Candle in the Window (19 page)

He strode from the room, invigorated by the
discussion and the plan, and Maud watched him with a dry approval.
“I would have never thought a loud, blunt man such as Charles
would be capable of such underhand treachery,” she mused.

“Nor I,” Lord Peter said. “Still,
one can never be sure.”

“I’m sure of one thing. Saura will
never marry Lord William unless we take the steps necessary. You,
m’Lord Fox, will never betray our plan, ye’re far too
wily for that. And I’m too wise a woman to tip our
hand.” She cuddled beneath the covers and grinned at him,
baring strong, white teeth and a considerable glee.
“He’ll play his part with conviction
if we don’t tell, and will never alert Saura by
his voice that we’ve tricked her. Come closer,” she
beckoned. Waiting until he draped an affectionate arm around her,
she tumbled backward and took him with her. “And listen to my
plan.”

Saura floundered out of the deep well
of exhaustion, urged by the scolding sound of Maud’s voice
and a strong conviction she was late for morning Mass.

“…leaps out of bed to selfishly break
his fast after he uses you half the night so you’re too tired
to rise like a decent woman to greet the dawn. Half the castle is
sniggering, sure you’ve been shown your proper place and
you’ll marry Lord William with no more fuss. But don’t
you worry, Lady Saura!” Maud’s strong hands grasped her
shoulders and lifted her to a sitting position. “I’ll
help you escape. I’ll not let any bullyboy push you into
something you don’t want.”

To Saura’s groggy mind, Maud sounded
gruesomely cheerful. “I don’t think—”

“Rape! ’Tis rape!”

“Nay, nay.” Saura pushed her loosened
hair from her eyes and massaged her temples as if they hurt.

“Like a savage, he carried ye off over his
shoulder.”

“Maud, it wasn’t rape.”

Maud shoved Saura’s hands away and kneaded
with deep and knowing fingers. “What else would ye call
it?”

“It would have been rape if I
hadn’t….”

“Hadn’t?”

“Hadn’t enjoyed it so much!”
Saura flounced off the bed.

“Oh, isn’t that just like a man,”
Maud complained. “Never thinking of you, never thinking of
your reputation. I’m supposing you’ll be producing a
babe in nine months.”

“A babe?” She paused in midstep, and
her maidservant caught her long enough to drop her chainse over her
head.

“Oh, aye. Everyone knows when a woman enjoys
her man, a babe’s not far behind. But don’t you worry,
we can handle such a wee problem.” She never stopped talking,
never paused long enough for Saura to think. She shoved
Saura’s arms into the sleeves and said, “However,
I’m not sure I’ll have to help you escape. Lord Peter
stopped me last night and asked me to have you come and talk to him
first thing in the morning.”

“What for?” Saura rubbed her mouth and
Maud handed her a cup of fresh-brewed ale.

“That’ll give you strength to face Lord
Peter. That man didn’t look pleased at all. Gruff and rude,
grumbling about a marriage between you and his son and how he
hadn’t been consulted.”

“He doesn’t want me?” Saura
asked, dazed by the hurt she felt.

“Ye hurt his consequence, I’d say.
Well, I told him he hadn’t looked so stern with
William’s eye on him, and he snorted. So maybe we’ll
walk out of here with our bags packed by Lord Peter. That’ll
make you happy, won’t it, m’lady?”

Saura nodded, and Maud pushed her to her feet and
briskly finished dressing her. “Of course, we’ll have
to go back to your stepfather, a happening I had hoped to avoid,
but we cannot stay here with Lord William so determined to marry
you. T’would be cruel torture to him. So ’tis back to
Theobald the whoreson, I guess.” Loathing dripped from
Maud’s voice, and Saura clenched her fist as she thought,
really thought, about living with her stepfather again. That busy
voice kept talking, kept filling in the picture for her.
“Pertrade Castle will seem like a small, dirty hole after
living at Burke. Ye can’t ride there, and Clare’ll stay
here as a page, so you’ll have no companionship. We’ll
have to start watchin’ out for the men again, since they
never give you a bit of respect. Still, maybe by now that snip of a
girl ol’ Theobald married has learned how to manage her own
household and won’t have to depend on you so. I imagine by
now the servants are used to runnin’ to her for
instruction.” Maud twitched the skirt of Saura’s cotte
and smoothed her sleeves. “There, now, you look very pretty,
just right to meet with Lord Peter after Mass.”

