Page 51 of The Forsaken (Echoes from the Past #4)

FORTY-THREE

Dinner was a subdued affair. Joan served cold meat and cheese, accompanied by yesterday’s bread and a jug of ale.

She hadn’t had any time to prepare a hot meal, since it had fallen to her to see to Aileen’s body.

Everyone was in shock, but Kate sensed Hugh seething beneath his quiet exterior, outraged that this shame had been brought on his household.

Guy ate in silence, his gaze never meeting anyone’s, but Kate felt his warm hand on hers when no one was looking, a gesture of comfort and support.

She was relieved when Joan came in to clear away the remnants of the meal.

“Well, what have you got to say for yourself, Nurse?” Hugh asked. He was normally more respectful to Joan, but at the moment, he couldn’t be bothered to control his temper.

“I think we should speak in private,” Joan replied.

“Speak now. I’ve no patience for games, and they’ll all find out the truth anyhow.” Hugh jutted his chin toward Guy, Kate and Eleanor, indicating who he meant.

“All right.” Joan sighed. “Aileen was with child. About six months gone, I’d say. I found seeds of rue in her pocket. They are poisonous, so she would have died quickly. I think she brought them along in case she couldn’t find the strength to throw herself off the tower.”

“Who’s the father of her bastard?” Hugh roared, his face turning puce with anger.

His vehemence surprised Kate. Hugh had barely noticed Aileen, at least in Kate’s presence, but she quickly realized the reason for Hugh’s fierce reaction had nothing to do with the loss of a young girl.

They were a small household, and there were only three people who could have gotten Aileen with child.

As master, Hugh would have to find out who was responsible and mete out the punishment—something he wouldn’t relish, given his relationship to the possible miscreants.

“Excuse me,” Kate said and left the room. She grabbed her cloak and walked out to the stables.

Walter was sitting on a bale of hay, his head resting against the wooden planks of the wall and his eyes closed.

His cheeks were wet with tears and his lower lip was bitten to the quick.

His eyes flew open in surprise when he heard Kate enter the stables, and he angrily wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand.

“Walter, are you all right?” Kate asked as she drew closer to the boy.

Walter shook his head. His face contorted with anguish and his hands balled into fists. “How could she do it? How could she commit a mortal sin? She’ll never be at peace now. She’ll burn in Hell for eternity. Didn’t she know that?”

“Walter, did you lie with Aileen?” Kate asked, deciding to be blunt. If Walter was the father, Hugh would skin him alive, but he was the likeliest candidate.

Walter shook his head again. “We were friends; that was all. I never touched her.”

“She was a comely girl, and I think she had feelings for you,” Kate persisted in the hope that he would tell her the truth.

“Aye, she was comely, and she did have feelings for me, but I had no wish to hurt her. I could never offer her a future. I must marry where my family chooses when the time comes.”

“Many men marry where they are told, but that doesn’t stop them from satisfying their needs elsewhere before they do.”

“I never touched her, I told you,” Walter spat out. “I cared about her.”

“Then help me figure out who did this to her. Aileen was with child. ”

Walter sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve, but he showed no surprise at Kate’s revelation.

“You know who the father is, don’t you?” she asked.

“There’s only one person it could be,” he replied bitterly.

“Who?” Kate’s stomach contracted with fear.

If Walter said that Hugh had forced himself on Aileen, she wouldn’t be able to remain a wife to him.

She didn’t know what she’d do, since Hugh owned her, but she’d find a way.

She wouldn’t stay at Castle de Rosel a moment longer.

Kate stared down Walter, waiting, but he seemed reluctant to name the father, despite his loyalty to Aileen.

“Walter, please, you must tell me who did this to her,” Kate persisted.

“He didn’t do anything to her, at least nothing she hadn’t wanted done,” Walter replied stubbornly. “She wanted it. She told me so herself.”

“Was she not afraid of the consequences?”

“She thought he’d look after her.”

“Who was it?” Kate held her breath. She couldn’t bear for the father to be Hugh, but if Walter named Guy she’d feel even more broken.

She had no right to blame Guy for desiring a bit of affection.

He didn’t belong to her, nor did he owe her anything at all, but if he had lain with Aileen, it would still feel like a terrible betrayal, especially since Aileen would have been at his mercy and in no position to deny him.

Kate didn’t believe Guy capable of taking advantage of a vulnerable disabled girl, at least not the Guy she knew, but people had a way of hurting each other in ways that weren’t always planned.

“It was Emmett Walsh,” Walter finally said.

Kate released her breath in a rush. Thank you, Father , she thought. Thank you. Thank you . It wasn’t until that moment that she realized how little she trusted Hugh, and how desperately she loved Guy and needed him to be innocent of using Aileen, even if she had been a willing participant.

“Who is Emmett Walsh?” she asked, dragging her errant thoughts back to the issue at hand. She’d never heard of the man.

“Emmett is the lad who brings the hay,” Walter explained. “For the horses,” he added, seeing Kate’s puzzled look. “We don’t make our own hay. We get it from the farmers on the estate.”

“Oh, of course.” She’d never given much thought to the horses and their dietary needs.

“Emmett comes once every fortnight and brings a cartload of hay. Aileen always made sure to find her way to the barn when Emmett arrived. That’s where she lay with him.”

“Would this Emmett have married her, had he known about the child?”

Walter raised an eyebrow, reminding Kate that she was awfully na?ve for a woman of her station.

