Love Beyond Time (24 page)

“I do swear to you, Charles, that I did not
know of Clodion’s connection with Autichar,” Lady Ingeborg
declared. “Had I known of it, I would have gone to you at once and
told you of it. Clodion led me to believe that he and Danise wished
to spend a day alone, without interference from Savarec or Sister
Gertrude. That is why I invited Savarec to my tent at Clodion’s
suggestion. As to putting sleeping herbs in Savarec’s wine,I did
not wish to lie with him, but only to keep him occupied for a time,
as a favor to my old friend Clodion. It appears now that Clodion
was not my true friend. He tricked me, as he has apparently tricked
everyone else he knew.” Sniffling and dabbing at her eyes, Lady
Ingeborg stepped aside at Charles’s command and resumed her place
on the stool set next to Sister Gertrude. The nun regarded her with
an expression that plainly said she did not believe a word of Lady
Ingeborg’s story.

“Clodion,” Charles invited, “have you
anything to say in your defense?”

“It is all lies,” Clodion declared, standing
and strutting boldly forward, “a scheme concocted by that foolish
girl, Danise. She agreed to spend a day with me while I courted
her, for we could find no time when we were not interrupted by
Count Redmond or that foreign scoundrel, Michel. How can a man
convince a girl to marry him when he cannot have two words alone
with her? Perhaps something I said in the forest offended Danise.
You know how skittish girls can be. I do not know her reasoning,
but Danise changed her mind, said she would never marry me, and
then, after we were captured by Autichar, she devised this
scandalous tale linking me to that criminal. For all I know, Danise
is in league with Autichar to bring me down and ruin my reputation.
You will remember, Charles, that Autichar was one of her original
suitors. Perhaps she had favored him all along without my knowing
it.”

“This is an amazing tale you tell.” Charles’s
voice was silky smooth. “And you yourself laid no scheme against
me?”

“I have been your loyal servant during the
eleven years of your reign,”Clodion answered. “Before that, I was
your father Pepin’s friend as well.”

“I do not forget it,” Charles said. “You may
sit down, Clodion. Autichar, what have you to tell us?”

“Unlike these other cowards, Ingeborg and
Clodion,” Autichar announced, rising in his turn and taking his
place before Charles, “I will not place the blame on anyone else,
nor claim a mere girl has misled me. The scheme was mine in its
origin. Save for one or two minor details conceived by Clodion, the
plan was all my doing.”

“I am glad to hear that you don’t deny it,”
Charles said, admiration for Autichar’s courage creeping into his
voice, though Danise could tell he was very angry.

“Why should I deny it? I am proud of it,”
Autichar responded. “I do admit it was foolish of me to reveal so
much of the plan to Danise. Boasting was ever a fault of mine.
Still, I believed at the time that she would not live to tell what
she knew. I misjudged her. She was, and is, braver and more
resourceful than I realized.”

“Then you have nothing to say in your own
defense?” Charles prompted.

“What I did, I did because I was angry with
you for sending me away from Duren,” Autichar said. “You wounded my
pride, Charles. But my first loyalty is always to Duke Tassilo,
whose pride you have also tried to humble.”

“I do wonder,” mused Charles, “just how much
of this scheme was made known to Tassilo?”

“He knew enough of it,” cried Clodion from
where he sat, “to offer me a Bavarian heiress for a bride as reward
for my part in it.” At these impetuous words, Charles looked toward
Clodion and seemed to be repressing a smile. Clodion did not appear
to notice that he had just betrayed himself.

“I remind you, Count Clodion,” said Alcuin
from his place behind Charles’s chair, “that you have had your time
to speak. You may not interrupt now.”

“Autichar,” asked Charles, “have you anything
more to say?”

“Only to thank Danise for her words of
appreciation to me,” Autichar said, looking at her. “Girl, I am
glad I did not let Clodion have you. You deserve a better man than
he is. My only regret regarding you is that you did not choose me
as your husband. I would have greatly enjoyed getting sons on so
brave a woman.

“For the rest, Charles, I make no defense of
what I did. None is necessary. I did what I felt was needed to show
you that a nobleman cannot be treated as you treated me.”
Autichar’s red hair blazed in the sunlight as he proudly raised his
chin and looked challengingly at Charles.

