Timestruck (30 page)

“Wait a minute,” Gina said. “I remember
Hedwiga mentioning Lady Gisela. It was right after I arrived at
Feldbruck. Doesn’t she live at Chelles? The same place where
Hiltrude lives?”

“The same,” Dominick said.

“In that case, we must tell Lady Adalhaid at
once. She will want to contact Lady Gisela to find out how Hiltrude
is and perhaps send a message to her. And Lady Gisela ought to be
warned about Fastrada’s threats against Hiltrude.” She started for
the door to Lady Adalhaid’s chamber.

“Wait, Gina,” Dominick ordered.

“What do you mean, wait?” Puzzled by his
abrupt command, she turned to face him, to explain her intensions
more fully. “If we are all sent off into exile tomorrow, this may
be Lady Adalhaid’s last chance to contact her daughter. Surely you
realize what this opportunity will mean to her. After her
unswerving support of you and her kindness to me, we owe her this
information.”

“Do you trust me?” Dominick asked.

“Of course, I trust you, more than I have
ever trusted anyone in my entire life.”

“Then believe that I know what I am doing.
Say nothing to Lady Adalhaid about Lady Gisela’s presence in
Regensburg. Nor you, either, Ella,” he added, looking at the
serving girl. “I will speak to the cook and be sure she refrains
from gossiping when Lady Adalhaid or Imma are present.”

“Yes, Dominick,” said Ella.

“Good. Gina?” Dominick regarded her with a
question in his eyes.

“I don’t agree with you,” Gina said, “but
because I trust you, I’ll go along with what you are asking. I
won’t tell Lady Adalhaid.”

“Thank you,” Dominick said.

“I will expect an explanation later,” Gina
added.

Dominick’s only response to that statement
was a mysterious look.

For their evening meal they ate the fish Ella
had bought, and they drank some of the wine. They all retired
early, and Dominick spent several hours making tender love to Gina
until she lay beside him limp and satisfied. But she couldn’t
sleep, and she couldn’t stop wondering why Dominick had placed such
an unreasonable restriction on her when he must have known what it
would mean to Lady Adalhaid to have word of her daughter, or to be
able to write a note to Hiltrude in the certain knowledge that it
would be delivered when Lady Gisela returned to Chelles.

It was obviously going to be a private trial,
as opposed to the public spectacle of five days ago. Gina wasn’t
sure whether she ought to be encouraged or frightened as the
man-at-arms who was the leader of their escort conducted her,
Dominick, and Lady Adalhaid into a reception room inside Charles’s
personal apartments.

“Wait here,” the guard instructed, leaving
them alone to stare at the hangings on the walls and the simple
wooden stools and tables.

The quiet was ominous. Gina could hear her
own heart beating. Lady Adalhaid grabbed her hand and held it
tightly. On Gina’s other side, Dominick stood very straight and
still, his face set as if he was prepared to deal with any
enemy.

One of the wall hangings was drawn aside to
reveal a doorway, through which Charles entered. Gina thought she
caught the sound of urgent whispers from behind him, but they were
cut off when the heavy tapestry fell back into place. She gave her
full attention to the king of the Franks, who appeared remarkably
solemn and imposing. She feared that was not a good sign. Charles
was usually smiling, ready with a handclasp and a pleasant word.
The man who took his seat upon the only chair in the room was a
stern ruler with an unwelcome task to perform.

“Seat yourselves,” Charles said, indicating
the stools.

Gina didn’t like stools. They made her feel
uneasy, unbalanced, and they were almost always built too low to
offer any comfort. She preferred a chair with a back she could lean
against if she required support, and arms to grasp if she needed to
hang on to something solid. She had the feeling she was going to
want to hang on tight during the next hour or so. Nevertheless, she
couldn’t refuse the kings command. She crouched down on the nearest
stool.

“Some time ago, when we spoke in private,”
Charles said, looking from Gina to Lady Adalhaid, “I was told a
story I found so difficult to believe that I decided to investigate
it more thoroughly. Until that day I had no inkling of any devious
intentions directed toward Count Dominick. But if the story was
true, then Dominick did have a motive for despising me and for
promoting my removal and death.”

“I have never conspired against you,”
Dominick declared firmly.

