Enchantress Mine (43 page)

Breaching all good manners Blanche threw herself into his startled arms and pressed her mouth to his passionately. “Oh, chéri, I have missed you so!” she sighed gustily.

“Madame, you forget yourself, and where you are!” He quickly thrust her from him. He had to straighten this out immediately for here was his sweet queen looking so pleased as if she had done him a great favor.

“Why, Josselin, are you not pleased to see Blanche? It was my understanding that when you had made your fortune, you and this lady would be united.” The queen looked coyly from him to Blanche and back again.

“Madame, I must speak frankly to you though my words will seem less than chivalrous. I cannot imagine how you came to believe that this lady and I had an understanding of any kind. How could I commit myself with honor to any woman when I had not the means of supporting a wife? When I could offer her nothing, not even a respectable name? Madame, you above all people know me better than that!

“I met this lady three years ago when I was at Combourg seeing my parents. I visited in her brother’s house at his invitation, but never was any mention made of an alliance between myself and this lady. I am distressed she should have believed such a thing. Her brother will, I know, attest to the veracity of my words.”

Matilda was very upset by this unexpected turn of events. To have offended a dear and old friend was bad enough, but to have been taken in by this . . . this adventuress who had played upon the softness of her nature was totally unforgivable. Her blue eyes grew hard. Drawing herself up to her full height, which was but four feet, two inches, she demanded, “Well, madame, what explanation do you have for this situation? Though you have not lied openly to me, neither have you been truthful.”

Blanche de St. Brieuc was no fool. She had taken a gamble, but perhaps all was not yet lost. She flung herself at the queen’s feet. “Oh, madame,” she sobbed quite convincingly, “have mercy upon me! I have been sick with love for Josselin de Combourg ever since we first met! Can you who know him so well blame me? Knowing his honorable character I knew he would not dare to even suggest a match between us until he had made his fortune. After all,” she could not resist adding, “I am a de St. Brieuc and, it is true, above him in station, yet I love him! I thought if I could but come to England now that the king has rewarded his loyal services, if he could but see me again, he would finally dare to speak the reciprocal passions I know he holds for me. How else could I get here except traveling amongst your ladies? I realize, dearest madame, that I have been bold and even rash. Both traits of which are unbecoming in a woman of my station, but I could not help myself! I love him! Oh, please, please, say that you will forgive me.”

The queen, though a practical woman, was also a romantic one at heart. Blanche’s plea had moved her near to tears. “Yes, yes,” she said, and bending, aided Blanche de St. Brieuc to her feet. “It is true, ma Blanche, that you have exhibited indelicate behavior for one of your rank, but I understand this wonderfully cruel emotion called love. I know the lengths to which one can be driven when caught within its thrall. I am very angry with you, but nonetheless I will forgive you.” She turned to Josselin. “And perhaps Josselin will forgive you also, and rectify the difficulty between you both. What say you, my dear friend Josselin? A man with an estate needs a good wife, eh?” Matilda cocked her head at him, and smiled winningly.

“That, dearest madame, was a part of what I had to tell you,” he said. “I already have a wife. We have been married almost two years. She has come to London with me for your coronation, and I would have your leave to present her to you. When the king gave me Aelfleah, he also gave me its heiress to wive. I often fear if he knew the great kindness he had done me he should take it all back. The king gave me not just lands, he gave me someone whom I love better than life itself.”

“Ohhhhhhh!” Blanche de St. Brieuc collapsed dramatically onto the floor in a swoon.

Matilda waved her little hands impatiently. “Remove her,” she said to her women. She had no more sympathy left for Blanche. The woman had shown an inexcusable lack of manners, and had only gotten exactly what she deserved.

The fluttering ladies half-dragged, half-carried Blanche de St. Brieuc from the room, and Biota at a signal from her mistress barred them reentry stationing herself in the anteroom side of the queen’s apartments before the door. Matilda settled herself into a high tapestry-backed chair with a footstool, waving Josselin to the matching chair that faced it.