“I do remember,” Charles said mildly, “that
the decision to leave this Mayfield was yours. You were not sent
away.”

Autichar made no answer to that. Charles
signaled to him to take his seat again.

The king of the Franks sat for a few minutes,
chin in hand, considering all he had heard, both before and during
that morning. Then he beckoned to Alcuin, and when the cleric bent
his head to his king, the two conferred. Alcuin nodded once or
twice at something Charles said. A smile crossed Charles’s face and
faded away. Charles lifted a finger and Duke Bernard leaned down on
his other side to answer a question.

Meanwhile, the Franks waited to hear their
king’s judgment. Some of the men talked among themselves,
expressing their anger that anyone would defy Charles as Autichar
had done. Others voiced concern that their own daughters might be
treated as Clodion had treated Danise if he were not severely
punished as an example.

“These are my decisions,” Charles announced
in a loud voice, and all fell silent to hear him.

“First,” Charles said, “I make Count Redmond
my deputy to Autichar’s army which, as I understand the case, is
still encamped near the Rhine awaiting Autichar’s arrival. Redmond,
you are to disperse that army. The men belonging to it may freely
return to Bavaria if they wish. If so, you will escort them to the
border, making certain they arrive there without injury to
themselves or to any Franks they meet along their way. Some of the
men may not be Bavarians, and they are welcome to come to me and
place themselves under my direct command.

“Secondly, I will put a stop here and now to
the raising of private armies, whose purpose is not to make the
Franks stronger, but to increase the power of the owners of those
armies. Henceforth, no nobleman may maintain a fighting force
larger than the number of men he is required to send to me for my
use in time of war. Write it down, Adelbert. This is a new law.
Every nobleman in Francia is to receive a formal notice of it
within a week.

“Autichar,” Charles went on, “it seems to me
that you are the person most at fault in all these plottings, for
you intended to use your army against your chosen king. For that
disloyalty, the lands you hold in Francia that caused you to divide
your interests between Tassilo and me are forfeited to the Frankish
crown.

“You dangled a captive Danise before me and
my friends, hoping thus to lure us to our deaths for her sake. But
we are wise fish and will not take the bait. I will send no army
against my cousin Tassilo. What I will do is send you, Autichar, in
chains and accompanied by an emissary from me who will tell the
entire sorry tale to Tassilo. I believe my Uncle Bernard, who is
also related to Tassilo, will be the perfect man to send. Uncle
Bernard can assure Tassilo that I believe he had nothing to do with
your schemes, and that Tassilo can prove his good faith by
punishing you as you ought to be punished.”

There were loud cries of approval at this
decision, though a few did voice their disappointment that Autichar
was not to be publicly executed at once.

“Wonderful!” Redmond said to Michel. “What a
joke on Tassilo, to lay upon him the burden of punishing his own
man. Charles knows that Tassilo is not innocent in all of this, but
he’s too wise to say so publicly and thus provoke the war Autichar
and Tassilo wanted.”

“Listen,” Michel replied. “He’s about to pass
judgment on Clodion.”

“Count Clodion,” Charles said, “you are
hereby banished from my presence and stripped of all your titles
and all your lands save for the smallest of your many estates, the
land you hold west of Mainz, safely within Frankish borders. That
one place I allow you to keep in recognition of your years of
service to me and to my father. In it you are to live in the
company of your current concubines and all of your children, who
are also to be confined on that estate for as long as you
live.”

“Hah!” exclaimed Guntram, openly delighted by
this decision. “I’ve heard stories about some of Clodion’s brats.
They are said to be much like their father. One or another of them
will likely put herbs in the old man’s wine to send him permanently
to sleep, just so the children can get free of living with him and
his endless lust.”

“Lady Ingeborg,” said Charles, “you deserve a
milder form of justice for your part in drugging Savarec. As you
know, my mother is living in retirement at the convent at Prum. You
will join her there, to live under her instruction for the rest of
your life – and may it be a long and healthy life. I strongly
suggest that you donate all the lands you inherited from your late
husband to Prum, to assure your good treatment there.”