“I have called you here in order to prove
your loyalty,” Charles said. Raising his voice, he called out,
“Gisela, please join us.”

Once again the wall hanging was pulled
aside.

“My dear lady.” Dominick went to his knees
before the woman who entered. He took both her hands in his and
kissed them. “I rejoice to see you once more.”

“On your feet, Dominick,” Gisela said,
pulling one hand free so she could brush it across his fair hair.
“You have much to explain.”

In her gown of deep red silk, wearing gold
bracelets on either arm and several rings, Gisela did not look at
all like a nun. Only the cross set with garnets that hung on a
heavy gold chain around her neck suggested a religious vocation.
She was almost as tall as her brother and close to Charles in age.
Their features were remarkably similar, though Gisela’s hair was a
shade or two darker, braided and swept to the top of her head in
the current style and held in place with several jeweled combs.

“My lady!” cried Lady Adalhaid, rising from
her stool to curtsy to Gisela. “I beg you to tell me if my daughter
is well.”

“See for yourself,” said Gisela, laughing.
“Come out, Hiltrude, and embrace your mother.” At her command the
hanging was drawn back a third time.

“Oh!” Lady Adalhaid gasped, her hands
fluttering to her breast. Then she stretched out her arms to the
young woman who rushed forward to embrace her. “Hiltrude, my
dearest! My heart! I thought never to see you again in this world.
Oh, let me look at you. Are you well? Are you safe? Why are you
here? What is the meaning of this unexpected visit?” That last
question was addressed to Charles, who sat regarding with a sharp
eye the scene being played out before him.

Gina took advantage of the opportunity to get
off her uncomfortable stool and stand as the others were doing. She
gazed in fascination at Dominick’s former wife, though all she
could see at the moment was the back of a gray wool dress, for
Hiltrude was completely surrounded by her mother’s arms.

“Within an hour after you and Lady Gina
revealed Hiltrude’s spying to me,” Charles said to Lady Adalhaid,
“I sent a rider to Chelles at top speed. He carried a letter to my
sister, in which I asked Gisela to come to Regensburg at once,
bringing Hiltrude with her. As you can see by their presence here
today, they wasted no time in answering my request.

“Dominick, this is why I postponed your
sentencing,” Charles continued. “There were many souls proclaiming
your honesty, including Alcuin, Deacon Fardulf, and these ladies
here, among others. Only one loud voice constantly repeated that
you were guilty. I harbored no doubts about the other men who stood
trial for treason. They received their just sentences. But I found
it difficult to believe that you were involved.”

“I never was,” Dominick stated. “Sir, I love
and honor you. There is but one person in this affair whom I
despise.” The two men locked glances for a long moment, and it was
Charles who looked away first.

“Lady Hiltrude,” Charles said, “I want to
know the entire truth of your marriage to Count Dominick.”

“Sir, what do you mean?” Visibly trembling,
Hiltrude detached herself from her mother’s embrace.

At last Gina could take a good look at her.
Hiltrude was not an especially pretty girl, having light brown hair
worn in two tight braids and unremarkable gray eyes. Nor did her
simple gray dress enhance her sturdy figure. Yet there was
something of Lady Adalhaid’s elegance in Hiltrude’s posture and
movements and, like her mother, she apparently had a tendency to
turn pale at moments of stress. Her cheeks were colorless now.

“Speak honestly,” Charles ordered her. “Tell
me everything.”

“I – I – oh, sir!” Hiltrude bit her lip and
glanced nervously around the room. “Is the queen ill? I’ve not seen
her since coming to Regensburg.”

“Nor will you see her until after you have
told me what I want to know,” said Charles. “Fastrada is not here.
She will not interrupt us, nor will she influence what you
say.”

Gina couldn’t stand the tension any longer.
Lady Adalhaid was so white and was shaking so hard that Gina was
afraid she’d have a heart attack. Gisela had withdrawn from the
group before Charles to stand at her brother’s side. Dominick was
frowning and looking like a thundercloud about to burst into a
violent storm. Gina couldn’t tell what his feelings about Hiltrude
were, but she could see that the poor young woman was scared half
to death. Very deliberately, she moved to stand next to Hiltrude,
and put a supporting arm across her shoulders.