“Now tell me everything, Josselin,” she said to him, leaning forward, her elbows on her knees to listen intently as he spoke. Sometimes she smiled at his words, other times bit her lip to prevent her laughter from spilling over. When he spoke of how Mairin had defended Aelfleah, and lost their expected child shortly afterward, Matilda’s pale blue eyes filled with sympathetic tears. “Ah, ma pauvre,” she said. “Your Mairin is a brave woman. She is just the kind of wife you need here in England. I do not see la Blanche defending her home in such a manner. I do not think this Eadric the Wild would have been impressed by a woman stamping her foot, which is what Blanche surely would have done.”

“She is very eager to meet you, my lady Matilda. She envies you your family for like me she is anxious to have children.”

“Of course you must bring her to me this very day, my friend! I am extremely anxious to meet your enchantress. What a charming love name that is, Josselin. I have always suspected for all your admiration and emulation of William’s character that you were a romantic deep in your soul. Now there is something else you have not told me. I see it in your eyes. Do you wish to make further confession?” Matilda was smiling playfully, but she was anxious to make amends to her old friend for her part in the matter of la Blanche.

Josselin hesitated a moment, and then he said, “It is Blanche de St. Brieuc, madame. I have not told my wife of our acquaintance.”

“Surely it was not necessary, Josselin,” the queen replied. “Your wife was a widow when you were wed, and certainly not so innocent that she could believe you did not know other women. I will admit it is awkward, but I shall send the creature home immediately after the coronation. Regretfully she cannot go sooner as no one is leaving for Normandy until next week. For all her lack of delicacy she is still a lady. Besides I need the tiresome wretch for the moment. Although I do not really know her, one of my ladies grew too ill to travel at the last moment, and la Blanche had some connection with the Montgomeries, a family who have influence with my husband. I am absolutely mortified to have embarrassed you.”

“It is worse than simply not having told Mairin about another woman of my acquaintance, madame. Blanche de St. Brieuc is my wife’s stepmother.”

Matilda gasped, her eyes widening with shock, and Josselin went on to explain. When he had finished she said quite sensibly, “It is very unlikely that Blanche will recognize your wife, my friend. After all she was but a little child when she last saw her. Your Mairin, however, is bound to recognize Blanche de St. Brieuc. You will have to tell her before she sees la Blanche, else she will never forgive you. Go home and confess to her. Then bring her to see me. I am certain that if I vouch for your good character, Josselin,” the queen finished with a smile, “your wife may just forgive you. If she does not, how will you two ever produce that large family you so desperately desire?”

He arose from the chair opposite her, and kneeling he kissed her outstretched hand. “Mille merci, madame. I am most grateful for your aid.” Then standing he crossed the room, and departed her presence. Leaving the king’s house, he sought his horse in the courtyard and rode back across the noisy city to their little house by the orchard. A servant ran to take his mount and stable it as Josselin entered the building. He found Mairin in the back garden cutting flowering branches for the hall.

She turned to greet him with a smile. “You have seen the queen?”

“Yes,” he said kissing her brow, and leading her to a bench by a bed of lavender. “She has asked to meet you. We are to come later today, but first there is something I must tell you, enchantress.”

With a teasing tone she said, “Ah, I can guess. You did not answer me fully when I asked you about the women you knew at King William’s court in Normandy. One of your old flirts is among the queen’s ladies, and now you must confess to me before the lady, jealous that you are now wed, tells me herself.” She laughed. “Is that not right, my lord?”

“Yes, and no, enchantress. I met the lady involved at Combourg. Later I visited her brother’s home at his request and she was there also. There was never any romance between us although I will admit to our flirting with one another. My landless state, the situation of my birth, made it impossible for me to offer anything to any woman. Even had I been able to I would have offered this woman nothing. She, however, thought otherwise. She somehow learned that I had been given an estate here in England. She went to the Norman court, and when one of the queen’s ladies grew too ill to travel with her mistress to the coronation, this lady used the influence of friends to be appointed to the vacant position. She led the queen to believe that we had made informal promises to one another.”

“She is very bold, this lady,” remarked Mairin. “You have I trust, told her that you already have a wife.”

“I told the queen immediately in the lady’s presence.”

“And who is this lady, Josselin? You have been very careful not to mention her name, but surely you must tell me else I be embarrassed before the queen and her women.”

