Lord Liar Part 22

"Good. Then we need to discuss how we're going to spirit you out of the castle under that pair of louts' watchful eyes and get you onto a cog without being seen. You may have to be hidden until we set sail, you know. I wouldn't put it above those two not to shadow us all the way to the coast.

Now here's how I think it should be done. "

"Such a heavy-laden wain, my lord," she heard Turold say to Ranulf two days later. The voice was m.u.f.fled, for Aldyth, curled into a tight ball, lay concealed in one of the two large iron-bound chests stowed on the ox cart behind four tuns of mead.

"Yes, the king is sending the mead as a Christmas gift to Duke Robert, and of course I could not think of skimping on my wardrobe for a visit to the Duke of Normandy's court, even though my squire twits me about my notorious love of fine garments in peac.o.c.k hues..." Within the confines of the chest, Aldyth rolled her Ranulf was really playing it to the hilt. She could almost see the elaborate gestures, the eyes raised heavenward. "In troth my feelings are a bit stronger than that, mind telling you," Urse said in long-suffering tones, who gets to carry these chests full of robes and 1 lord the peac.o.c.k?

I do! And ifh/s clothing there's my lady's clothes. "

"Well, naturally! My leman need not play peac.o.c.k. Lady Vivienne must appear be ollir gloriously arrayed as I. " Twould not be chivalro the, n, there are our jewels and gold chains. "

Naturally," Turold echoed, his voice he " You're a good man to understand so wft with hearty grat.i.tude.

"Perhaps you'd} service in my household--since it doesrg be getting married, that is."

"with There was silence for a moment.

Turold's astonishment. After all, the art hat Lord Ranulf of harboring his be' must was offering him a position. W' f your to him.

Normandy.

"You are too well championed for me to refuse you, Aldyth, it seems. But hear me well--you will dress during the entire journey as Edward and you will obey me instantly in all things. Is that perfectly understood? It may well mean your life. Nay, don't weep now--you will unman me."

"Aye, my lord," she said, smiling through tears that threatened to spill over onto her cheeks.

"I will carry out your every command. Turold will be on this side of the Channel and I will be on the other, not having to fear him.

I am so relieved! I'll make certain you are not sorry, my lord, that you rescued me. "

So that was it. While he was imagining the intimacy of traveling with her, she was merely grateful to be escaping a brutish husband. She had gotten over her love for him. Ranulf called himself every kind of a conceited fool.

She not only was no longer in love with him but probably feared and detested all men, after what Turold had shown her of his s.e.x, G.o.d rot him!

He must show her she need fear no l.u.s.tful attentions from him.

"Eh bien, part of your obedience will entail giving my leman and me occasions of privacy, eh, Lady Vivienne?" he said, leering at Vivienne.

Vivienne was paying him no attention, so lost was she in gazing adoringly at his squire, who was grinning back at her.

He turned back to Aldyth.

Her face was a mask.

"I understand fully, my lord."

"Good. Then we need to discuss how we're going to spirit you out of the castle under that pair of louts' watchful eyes and get you onto a cog without being seen. You may have to be hidden until we set sail, you know. I wouldn't put it above those two not to shadow us all the way to the coast.

Now here's how I think it should be done. "

"Such a heavy-laden wain, my lord," she heard Turold say to Ranulf two days later. The voice was m.u.f.fled, for Aldyth, curled into a tight ball, lay concealed in one of the two large iron-bound chests stowed on the ox cart behind four tuns of mead.

"Yes, the king is sending the mead as a Christmas gift to Duke Robert, and of course I could not think of skimping on my wardrobe for a visit to the Duke of Normandy's court, even though my squire twits me about my notorious love of fine garments in peac.o.c.k hues..."

Within the confines of the chest, Aldyth rolled her eyes. Ranulf was really playing it to the hilt. She could almost see the elaborate gestures, the eyes raised heavenward. "In troth my feelings are a bit stronger than that, I don't mind telling you," Urse said in long-suffering tones.

"For who gets to carry these chests full of robes and tunics for my lord the peac.o.c.k? I do! And if his clothing weren't enough, there's my lady's clothes..."

