Reign of the Eagle, page 152
Edwin was trying to do that, but some of his duties were more pleasant than others. Council meetings were as much of a chore with the Duke of Pinshire as they had been with Edwin’s uncle and Duchess Flora. The Sigor forces had no money, and no one was quite sure where they were going to find some. There was a serious possibility that they might have to disband their army and send the men home. The duke had given a great deal of gold to the cause already, and Edwin had a strong sense that he didn’t want to give any more unless someone else gave some money, too. But their list of allies was short, and getting shorter by the day.
The duke made it quite plain to Edwin that he had certain expectations in return for his help. He never came right out and said, “You have to marry my daughter,” but he didn’t have to. Nearly every day, his grace would arrange some entertainment or feast, and Edwin was always seated next to Meredith Barras. She was starting to grow on Edwin, and he fancied that he might be growing on her, too. At Finstertide, they got rather tipsy and danced together for hours. Then they walked around the duke’s garden in the moonlight, holding hands. He rarely thought of Penny at all anymore.
Meredith found him in the library one day, and they started meeting there and reading romances together. She never remembered to bring a cloak or a coat with her, so she had to sit very close to him. He liked her voice when she read. He especially liked it when she sighed, and he could feel her chest heave against him. Sometimes he was certain that she wanted him to kiss her, but he reminded himself that he should take this slowly. He had been rash and stupid with Penny, and that had ended badly. Better to be more cautious this time.
But Meredith was very pretty, and she seemed very willing, and Edwin wasn’t sure how long he could wait. Around mid-November, he had what he thought was a brilliant idea: a double wedding on the Winter Solstice, in which he and Elwyn would marry the Barras twins. He was so excited at the notion that he ran immediately to ask Caedmon what he thought.
The hillichmagnar didn’t seem very enthusiastic at all, and counseled caution. “I do not think you should force the issue, your majesty. Wait until you know Lady Meredith better. As for your sister, she will not appreciate further interference in her romantic life.”
Edwin mentioned the idea to Vittoria, as well. But the Immani spy didn’t seem to like the idea any more than Caedmon had.
“If I may be blunt, your majesty,” she said, “you are too young to marry, and your sister is almost too old. Neither of you seems ready to settle down.”
Undaunted, Edwin decided to present his plan to his sister. He waited until after a feast, when Elwyn had a few drinks in her and seemed in a better mood than usual. After detaching himself from Meredith, he asked Elwyn if she wanted to take a walk outside. Once they were in the rhododendron garden and out of earshot of the partygoers on the terrace, he told her what he had in mind.
“What do you think about you and me marrying the twins?”
Elwyn laughed. “Fine. Which one do you want?”
Edwin chuckled politely at her joke. “Meredith, obviously.”
“Are you sure? She’s just my type: curvy and blonde. Although I guess that’s your type, too.”
“I’m serious, Elwyn. Stanley would be perfect for you.”
“Stanley is half my age. In what possible sense is he perfect for me?”
“Well...he’s good-looking. He got very good grades at Atherton.”
“He seems like a pompous little prick, if you want the truth.”
“He likes hunting! See, he’s perfect for you.”
Elwyn was starting to scowl now. “I prefer hunting alone, Edwin.”
“Think about it. Give him a chance.”
They hadn’t quite reached the end of the walk, but Elwyn stopped abruptly and turned around. “Please don’t turn into your uncle. I’ll let you love whoever you want. Let me do the same.”
That wasn’t a promising start, but Edwin had expected worse. Elwyn hadn’t even started shouting. He fancied that she still might be persuaded, particularly if it seemed like Stanley was interested. So Edwin decided to approach the problem from the other direction, as it were.
He went shooting with Stanley in the morning, and once they had talked about hunting and the feast the night before, Edwin brought the conversation around to the subject of Elwyn. “What do you think of my sister?”
“She’s very...,” Stanley paused and blushed, “very outspoken.”