“Enchantress, you must forgive me for not having told you before, but you will understand that I did not wish to pain you. My acquaintance with this lady occurred long before I even knew of your existence. I never expected to see her again, and therefore saw no reason to distress you. The lady in question is Blanche de St. Brieuc.”

“That bitch?”
The words were hissed, but then to his surprise Mairin laughed. “By God she must be desperate to have followed you to England.” She turned, and looked at him, her violet eyes carefully searching his face. “You swear on your mother’s honor that there was really nothing between you?”

“I swear it, Mairin! There was nothing.”

“I believe you, Josselin, but God help you if you have lied to me. I will kill you!”

He believed her. “I love you, enchantress,” he said simply.

“And you love Aelfleah,” she answered him.

“Yes, I love Aelfleah too, but I am an honorable man, Mairin. I have not lied to you ever.”

“You split hairs with me, my lord,” she said, “but no matter. I believe you when you say you sought to protect me from painful memories. Have you told the queen my whole history?”

“Yes, and she is furious at Blanche for her deception. She intends to send her back to Normandy, but she cannot do so until next week when others will be returning. Now, my wife, the question is, what do you intend to do?”

Mairin laughed again, but the sound lacked true mirth. “I am seventeen now,” she said. “When I left Landerneau I was not quite six. I do not think my stepmother will recognize me despite my hair and my name. She is not that clever for all her evil. I expect she has not thought of me in years, and if she has she has thought me long dead. The only importance I ever held for her was that I stood in her daughter’s way regarding the inheritance of Landerneau. Once that was taken care of I can assure you she put me from her mind.”

“Then you will forgive her the past, and not make yourself known to her?” he asked.

“I did not say that, Josselin. Nay, I want my revenge on Blanche de St. Brieuc!” She caught his hand, and looking into his eyes she kissed his hand. “Grant me that, my lord, I beg you!”

“What the lady Blanche did was wrong, Mairin, even criminal. But think, enchantress! You did not really suffer by her actions. You were far better off here in England with your foster parents than you would have been at Landerneau with Blanche de St. Brieuc, your guardian. She might have killed you!”

“That,” said Mairin, “was her mistake. She should have!”

“What would you do then?” he said.

“Do you remember when we were married,” said Mairin, “and the king asked me if I wanted Landerneau returned to me, and I said nay? Well, when I carried our child I began to think on it, Josselin. Aldford and whatever future honors you may gather in your lifetime will go to our eldest son. Our second son should have Aelfleah. Our third must have Landerneau.”

“And what of your half-sister? You will destroy her chance for marriage if you take Landerneau. You know it is her dowry. Do you think to hurt Blanche de St. Brieuc by striking out at her child?”

“Did you know my half-sister?” asked Mairin coolly.

“No. I never saw the child, but I do know that Blanche was proud to have managed a match with a younger son of the Montgomerie family.”

“The girl does not wish to be wed in the worldly sense,” said Mairin. “Of late I have seen her in my mind’s eye. I do not understand why after all these years this should be so. She was not even born when I left Landerneau, but somehow I know she has no desire to be married as we are married. My half-sister desires to be a bride of Christ, and I will gladly dower her into a good convent. This other marriage is what her mother wishes, and she is forcing her own daughter from a true vocation, in order to further her own ambitions. It is typical of the bitch, but as she did not have her way with me, neither will she have her way in this matter of her own child. My revenge on Blanche de St. Brieuc is to allow my poor half-sister her wish. Without the girl or Landerneau, what does she really have?”

“How can you be certain what you believe is true?” he demanded of her. “Perhaps what you think you see is only what you desire, Mairin. Beware lest in your desire for revenge you harm an innocent girl.”

“I know it is true! I do not see things that are not so! All my life I have listened to the
voice within.
When I act according to its advice I prosper. When I ignore the
voice within
I fail. It has been a long time since I received so clear a vision. The frustration of my life is that I rarely see things regarding the people close to me. If I could I would have warned my father and brother against going to fight the Norwegians! However, what I have seen regarding my half-sister is true, Josselin. Please believe me.”