“I must confess, I judged her wrongly,”
Clodion said. “I believed for a time that Danise’s favorite was
that young fool, Redmond. That I could have borne; Redmond would be
easy for me to best in this contest Savarec has set up for us. I
have more land than Redmond, a better title, and years more
practice in the art of seducing innocent young creatures both male
and female. But that Danise’s fancy should light on you, a man with
no lands, no title, and as everyone here at Duren knows, no past,
is insulting to me. Of course, if you have shown her the marvelous
equipment I have just seen, it’s no wonder she has lost her wits
over you.”
“Shut up, Clodion!” Michel found himself at a
serious disadvantage. He could not run up the slope to where
Clodion now stood and throttle the man as he wanted to do, because
Michel was still wearing only his short tunic. It took time to pull
on breeches and shoes, and to fasten the leather strips around his
calves. Meanwhile, Clodion was moving farther away, up the slope
and toward the camp where, since the return of Savarec’s troop,
there were plenty of men around. Michel knew he would look like an
idiot if he went charging after Clodion while only half dressed. He
did not want Savarec to think he had no brains, or that he could
not control his anger. In this strange time and place, Michel knew
his future depended on his ability to think before he acted.
“Do not imagine,” Clodion taunted from his
higher vantage point, “that you can win Danise. You will not, I
tell you. Not while I am alive.”
“Your death can be arranged if that’s what’s
necessary to keep Danise safe from you,” Michel. growled, taking a
purposeful step toward the man in spite of his inadequate
clothing.
“You would not dare. You are trying too hard
to make yourself acceptable to Charles and to Savarec.” Clodion’s
perfect confidence and his shrewd assessment of Michel’s thoughts
infuriated Michel.
“Why the hell does a decent man like Charles
keep someone like you in his company?” Michel shouted.
“Out of gratitude.” Clodion’s mouth curved
into a mirthless smile. “In my youth I fought bravely for his
father. I have a large contingent of well-trained warriors whom I
place at Charles’s disposal whenever he needs to put down another
Saxon revolt. A fair number of my men died for him in Spain last
year. I do assure you, Charles would not like to see me harmed.”
With a jaunty wave of his hand, Clodion marched away.
Michel dressed as quickly as he could, then
went in search of Danise.
“She is with the queen,” said the first lady
he encountered. “They are there, beneath the trees at the edge of
the forest.”
“You may not disturb Hildegarde,” Sister
Gertrude warned when Michel approached the gathering of ladies.
“She has finally fallen asleep. She needs to rest. This heat
wearies her.”
“It was Danise I wanted to see, but you may
be a better person to hear what I have to say.” Michel took the
nun’s arm, drawing her aside.
“Please keep a close watch on Danise. I have
just exchanged angry words with Clodion and I believe he means some
harm to her. He is determined to make her his prize.”
“I told Savarec no good would come of
allowing that man to ask for Danise’s hand, but he would not listen
to me, and I don’t think he will listen to you, either. In
Savarec’s eyes, a fine title eclipses all personal faults.” Sister
Gertrude looked even more stern than usual. “Were it not for
Clodion’s military skills and his complete loyalty to Charles, I
believe he would have been banished from court years ago. Not all
of our Frankish nobles are good Christian men, Michel, least of all
where women are concerned. In my opinion, Charles is much too
tolerant of such disgraceful fellows. And about Clodion, Savarec is
a blind fool. Thank you for the warning. I will speak to Danise. I
cannot always keep her within eyesight, but I will do my best to
protect her.”
But it seemed no warning was needed. Clodion
did not appear for the evening meal, and the following morning his
servant informed Charles that Clodion was ailing and would keep to
his bed that day.
“I will gladly send one of my physicians to
attend him,” offered Charles, always ready to assign his own
doctors to someone else so they could not annoy him with their
concerns for his health.
“Count Clodion bid me tell you he needs only
to rest. He is not the youngest of men, you know.” The servant
looked distinctly nervous over Charles’s proposal. “My master begs
you to allow him to sleep uninterrupted by well-intentioned
physicians who will only poke and prod him and make him more
uncomfortable.”