Lord Peter didn’t want her? The thought
haunted Saura as she stood through Mass, and broke bread with the
servants in the great hall. With a very human reaction, Saura was
distressed. The man she thought so much of didn’t want her in
his family. She prepared imaginary dialogues between Lord Peter and
herself, dialogues in which she pointed out all the reasons she was
worthy of his son. Sometimes the dialogues disintegrated into
arguments, for Maud had planted two very unpleasant seeds in
Saura’s mind. The first seed, of unworthiness, she could deal
with, for she had dealt with it her whole life. But the other, much
less agreeable seed, Saura stored away to fester in horror. She
didn’t want to go back to her stepfather’s house to be
a useless depen
dent, shunned and despised, a
charge on her brothers, and always in fear of her life.

Making her way to the little cubicle off the great
hall where the priest worked on the accounts, she found Lord Peter
loudly shuffling papers and muttering. “Sit, Lady
Saura,” he ordered. “There’s a chair for
you.”

He didn’t rise to assist her, and she
didn’t expect it. His gruffness she understood; he was
protecting his son from a match he considered below him. Yet Lady
Saura of Roget embodied advantages he couldn’t imagine, and
she would explain them.

“You understand, girl, I’m not quite as
thrilled as my son. You have proved to me you’re a capable
housekeeper, and my grandson worships the ground you walk on.
William is completely besotted, of course, and unable to see there
are other considerations. I don’t want you to feel I’m
ungrateful; I am very pleased you could help restore
William’s sight, but…exactly what is your dowry? Will
you bring any properties into the family?”

Leaning forward eagerly, Saura didn’t realize
how conveniently Lord Peter had zeroed in on her strongest
argument. She only thought how lucky she was to be so rich.
“I am sole heir to all my father’s
properties.”

“That must be a sizable amount of
land.” Lord Peter pondered, tapping his fingers together in
indecision. Then in a different tone he said, “I knew your
father.”

“My lord?” Startled, for this was a
connection she had never heard of, Saura listened with a still and
anxious air.

“We were fostered by the same family. He was
younger than I, a page at the same time I was a squire. Elwin
assisted in my dubbing, bless him, and wished me well when I
returned to my lands. I liked him. He was a good man, an honorable
man—and a very rich man.” Returning to busi
ness, he said, “Women, of course, know nothing
about such things, but do you happen to remember any of the names
of the properties or their locations?”

She straightened her shoulders and recited the
place names and sizes of her lands. This list he didn’t dare
question, for her clear, certain voice conveyed her pride and sense
of possession. Maud hadn’t steered him wrong; this lever
would move Saura to matrimony.

Finished, she waited with peaceful certainty until
he gained control of his amusement to ask, “Are you aware of
how is the land entailed?”

“Sir?”

“Are there any other claims to it?”

“There are no other living relatives; my
father was the last of his line, except for me.”

“When do you take possession?”

“It is my guardian’s until I
marry.”

“Are you sure? On your marriage to William,
you will be heir to—”

“All of it,” she confirmed.

“Has your stepfather any claim to
it?”

“None of it,” she said firmly.

Settling back in his chair, Lord Peter had a smile
on his face she could hear. “Women are always so flighty, but
if this information is correct—”

“I swear it is.”

“Then you will bring a sizable chunk of land
to our holdings, and we would be willing to waive most of the dowry
that should be paid in coin. Do you know how the lands are being
run under Theobald’s hand?”

Her face clouded. “He wrings them dry and
lets the stronger neighbors take what they please. I’ve
spoken to him,
but all that got me was a blow
and an order to mind my needle. My brothers help where they can,
but—”

“So there will be work to get your lands in
shape.”

“Aye, I’m sorry.”

“And that will keep William away from real
combat until we are sure he’s healthy, with no return of his
blindness.”

“Oh.”

“Aye, indeed. This will be a most profitable
union for my family. I’ll contact Theobald at once to start
contract negotiations. Personally, I see no problem at all. You are
living in my house already, and ’tis acknowledged you were a
virgin, recently deflowered by my son.”

Recalled to her misgivings by his rush to secure
her, Saura objected, “I don’t want you to think
I’ve taken advantage of your hospitality by trapping William
into marriage.”

“My dear girl, I’ve got warts on my
thistle older than you, and with more guile. I can’t think of
one reason to repudiate you.”

“I’m blind!”

“’Tis not a disadvantage, to my mind.
There is perhaps an impediment to the wedding, however. Did you
know William’s blood is not pure?”

“Not pure? What do you mean, my
lord?”