“She’s quite spirited, yes,” said Edwin. “Do you like her?”
“Well, she’s your sister, obviously, and she’s a guest here. She’s...nice.”
That wasn’t quite the ringing endorsement Edwin had hoped for, but he plunged ahead anyway. “I mention her because she’s been asking me about you a lot recently.”
“Me?” Stanley’s eyes widened. “Elwyn was asking about...me?” He smiled.
“Oh, yes. I told her how much you like hunting. She loves hunting, you know.”
“Yes, I...I did know that.” Stanley shook his head. “Are you sure she was really asking about me?”
“Positive.”
He caught Stanley looking at Elwyn quite often after that. Staring at her, in fact, and sometimes in ways that made Edwin want to hit him. But Edwin reminded himself that this was part of the plan, and that if Stanley found Elwyn attractive, things would go much more smoothly.
In the first week of December, Edwin thought things were going well enough that it was time to arrange a meeting between the two prospective lovers. He asked Vittoria to help him set up the rendezvous, but she refused.
“This will end in tears, your majesty. Leave them both alone.”
Edwin wasn’t about to let that discourage him, though. He wrote a letter to Stanley in Elwyn’s name, asking to see him at ten in the evening at the little boathouse on the duke’s private fishing pond. Then he sent a similar letter to Elwyn.
The results were nothing like what he had hoped for. At five minutes to ten, he sent Stanley off with a bottle of wine and his best wishes. At 10:05, Stanley was back with Elwyn, and they were both rather annoyed.
Elwyn tossed the letter in Edwin’s lap. “I know your handwriting, you stupid twat.”
“I think I’ll be going to bed,” said Stanley, “and both of you can go to the Void.” He didn’t talk to Edwin for a week after that.
Elwyn barely spoke to him, either, and when she did, she made it very clear that she was hurt. “If you ever do something like that again,” she said, “I will run off and marry a stableboy. I’m not kidding.”
Even if he couldn’t get Elwyn to marry Stanley, he was still pretty sure that the other half of his plan would work. Three days after the bungled meeting between Stanley and Elwyn, he asked Meredith to walk through the game park with him. He had picked out a romantic spot—on a little footbridge over a frozen stream. Meredith hung on his arm as they walked, and she smiled and laughed like she always did. She was talking about what they would do for the Solstice, and whether her father might want to take them all to his hunting lodge for a few days.
When they got to the bridge, Edwin said, “As it happens, I’ve got an idea for what we can do on the Solstice.” His heart was pounding as he got down on one knee.
She let out a little squeak of surprise. “Edwin....”
“Meredith, will you marry me?” He forced the words out before he dared look up.
Her lip trembled. “Oh, Edwin. I wish I could. But I don’t think I should.”
“Why not?”
“Look, I know this is exactly what my father wants; he’d be thrilled if we came back and said we were betrothed. Stanley would be happy, too.” She took out a handkerchief and ran it over her eyes. “And I won’t deny that I have feelings for you now.”
“So why can’t you marry me?”
“I’m sorry, but it’s not practical. The Gramirens have been stopped for the winter, but they’re going to attack sooner or later, and when that happens, my father might have to capitulate, like Duchess Flora and the Duke of Leornian did. That would be the end of our betrothal.”
“Then we don’t wait. We have the wedding now. Your father wants us to get married. You said so yourself.”
“My father isn’t being logical about this. He’s not thinking ahead, so somebody in my family has to. I’m really very sorry, Edwin, but I can’t accept your proposal. If our side was winning the war, it might be different. But we’re not, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to limit my family’s options.”
“Forget about your family. Forget about mine. Think about you and me. Don’t you think we’d be good together?”
“I can’t do that.” Meredith smiled sadly. “I’m not Penny Ostensen, and I’m not Elwyn. I can’t wish away my family obligations.” She held out a hand to help him up. “Let’s go in now and find some mulled wine. It’s freezing out here.”