Now it was Michel’s turn to laugh. He knew
about Charles’s formidable mother, Queen Bertha, whom Charles had
sent to live at Prum when she tried once too often to dominate him.
Lady Ingeborg would have no easy time living under Bertha’s
rule.

“What think you of these rulings?” asked
Redmond, half choked with laughter.

“I think the king of the Franks is a genius
at punishing criminals while appearing to show mercy to them,”
Michel answered. “He lets others do the real punishing for him.
Savarec looks happy.”

“So he should,” Redmond said. “With everyone
laughing at the punishments meted out to Clodion and Lady Ingeborg,
Savarec does not look as foolish as he otherwise might.”

“There is still more business to be attended
to this day,” Charles said, raising a hand to quiet the laughing,
cheering Franks. “I must now decide what to do with the lands that
until an hour ago belonged to Clodion and Autichar. Redmond, come
forward. I give to you Autichar’s former Frankish lands. Guard them
well.”

“For this gift I thank you.” Redmond went
down on his knees, placed his hands between Charles’s and swore an
oath of loyalty to his king for these new lands.

“Guntram,” said Charles, “you also deserve a
reward. One of Clodion’s former estates is near to Savarec’s lands
just east of the Rhine. Its location will make it possible for you
to continue your valuable service to Savarec, and to me, at Deutz.
This land I give to you.” He named the estate and Guntram went
forward to fall on his knees and speak his oath. Guntram’s fierce,
black-bearded face shone with joy and pride. Michel saw Danise
wiping away a happy tear as she watched her father’s loyal man
being so handsomely rewarded.

Charles then made several other awards,
disposing of Clodion’s lands to men who had helped in the search
for Danise or who had performed valiantly in the battle with
Autichar. A few of those men had been wounded, but none seriously.
Only one had to be helped forward by a friend.

“Savarec,” said Charles, “I’ll add to your
holdings a piece of land west of the Rhine, in recompense for what
you have suffered over the abduction of your daughter, and in case
you occasionally wish for a rest from dealing with Saxons.”

“Now there is but one portion of Clodion’s
lands left, the estate of Elhein,” Charles went on after Savarec
had made his formal oath for his new lands. “Michel, come here. You
came to Duren a stranger, with no memory of your past. In only a
few weeks you have proven your worth to us. In reward for your
service to me and to Savarec, I give you this land that once was
Clodion’s.”

“Sir, I thank you,” Michel responded. “But I
cannot accept the gift.”

The entire company fell instantly silent. No
one had ever before refused a gift offered by a king. Michel knew
he was taking a risk, because what he said might so insult Charles
that the king would not forgive him. It was a chance Michel had to
take. He had a greater prize by far in mind.

“There is only one reward I want,” he said to
Charles. “The sweetest gift in all the world. I would have the hand
of the lady Danise in marriage. I love her as you love Hildegarde.
I cannot be happy with any other woman.”

Now people gasped, and whispered to each
other. Michel’s attention was on Charles, and on Hildegarde, who
had not spoken during all the long proceedings, though she had
listened with open sympathy while Danise told her story of
abduction and fear. Michel saw Hildegarde look from him to Danise.
He saw the queen lean toward Charles and whisper something.
Charles’s eyes began to sparkle. He smiled and nodded at
Hildegarde’s comments, and Michel knew he had not misjudged the
royal couple.

“If you would have a wife,” Charles said to
Michel, “then you will need to provide a home for her. Therefore, I
will link lady and lands together. Win Danise, and you also win the
rich estate of Elhein. What say you to that?”

“I thank you for your generosity,” Michel
said, “and for your understanding.”

“I know what it is to love well and truly,”
Charles said. “Savarec, have you any objection to this
arrangement?”

“Michel has no title,” Savarec said, stepping
forward, “and I hoped once to wed my daughter to a count. Nor do we
know aught of Michel’s family. Still, Sister Gertrude has pointed
out to me many times that Clodion and Autichar were not good
choices as sons-in-law, though I knew all about their ancestors and
both of them were counts.

“Charles, I have learned a valuable lesson
from these last few days. I have been too easily dazzled by a man’s
earthly possessions and by high-sounding titles. The worth of a man
ought to be judged by other standards.”