Unbidden (The Evolution Series) (16 page)

“No, I think Rochelle did,” David replied, sparing her a brief glance
. Did she imagine a glimmer of pride on his face at how she had defended herself?

He
turned away to circle the young men, obviously trying to decide what to do. He gave another worried glance to Rochelle, still huddled on the ground with Marian, both of them watching the scene in misery. “Theo, you can handle this from here. I want to get Rochelle inside.”

“Agreed
. There is no more threat. If there were more men involved, they would have moved when you were alone out here.”

David looked intently in his eyes
. “Find out what you can from them, and decide what you think is best, but keep them here. I will come back out when she is settled.” 

He pivoted, striding quickly to Rochelle and Marian
. He squatted in front of them. Rochelle couldn’t meet his eyes. “Can I carry you in?” he asked softly.

“No, I can walk.”  He gave her both of his hands to help her to her feet
. She stood still as he helped Marian up. She stared at the two men still on the ground. None of it made sense to her. Everything had happened so fast. One minute she’d been standing at the door of the stables, thinking about temptation and wondering, if she’d let David walk with her, would have taken the opportunity to kiss her?  And then Sewell and the other boy she didn’t know had been behind her, urging her to get on their little pony.

Marian clutched at her hand
. “Come inside, girlie. Do not look at them any more. They cannot hurt you now. Come away from them. Please!”

Rochelle sighed
. Her mother had worked herself into a frenzy.

When she passed through the gate, Gilbert and Ruthie rushed across the courtyard to them, torches held aloft
. David spoke quietly. “Gilbert, go out to Theo. He may need rope or men.”

Marian gave quick orders to Ruthie, but Rochelle could not focus on her words
. As David guided her into the house, she felt drawn to the fire in the hall. Everything was so familiar. Was it really just this evening, maybe one-half hour before, when she had left this room? “Could I sit by the fire for a moment?” she asked David.

He eased her into a chair while her mother clucked worriedly around her
. He stood back from her for just a second then grunted with concern as he grabbed her hands and turned them over. “Whose blood is this?” he asked, referring to the dried streaks on her fingers and palms.

“Oh, no
,” Marian sobbed from behind him.

“It is from the other one, the one I did not know.”

“Fardulf,” David supplied. He turned her hands back over but kept them gently cradled in his own.

“Yes,” she agreed vaguely. “I do remember hearing Sewell say the name now.”  She looked up questioningly at her mother
. “Do we know Fardulf?”

Marian’s fingers twisted in her tunic
. “I can hardly think. But it does sound familiar. Somebody’s son. Further away than Sewell. Theophilus will know who he is.”

“H
is blood is on you because you stabbed him?” David asked.

Rochelle nodded
. Her mother began to weep in earnest. Rochelle could see the annoyance on David’s face. She squeezed his fingers as she whispered “We cannot speak of this in front of her. It is too much.”

He pursed his lips
. “Hopefully Theo will find out more from them.”  As he studied her face, he noticed something and his expression became thunderous. He let go of one of her hands so he could brush his fingers across her cheekbone. “Who did that?” he whispered.

She brought her own hand up to prod at the bruise
. She tried to dismiss it with a shrug, but his jaw was clenched tightly. “Who?” he demanded.

“I am not sure. At the beginning, it happened so fast and it was so dark.”  She quickly added, “Please, it is nothing to worry about now.”

Ruthie tiptoed out of the kitchen. “The bath is ready, my lady,” she said in a whisper.

Marian was able to lift her face from her hands
. “Yes, yes a bath will be just the thing.”

Rochelle smiled weakly
. “A bath sounds nice.”  David helped her up and again held her pressed against his side as they entered the kitchen. She slipped his cloak off and handed it to him with murmured thanks, then stood awkwardly with Marian and Ruthie, waiting for him to leave the room.

He was loath to leave, she could tell
. He barred the door that led out back and looked around the kitchen as if more Sewells could be lurking behind pots or under the table. Finally satisfied, or at least resigned, he ordered Magnus to guard her and returned to the hall.

Rochelle allowed the women to pull her clothes off, only speaking when her mother ordered Ruthie to burn the tunic
. “Do not be ridiculous, Mother. The grass stains can be cleaned.”

Marian renewed her crying at the sight of a long scratch down Rochelle’s leg
. She and Ruthie hovered around the tub, removing any hope of relaxing in the warm water. Rochelle washed quickly, then donned clean nightclothes, a cap and heavy robe Ruthie had brought down for her. The women were overly solicitous, treating her like a fragile glass. This, and her mother’s seeping tears, grated on Rochelle’s nerves. She wanted to understand what had happened to her, not be treated like a bruised flower!

When they exited the kitchen, David rose from a chair he’d pulled up next to the door
. Her audience of three waited awkwardly for her next move. David searched her face, then his eyes flicked impatiently at Marian. “I guess we should talk later,” he said.

She surrendered with a sigh
. “I suppose I should go upstairs.”

Marian put an arm around her shoulders
. They began to walk toward the stairs.

“Rochelle,” David intoned.

She turned expectantly, hoping for she didn’t know what. He seemed to want to tell her something, or perhaps ask a question, but his eyes again flicked to Marian.

“Will you keep Magnus in your room with you?” he finally asked.

“Are you going back outside?” she asked, her brow furrowing with concern.

“For a little while, once I know you are settled for the night.”

“Maybe you should take him.”

“No
. I will be fine.”