“I can understand his feelings,” said
Charles, eyeing his physicians with some humor. “Tell Clodion we
will respect his wishes.”
“From the guilty look of his servant, I think
Clodion may not be sick after all,” Redmond murmured to Michel. “He
may have some camp follower in his tent and not want to leave.”
“Let’s hope he sticks to camp followers,”
Michel responded.
When Clodion did not leave his tent for a
second day, Michel began to relax his vigilance a bit. Mayfield
would end in three more days and Danise would be safely removed
from Clodion’s vicinity, returning with Savarec to his fortress at
Deutz to stay there until summer’s end while she decided whether to
marry or to return to Chelles with Sister Gertrude.
Michel knew he did not have much more time in
which to prove himself to Savarec so he could compete for Danise’s
hand. Secretly he began to wish for some minor skirmish, perhaps
with a few Saxons, in which he could display his skill with
weapons.
* * *
As a result of her interlude with Michel
beside the river, Danise decided the time had come for her to take
her future into her own hands. She was tired of the questions and
the uncertainty within her own mind. When she saw Michel leave the
table at the end of the midday meal, she hurried after him, calling
out his name. He stopped, waiting until she caught up with him.
“You shouldn’t be wandering around alone,” he
said. “Didn’t Sister Gertrude pass on my warning about
Clodion?”
“Clodion isn’t here. He’s still sick and
hasn’t left his tent for two days. Michel, if we do not talk, I
think I will go mad.”
“Talk about what?” He headed toward the
trees. Danise went with him.
“Do you know a woman named India?”
He stopped walking to stare at her for a
long, assessing moment. She sensed a strange tension in him, as if
he were waiting for something terrible to happen.
“India was my dear friend,” Danise went on.
“I miss her. I wish she and I could speak together now, so she
could advise me. Do you know her, Michel?”
“We’ve never actually met. We have a mutual
friend, that’s all.” Still tense and wary, he frowned at her. “How
much do you know, Danise?”
“Only what Alcuin understood. He said when
India first met his assistant Adelbert, she mistook him for someone
else, a man called
Ahnk
. You also thought Adelbert was
Ahnk
. Since you know the same person, Alcuin concluded that
you and India must have come from the same country. We both
realized that if you can remember this
Ahnk
person, then
your memory has returned.”
“Clever fellow, Alcuin,” Michel muttered.
“You’re pretty sharp yourself, Danise.”
“Is it true, then?” she asked. “Do you know
who you are?”
“It’s true,” he said after some
hesitation.
“Why didn’t you tell me at once?” she
cried.
“It’s complicated.”
“Are you married? Have you family? A wife?
Children? You are no young boy. It would be strange if you were not
wed.” Danise held her breath, waiting for him to speak.
“My family consists of a couple of cousins
whom I seldom see,” he said. “I was married once. I am divorced
now. I really don’t want to talk about that. Let’s just say I
wasn’t home often enough to have a good marriage. My work keeps me
in northern France and Belgium. Your ancestors built villages in
the weirdest places.”
“My ancestors?”
“I shouldn’t have said that. There’s no way
to explain to you or to anyone in your world what my work is. God,
this gets harder every day. Danise, I don’t
want
to keep
things from you, but I have to, for your sake.”
Danise was so moved by his painful intensity
that she spoke her thoughts without concern for maidenly modesty.
But then, when had she ever been modest in her dealings with this
man?
“Michel, you have caused me so much distress.
Since the day I found you, my heart has been torn between you and
my pledge to Hugo. You have said you want to earn the right to
become one of my suitors, you have embraced me more intimately than
any other man has ever done, including Hugo, yet you are still
concealing an important truth from me. Don’t deny it; I can tell it
is so by the way you treat me. You alternate between rudeness and
an almost overwhelming affection.”
“Leave it alone, Danise.” `
“I cannot leave it alone. Your secret,
whatever it is, stands between us.”
“I can’t talk about it.”
