Arianna was silent.
“I need you at Afoncaer,” Meredith said, “and
I believe it is the best thing for you, too. However hard your
going there may seem to you now, in time you will understand why
you were called to Afoncaer.”
“I will think about it.” Arianna sighed.
“That’s all I dare ask for now. We have
another week before we leave, and you must decide finally whether
to go or stay. Say nothing to anyone else about your doubts until
you have decided. That way no one will require an explanation of
you. Now, let us visit the infirmarer while we can. Come.” Meredith
put out her hand, and Arianna took it and went with her, and tried
her best to appear interested in what the infirmarer had to say to
them.
It was odd, but as the elderly brother talked
with Meredith, answering her questions about his use of herbal
preparations upon the sick who came under his care, and as Meredith
gradually drew her into the conversation, Arianna found the pain at
her heart lessening. She did not forget Thomas – she could never do
that, for he was in her heart to stay – but she did feel a growing
sense of comradeship with Meredith, until, as the morning ended,
she roused herself to ask about this or that ointment or tincture.
She was genuinely sorry when Meredith’s serving woman came to
remind them it was time to dress for the midday feast. Perhaps,
Arianna thought, Meredith was right and she would find peace and
her own healing in learning to heal others. And, she reminded
herself, in keeping her promise to Lady Aloise. But still she was
afraid of the damage that would be done to her, both heart and
soul, if she were to see Thomas constantly, and so she held back
from final agreement.
“I like that girl. She reminds me of you,”
Guy said to Meredith later that night, when they were alone in
their room. “It’s her eyes, I think. You both have grey eyes,
though hers are darker, but the look is the same. That searching
look, so full of pain, like you when first we met.”
“Let us hope, my love, that Arianna’s pain
can be relieved by hard work. I would not have her suffer more than
she must, yet I feel certain I am doing the right thing by
encouraging her to go with us. I pray she will agree.”
“You have needed a pupil, and our Cristin is
not interested, is she?”
“No,” Meredith said ruefully. “Our daughter
cares more for horses and for talking to the hawks in the mews than
for learning about herbal cures and ancient wisdom.”
“And,” Guy added, laughing, “for teasing poor
Geoffrey whenever he’s about. She trails after him like an adoring
puppy. He’ll be half-mad with answering all her questions by the
time we are home again.”
“Home.” She went into his welcoming arms.
“How I miss Afoncaer. I will be glad to leave St. Albans.”
“And I, my sweet. I’m fond of our king, but
I’ve no real taste for court or courtiers. I’m thankful our
position on the border leaves us free of the obligation to come to
court every year.”
And then his lips touched hers, and they both
forgot everything else but the love that had sustained them for
more than ten years.
“I have never been so near the king before,”
Arianna said softly. She was standing between Meredith and Guy,
crowded amongst all the other courtiers who were gathered in the
large abbey chamber which served as reception hall and throne room
for the duration of Henry’s stay at St. Albans. She looked the
scarlet-clad royal figure over carefully, assessing his tall,
powerful frame, noting the thick, black hair that was just turning
grey. “He’s handsome, but older than I thought he would be. Sir
Valaire says he’s a good king, much better than the last one.”
“He is that, though anyone would be better
than William Rufus,” Guy responded, smiling at her. She looked back
at him with an answering smile. He had been more than kind to her
on the few occasions she’d seen him since their first meeting
several days ago. When he told her she would be welcome at
Afoncaer, a bright ornament to his household, she had known that in
his own way he was trying to convince her to accept his wife’s
offer. Arianna already thought of him as a friend, a male
complement to Meredith’s warm, feminine friendship.
Studying the Baron of Afoncaer, Arianna
thought she could see how Thomas would look in another fifteen
years, the gold hair threaded with silver at his temples, the lines
radiating from his fine blue eyes, the stern lines from nose to
mouth that relaxed into laughter when Meredith said something to
him. She thought that Selene and Thomas would one day stand so, not
touching each other but obviously in complete accord. The thought
brought with it the pain which so often beset her soul these days,
and Arianna, with an angry gesture of one hand, as if to brush
aside the discomfort, tried to think of something else. She saw
King Henry beckon to Guy, who promptly left the women and went to
speak with his monarch.