“Tell him what he wants to know,” Gina
instructed in a fierce tone. “Your mother was afraid to speak out
until I maneuvered her into a position where she had no choice, and
now I think she’s glad she spoke. Charles needs to know what
happened.”

“Who are you?” Hiltrude’s gray eyes met
Gina’s steady gaze.

“She is a friend,” said Lady Adalhaid.
“Moreover, Gina is right. Hiltrude, you must stop being afraid.
Your life – all our lives – depend upon your honesty now.”

There followed a brief silence, during which
Hiltrude took several deep breaths, and Gina could feel her
trembling. Then Hiltrude lifted her chin and looked directly at
Charles.

“Shortly after I first came to court, I was
appointed as one of the queen’s ladies,” Hiltrude said. “Queen
Fastrada was more friendly to me than I expected. I was, after all,
only an ignorant young girl, and I was very flattered by her
attentions. One day she told me that she wanted me to marry Count
Dominick. I asked why, because I knew she did not like him.
Dominick had criticized her before others, and Fastrada took great
offense at that. She told me I was to marry Dominick and then spy
on him, to discover any facts that could be used against him and
report them to her. She was determined to ruin him for what he’d
said about her. At first, I refused.”

“Go on,” Charles urged when Hiltrude paused
to wipe her eyes.

“Queen Fastrada said if I didn’t do what she
wanted, she would have my mother killed under circumstances that
would make her appear to be an evil woman.”

“What circumstances?” asked Charles.

“She was going to arrange for my mother and
Count Audulf to die together as if in a lovers’ suicide pact.”
Hiltrude s voice sank so low as she pronounced those last words
that Charles leaned forward in his chair to hear better.

“Are you speaking of Audulf of Birnau?”
Charles asked. “The same young man to whom you were originally
betrothed?”

“Yes,” Hiltrude whispered. “The idea was that
my mother would appear to be the lover of my betrothed. Thus, the
two people I love most in the world would be seen to have betrayed
me in the most disgraceful fashion. Furthermore, as suicides,
neither of them could be buried in consecrated ground, nor could
they receive the prayers or blessings of the Church. They would be
condemned to the fires of Hell forever. I could not let that
happen. I had to obey the queen.”

Charles sat back, looking as if someone had
struck him. Gisela put a hand on his shoulder.

“Merciful heaven!” exclaimed Lady Adalhaid.
“Hiltrude, child, why didn’t you tell me all of this?”

“I was so afraid,” Hiltrude said. “I know
you, Mother. You would have confronted the queen and made a great
commotion. But I knew they weren’t idle threats. Your life was in
danger. So was Audulf’s. I had to do what Fastrada wanted.”

“And so you married Dominick,” said
Charles.

“Yes. Dominick was always kind to me. He
never—” Hiltrude gulped back tears. She still had not looked
directly at Dominick. “He never hurt me, and he seemed to
understand that my heart lay elsewhere. He was even kind when he
discovered my attempts to spy on him. I am a very poor spy, my
lord.”

“Dominick,” Charles said, “you ought to have
told me when you learned what Hiltrude was doing.”

“I begged him not to!” Hiltrude cried.
“Everyone in Francia knows how much you love Fastrada. I didn’t
think you’d believe anything against her. I had obeyed her and
married Dominick, but I hadn’t been able to learn anything that
would be helpful to Fastrada, so I still feared for my mother’s
life, and for Audulf’s, and for Dominick’s, too. I am ashamed of
what I did to Dominick, and I was glad when he found me out and
said he would not remain married to a woman he could not
trust.”

“But you divorced him,” said Charles. Then he
nodded. “I understand. He thought you would be safe at
Chelles.”

“And so I have been,” Hiltrude said.

“Yet I have been told on good authority that
you have no taste for conventual life.” Charles gave Hiltrude a
sharp look.

“No,” Hiltrude responded. She sent a quick
little smile in the direction of Charles’s sister. “Lady Gisela
knows me well. I wish I could have married Count Audulf.”

“Would Audulf have you now, do you think?”
Charles asked.

“I don’t know,” Hiltrude said with a sigh. “I
haven’t seen or spoken to Audulf since the day my forthcoming
marriage to Dominick was announced.

“No doubt the young man’s heart was broken,”
Charles said in a dry tone.