you, William, the servant I cannot find is the spy, and I bet my bottom dollar she’s travelled back to Lady Veronica after the look I gave her last night.”
William settled his mount under him, looked over at his wife, and fought the urge to chuckle at her language. “Madeline—”
“What? Don’t be silly. Stop your worrying. You’ll protect me.” she said, interrupting him. She pulled Eurus up and glared. “I’ve heard it all, William, and I’m telling you, Veronica and her family are up to something. I just know it,” she declared, her voice fervent.
William frowned, met her
gaze when he realized she was angry, and annoyed at him. He supposed it was not fair to dismiss her concerns continually. She could be, after all, correct.
“It’s all right for you. You’re not the one on their radar,” she mumbled, and urged her mount forward.
William ran a hand through his hair and took a fortifying breath. “I have men on the girl’s trail, Madeline. If she is in fact headed back to Castle Dee, we will know it soon enough. She’ll not get away.” He paused at her continued glare. “Lady Veronica and her brother are still in Cheshire. Do not worry, ma chère. I would never let anything happen to you.”
Madeline looked away from him, her eyes lost on the land before them. Guilt swamped him when she worked her bottom lip, a habit she had when nervous or upset. “I have told you they cannot harm you. They will never have the opportunity.” He paused. “I received word yesterday that Kingston’s fortification is near complete. It will make the castle as impenetrable as Aimecourt. You will be safe in both homes, my love. No one will touch a hair on your body. I won’t allow it.”
His wife continued to look away.
“More and more people are crossing themselves, William. I even caught Beth about to do it the other day and she’s my friend. Or was,” she mumbled.
William started at Madeline’s words. The people held strong to their beliefs, proved hard to sway at times. But to believe Madeline was cursed or evil in some way was a form of insanity in itself. As for Lady Veronica and her family, he would deal with them. Punish them before the king for their misdeeds.
“I have threatened dismissal and expulsion to any who use the sign. It will pass, Madeline, you will see. You must continue with your normal duties. Eventually, some other problem will catch their attention and they will move on. We know there is no truth to the tale. You must stop your worry, for it will begin to make you sick,” he said, frowning at her pallor.
“What if they burn me alive?” She asked him, her eyes overly bright.
“Madeline, look at me.”