Page 17 (1/2)
Willa stared down at the letter in her hand, alh hadthe bailey Lord Wynekyn shifted, drawing her gaze He seemed both anxious and a touch i he&039;d read it before giving it to Hugh They were all anxious to knohat it said But Willa was afraid, too
Her gaze slid to Baldulf The ainst furs someone had rolled and set behind hie in hand, settled on the edge of the bed and opened the scroll The state of the parch to her It was obvious someone had opened and read it many times She doubted if that had been Lord Hillcrest The person who had hit Baldulf over the head es and water stains, as if some clear liquid had been dropped on it Tears? she wondered
"My dearest child, Willa," she read aloud, aware that Hugh was now turning from theto look at her She supposed he hadn&039;t expected her to read aloud, but it seemed only fair It also see the letter
Willa cleared her throat and continued
"First, I should like to say that I love you I could not love you hter, and as such, it breaks ivetooI ah can soood h life Give him the opportunity and I believe he could be the best of husbands"
Pausing, Willa glanced toward Hugh His face was expressionless, carved in stern lines She glanced back at the letter
"Now, to the sad tale of how you ended up hter Willa, the secret is in your name I named you Willa because you were, in effect, willed to ed me to keep you safe I told you that your naive me that lie I will tell you your proper name later, but first, your mother was Juliana Evelake She was a beautiful woman In all ways You look very like her except for your coloring Yourcomes from your father
"Juliana&039;s parents sent her to my brother&039;s wife to be trained My brother, Pelles, and his wife, Margaere an Pelles was one of the best warriors England has ever produced and Margaas as accomplished a wife as could be found anywhere As I say, they were much in demand I even sent my own son, Thomas, to train with Pelles and this is where Juliana and my son met
"I do not know all the particulars of their friendship, but I do know that there was nothing in it to shame anyone Their affection for each other was like that of a brother and sister They were the dearest of friends for nearly ten years as Thomas trained to be a warrior and Juliana was trained to handle her wifely duties Then, shortly after her sixteenth birthday, caed for years Ten years Her betrothed was Tristan D&039;Orland, a fierce and much lauded warrior He was nearly twenty years older than she, and Juliana - Thoht find him an abhorrent old , someone twenty years older often seems ancient But Tristan was far from old At five and thirty, he was in the pri and healthy specimen He was a handsome, skilled warrior and carried himself with confidence I believe Juliana fell in love with hiinning Everyone assuether Everyone buta thank you when Jollivet rushed to refill Baldulf&039;s ht up, and handed it to her She took a sip, then another Then - aware that everyone aiting ain and continued
"You may not believe me when I say that I foresaw trouble ahead, but I did I was there when Tristan arrived for the wedding Juliana and Thoether in the bailey and I had been seekingWhat &039;twas I cannot even recall now, but itperhaps a dozen feet ahen Tristan D&039;Orland rode into the bailey His traveling party was large, his banner unfurled and he led his party into the bailey as if charging an eneer to claim his bride He had waited ten years Everyone paused to stare at the spectacle Even I I knew the exact moment when he spotted Juliana Even froht up He knew her at once, so I can only assuh she had claimed never to have seen him - he had seen her over the years But then a dark cloud of fury obliterated the light in his eyes and I glanced toward Juliana in confusion &039;Twas then I saw that, in her nervousness, she had clasped Thohtly in her own &039;Twas a common occurrence, they were very close, but that action hat had put the scowl on the man&039;s face I think he would have liked to strike Thoht then But of course he could not I joined my son and Juliana as he rode to them and dismounted Juliana, too, must have seen his displeasure, for she was quick to introduce both Thomas and myself and explain that Thomas was her best friend, the brother she had never had D&039;Orland seemed to relax then and was pleasant to boththose few days leading to the wedding and though he hid it well, I could see the jealousy in hione froht
"Oh, things ell enough at first The wedding ithout a hitch and Juliana and Tristan were very happy as they left for Orland together Thoht&039;s spurs and I returned to Hillcrest, and things trundled along I had meant to talk to Thomas, to warn hiht cause her trouble did he not exercise caution Had I done so, perhaps the tragedy that followed could have been averted However, I got caught up in argureean and quite forgot the matter, so Thomas became a frequent visitor to Orland Then came the trouble
"I swear to you, dear child, therein the air that day I rode to Clayu of the estate This time was not like all the others, however This tireeawse and Hugh and riding off in search of fortune as a warrior for hire He would suffer no more because of h - should he be reading this letter - that Pelles was right There was no reason for these arguments other than jealousy onbed with Thomas and was envious of the coawse He accused me of this at the tiht The faults I found with his running of Clayan were the result of petty jealousy I drove hih I sent him on the quest that made yourself and your mother so miserable and I a to peek up at Hugh&039;s face He had turned ahile she read and all she could see was his stiff back She wished she could co the cup ofshe would continue She took a quick drink, handed the h and Margawse out through Clayry and upset after lance to see that Thoreat hall and he told me the tale
"All was not well at D&039;Orland I knew Tho Juliana and Tristan there, but I had not known just how frequent and prolonged those visits were It seemed that Tristan&039;s nephew, Garrod, was D&039;Orland&039;s seneschal He had befriended Thoer than he had planned and to return sooner than he would otherwise have dared Thoht himself and Garrod the best of friends He had enjoyed his visits, but had begun to notice during the last of them that Juliana seemed a little less happy She still obviously loved her husband, but she seemed anxious and nervous in Thoether, always in the open as was proper, but away from others so that they could speak privately But Juliana was evading such talks In fact, she evaded Tho to him only when her husband or Garrod were present and then with a stiffness that left hiht&039;s spurs and visited to share his success that he was able to corner her alone and ask rong That hen he learned how little a friend Garrod was to either Juliana or him Garrod had learned of Tristan&039;s jealousy Rather than reassure Tristan, he had been exacerbating his fears All the tier and visit ed visits to needle Tristan, fanning the fla Juliana&039;s life hell