“No serf can marry without his lord’s permission.

I don’t think the master would have refused had Emmett asked, but he’s already married.

He was wed a year ago and his wife just birthed twins in November. ”

“Did Aileen know that?”

Walter shook his head. “Aileen never goes to the village, and being nearly deaf she isn’t one for gossip. She had no idea.”

“I see. Did you not warn her?”

“I didn’t know he was wed until it was too late.

I don’t go into the village much, and I sit with the family in church, so I never paid him any mind.

Besides, it seems his wife was laid up for months during her pregnancy.

She was very ill, so she never came to church.

Aileen never saw them together. She was devastated when she found out. She was in love with him.”

“Did she confide in you? ”

Walter nodded. “Aye, she told me. She was frightened and didn’t know what do to. I told her to speak to Mistress Joan. She’d have advised her. She knows about such things.”

“How do you mean?”

“She has sway over the master,” Walter explained. “She’d have asked him to go easy on Aileen. Master Hugh would not have turned her out.”

“I’ll have to tell Hugh,” Kate said. “He might wish to speak to you about this matter.”

“Do what you must. I don’t care a jot what happens to Walsh,” Walter replied brutally. “I hope he burns in Hell.”

Kate sighed and left the stables, heading back inside to find Hugh. She had no wish to speak to him, but he needed to know.

Hugh was still in the hall, drinking ale.

He looked murderous, and the drink wasn’t helping matters.

Guy was standing by the narrow window, his hands clasped behind his back.

He looked pale and tired, and upset. He’d been the one to break the news to Jed while Hugh saw to the body.

The boy was now in the kitchen, being comforted by Joan and Alf.

“Walter says that Aileen was spending time with Emmett Walsh,” Kate said, getting straight to the point. She had no wish to draw this conversation out.

“Who the devil is Emmett Walsh?” Hugh drawled.

“He brings the hay,” Guy replied. He was a lot more familiar with the tenants on the estate. Hugh only collected tithes and gave the occasional blessing to a marriage or a child, following the example of William, who’d been a benevolent lord.

“I want him brought to me,” Hugh ordered as his fist thundered on the wooden table. “I’ll show him the meaning of de Rosel justice. ”

“He’s newly married and has two-month-old twins,” Kate said quietly. “Hugh, please be merciful. He didn’t force her.”

“Be quiet! I’m master here and I will punish him as I see fit.”

“What will you do to him?” Guy asked, turning from the window.

“Aileen was our property. And her child would have been our property as well. This worthless maggot robbed us of two serfs. He will pay for taking what’s not his.”

“What will you do to him?” Guy repeated. He hadn’t raised his voice, but Kate could sense his anger.

“I’ll have him gelded. He’s already produced two pups. He’ll not enjoy his wife’s favors again, or anyone else’s.”

“That’s not justice; that’s cruelty,” Guy retorted. “I won’t permit you to do that.”

“I’m not asking for your permission. No man’s died from having his balls snipped. He’ll still be able to work and pay his tithes.”

Guy rounded on him. “Hugh, I will not allow you to torture a man. He’s not the first or the last to lie with a woman that’s not his wife. Aileen chose to take her own life. He didn’t murder her. She could have come to us. We’d have looked after her. She knew that.”

“So, how would you have me punish him?” Hugh asked, his voice suddenly low and silky. “Or do you suggest I simply let him use what’s mine whenever his feels like it?”

“Have him flogged, but don’t take his manhood,” Guy said quietly.

“Since you’re in favor of leniency, you soft-hearted fool, you’ll do the flogging. ”

“I won’t.”

“You will. I’m master of this house, and you answer to me. You will give him thirty lashes. And if you refuse, I’ll double the number.”

“You can’t do that,” Guy snarled, staring at Hugh as if he’d never seen him before.

“Sixty lashes. Go on, argue some more, and I’ll make it one hundred.”

“I no longer recognize you, Hugh,” Guy said, his voice dripping with contempt.

“I no longer have to answer to Father or to William. I’m finally my own master, and I will do as I see fit. Now, have Walsh brought here and administer the punishment. Sixty lashes.”

“As you wish, brother.” Guy turned on his heel and strode out the door.

“What are you staring at?” Hugh demanded when he turned toward Kate. “Get out!”

She didn’t need to be told twice but fled the hall and locked herself in one of the vacant bedchambers on the top floor.

She couldn’t bear to look at Hugh, nor could she bring herself to witness the punishment when the man was flogged in the yard.

As she listened to the whistle of the whip and the young man’s screams, in her mind’s eye she saw droplets of blood landing in the snow and blooming into red flowers of pain.

She knew the man couldn’t go unpunished for what he’d done, but Hugh’s pleasure in causing him suffering and taunting Guy made her sick with disgust. He would have gelded the man had Guy allowed him to, and that was what scared her the most. He didn’t care about Aileen or her baby; he wanted to exercise his power over another human being, the way he’d done with Kate that very morning.

Hugh had grown harder and meaner since their marriage, and she feared what the future would bring now that he could no longer rely on inheriting her father’s estate .

Only a few minutes after the screams abruptly came to an end, Kate heard the thunder of hooves on the frozen ground and knew with sickening certainty that Guy was gone.

Tomorrow, Alf and Walter would bury Aileen in the woods, Hugh’s one concession to Guy’s wishes, and this terrible episode would be over, but the scars it left would last a lifetime.