Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine (reading an ebook TXT) 📕

Matilda gazed after him for a moment, perplexed, and then, throwing back her hair, she sat down on the bed and began to eat. She was ravenously hungry and she had to think.

She sat for a long time over her cup of wine, as the rush burned lower. Then in the last flickering light she stood up and began to take off her clothes.

The sound of talk and laughter had begun to lessen in the hall below and now an occasional snore was beginning to echo up the stairs. To her relief there was no sign of William.

She slipped naked under the heavy bed coverings and, her plans quite made up for the morning, was soon asleep.

Chapter 6

On the sofa Jo stirred uneasily. Beneath her lids her eyes moved rapidly from side to side and her breathing quickened.

"I was tired after the days of endless riding, " she said slowly. "And I slept heavily. It is first light now. The room is gray and shadowy and the fire has sunk to a heap of white ash. I am sleepy... trying to remember where I am... " There was a long pause. "I am not alone anymore.... There is someone here with me in the room.... "

"So you are awake at last!" William leaned over the bed and dragged the covers down to her waist. His breath stank of stale wine. "My beautiful wife, so eager for her husband's company. I'm flattered, my dear, that you should have missed me so much. " He laughed and Matilda felt herself shudder. She lay still for a moment, afraid to move, as his calloused hands gripped her breasts, then she reached down desperately for the bedcovers, trying to drag them over her once more, remembering the charm she had recited to herself in the dark, the charm that would protect her from him for months to come.

She forced herself to lie still and looked up at him, her clear eyes steady on his. He immediately looked away, as always uncomfortable beneath her gaze.

"You must not touch me, my lord. "

His mouth widened into a sneer. "Oh, no? And why not, pray?" He grabbed her wrist, twisting it painfully until she wanted to scream, but she managed to keep her voice calm as she spoke. "Because I am with child. And my nurse Jeanne says if you lie with me again while he is in my belly he will be stillborn. "

She held her breath, watching his face. Cruelty turned to anger, then disbelief, then to superstitious fear. Abruptly he released her and he crossed himself as he straightened, moving away from the bed.

"That witch! If she has put the evil eye on my child... "

"She casts no evil eye, my lord. " Matilda sat up, drawing the fur bedcover over her breasts and clutching it tightly. "She wants to protect him. That is why she sent me to you, while I was still able to travel. Your son must be born in Wales, in your lands in the Border March. You cannot send me back to Bramber. "

She watched him, hugging herself in triumph as he stood with his back to her, staring down at the dead ash in the hearth. Then he swung around. "How does she know all this?"

Matilda shrugged. "She has the gift of seeing. "

"And she sees that I will have a son?"

"A strong, brave son, my lord. " She saw the look of triumph on his face as he stared at her.

"Very well, " he said. "But you may not stay here. I shall order a Utter to take you on to Brecknock. You will be safe there. "

She lay back on the pillows and closed her eyes with a sigh. "You are kind, my lord. I will try to obey you. I just pray to the Blessed Virgin that the extra journey will not harm the child. I am so tired. " She put her hand on her stomach dramatically. "Please. May I not rest a day or two more? For your son's sake?"

She glanced up through her eyelashes to see what reaction her words provoked. William seemed nonplussed. He strode back and forth across the room a couple of times, kicking viciously at the hay that was strewn on the floor, obviously struggling with himself. Seeing his preoccupation, she felt a wave of something that was almost affection for this stocky, broad-shouldered man, still almost a stranger to her. He looked so uncertain.

"Are you pleased, William?" she asked after a moment. "About the baby?"

"Of course I'm pleased. " His voice was gruff. "But I don't want you here. Not today. "

"But why not? I shan't be in your way, I promise. " She raised herself on her elbow, her hair cascading about her bare shoulders, dark auburn in the pale sunlight. "You won't even know I'm here, and in a day or two when I'm rested I shall go to Brecknock if you think that's really best. "

William straightened his shoulders, frowning reluctantly. "If I allow you to stay, " he blustered, "and I'm only saying if, you would have to promise on no account to leave this room. Not for any reason. It would not be safe. You would have to give me your oath. "

"I promise, my lord. " She crossed her fingers beneath the covers.

"You do understand me. You are not to move from here all day, no matter what happens. " He glared down at her. "In fact, you would have to stay in bed. The feast is not for you. It's no ordinary Christmas junketing but a gathering of local Welsh princes and dignitaries for political discussions. I have to read them an ordinance from King Henry. That's why the Bloets weren't asked. It's no place for them, and it's no place for women. Do you understand?"

He turned away from her and strode over to the