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He attempted to pass her, but Katherine was not to be gainsaid.
“Stephen, I must insist—”
“She is one of the prisoners. Now, if you please…” He skirted around her and headed up the stairs
Bewilderment mixed with outrage. “A prisoner?A Scot?Here, in our keep? Why would you…?”
Her words trailed off. She was speaking to thin air. Stephen had disappeared, taking the hapless wench with him. Katherine started to follow, then halted. She could hardly bang on the door to the lord’s chamber and demand entry, insist that he release the girl. Stephen might be behaving like an arrogant boor, but Katherine was better bred and not about to treat the servants to such an unseemly display. In good conscience, though, neither could she allow the matter to go unremarked. The girl was prisoner, an enemy, but even so…
No,she determined.Not under my roof.
By the following morning she had ascertained at least some of the facts. Apparently, the girl had angered Stephen by biting him when he sought to speak with her. Actuallybitinghim. He had commanded that she be whipped but mercifully relented and instead ordered a bundle of switches to be cut and taken to his chamber. Katherine could only presume that the girl had been duly punished for her disrespect, and hopefully the matter could end there. The wench would be returned to work with the rest of the captives.
When she came upon Stephen breaking his fast in the hall, she took the opportunity to make sure that this was indeed so.
“Where is the girl?” She saw no merit in beating about the bush.
“A good morning to you, too, Lady Katherine.” He continued to eat his porridge
“Sir Stephen. I insist that you tell me where she is and what you have done to her. Must I go to your chamber to find out for myself?” It was an empty threat. She would never dream of entering the lord’s apartments without permission. But really, he was being most awkward.
“I assume you are referring to Flora.”
“Is that her name? The Scottish captive you carried off to your chamber last evening? The girl did not look to be more than eighteen or so summers.”
He merely shrugged in response.
“Have you…hurt her? I insist upon knowing what has become of that child.” In truth, Katherine was only a year or two older than the unfortunate wench, but in that moment she felt her years to be far more advanced. She glared at the marquis. “I had never considered you to be a man who might…who might take advantage in such a vile manner, but I really must—”
“Katherine. In the name of all that is holy, be quiet.”
She paused, unused to being addressed in quite so terse a manner in her own hall, but Katherine was determined not to back down. Not now, not over a matter of such importance. “I shall not be quiet. I will not stand for such…such brutality. My brother would never have contemplated such an outrage. It makes us no better than animals. The Scots may be savages, but we are not, sir. I really must insist—”
Stephen returned her glare and at last offered some measure of reassurance. “The girl is unhurt and will remain that way, unless you consider a birching to count in such a matter. You will agree, I hope, that she did earn herself that, at least.”
Katherine was prepared to concede that much, though it entirely escaped her why the girl remained in Stephen’s chamber, since the issue of her suitable chastisement appeared to be concluded. She opened her mouth to say as much, but he was already rising from his chair.
“Then we are in agreement, my lady. And now, if you will excuse me, there is the matter of our crops to attend to. I am sure that you, too, have much to occupy you.”
“You will not object, I trust, if I were to visit the girl myself.”Where did that come from? I have no desire to become acquainted with the wench.
“Why would you do that, Lady Katherine?” he asked softly.
An excellent question. Katherine offered the first explanation which occurred to her. “You may be lord here, but until you marry, I am still lady of this keep. A lone female under this roof is my concern.”
Stephen’s eyes narrowed. He regarded Katherine with a degree of suspicion. His reluctance was obvious, but he agreed to allow her to take some food to the girl. “But you are not to torment her in any way,” he added.
“Torment her?” Katherine was genuinely taken aback. How could he think such a thing of her? “That is not my intention at all.”
So, what exactlywasher intention? Katherine was far from certain as she ascended the stairs. She was followed by one of the maidservants who bore a tray of food, and in her pocket she had a small jar of her own special salve. If the girl had been beaten, she might well be in need of some comfort. Prisoner or not, from one female to another, it seemed the right thing to do.
It was with mixed feelings, a month or so later, that Katherine observed Stephen on the battlements as the weary and resentful party of Scots filed back across the Elborne drawbridge to start their long trek home. The girl, Flora, was among them and appeared more than a little eager to be on her way. Katherine surmised that she and the marquis were not parting on friendly terms, a turn of events which came as something of a surprise. She had no cause to doubt Stephen’s word that he had not ill-treated the wench, but Katherine knew that they had become lovers during Flora’s time at Elborne. Neither one had said as much, and Katherine was far too well-mannered to ask, but she had taken the precaution of seeking reports from the Elborne laundress regarding the state of the marquis’s bedlinen. She had not been especially surprised at the evidence gained.
Still, the girl had appeared relaxed, happy, even, in the final couple of weeks. The liaison might be unwise, but provided both parties were willing participants, Katherine would keep her own counsel. There might well be consequences, however, and Katherine made a mental note to speak with the laundress again. If Flora had had her courses during the month she spent in the marquis’s chamber, the lady of the keep would know of it.
Katherine was, much to her own surprise, sorry to see her go. She had taken to spending a little time with Flora most days and found the girl to be unexpectedly articulate and intelligent. She was, in fact, rather good company, and Katherine would miss her ready wit.
She would not regret the departure of their reluctant guest nearly as much as Stephen, however. On that, Katherine was quite certain. The marquis’s expression was one of abject misery as he watched the bedraggled group trudge off into the distance. If nothing else, the question of her marriage to Stephen was now settled, as far as Katherine was concerned. A loveless but amicable union with a man she could at least like was one thing and might be borne. Marriage to a man who was so obviously in love with another woman, now that was quite out of the question.