She turned to climb the steps
. As she reached the top, a frightening thought occurred to her and she turned back to him where he watched her from the base of the stairs. “You are not going far?”

His face softened
. “Just outside the wall to see what is what. No further.”

“I would like to know what is what, too!” she said, starting back down the steps.

“No!” Marian cried in panic, effectively stopping Rochelle’s escape.

He stared at the closed door of her room for a few minutes, finally shaking his head to clear it. Clasping his cloak around him, he joined Theo outside the gate. Several torches had been set into the ground to light the area. Sewell’s little pony had Fardulf strapped across its back. Sewell stood in misery, hands bounds, a rope leading from them to Fardulf’s waist. Blood ran from his nose, and his lip was split.

“Where are you taking them?” David asked without preamble.

“A boy from here, Samuel, says he knows the way to Sewell’s house. He is willing to lead them there tonight. I thought I would fine them each 12 sous and be done with it.”

David grunted.

“If you want to do something more violent, say so. Death, removal of a hand or an ear, almost any punishment has in the past been justified for attacking a woman.”

“It will not endear me to the locals,” David said.

“No, that is what Doeg and I thought. They are really just boys.”

“What t
he hell are they doing here?”

“A bad plan poorly executed, as near as I can tell
. He thought he was rescuing her.”

“Rescuing her?”

Theo nodded. “He would only say that people were telling him that Rochelle was unhappy with the match, but that it could be stopped if he married her first. I think he expected her to ride away into the night with him.”

“And then?”

“Marriage by abduction,” Theo said matter-of-factly. “An archaic tradition, and frowned upon by the law and the church, but not unheard of. If the relationship is consummated, then the rest is a foregone conclusion.”

David felt his blood rising to a boil again
. Marriage by abduction, indeed. It was a fancy term for rape. “Was that what this whelp had planned?”

Theo snorted
. “As I said, it was not much of a plan. When I asked him where he was taking her, the poor sod looked at me most wondrously. Don’t think it ever occurred to him that he would have to take her somewhere. His thinking had not got to that part of the scheme.”

David paced back and forth, thinking
. “He would not say who encouraged him to do this?”

“No, I asked him a few times and thought I was making some progress when Doeg lost his patience
. ‘I will make him talk,’ he said. Hence the bloody mess on Sewell’s face. He ended up crying on the ground and I got nothing out of him after that.”

“And the other has not awakened?”

“Out cold. Knot the size of a plum on the back of his head.”

“Did Doeg do that too?”

“Probably, though when I asked him about it, he only shrugged. I know you do not want to hear it, David, but your brother becomes weirder and weirder. Lurking around out here in that hood like some avenging angel. Scared Sewell to the point he could hardly talk. And that was before the beating.”

“Where is he now?”

“Went skulking off after rendering the boy completely useless.”

David was accustomed to Theo’s complaints about his brother
. While he could see that some of Doeg’s actions were irritating, and at times even counterproductive, he had infinite patience for him. They were, after all, brothers, and few understood the burden Doeg’s crippled arm placed on him.

Theo shifted. “Shall I send these scoundrels home?”

“I suppose. Do you trust Samuel?”

“Gilbert suggested him
. Seems hearty enough to handle these two, lamed and trussed as they are. He will tell the families what happened and hopefully they will take them in hand.”

A young man approached them leading a rough nag
. He looked at David cautiously. “I am Samuel. Are you the new master?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, then, I found this near the stables.”  He held out his hand and let the links of Rochelle’s golden girdle slide onto David’s palm. “We none of us like to think of our lady bein’ hurt, sir.”

“Of course you do not,” David answered, thinking
that a sufficient response. Samuel continued to stand before him, shifting his weight as though expecting more.

“The tenants will be worried, will they not
, Samuel,” Theo said kindly as he raised his brow at David.

David realized the boy was seeking more reassurance, and that whatever was said would be spread across the estate
. “Your lady is quite well. She, in fact, made the wound in the one lashed to that pony.”  He indicated Fardulf with his hand.

Samuel’s eyes widened and he asked eagerly,  “Wound him, did she?  How, sir, how?”

“She stuck her dagger in his thigh. To the hilt.”

Samuel’s chest puffed out with pride. “Our lady is not like other girls,” Samuel said with awe before his face puckered with worry again
. “But he did not hurt her?”  David could not help to feel a kinship with the boy. He obviously revered Rochelle, and was genuinely anxious about her safety.

“I am sure you will see her soon
. I would not be surprised if she rides out as usual tomorrow.”

Samuel leaned toward him, conspiratorially
. “Do not let her go alone, sir. I bet this has somethin’ to do with that stranger we been seein’.”

“Stranger?”

“A gent, sir, riding all over just as he pleases.”

“Not one of these men?”

“Nah. Taller, lighter hair.”

David glanced at Theo who shrugged
. “Samuel, if you see or hear of this stranger again, come tell me, will you?”

“Yes sir, I will come to you right away.”  He ducked his head with shy pride at already having a special assignment from the future master.

David walked to Sewell who refused to meet his eyes. “That man,” he said, indicating Samuel, “is going to take you home. If he has so much as a scratch when he returns it will not go well for you. If I see you on this estate again, you will be dead before you can shed your first tear. And God help you if anyone sees you near Rochelle. Do we understand one another?”

Sewell nodded in his wretchedness, lips and eyes puffed and bruised, blood and o
ther foul excretions running from his nose.