Page 78 of Mardon

“That Emmaline?” Gavina’s eyes widened. “Oh, Mardon, I think you’re too late.” She slipped her hand into Tristan’s.

“What do you mean I’m too late?” asked Mardon. “Do you know her? Has something happened to her?”

Autumn spoke up. “We’ve just come from Canterbury Cathedral where I often help the nuns heal the sick. Gavina is learning to do it as well.”

“That’s nice. Do you know where I can find Emmaline?” asked Mardon, feeling more desperate by the moment.

“I know the Lady Emmaline you speak of,” said Autumn. “She is a novitiate of the convent.”

“Aye, she used to be. Have you seen her?” Mardon was becoming very anxious now.

“We just left her,” said Gavina.

“Where is she?”

“She’s in the Canterbury Cathedral,” explained Autumn.

“Come on, Aaron, let’s go. We’ll take your horse and cart,” Mardon told the girls. They headed off with Nairnie right behind them.

“Wait, Mardon,” Tristan called out after them.

“No time to talk,” said Mardon, helping Nairnie into the back of the cart and climbing up to the bench seat. Aaron got in next to him.

Tristan ran after them, jumping into the back of the wagon next to Nairnie as Mardon tore away so fast that he almost lost them both. “Mardon, Autumn just told me something that I think you should know.”

“What is it?” Mardon asked over his shoulder.

“You can’t go into Canterbury Cathedral.”

“If that’s where Emmaline is, then that is where I’m going and no one can stop me.”

“But you don’t understand,” Tristan tried to explain. “There is a mass going on right now.”

“I don’t care.”

“It’s a mass where some of the novitiates are taking their vows to become nuns,” Tristan told him.

“I told you, I don’t care.”

“Well, you should care, Mardon. Because Lady Emmaline is one of them.”

“Nay! Hold on,” Mardon shouted over his shoulder as he urged the horses to go faster. “One way or another I am going to get there before Emmaline takes those vows.”

Chapter 19

The sun streamed in through the stained-glass windows of Canterbury Cathedral as Emmaline kneeled in front of the bishop along with two other novitiates, waiting to take their vows and become nuns.

Her heart ached for Mardon, and she didn’t regret her time spent with him. She wanted more than anything to be with him again, but he’d made it quite clear that she didn’t belong on his ship. He was right, and she just had to accept it. A pirate ship was surely no place for a woman.

She listened as Mary and Agnes took their vows and the bishop blessed them, welcoming them into their new service to God. Being a nun was the last thing she wanted, but she had no other choice. There was nothing else left for her, nowhere else to go.

When she returned to her father’s manor house, she was lucky enough that the healer helped her. With the bottle of poison as proof, they were able to get her stepmother arrested for the murder of her father. However, since her reputation was tarnished now and she had no proof that the painting no longer existed, she wasn’t able to stay at the manor house. She also had no chance of ever being married to a nobleman, not that she really cared. All she wanted was to be with Mardon, but that was never going to happen again.

With nowhere else to go and no one to run to, she went back to the church to become a nun.

“Sister Emmaline, do you take the vow of poverty?” asked the bishop. “Do you promise to give up all your material possessions in order to live a life of labor and moderation in order to serve others?”

Her head instantly filled with thoughts of all the beautiful gowns and jewels she used to have. Her father had been a wealthy man. Even with what he left behind, she could have taken care of herself for the rest of her life without having to marry again.