Chapter 53
Duke Lukas seemed to be nearly finished with his survey of the abbey lands. He hadn’t gotten a warrant from the crown yet to confiscate the property, and Sister Alberta thought that was a good sign.
“I’ve written to the Bishop of Keneburg and the Bishop of Leornian,” she told Morwen. “They’ve both said they would intercede with the king on our behalf.” Considering that the Bishop of Leornian was Lukas’s own brother, that was pretty encouraging.
In early December, nearly six months after the battle, the very last of the wounded men left to return home. They were a pair of young knights, one from Severn, the other from Keneburg, who had lost their legs. They had been on opposite sides, but now they were great friends, and they were already making plans to visit each other’s estates.
Morwen had helped the master carpenter shape and fit the false limbs for them, a strangely intimate process that some of the other nuns had been too embarrassed to watch. But as Morwen told Lillian, she had grown up with two brothers, so the male form wasn’t exactly a mystery to her.
The very next day after the last two men left, Morwen got a letter from her mother, along with a heavy iron box. She opened the letter first, and when she read it, she was pleasantly surprised.
Dear Morwen,
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything that you and the sisters of your convent have done for the wounded men. I have never been prouder to be your mother. I wish my generosity could match my gratitude, but as you know, Broderick and Lukas are looking to steal as much of our land as possible. Even so, I’ve directed my treasurer to sell off some of my jewelry so I could send the proceeds to you. The amount is three hundred Sovereigns, and I am sure you will be able to put it to good use.
Love,
Your Mother
For a week, Morwen was as happy as she could ever remember being. She had done the right thing for the glory of Earstien, and for once, she had managed to win her mother’s approval. She had gotten used to the notion that the two things were mutually incompatible. But in this instance, apparently they weren’t.
At the same time, the Severnshire troops were starting to leave the area for their winter quarters around Keneburg. All the nuns were happy to see the back of them, and everyone hoped this meant things were finally going back to normal. It would be strange to have nothing to do but the usual services of the hours, the regular charity visits, and the ordinary account books in the treasury.
The Solstice arrived, and of course the townspeople had their usual festival, with bonfires and dancing. The nuns stayed well clear of it, naturally, though they benefitted indirectly, through the sale of cider, ale, and mutton. As treasurer, it was Morwen’s responsibility to collect payment, but that was a job for later. She had no intention of going out in the middle of a huge party if she didn’t have to.
And then a message arrived, late in the afternoon, carried by one of the tavern girls from Basington. “Running low on ale?” Morwen asked.
“Er, no, Sister Morwen.” She handed over a sealed letter. “Sir Halvor asked me to come.”
“What could he want?” wondered Morwen, as she broke the seal.
Sister Morwen,
I have finished my survey of the abbey’s lands. I have every reason to think the king will grant them to me. However, I have a proposition for you that may preserve the abbey. If you would like to hear my proposal, come to the Red Elm on High Street by sundown. Come alone.
Your friend,
Halvor
Morwen was curious enough that she contemplated going to meet him. The rules of the convent, of course, required that she tell the abbess where she was going and take at least one other nun with her. So she clearly wasn’t going to go to the tavern alone. And frankly, she preferred to meet him on her own ground, rather than out in the town. She wrote a reply telling Sir Halvor that he could meet her in the abbey churchyard after evening prayers. If he couldn’t agree to that, then she wasn’t interested in seeing him at all.
She almost convinced herself that he wasn’t going to show up. But when she stepped out the chapel door, there he was, pacing back and forth between two ancient tombstones. He was wrapped in a black bearskin cloak, and he loomed over her so large that he might have been a bear himself.
“Sister Morwen. Kind of you to come.” He looked at one of the tombstones. “This would have been more comfortable at the tavern, though.”
“We don’t need to be comfortable, Sir Halvor. Tell me this plan of yours to save the abbey.”
