“I now see that it all began when Sir Walter Hepbourn began to court me.” She scowled. “I should have been more wary, looked more closely, for no one of his ilk had ever done so before, but I am one and twenty and didnae wish to miss my chance to have my own household and some bairns.”
Simon wondered how such a tempting armful of woman could ever fear becoming a spinster. She was small and the nun’s attire hid a lot but not enough. He could see that she had softness enough to please a man.
“So, we soon became betrothed. Then, as the time to marry drew nearer, I sensed a change in the mon. I thought he might have gotten himself a mistress.” She blushed. “He is a virile mon and, weel–”
“Wasnae being verra virile with you?”
“Nay, he wasnae. He tried once and I pushed him away. After that he ne’er tried again. ‘Tis why I began to think he had a mistress. So, after I visited his home for a wee while, I said my fareweels, walked away, and then, after hiding away for an hour, mayhap longer, I crept back. Instead of a mistress, I heard him talking to his cousin David. David was praising Walter for his great sacrifice.” She knew bitterness and anger were seeping into her voice but could not help it. “Walter declared that his sacrifice would be short-lived. What David said next told me what had happened.”
“And that was?” he asked when she fell silent.
“David wondered how Walter could claim he was making no sacrifice when anyone accused of murdering a king’s mon didnae live long. I thought it was Walter who would be sacrificing himself but soon realized that I was a fool to think that. He planned to use me as his sacrificial lamb. He also said he planned to rescue me, that I would certainly have to flee Scotland then, and he had a wee house in France where he planned to keep me.”
Simon could see that it pained her to tell him that and he wondered just how much she had cared for Hepbourn.
Ilsabeth took a deep breath in an attempt to push aside her growing anger. “David was appalled because he thought Walter still intended to marry me. Walter made it verra clear that he had ne’er intended to marry me, that I was beneath him, and that he would ne’er sully his fine bloodline with an Armstrong. He just didnae wish for me to die until he had me and was weary of me.
“The whole betrothal was naught but part of his plan. He wanted to get close to my family so that he could learn enough about them to ken how he could place blame and all suspicion on them. The mon wants rid of my whole clan. He e’en thinks that he may be able to get some of our land if he steps right and gets close to the king. Or mayhap once the king is gone, he feels the new men in power will reward him with it.” She frowned. “I think he kenned we wouldnae just cry innocent and be taken for he saw the chance that the king’s men would be verra busy trying to gather us all up. That would allow him to do as he plans for they wouldnae have the time to look anywhere else.”
“Did he say exactly what his plan was?”
“Nay. David spoke of ridding themselves of that foolish king, his sycophants, and all those who led him where they wished him to go. Neither mon wants any suspicion turning their way. I can only think that Walter wants my kin hunted down and hanged ere he does whate’er he now plots to do, thus giving him the chance to grab our lands. Although he did think that the new king might weel gift him with them. They went inside after that.”
“And ye ne’er tried to find out more?”
“I didnae have the time. Walter spoke of needing to plan his next step most carefully and of wanting to be weel rested so that he could have the pleasure of watching my family rounded up and taken away in chains. I ran for home, thinking to warn them of his plots, but my cousin Humfrey caught up with me. He told me it was already too late, that my own dagger had been in the heart of a king’s mon, and that soldiers were already pounding at the gates of Aigballa. My family gave him what I needed to travel and sent him after me to tell me to come here.” She shook her head. “And to think I thought Walter’s only real fault was that he was vain.”
“Ye betrothed yourself to a mon ye thought was vain?”
“He had some cause to be so and his mother spoiled him.” She pulled the letter from her father out of her pocket where she had hidden it and handed it to him. “It doesnae say much save that my father suspects Walter and that I am to come to you and seek help. So, are ye going to help me? Or, do ye send me to the king?”
Simon did not answer her for a moment, taking the time to read the short message from her father instead. There was little to be found in the words Sir Cormac had written to help Simon make any judgment. The man simply thought to aid his daughter. The only thing that weighed in the favor of the Armstrongs was that they knew his reputation, therefore, sending Ilsabeth to him implied that they believed the truth would free them and reveal their innocence. The cynical part of Simon wondered if they hoped he would think exactly that and thus believe them cruelly wronged.
“Nay, I willnae send ye to the king now,” Simon said as he handed her back her father’s message.
“Howbeit, ye will be closely watched and ye had best nay leave this house.”
Ilsabeth swallowed the angry words she ached to spit out at him. She told herself that he did not know her and he had every right to need proof of her innocence before he believed in her. She was marked a traitor and a murderer. Such crimes put anyone who helped her in danger. It had been foolish to think that her word on all that had happened would be enough. Ilsabeth welcomed the return of the children for it kept her from saying something that could push away the only man who could keep her from the brutal death handed out to traitors.
Bega worked fast and efficiently, she thought, as Elen and Reid hurried to her side. They were both clean and dressed in simple, well-made clothes. Even though Reid’s hair was still wet, Ilsabeth could now see that he had dark red hair. She served them both some of the food and drink and decided they were handsome children. All she could do was care for them as long as she was able and pray that Simon would see them into the care of her family if she did not get free of Walter’s plots. Ilsabeth refused to even think of the possibility that her whole family might well be caught in Walter’s trap.
A tap on her shoulder drew her attention away from the children. Ilsabeth looked up at Sir Simon, who now stood at her side. A quick glance around revealed that the two servants had left. He nodded toward the window and then walked toward it. After seeing that the children were well occupied with the food, she went to join the man.
“Whose children are they?” Simon asked.
“Mine,” she replied, knowing that some of her stubborn determination to keep Elen and Reid could be heard in her voice.
Simon almost smiled. Ilsabeth looked stubborn enough to fight him for the right to keep the two children. The fact that she was caring for and protecting two foundlings did a lot to make him favor her tale of betrayal, but he did not say so. He just quirked one brow at her, silently demanding her to tell him the truth.
Ilsabeth sighed, recognizing that look on his face. She had seen it on the men in her family too often. The man would stand there like a rock until she told him the truth. As quickly and quietly as she could, she told Simon all Reid had told her. The flash of anger in his eyes left her thinking that he might not be quite as cold as rumor said he was. He did not care for how the children had been treated.
“ ‘Tis a poor time for ye to indulge in such charity,” he said.
“That may be, but it willnae stop me.”
“And what if ye arenae able to free yourself and prove your innocence?”
It was not easy to shrug aside the part of her that was angered by the implication that she might actually be guilty of the crime she was accused of, but Ilsabeth did it. He had said he would search out the truth and that was all they had asked of him. She had to believe that he would be able to prove her innocent and save her and her family. Then she would be able to save Elen and Reid.
