The Devil’s Diadem by Sara Douglass

‘I don’t know, my lord.’ I fought not to add I am sorry because I was suddenly sick of saying that.

‘Did you dream?’

That question surprised me. ‘I had many hallucinations, my lord. I thought I had died, but then …’

‘But then?’

‘But I dreamed that I was pushed back, by a massive horse … and wolves snapped at my heels.’

The earl looked at me, one end of his mouth twisting in what could have been either amusement or scorn. ‘The hemlock, indeed,’ he said.

There was an uncomfortable silence. ‘How does the king fare?’ I said stupidly, grasping at something to say. He looked at me quizzically, one eyebrow raised. ‘Edmond? How does he fare? Full of care, as am I, but his wife and sons live, whereas mine … ah, but I must talk of Edmond, for he is the focus of your concern. He is well enough, Maeb. Still well enough to lust after a pretty face. As is Saint-Valery, your betrothed.’

Saint-Valery? How many weeks, months, had it been since I had thought of him?

‘Ah,’ said the earl, ‘see your surprise.’

‘Saint-Valery and I were not betrothed,’ I said. ‘The marriage was mooted, only. I had not yet agreed to his proposal.’

‘Good, thank you for reminding me of the fact. This suits my purpose admirably. Saint-Valery might have raised objection due to pre-contract.’

‘My lord?’

‘To our marriage, Maeb. I need a new wife and a new family and you can provide me both.’

I could only stare, not believing I had heard his words a-right.

‘Think of it as a way to assuage your guilt, Maeb. Achieve absolution, if that is what you need. Three of my children died by your hand, including my beloved son. However noble and merciful your motives, still my children are dead. You owe me a family, and you shall deliver me a new one. Now, drink your beer. You need to regain your strength, for I do not have the heart to take a cripple to my marriage bed.’

With that, he put down his cup and left the solar.

Chapter Three

Evelyn came to help me back to bed, happily prattling about some gossip she had heard in the kitchens. She did not notice my silence. Once I was settled in bed, she sat down beside me. Her face, alive with amusement not a moment ago, now sobered.

‘Maeb,’ she said, ‘now that you are getting better, we will need to think on our future.’

I said nothing. I was still in shock at what the earl had said, and was starting to think I had misheard him.

‘The earl will take a new wife, soon enough,’ Evelyn said. ‘He has lost all his children. He needs heirs.’ She sighed. ‘There must be heiresses and wealthy noble widows a-plenty to choose from. Apart from Edmond’s sons, and maybe even more than them, the earl is the most marriageable man in England. He has such wealth and power. He will choose an illustrious wife, to be sure.’

I just looked at her numbly.

‘Maeb,’ Evelyn said, in a tone that suggested she needed to explain as if to a small child — and maybe she did — ‘such a woman will already have her ladies attending upon her. She will not need us. Indeed, if it were not for your illness, we should already have been required to leave Pengraic.’

‘Evelyn …’

‘I think I can obtain a position for myself within de Tosny’s household. My daughter shall speak for me. But, Maeb, what will you do? Perhaps the earl can find you a household.’

‘Evelyn …’

‘What is it?’

I did not know what to say. What the earl had said was so preposterous that it now seemed unspeakable.

‘The earl …’

‘Yes?’ Evelyn was growing impatient with me. ‘Evelyn … I may have misheard it. Surely, I could not have heard a-right. The earl …’

‘Yes?’

‘The earl has said, this morning, while I sat out by the fire … the earl said that we should marry.’

Evelyn clearly did not know what to make of my words. ‘You and me?’ she said, incredulous.

‘No! The earl and myself.’

Evelyn’s mouth dropped open, and then I saw in her eyes a flash of pity. Poor, delusional Maeb. The sickness must have scarred her mind.

‘Maeb,’ she said, gentle as a mother, ‘that could not be.’

‘I do not think so, either. But … he seemed so insistent.’

‘Maeb, the earl will choose a woman of great rank, wealth and alliances. He must.’

I knew what she was thinking. I had set my heart on Stephen, and now that he was dead I entertained childish dreams of the earl.

I began to resent the earl for putting me in this position. ‘I know that, Evelyn. I do not know what … he must have been making a cruel jest, I think.’

‘Perhaps you misunderstood,’ said Evelyn. ‘He spoke of his new bride and perhaps said you might have a place in her household? If so, then you have good luck, for your future is assured.’

That wasn’t what the earl had said. Was it? Now I could not believe any of my memories. Nothing made sense. Nothing.

Maybe I was still delusional from the hemlock.

I frowned, wondering if I had misheard the earl’s entire conversation. ‘Perhaps,’ I began, then stopped as the earl, d’Avranches, Ivo Taillebois — the new castle steward — as well as two knights, entered the solar. They walked to the grouping of benches and chairs about the fire, although they did not sit down, and engaged in animated discussion about the reorganisation of castle defences with the limited numbers of soldiers and knights currently in residence.

Evelyn and I fell silent as we always did when the earl conducted his daily business within the solar. And, as always, the earl and his men ignored us completely … until the moment Taillebois turned to leave the grouping. He had walked some three or four paces away when the earl called him to a halt.

‘Taillebois,’ the earl said, lifting a ring of keys from his tunic pocket and thumbing through them. ‘There is a large chest in the lower storage chambers, to the left of the door, pushed hard up against the wall.’

He handed the key to Taillebois. ‘Take Mistress Evelyn down with you and let her sort through it. Mistress Evelyn, the chest is full of fabrics that I had imported for my Lady Adelie’s pleasure. She never used them, but now …’

He paused, sent me a glance, then looked at the group of men. ‘Now they may be used for Mistress Maeb’s pleasure. We are to be betrothed, when she is well enough to stand before witnesses and speak the vows, and I have had the necessary binding contracts drawn up. I have a family to replace, as soon as I might.’

Everyone, including myself, stared at him.

‘Maeb will need more gentle kirtles and gowns than she has now, Evelyn,’ the earl continued, apparently unbothered by the stunned regard of his listeners. ‘Select some fabrics that suit. Take whatever is useful … the chest has ribbons and baubles enough besides fabric. Make sure you have at least one bright kirtle stitched by the end of this week. I do not wish to delay this betrothal. Taillebois, what women are there in the castle or village, left alive and well, who might be trusted with the stitching?’

‘I shall find out, my lord,’ Taillebois said, and with a half bow to the earl and a look of enquiry to Evelyn, who somehow managed to rise and follow him, left the chamber.

D’Avranches and the two knights stared at me with undisguised speculation.

I could only imagine the rumours racing about the castle by the end of this day.

The earl dismissed the three men, thankfully bringing to an end their speculative attention, then strolled over to my bed.

‘I need to move apace, Maeb. God alone knows when the king will demand I return to court. I would like to have the formalities of the betrothal concluded soon. When might you be well enough to attend dinner in the great hall?’

‘Perhaps a week, my lord.’

‘A week. Good. Now, we need to discuss the terms —’

‘My lord,’ I said, prompted by the conversation I’d had earlier with Evelyn. ‘Surely you cannot want me to wife. You have the flower of English and Norman nobility, and beyond, to choose for your wife. You cannot want me!’

He regarded me a moment, then sat down on the end of the bed. ‘I do not have the time to conduct lengthy negotiations, Maeb. I cannot be bothered. I am too tired, and there is much else I need to be doing. All I need is a woman to wive.’

‘But you despise me,’ I said, remembering that conversation we’d had on the day we’d first met.