"Well, naturally! My leman need not play peahen to her peac.o.c.k. Lady Vivienne must appear before his grace as gloriously arrayed as I. " Twould not be chivalrous else. And then there are our jewels and gold chains. "

"Naturally," Turold echoed, his voice heavy with irony. "You're a good man to understand so well," Ranulf said with hearty grat.i.tude.

"Perhaps you'd like to consider service in my household--s'nice it doesn't appear that you'll be getting married, that is."

There was silence for a moment. Aldyth could imagine Turold's astonishment.

After all, he'd as good as accused Lord Ranulf of harboring his betrothed, and now the man was offering him a position. What a fool Ranulf must seem to him.

"I thank you, my lord, but I must continue to seek Aldyth. In any case, I do not think I'm suited for such a role. I'm used to being my own master--as much as any Englishman is allowed to be these days, even as a freeholder."

Ranulf seemed not the least put out by the barely veiled hostility.

"Ah well, I just thought I should make the offer.

"Tis the least I could do, since your lady ran away." Aldyth grinned from her place of concealment. She could visualize Turold stiffening at the needling hidden within the apparent sympathy. He did not dare react with anger, however.

"You do not take your page, my lord?" she heard G.o.dric ask.

"Nay, I thought to give him a holiday," Ranulf replied casually.

She was less mused when she heard G.o.dric and Turold tell Lord Ranulf they would be accompanying them to the coast. G.o.dric insisted Lord Ranuff's father would want him to do so, for it was well-known there were outlaws preying on travelers on the road south. In vain did Ranulf point to his six mounted men-at-arms as evidence they were not needed, but she knew he dared not protest much. He could not refuse to let them ride with them without it looking suspicious.

Their presence meant she would have to stay hidden in the chest all day. The wain lurched and jolted over the road south while she remained in her cramped position with her nose pressed to the holes Urse had cut in the ornamental carving on the sides of the chest. It was very little comfort to know that she was more sheltered than the others from the bone-chilling rain and wind.

By the time the chest was loaded on the bobbing cog, Aldyth was sure every bone in her body had been shaken apart, and her head throbbed. But she was thankful for the change of travel, as well as for the soldier's presence.

She guessed Turold and G.o.dde might have tried to overwhelm Ranulf and his squire and force an inspection of the chests.

Instead, with terse farewells, they departed.

The crossing had been a horror. One of the storms that could blow up so quickly, especially in winter, had seized the s.h.i.+p and tossed it about mercilessly. By the next afternoon, when they were about to dock at Honfleur, Ranulf looked every bit the effete n.o.ble he pretended to be. Urse, however, suffered from no real de mer and teased him.

"Lord Ranulf, I expect you'll grow scales next. Your visage has the same hue as the belly of a cod." He chuckled at the sight while Ranulf glared and attempted to hide the fact that his gorge had risen at the very thought of fish.

"I thought we were going to be food for the fish at one point, when the cog heeled over so far that the next wave poured right onto her deck," Ranulf said with a shudder. Like most knights, he was no sailor, enduring the Channel only when he must and avoiding any further travel by sea. Everyone knew the waters beyond Europe to be the province of monsters.

"For shame, Lord Ranulf, I don't see Aldyth whining and moping, and she's but a slender maid," Lady Vhtienne said, taking up the game and pointing to the girl, who was obviously so glad to stretch her cramped limbs that she seemed actually to enjoy adjusting to the rolling of the vessel. "Bedevil me not, you two," he moaned, swallowing with difficulty.

"Cheer up, my lord. Fresh air and a good meal at that tavern in Honfieur will soon set you right. Nay, you must put something in that empty stomach or you'll fall off your horse long before Rouen," insisted the huge Breton squire.

The tavern was not far from the docks in the Norman port city. It was comfortably furnished, though not ornate, but Ranuff could not feel at ease when he spotted the six men staring at them from the far corner of the dimly lit common room. There were no other customers.

Too late, Ranulf remembered that he had been so preoccupied with his seasickness that he had neglected to change his clothes to plain, st.u.r.dy traveling garb. Under the sea- dampened cloak, he was still wearing a costly tunic with long, trailing sleeves and the shoes with the curling points affected by all Rufus's favorites. The loitering rascals in the corner were taking note of the richness of the velvet, pointing and sn.i.g.g.e.ring.