Udele turned and looked at him with open curiosity, completely unprepared for what more he had to offer.
“
It appears your daughter, Edythe, has also cast her lot. She is also in love. Ah, love! Everywhere I look I see love! But poor Edythe! The knight she has chosen is poor and has so little.”
“
And who might that be, sir?” Udele asked.
“
Why, Sir Mallory, as a matter of fact,” Tedric returned with an air of superiority.
Udele almost grimaced but caught herself. She had long thought it a handicap to have a daughter. Edythe could add little to the family estate and in all probability would only take her portion to another family. That was a fact of life that Udele had come to accept, but she would not accept Edythe’s marriage to a penniless knight who would not even add prestige to their name. Mallory would only become one more person to share what had been accumulated.
“
I do not think a marriage between them will come to pass,” she said.
“
Ah, perhaps not, if you are quick, madam,” Tedric said.
“
But I think riches unimportant in Lord Alaric’s mind. Reputation is all, and Mallory has acquired a good one
--
though I suspect it has been through good luck and not good deeds.”
“
Alaric is not a fool. His daughter will have a rich husband.”
“
Alaric is not a fool,” Tedric mimicked.
“
And he loves Mallory as if he were his son.”
Udele feared that Tedric was right this once. She looked at the young knight in expectation.
“
I could tell Alaric this very morn, and Edythe would not deny it. I think the wedding could be done before summer touches the land.”
“
Perhaps they will tell Alaric themselves,” Udele mused.
“
Nay, that will not be. Mallory has made Edythe swear to silence to allow him enough time to build a case for himself. He fears Alaric would have him banished. Edythe knows her father better, guessing he would simply insist that they marry. The lass is most eager to be found out. You still have time to find a richer husband for your daughter.”
“
If you do not betray the lovers to Lord Alaric,” she said, understanding Tedric’s motives quite well and trusting him very little.
“
My needs are simple, lady. Help me into marriage with Chandra and I will hold silent. Not one word about all I have seen and heard will pass my lips.”
“
Why do you want her if you believe she is in love with Conan?”
Tedric smiled knowingly.
“
She is property also, though not as rich as what Edwina holds, and, looking at the two, Chandra is more the prize in herself. It will not be hard to possess her.”
Udele thought quickly. It would never do to allow Conan the slightest opportunity to lose his head and disgrace himself and their family by an adulterous, even incestuous, alliance with Chandra. And there was no denying the maid’s beauty and other strengths. Should Conan lose the battle and succumb to her charms, Tedric would be close at hand to expose them. Conan’s strengths and oath would be ridiculed. It could greatly affect his position, which would greatly alter his ambitions.
And the matter of Edythe would not be difficult to rectify if the lass stayed quiet about her love for Mallory. Alaric would not worry heavily over her reluctance to marry. It was an accepted fact of life that many maids found disfavor with their fathers’ choice of groom.
The matter of dealing with Tedric caused considerable distress, but Udele was not foolish enough to show it overly much.
“
You will allow me some time? It is not a thing I can manage in one day.”
“
A little time, lady, but I am impatient for support.”
“
I will send word to you in not very long. I think perhaps I can help you, if marriage with Chandra is what you truly desire.”
“
It is, madam,” he said with a smile and a slight bow.
She clicked her tongue.
“
So you, too, are smitten.”
He made a fist with one hand and lightly struck his chest, his eyes twinkling. Udele’s response was a grimace of distaste. She did not think it showed strength to be such a victim of love’s tender call when estates were more logical. She turned and left him standing alone on the garden path.
“
Smitten indeed,” Tedric said softly as Udele disappeared from sight. He laughed outright.
“
And it will not be too painful to hold as my own the one thing Sir Conan loves and cannot touch!”
Sir Conan’s absence from Stoddard Keep could not be a long one, not even for his wedding. Many of the things that Edwina loved were loaded onto carts, and the servants whose only chore it was to see to this lady made ready. A litter was provided for Edwina, and her horse, the mare that Conan had gifted her with some months before, was tethered at the rear. Edwina could never ride all the way to Stoddard.
Edwina was understandably tearful at her departure. Laine was to go soon to the convent at Thetford and could not be visited by her family for a long while. It was the last time the sisters would all be together at their father’s home.
Tedric had watched the departure of Conan and Edwina and now stood just outside the door of the hall to watch as Alaric’s family prepared to go. Pierce, the hulking manser
vant who had served Lady Udele since before she left her father’s house, inspected the saddles and lifted Edythe into hers. He stood ready at his lady’s horse, waiting for her to come.
Udele came from the hall with Medwin, chatting amiably about the festivities, promising to keep close contact between Stoddard and Anselm and making Edwina’s well-being her personal obligation. As she passed Tedric he bowed.
“
Farewell, my lady,” Tedric smiled. The eyes he met were not warm and friendly. Bright green brimmed with suspicion, but Udele smiled.
“
Farewell to you, Sir Tedric,” she said sweetly.
“
I am in hopes that our paths cross again soon, my lady. I so enjoyed your company I despair to think of how long it will be before
--
”
“
Perhaps you will have occasion to venture near Anselm,” she said.
“
You must stop to visit with us if you do.”
