Hand still to her red-welted face, she slipped past him. Strode watched her disappear into the approaching dusk, a waif of a thing that did not matter much to him. She could die tomorrow and he would not be heartbroken. But for the moment, she served a purpose. And that purpose was to feed him information. He left the stables in her wake, heading for the Whitewell troops housed in temporary quarters just inside the main gate.
The stable was left still and silent but for the snorting of a horse now and again. They were becoming increasingly impatient for their evening meal. In the growing darkness, a head suddenly popped up in one of the stalls that housed a big blond charger. It was difficult to make out who it was until the shape came from behind the horse and stepped out into the fading light. Straw stuck out from the figure’s pale blond head, the blue eyes reflecting shock in the twilight.
John Wellesbourne had heard everything.
*
Her wedding dresshad been her mother’s. It was a white confection of silk and linen, woven with strands of real silver thread. Across her midsection was an elaborately embroidered belt of crystals and silver beads, absolutely gorgeous and glistening. The neckline was off the shoulder, the sleeves long, emphasizing her slender neck and shapely torso. Jezebel had pinned her hair up with silver pins and had braided strips of white ribbon into the bronze curls. If ever Alixandrea had looked like an angel, today was the day. As the sun set, the hour of Vespers quickly approached and she sat in taut anticipation of the evening’s events. The arrangements were made, the hall readied, and there was naught else to do but wait.
Under her earlier supervision, and with Caroline standing silently by, the great hall had been transformed from a smelly room of dogs and dirt into a warm place with fresh rushes and a blazing fire.
Although it still smelled of dogs and probably would until the floors had been washed a few times, she was moderately satisfied with its current state. It had taken a small army of house servants to achieve it, some of whom now had a permanent job in keeping the floors of the great hall clean. Alixandrea wasn’t a heavy-handed chatelaine; she preferred to accomplish her needs through positive encouragement and kind directives. At least for the moment, it seemed to be working.
The dogs who populated the hall were another problem altogether. Seven in all and a litter of pups, and they seemed to like Alixandrea a good deal. The moment she walked into the room, they were on her and continued to follow her around as if she held all the answers to their doggie dreams. She had resorted to tricking them to go outside into the kitchen yard; when they followed her from the hall and out into the yard, she dashed back inside the keep and slammed the heavy oak door. She heard them whimpering outside but that was of no matter; dogsbelonged outside, in her opinion, and outside they were going to stay.
It had been an interesting afternoon to say the least. She felt that she was becoming moderately acquainted with the four story keep and she also felt that she was settling comfortably into her position at Wellesbourne. Caroline had been company all afternoon, following her around more than actually helping. Alixandrea could see what Matthew had suggested of the woman; she wasn’t particularly strong willed, and she definitely was not a leader. She was rather meek, a little flighty, and a sweet simpleton as Alixandrea had observed earlier. There was no way this woman could stand up against five grown men and a castle full of soldiers.
They had parted ways a couple of hours before Vespers so that each could dress for the ceremony. Jezebel had been nowhere to be found when Alixandrea arrived in her chamber, but the maid made her appearance shortly thereafter with a big copper tub and servants bearing hot water. After her mistress was bathed, she brought her mistress honeyed wine in an effort to calm any nerves she might be feeling for the evening’s events.
The wine was very sweet. Cup in hand, Alixandrea stood in front of a large bronze mirror that she had brought with her from Whitewell. The reflection gazing back at her was confident, relaxed. She was rather pleased with the way she looked and hoped Matthew was pleased also.
“I wish my mother could see me,” she murmured, smoothing at the skirt. “She would have been blissfully happy. This was her gown, you know. She married my father in it.”
“I know,” Jezebel watched her as she twirled and posed. “Ye look lovely, m’lady.”
“Do you think so?” Alixandrea put the goblet down to fix a ribbon in her hair. “What do you think of the hall? I had them clean it up. Does it look much better?”
“It does, m’lady.”
“I hope Sir Matthew thinks so. I hope he…”
She was interrupted by pounding on the chamber door. It was loud, almost angry. Jezebel flew to the door and opened it. Mathew stepped into the room, with Mark standing in the doorway behind him. Alixandrea noticed right away that both men were still dressed in the clothes they had worn earlier, certainly not clean or ceremonial garments that one would expect for a wedding. By the expression on Matthew’s face, she could sense his ominous mood from where she stood. She was about to ask him if anything was amiss when he spoke.
“Something has come up, Lady Alixandrea,” he said, his voice deep and cold. “I am afraid that our nuptials planned for this evening will be indefinitely postponed.”
Alixandrea felt as if she had been hit in the stomach.Indefinitely postponed? She could feel the blood draining from her face and it was a struggle to maintain her composure.
“Is there a problem, my lord?”
“Nothing that concerns you.”
She did not believe him. “My lord, if I have done something offensive.…”
“I did not say that you did.”
“Even so, your attitude clearly demonstrates that I must have done something. Why else would you cancel our ceremony?”
He cut her off. “I will repeat my statement that it is not your concern. And you will ask no more questions on this matter until such time as I decide it is a subject worthy of further discussion.”
Alixandrea did not say another word. She stared at him, her sultry bronze eyes asking a thousand questions that her lips could not. He was absolutely final in his manner, a brutality and harshness emanating from him that she could never have imagined he was capable of. She simply lowered her head insubmission. Before she could lift it again, the door slammed and he was gone.
She stood a moment, shocked and sickened. She could not imagine what she might have done to offend him so. Everything had been so pleasant between them, up until just a few hours ago. Then she remembered the hall, now devoid of dogs and feces, now cleaned as she had insisted. Perhaps he did not want it cleaned even though he told her that she could do as she pleased. Perhaps he was really hoping she would leave it alone, but like a meddling female, she had not. She had insisted the hall have her signature upon it as the new chatelaine. Aye, that must be her mistake. There could be no other.
Slowly, she turned from the door, the dress swishing as she moved to the nearest chair. Jezebel still stood near the entry, her brown eyes wide with astonishment at what she had just witnessed. It took her a moment to find her tongue.
“M’lady,” she began hesitantly. “I would not be too upset. Perhaps there are more important things happening right now and he cannot think on a wedding.”
Alixandrea waved her off weakly. “’Tis all right, Jez,” she said quietly. “He did not want to marry at all. Perhaps… perhaps he has come to fully realize that. Perhaps I have done something so horrible that he can never forgive me.”