"Thomas left directly after that conversation and returned to Clay Juliana, but the only way he could think to aid her was to stay away and allow Tristan&039;s jealousy to ease He deter and hisPhilip and his soldiers in Vezelay in July &039;Twas Septelish were outside Messina in Sicily The neas that they were expected to re William II of Sicily had promised to provide a fleet for the crusades, but William had died in November and there was some dispute over the succession Tancred of Lecce had placed Queen Joanna under house arrest and confiscated the treasure meant for the crusade
"Thomas determined to sail for Sicily in the hope that the rumors were correct He hoped to meet the crusaders before they set sail I did not wish hiht I could not stop him My hope was that they would leave ere he arrived As it turned out, luck ith hilish and the French were forced to winter outside Messina Thoht months passed slowly I had driven away one on crusade I had found a new seneschal for Clayan, but Pelles was impossible to replace The new man needed constant attention My seneschal at Hillcrest had been with me for years and did not need as an So it was that I was there when the er arrived with the news that my Thomas would not return from the crusade He had not even made it to Acre They had set sail from Messina April tenth His ship was one of two that recked off Cyprus
" &039;Twas a crushing blow for me, Willa I had loved my son dearly I sank into a pit of despair It see had been taken fro at nothing, feeling nothing, concerned with nothing Then one of reat hall, where I had taken to sitting, staring into the fire He was shouting that a wo alone on horseback A lady This was sufficiently unusual to stir o out to the bailey to see who &039;twas I recognized Juliana She was heavy with child and in so copiously and her first words were to ask where Thohtful white, clutched her belly and whispered, &039;Dear God, we are lost&039; Then, she fell limp from her mare
"I had her ht it a h, but she wokeShe was in labor and Lord kno long she had been She should not have been riding in that state I kneoman would choose to do so I sent for Eada and, the , asked what had happened She toldbreaths Thomas&039;s absence had eased Tristan&039;s jealousy until it became obvious that your mother ith child Tristan had at first been joyful over the news, but then, quite suddenly, his feelings had changed He had grown laring at her belly with an unnatural loathing Juliana suspected that Garrod was behind this change as well, but was helpless to understand All she kneas that her husband was drinkingin conjunction with it Then her maid came to her in a panic As she had feared, Garrod was behind this latest proble with child coincided with Thomas&039;s last visit and hinted that perhaps it wasn&039;t Tristan&039;s child at all The ed hi hiainst his wife as surely as he could Juliana had felt indignation and rage groithin her at her husband thinking such a thing Until the maid had asked uncertainly, &039;They are lies, are they not, my lady?&039;
"Only then did she realize how her innocent friendship with Tho her husband when the maid told her that Tristan was even then soaked in ale and that Garrod was again whispering in his ear Noas encouraging Tristan to help his wife rid herself of Thomas&039;s bastard Did he wish the fruit of anotherseveral ways to get rid of this child of uncertain paternity Tristan could always get another on Juliana to replace it
"Yourunder this nehen she heard Tristan begin to roar in fury When she realized he was cli the stairs toward their chamber, she panicked and fled the room Juliana hid in the chamber next door until he passed by in the hall Then she slipped out and down the stairs Garrod had still been seated at the trestle tables and yelled when she raced down the stairs and out the door, but hadn&039;t given chase right away Juliana supposed he had gone to fetch his lord In the meantime, she ran for the stables, collected hera saddle for speed She had ridden straight for Clayan in the hope that Thomas could keep her child safe
"You were bornthis tale Eada placed you in your , but &039;twas no use Juliana quickly greeak and, when she could no longer hold you, I took you fro Even wrinkled and red-faced, you were a beautiful child When your ed me to keep you safe and hide you from Tristan, I could not refuse You became my new purpose in life My only purpose"
Willa paused and proain She waved it away, then sniffled and wiped away tears Lord Wynekyn pro a handkerchief to wipe her eyes Willa murmured, "thank you," as he finished, then found the cloth over her nose
"Blow," he instructed briskly
Willa flushed, but dutifully blew into the handkerchief Lord Wynekyn nodded his satisfaction and wiped at her nose, as if she were a child, before stepping back and nodding for her to continue
"Little time passed after your birth and Juliana&039;s death before Tristan rode into Clayan bailey with Garrod at his side and a hundred soldiers at his back I hid you with Eada in ry and bold When he demanded his wife, I led him to Thomas&039;s room, where youruntil I told hi birth to a stillborn child I told hi in her condition and asked - as if I did not knohat had sent her fleeing Orland as if for her very life His ansas a cry full of anguish I well knew &039;Twas the same pain I&039;d known at the deaths of my wife and Thomas I almost felt pity for him at that moment, but his jealousy had killed Juliana and sent Thomas to his death and was still a threat to you He never asked after your body, or said another word He lifted Juliana in his ar much older than when he had arrived
" &039;Twas not until they were gone that I learned Garrod had followed us above stairs He did not coht have been poking around the other chaot too near ht have heard you cry My fear was not eased when I began getting reports that soe and even once in the castle bailey