‘My lord king!’ he said.
‘We were not expecting you … I had no idea … no word of warning …’
‘Then I offer my apologies, fitzRolf,’ said Edmond.
‘Our arrival is somewhat unexpected, I grant you.’
‘There is nothing ready, no chambers warmed —’
‘Then light fires and set linens to bed and order something warm from the kitchen — they must have a fire going, for God’s sake. Is the way to my chambers lit?’
Apparently not, for fitzRolf led the way himself, muttering as he occasionally darted to the side of a chamber to light a torch with the one he carried.
I paid no attention to what or where we were going. Edmond kept a light arm about my waist, occasionally glancing at me as we went.
FitzRolf led us finally to a large privy chamber. Servants scurried from behind our backs to set and light a fire in the fireplace, and to put linens and coverlets on the bed pushed against one wall.
‘Send for wine and food,’ Edmond said, and fitzRolf bustled away on his new mission, still muttering away to himself.
As soon as the servants had lit the fire, Edmond pulled over a chair close to it and sat me down, squatting beside the chair and taking one of my hands.
‘Maeb,’ he said, ‘it is over, now. It is done.’
There was nothing to say to that, so I said nothing.
‘You are safe here,’ Edmond said.
I did not reply. I could think of nothing to say. Nothing in my head made sense.
‘We will search the waters,’ Edmond said, and I gave a nod. I did not think they would find anything.
‘I need to make sure he is gone,’ Edmond added, and at that silent tears rolled down my cheeks again.
Edmond murmured a curse. I felt sorry for him … he obviously was not sure how to deal with me.
A servant came in with wine and some bread and cheese and dried fruits. He set them down near us, and Edmond waved him away.
Edmond poured out a cup of wine, took a gulp himself, then brought it over to me.
‘Drink,’ he said, and I surprised myself by doing so.
I emptied the cup in several swallows, and Edmond refilled it, and brought it back, lifting my hands to it so that I held it.
I took another mouthful while Edmond poured his own cup and emptied it in one draught.
‘God’s truth,’ he said.
‘Were those imps from hell?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘Jesu … they crawled from the wall!’
‘Yes.’
Edmond poured himself another cup, then brought over the ewer and refilled my cup.
This was strong wine, and I thought we would both be drunk very soon.
‘They stank,’ Edmond said, and I nodded.
He pulled over a chair to mine and sat down, putting the ewer of wine on the floor beside him.
We both ignored the food.
‘What am I going to do?’ I said.
‘You need not worry.’
No. I supposed not. I drank my wine and held out my cup for Edmond to pour me some more.
‘I will send for your women in the morning,’ he said.
‘And your belongings.’
I drank the wine. My head was swimming now, and I knew I should stop.
‘I want to sleep,’ I said, and Edmond nodded, set aside his cup, and held out his hand.
I rose, and let him lead me toward the bed.
‘Turn about,’ he said, and he unlaced my kirtle then held it as I stepped out of it.
I pulled my chemise over my head, handing it to him.
His eyes were very dark.
Then, naked, I crawled into bed, pulling the covers close.
Edmond leaned over and kissed my cheek.
‘I will watch over you,’ he said. I would have replied, save I fell straight to sleep.
I woke some time later. It was still deep night, not yet close to dawn. My mouth had a sour taste in it from the wine, and my head ached a little.
I opened my eyes.
Edmond was asleep in one of the chairs, his feet resting on the other one.
I lay there a while, then I rose, as quietly as I could, wrapping a woollen coverlet about me. I opened the door, and asked the guard standing there where the privy was.
When I returned, Edmond was awake, sitting in the chair, rubbing his face as if very tired.
There was a pitcher of small beer set on a table, together with cups. My mouth still tasted horrible, and I poured myself a cup, swilling the beer about my mouth, getting rid of the taste. I raised my eyebrows at Edmond, and he nodded, so I poured him a cup and carried it to him.
He drank it, and I took his cup and set it aside, then slid my hand into his.
‘Come to bed,’ I said.
I suppose it is easy to criticise and say, You only just lost the man you loved, why now take another to your bed?
I had my reasons.
I badly needed comfort, and Edmond would provide that.
I was a woman alone and in a dangerous world, and Edmond would protect me. There had been only Edmond and myself on the parapets when Raife jumped, and I was sure that soon rumours would start about whether or not he had jumped or if he had been pushed. Perhaps Edmond was above the rumours, but I knew that fingers would point my way. I’d had too much scandal attached to me already; this could tip me over the edge. I needed Edmond’s protection, very, very badly, and I needed to ensure I had it.
I needed protection for my and Raife’s infant son, too. He was only a few months old, with vast estates and wealth — I needed Edmond so that Geoffrey could hold on to his inheritance. I knew that aristocratic vultures would be circling the earldom of Pengraic by morning.
And, finally, I suspected strongly that I was now carrying another child of Raife’s. I cannot say how, for it was only days since Raife and I had bedded, but somehow I knew it. I wanted Edmond to think this was his child, and thus also afford it his protection.
Edmond was my hold on life, my single protector, and I needed to consummate that protection as soon as I could.
Besides, I would be a liar to say that I was not already well on the path to loving him. I loved Raife with a passion, Edmond with a quiet, solid regard.
Edmond was no fool, and knew precisely my reasons behind my leading him to the bed. He may not have suspected that I was breeding again (although he might have done, for he was aware that Raife and I had spent a night together), but he certainly understood all the other reasons.
He loved me, I knew, and lusted for me, but he apprehended also that when he bedded me he solidified his control of the vast wealth of the earldom of Pengraic. My son Geoffrey would become his ward, and until Geoffrey reached his majority Edmond would control all the Pengraic wealth and estates. It would help Edmond enormously if the boy’s mother was compliant and willing and not a force pulling Geoffrey the other way. Edmond as king was already a powerful man. With the wealth (and the subsequent military resources) of Pengraic behind him, he was virtually untouchable, personally controlling a third of the land in England as well as almost half of the Welsh Marches.
Bedding a scandal-ridden widowed countess was a small price to pay to ensure such power. Keeping me from another noble’s bed was an absolute necessity, because if he didn’t then his hold over Geoffrey’s wealth might be compromised.
But … as much as a king and countess took to the bed that night, it was also man and woman, and a man and a woman who had been moving toward each other for some time. Our love-making was sweet and simple; comforting, warm, full of aching promise and hope and, perhaps, even a little redemption.
When we were done I lay in his arms and cried for everything I had lost, and he held me and comforted me, and did not mind my tears. One of the things I came to love about Edmond was that he did not resent Raife, nor was he jealous of him. I could, and did, weep for Raife often in the coming months and years, but Edmond allowed me that, and did not complain.
From that night, Edmond became the centre of my existence.
Of my new life.
Part Eight
The Falloway Man
Chapter One
As I had known it would, terrible scandal erupted the day after Raife’s death. The only witnesses to his death had been Edmond and myself (and five imps, but neither Edmond nor myself deluded ourselves that they would spring to our defence!). There was not even a body. Some refused to believe Raife was dead at all — the rumours that the Earl of Pengraic had been seen here, there, over that mountain or beyond the seas in Normandy or other realms within Europe continued for many years. He was even spotted in the Holy Lands, and beyond, in those exotic empires far to the east.