Tedric bowed again, his lips curving in a knowing smile.
“
I hope that is the case, lady, but of course, if you have need of me, you have but to send word.”
Udele’s smile vanished.
“
I have protection aplenty, sir knight.”
“
Just in that event,” he said.
Udele did not answer. She moved past him quickly before anything that would raise eyebrows was said. She went to her mount and was lifted into place by Pierce. Within moments the entire group was moving through Phalen’s protective gate.
“
She will call for me,” he thought with satisfaction. He had been lucky in guessing Udele’s character accurately. She had seen the dowry to be gained by urging her son to speak quickly for Edwina. Tedric had himself put that idea into her head, though he hadn’t intended to. And she must have already suspected and feared that Conan leaned toward Chandra. Tedric was not overly concerned that Conan would disgrace himself with the maid. The cocky knight would hold firm to his oath regardless of the futility of it.
Tedric knew that Udele’s love of money and all the grand hopes she laid on her son’s future would bring her willingly to Tedric’s aid. She would much rather pay to support Tedric’s sure solution than risk losing any o
f their family wealth on an ill-
planned marriage or a knight’s disgrace.
Tedric smiled at the thought of the ease involved in obtaining money. No battles, no scars and no work. Now that he had one resource he w
ould set about to find another..
. and then another
...
and another
...
***
The crops were harvested and the lord of Phalen pro
claimed a harvest celebration for the people of the village, but, in comparison to the wedding seen at the castle the spring before, it was a small affair.
In the summer, Medwin had finally released Laine to the convent, and with her went a potful of silver as her dowry. It was a bittersweet parting, for that daughter was no longer his by any claim. For the harvest festival, Chandra stood alone at her father’s side. His dependence on her had increased drastically and he seemed to decline steadily. He often spoke of vassals that could take the bulk of his responsibilities. For
Chandra, she could see her goal in sight.
“
You have need of no one, Father. Not while I am here to help you.”
And indeed, he needed no castellan to manage Phalen. Chandra would carry the bulk of the responsibilities. She was seldom seen dressed in her finer gunnas and kirtles, for daily she donned a rough wool gown and set about her chores. She was busy from dawn ‘til dusk. She did not have time to think, then, of her state of limbo; a maid of marriageable age, she had no preferred groom and her heart was already locked up tight.
She knelt in the garden and clipped the sage, mallow and nightshade that would be used for medicines. She placed them in a small cloth and tied it tightly for storage. When she had made several such packets, she carried them in her apron to the hall. She came across Medwin, apparently just finishing a conversation with one of his men-at-arms.
“
Yea, lord, I will make ready and advise the men. We will plan to leave in four days, as it pleases ye.”
Medwin nodded and excused the man. He dropped his arm about Chandra’s shoulders and walked with her into the manor.
“
Where do the men go, Father?”
“
I must send a troop to Cordell to collect the tax and rent. I’ve left it undone for too long.”
“
And you do not go?”
“
Nay,” he sighed.
“
I am too old, daughter, to be uprooted so often. There needs to be someone there to manage in my stead. Why did God grant me no sons?”
“
Conan will manage here when he is needed, Father. Never fear.”
“
King Henry and his sons are enemies. Perhaps sons are not such a blessing.”
Chandra did not reply, for her father was more often in a mood to talk, that aura of command now gone from his voice.
“
When Henry dies there will likely be a battle for the crown. I wonder how many good men will fight.”
“
Father,” she sighed,
“
‘
tis of no worry now. Henry may yet make peace with his sons.” She put her arm around his waist. She did not really walk with him these days
--
she supported him as he walked.
“
This is the first summer I have not visited Cordell.”
“
You love it as your mother did,” he returned.
“
I think perhaps I love it because Mother did. I loved to go there with her. We would spend the days together. She’d say, ‘This is to be yours someday, Chandra. You must learn to manage it.’ I didn’t mind that Laine and Edwina were allowed to play while I worked with Mother. I loved learning and I loved hearing her tell everyone she met that I would be the next lady.”
“
We did not think it would be so soon,” Medwin said pensively.
“
You shall go there now. As a part of my deputa
tion.”
“
But you have need of me here, Father. I should not leave you now.”
“
I can do without you for a time. And I think if you could visit Cordell for a time I might see you smile again.”
“
I would like to go,” she said, brightening at the thought.
“
And there,” he said affectionately.
“
I see that smile already. You have worked too hard to please your father, and you deserve a treat. Go. Make ready. I will send a few more men to keep you safe along the road.”
She stood on tiptoes and placed a kiss on his cheek.
“
Thank you, Father,” she said. She left him with a skip in her step, and for the first time in some months he heard her humming as she went.
Usually preparation for a trip was a long and drawn-out affair, but Chandra’s enthusiasm for this journey saw nearly everything ready in two days. She was hard at work after that seeing that Phalen was in order so that Medwin would have no problems in her absence. She could not rest until she had planned every meal, spoken to those servants staying behind and checked her plans against those of the men-at-arms staying in Phalen’s walls. It was late in the afternoon, when she was seeking out one of the huntsmen, that she noticed a large troop had arrived and their horses were being tended by stable boys.