Arianna looked around the room, her eyes
lighting on Thomas. He stood near one wall, his golden head bent to
Selene, who seemed to be staring intently at the floor. Arianna
looked away, and caught Meredith watching her.
“I wish Selene would talk more,” Arianna said
nervously. “She always seems terrified of Thomas. And I wish she
would listen to me and wear something other than black or
grey.”
Meredith started to say something, but before
she could begin, Guy joined them, his face serious.
“I have had bad news from the king,” he
said.
“Is something wrong at Afoncaer?” Meredith
asked quickly. “Cristin. I knew we shouldn’t have left her
there.”
“No, not Afoncaer,” Guy responded, taking her
hand. “It’s Reynaud. There has been an accident. He was badly
hurt.”
Arianna, seeing the stricken expression on
Meredith’s face, put one arm about her, and felt Guy’s arm above
her own, supporting his wife, who had gone white and was
trembling.
“Would you like to sit down?” Arianna
offered. “I see a bench over there.”
They led Meredith to the bench, which was
placed against the wall in an alcove between two stone pillars.
Meredith sank onto the seat, holding fast to Guy’s hand. Arianna
went to find a goblet of wine. When she returned, Guy was sitting
beside his wife, still holding her hand, and talking to her softly.
Arianna was again struck by the closeness between these two. She
had never seen anything like it between Sir Valaire and Lady
Aloise. She handed the goblet to Meredith and then stood
uncertainly, waiting to learn what Guy wanted her to do next.
“Thank you, Arianna.” Meredith sipped the
wine. “I am sorry to trouble you. I’m better now.” She moved over
on the bench to let Arianna sit down.
“Who is this Reynaud?” Arianna asked. “You
must be very fond of him to be so distressed.”
“He was the architect of Afoncaer,” Guy
answered, “and a good and true friend. He once helped to save
Thomas’s life.”
“Then,” said Arianna, “you must do whatever
you can to help him now.”
“And so we will,” Guy replied. “We have been
discussing that.”
There was a rustle of movement before them.
The throng of courtiers parted, and King Henry stood by the alcove.
The three who had been sitting on the bench all rose, the women
sweeping into deep curtsies, Guy bowing low.
“Are you ill, madame?” asked the king,
watching Meredith’s pained expression.
“No, my lord, only overcome with fear for my
dear friend Reynaud. Can you tell me all that happened to him? When
last I knew of him, he was in France, and in good health.”
“He returned to England last July and went to
Much Wenlock Priory, where they had need of an architect for the
new buildings they plan there,” King Henry said. “I’ll not spare
you, Lady Meredith. I know you are strong enough to hear the truth.
A wall collapsed on him, and Reynaud was nearly killed by it. He
has lost a leg, crushed beyond repair by falling stones, and it’s
believed he’ll have no sight in one eye. They won’t know for
certain until the wounds are healed and the bandages come off. But
he may die before that happens, for I am told his wounds have
festered and he burns with fever. It is a great loss. He was a fine
architect.” King Henry shook his head sadly. “And now, if he lives,
he will be an invalid.”
Arianna was watching Meredith closely,
concerned about her. Meredith was pale, and she swayed as King
Henry recounted the brutal details of Reynaud’s condition, but then
she seemed to gather strength from some inner source. Meredith
looked straight into Guy’s eyes, and once more Arianna had the
sensation that they understood each other’s thoughts and were in
complete agreement. She saw Guy give an almost imperceptible nod.
Meredith nodded back and then spoke to the king.
“Is Reynaud yet at Much Wenlock, my
lord?”
“The brothers there are caring for him,”
Henry replied.
“Is he still a lay cleric? I have not heard
that he had taken final orders.”
“That’s true,” Henry said. “Like so many
other penniless young men, Reynaud entered clerical orders to
acquire an education, and has taken only the minor vows. He’s a
reader, but not a priest. His true vocation is building, as you
know. The Church, and you and I, Guy, have made good use of that
talent of his. But what will become of him now, crippled as he is,
I do not know. If he lives, he may never be well enough to become a
priest, though he will always have shelter at Wenlock.”
“I cannot forget all he did at Afoncaer,”
Meredith said. “We owe him a great debt for that, and now we will
begin to repay it. Reynaud must come to Afoncaer, and I will try to
heal his broken body.”