“It’s a proposal for mutual benefit. You help me, and then I can help you.”
“Help you do what?”
“Two things. Two rather minor things that you frankly should want to do anyway. And in return, I’ll let the abbey keep most of its lands. Your convent could continue to operate in its ancient, sadly misguided way.”
“You make it sound so appealing.” Morwen crossed her arms. “What are these two things?”
“First, I want you to speak with your brother Pedr and encourage him to marry my sister Penny.”
“Why should I do that? Pedr is a grown man. He can decide for himself who he marries. And has Penny given her consent for this plan?”
“Marriage would do wonders for Penny. As it would for certain other people I could name. Which brings me to my second condition. I want you to renounce your vows and marry me.”
“What? How could you even ask me that?”
“That’s not a ‘no,’ is it?”
“It’s ridiculous! Of course I’m not going to marry you.”
“Why not? I’m the son of a duke; you’re the daughter of a duchess. Who is, by the way, rather favorably disposed to my suit. I spoke to Duchess Flora, and she said she would love to have me as a son-in-law.”
“Of course she did,” snapped Morwen. “She’s practically your hostage. What else was she going to say?”
“Oh, no,” chuckled Sir Halvor. “She really did seem quite enthusiastic. I think she likes the notion of your leaving the convent.”
Morwen wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her admit that was true. Now that she thought about it, she found it all too believable that her mother would support a marriage with Sir Halvor. Anything to advance the family’s interests, after all.
“My mother doesn’t get to make the choice. I made a vow to Earstien, and I intend to keep it.”
“And you’re willing to let me shut down this convent rather than give up your precious vow of chastity?”
“Just asking me to make that choice shows why the answer will never be ‘yes.’”
He stepped up and threw an arm around her and pulled her in close. “I don’t believe you.” He kissed the top of her head, then released her. “I’ll tell you what. I will give you the winter to think it over. This really is your only chance to save the abbey. Consider your answer very carefully.”
He released her and stalked out of the churchyard. Morwen watched him go, wishing she had never met him and that he had never formed this ridiculous attachment to her.
“Well, well, well. What a touching scene that was.”
Morwen spun around and saw Catherine Foster watching her from the side chapel door. “Sister Catherine!” she said. “I...I didn’t see you there.”
“Evidently not. This is something we’re going to have to bring to the abbess’s attention, don’t you think?”
Morwen begged and pleaded, but after a minute, she realized that doing so only made her look more guilty. “Very well. Let’s go see Sister Alberta.”
In the abbess’s private study, Catherine gave her version of events—both this latest encounter and the one she had witnessed in Formacaster. Nothing she said was precisely a lie, but she made it sound as if Morwen had been a willing participant.
“Sister Alberta, I assure you that Sir Halvor has never had any sort of encouragement from me,” said Morwen.
“And yet he has now asked you to marry him,” said the abbess. “That seems like a rather serious step for a man to take with no encouragement at all.”
“I can’t explain it. I’m sorry, but I don’t know why he has such an infatuation with me.”
“You should have told me about this earlier, Sister Morwen.” The abbess gave her a severe look. “I might be tempted to think that you enjoyed his attentions.”
“I certainly didn’t.”
Sister Catherine piped up. “Clearly, this is something that needs to be brought before the whole chapter. Perhaps there should be an official inquiry.”
The abbess frowned at her. “I shall have to consider what to do.” Turning back to Morwen, she asked, “Have you violated your vow of chastity? If the answer is yes, then I would urge you to confess it now.”
Morwen shook her head. “I’ve never broken my vows. I can promise you that.”
“I believe there are procedures for this,” Sister Catherine said. “I’ve read of cases where nuns were obliged to prove their purity through an examination of their, er...person in front of the entire chapter.”
“Thank you, Sister Catherine,” said the abbess. “I think we have detained you from your duties long enough. If you would permit me a word alone with Sister Morwen.”