“I’m a Norman. My père fought
beside William the Conqueror when he came from Normandy and
defeated Harold at Hastings. My mother was Norman, but my eye roved
over my lands and discovered the Saxon daughter of the previous
lord was fair and young. The young lady wanted none of me.”
My father, a stern man, wanted none of her. He laughed softly at
his far distant memories. “She wed me when she carried our
babe, and my mother welcomed her in feminine sympathy.”

“Your father?”

Lord Peter shrewdly watched as Saura stroked her
own flat stomach. “William picked up a stick the day he
walked and brandished it like a sword, and then sat with a thump on
his padded bottom and howled in frustration. He was my
father’s pride from that moment, and my wife was honored as
William’s mother. You’re daughter of a proud Norman
house. The marriage of Norman and Saxon is not a blot; but perhaps
you should consider whether you feel prejudice against
William’s lines.”

“What nonsense!” She swept his logic
aside with a sweep of her arm.

“Think carefully. Your children would carry
the blood of a conquered race.”

“My lord, the Saxons fought until the streams
ran red with their blood. Conquered they may be, but their courage
could never be questioned, and it seems the greatest warrior in
England is a result of the mix of blood.”

“You speak of William?”

“Of course,” she said proudly.
“All else is myth and madness.”

“I agree.” He paused to let that sink
in, and asked, “Other than your blindness, you have no mark
on you, I assume?”

“None.”

“There is no history of blindness in your
family, I know, and God has compensated for your lack of sight with
the gifts of intelligence and beauty. In these times of trouble,
the marriage needs to be witnessed at once. In all modesty I must
admit we are one of the great families in the district. Everyone
must be invited, or offense will breed offense and I’ll have
a war on my hands. It will be a huge wedding. Can you handle such
an undertaking?”

“Of course!” She sounded just as
insulted as he’d hoped. “With Maud’s help,
we’ll make ready.”

“There’ll be hundreds of folk in the
castle, nobles and their servants, and much work for you. William
and I will handle the entertainment, if that would help, but you
will have to organize all the sleeping arrangements and the feeding
of such a throng.”

“I can do it,” she said stiffly.

“Good. I’ve turned away suits from
other fathers who will be here. Fathers who would attain William
for their daughters. Lazy sluts, women without grace or talent,
bores and nags. You’ll be doing me a favor by taking William
off the marriage market. Your mother was a remarkably fertile
woman. I would prefer to obtain additional grandchildren from this
union, of course, but should there prove to be no issue, William
has a healthy son whom we can marry off in the
next—”

“Why are you questioning my woman?”
William’s roar from the passage interrupted them, and Saura
jumped guiltily, as if she and Lord Peter had been plotting against
him.

“Now, William,” Lord Peter soothed.
Pleased with the timely distraction, he wondered, with strong
justification, if Maud hadn’t seen the need to end discussion
before Saura grew suspicious. William’s advent came after he
had covered all the important points, after he had assured Saura of
her suitability, after he had whetted her taste for her own
lands.

“I can’t believe you have the gall to
question the woman of my choice,” William said huffily.

“Now, son, there’s no need
to—”

“She’ll bend to my will.”

“William, stop yelling!” Peter raised
his voice in a shout that rivalled his son’s. “I
couldn’t have arranged a better union for you if I had
tried!”

“Saura and I—what?”

“I said, this girl is rich. Did you know she
is her father’s
only heir? And she takes
control of her inheritance on her marriage, free and clear?
God’s teeth, Elwin of Roget had as much land as I do, it will
double our holdings. No wonder that worthless fart, Theobald, never
married Saura off. Take her away!” Peter waved his arms
vigorously as Saura rose and walked toward William. “And send
me Brother Cedric. We will begin to work on the contract at once.
We’ll have a huge party to celebrate this union, invite every
neighbor and friend. I only wish I could see the look on
Theobald’s face when he receives the contract.” Peter
gave a great burst of enthusiastic laughter, a laughter Saura
softly echoed. “I bet he has fits.”

As William led Saura out of earshot, Peter grinned
in triumph. “This will be wed
lock
, indeed.”

Out in the great hall, William took Saura’s
arm awkwardly. “I apologize for my father’s, um, great
enthusiasm for your holdings. I assure you ’twas not your
lands that attracted me to, that convinced me to….”

Still smiling, her face shining with pleasure, she
answered, “Nay, William, I realize that and I’m very
grateful. But just think, my own lands will be mine, to manage as I
see fit.”