“You cannot replace a lost leg,” the king
remarked dryly, looking at Guy for confirmation of Meredith’s
offer.
“I badly need a secretary,” Guy said, “and
there is still work to be done on Afoncaer. We need a stronger wall
around the town, and a larger cistern. So long as he has even one
eye, Reynaud could easily plan and direct such projects, given the
right assistants.”
“And you want my permission to employ him.”
King Henry looked pleased. “I trust this will be a permanent
arrangement? You will keep Reynaud at Afoncaer, feed and clothe and
house him for the rest of his life? Which, I greatly fear, will not
be long.”
“We will gladly accept Reynaud into our
household once more,” Guy promised.
“I am in complete accord with your idea, my
friend,” King Henry said. “I believe Reynaud would be content at
Afoncaer.”
“Sire,” Meredith interrupted the men, “I can
see a difficulty in this plan.”
“What is that, my lady?”
“Reynaud’s pride. We must present these
arrangements to him as though we were asking for his help. Reynaud
would not accept an offer made out of pity for a cripple. There is
pity here for his condition, that is true, but there is much more
of friendship and gratitude, though Reynaud may not see it so. We
must be careful in dealing with him, or he may chose to remain at
Wenlock and die.”
“Lady Meredith,” King Henry smiled upon her,
“you are both wise and subtle. I would I had you among my
councilors. Very well After hearing prolonged entreaties from Baron
Guy, which he continued to present to me at every opportunity
during the entire period of your stay at St. Albans, I finally, to
silence his pleas and recognizing his dire need of a good
architect, granted Guy written permission to take Reynaud from Much
Wenlock Priory to Afoncaer. All of this, of course, took place
before we learned of Reynaud’s accident. Do you think that story
will satisfy his pride when he hears of it?”
“I hope so, my lord,” Meredith said
demurely.
“It had better satisfy him,” the king said
sternly, but with a gleam of humor in his eyes that belied his hard
tone. “If Reynaud raises any objections, I’ll issue a royal decree
commanding him to go with you. Stop at Much Wenlock on your way
home to Afoncaer, and take that friend-blessed architect with you.
I’ll see to it he’s duly informed of my will in this matter, and
I’ll explain the circumstances to the prior there.”
“I thank you, my lord,” Guy said, and Henry
moved on to another group of courtiers.
Arianna had been watching and listening
intently. Now she asked Meredith, “If this Reynaud is so badly
injured, will he be able to travel? How can he be moved without it
causing him great pain? Have you some herbal mixture to relieve his
pain? What about his fever? And how will you treat such terrible
injuries? You seem very confident of helping him.”
“So interested?” Meredith eyed her
speculatively. “Have you come to a decision then?”
Arianna’s glance wandered to the opposite
side of the reception room, where she could just see Thomas’s head
above the throng. It did not matter whether she was separated from
him by the width of the whole world or in the same household with
him; the anguish of loving him without hope would always be the
same. But Meredith had offered her the opportunity to do something
beneficial, and in that work she might find her salvation. In
addition, she needed still to keep the promise she had made to Lady
Aloise, to whom she owed so much. Arianna took a deep breath and
made her choice.
“I will go with you to Afoncaer,” she said to
Meredith. “I would learn all I can from you. Let me begin with
Reynaud.”
St. Albans January 9, 1116
Selene was terrified. Her wedding day had
come, and she could not stop trembling. She and Thomas had met
regularly after that first afternoon in the cloister, so he was no
longer a complete stranger to her, though the presence of other
people prevented him from making any further advances toward her.
She thought several times that she had seen in his expression a
desire to kiss her again, and that frightened her. She had been
present at Thomas’s knighting ceremony two days earlier, and at his
request she helped to arm him afterward. When they sat together at
King Henry’s great feast the same night he tried earnestly to make
her unbend and show a little warmth toward him, but she could not.
Her mother, and Arianna, and even her father, all told her that
Thomas was delighted with her and eagerly looked forward to their
marriage. He had been teased about his obvious affection for her
often enough by friends and courtiers, and once even by the king
himself, Sir Valaire said. It was clear to everyone who saw them
together that Thomas had the deepest affection for his bride-to-be,
and would treat her with great honor. None of that helped Selene
now.