“You must. There is no hope for us
otherwise.” As she spoke those words, Danise knew why his recent
treatment of her had hurt her so badly. Her first feelings for him
had been a mixture of pity and fascination, but she had quickly
passed beyond those emotions to something more. He had led her to
believe that he felt the same way.
“You wouldn’t understand.” His voice was low
and sad. “The whole story would only frighten you.”
“Do you think me a coward, then? I assure
you, I am not.” When he did not speak, she regarded him from
tear-filled eyes. “Your continuing silence means you do not trust
me enough to confide in me.”
“It means I want to protect you,” he
said.
“From what? I can bear any truth. I bore the
news of Hugo’s death, and though it brought me low, it did not
break me. I thought that was the most terrible news I would ever
hear, but this is worse, for you are still alive, yet you are
separating yourself from me as if you were dead, or at a distance
so great that I cannot reach you.” She paused, swallowing hard to
keep herself from weeping, before she went on. “Is that it? Are you
planning to return to your own country and leave me behind? But if
so, why did you place yourself under my father’s command? Michel,
neither your actions nor your words make any sense to me; they
contradict each other. It’s no wonder I am confused, no wonder I
cannot decide between you in the present and Hugo in the past.”
“I never intended to hurt you. Danise, you
are the loveliest woman I’ve ever seen, you are intelligent, and
you have a kind heart. I even like your father,” he ended on a wry
note.
“You are not telling me what I need to
know.”
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
“How can you know that until you tell
me?”
“You are also the most persistent woman I’ve
ever met,” he said. “You aren’t going to stop, are you? You are
going to keep asking questions until you get the information you
want.”
“If you do not want anyone else to know, I
can keep a secret,” she promised. He regarded her in tense silence
for so long that she began to wonder if he would ever speak to her
again. But it seemed he was wrestling with the decision whether or
not to do as she wanted.
“I hope you meant what you just said,” he
told her, “because you are going to have to keep this secret for
the rest of your life.”
“I swear,” she promised, “that I will never
reveal what you say to me unless you release me from this vow.”
“I believe you.” He touched her cheek for an
instant, before he spoke again. “Is there some place where we can
talk and be absolutely certain we won’t be overheard?”
“In the place where I found you,” she
suggested.
He led the way. It was cooler beneath the
trees, and the hot glare of the open meadow faded as they moved
farther into the forest. In just a few minutes they reached the
tree that marked his entry into Francia.
“In a way, I’m glad you insisted on this,”
Michel said, seating himself on the ground. “I need to talk to
someone, to make all of it more real to me.”
“Tell me everything,” she invited. She sat
beside him, hands clasped in her lap, her eyes fixed on his. When
Michel began to speak she did not exclaim in disbelief, she simply
listened. He had been right to warn her that she would be
frightened by what he said. What she did not understand was why he
had not gone mad from terror over what had been done to him. Since
he appeared to be in complete possession of his reason and in
control of his emotions, she did her best to hide her own fear.
“Your story is beyond comprehension,” she
said when he was finished. “Yet I believe you would not lie to me
about something so amazing, so magical. You are right when you say
that all we can do is accept what has happened to you, and be glad
that you were not more seriously injured when your journey to Duren
came to such an abrupt end. Michel, I believe there is a heavenly
purpose to everything that occurs on this earth, so I know there is
a reason for your arrival here. In time, we will learn what it is.
However, I do have a few questions.”
“Ask away,” he said. “I’m just glad you
aren’t calling me a liar, or crazy.”
“You say that my friend, India, also came to
Francia from your time? And later returned home again?”
“That’s right.”
“Is she well?”
“She married the brother of our mutual friend
who sent me to see Hank. I hear she’s very happy.”
“But she loved a man in this time. He died
with my Hugo.”
“Then, she learned to love again.” He smiled
at her. “Some people do love more than once, you know. I asked you
this before, Danise, but I am going to ask again. Do you think Hugo
would want you to be lonely for the rest of your life? If he would,
then his was a poor, selfish kind of love.”