‘Has something happened with the Queen? Is there news from Gascony?’
‘No.’ She twisted her hands in her lap. ‘I . . . I believe I am with child.’ She forced out the words. ‘I do not know what I am going to do.’
He drew back sharply to look at her, first in the eyes, and then down at her body. ‘With child,’ he said.
She nodded, and her chin wobbled. ‘I think that first time . . .’
‘Dear God.’ He rubbed his palm over his jaw stubble and after a hesitation, sighed. ‘Do not worry, I will make it right, I promise.’
‘How will you do that?’ she demanded on a rising tide of panic. ‘What about the King and Queen? What about my family?What will they do to us? Look at what happened to your father, and to mine!’ She burst into tears.
‘Hush now, hush.’ He drew her against him, and she tightly gripped his worn leather jerkin in her fists. ‘Look, we are in a bind, I admit, but there is a way to make it right. I shall marry you, as you once asked. It will cause a scandal and it will not be easy, but if you have my ring on your finger, and we speak the proper vows, then it is no dishonour.’
‘It will mean death for you, and disgrace for me,’ she said.
‘What alternative is there? Even if we have done wrong, it is a wrong we can right, especially for the child you carry. It shall not be a bastard, but born within lawful wedlock.’
She looked at him through tear-blurred eyes. He would not be allowed to live for dishonouring her and ruining the King’s dynastic plans. She would be hidden away until the child was born and everything would be kept secret. ‘It will mean your life,’ she said. ‘Do you not understand?’
He grimaced. ‘I am ready to pay that price.’
‘And what will be the use in that? How will that make it right if you leave me to deal with this on my own?’
‘Look, I shall think of something. We need not announce it to the world yet, but we should wed immediately. Come to me here on the morrow afternoon and we shall make our vows before witnesses. Hawise and John will stand as two, and Otto and Henry de la Haye. Once we are husband and wife, we can decide what to do next.’
Jeanette swallowed at the enormity of what he was saying. She was being swept away on a rising tide, with only straws to grasp.
‘Are you willing?’ He held her shoulders and looked into her eyes.
Dear Holy Virgin . . . ‘Yes,’ she whispered. She still could not see a way out of the dilemma, but there had to be an openingfurther along, there just had! And she was the one who had first asked if he would marry her. ‘Yes, I am willing.’
He dried her tears on the cuff of his shirt. ‘Then we shall do this, and be brave. Know that I love you, and my life is yours.’ He touched her damp cheek. ‘Go now. Behave as usual before others, and I will see to the rest, and meet you tomorrow. All will be well, I promise – trust me.’
Jeanette nodded. In the midst of this terrible flood, trusting him was the only branch she had.
That evening, Thomas invited Otto to eat with him in his chamber. The brothers often met to catch up on their lives, discuss orders, and sometimes to play chess and dice away from the tavern. Thomas had little appetite for the cold spiced fowl and bread, but tried to make a show of eating, while Otto devoured the meal with gusto.
At length, Thomas wiped his hands on his napkin and refreshed his cup. ‘I have something to ask you,’ he said.
Otto held out his own cup for a refill and pushed aside his dish, empty save for well-picked bones. ‘What is it, brother?’
Thomas dug one hand through his hair. ‘I trust you to keep this secret – at least for now, until I can see my way clear.’
‘You can trust me with your life – although I hope it will never come to that.’
‘It may indeed come to that, but I have no one else who I would have stand in your stead.’
Otto raised his brows, but opened his hands. ‘Then don’t tarry, tell me what it is.’
‘I am asking you to be a witness to my marriage.’
Otto stared, then laughed in disbelief and shook his head. ‘Well, that is not what I was expecting to hear. Who is the fortunate lady, and why the secrecy?’
‘It’s Jeanette of Kent, the King’s cousin.’
‘Jeanette?’ Otto’s jaw dropped.
‘Yes.’
