Rhuddlan by Nancy Gebel Read Free Book Online

sake, Eleanor, raise your head!”
Sir Thomas said sharply. “Perhaps Earl Hugh would like to see what
he’s getting!”
    “Oh, women’s faces don’t matter to the earl,
Father,” Robert laughed, winking at Hugh. “Only their ability to
churn out heirs.”
    “Of course, of course,” Sir Thomas agreed
instantly. “Well, Eleanor was just sixteen, my lord, and you can
see for yourself she’s in excellent health. Very strong.”
    “Aren’t you going to say anything, Eleanor?”
Robert asked. There was a hint of humor in his voice, as though
there were some joke being played that only he knew about. “So high
an honor…Earl Hugh could have had any woman he wanted but he chose
you.”
    Eleanor’s eyes crept up to the earl’s face
with a slight, puzzled frown. The men stared at her, obviously
waiting for her to express her fervent thanks. She opened her mouth
and stammered: “I’m—I’m most honored, my lord…” Then her gaze
shifted to her father and she added, in a rush, “But I’m promised
to the church. The abbey at Elstow. It was my mother’s dying wish—”
She broke off with a cry of pain. Sir Thomas had stepped quickly
forward and slapped her face.
    “How dare you shame my house like this!” he
shouted at her, his own face blood red with fury. Eleanor’s hand
flew to her cheek in disbelief. Her father had never before hit
her. “You haven’t taken any vows! You’re still mine to dispose of!
Your brother has arranged a tremendous opportunity for you; you
ought to be grateful. Do you think if your mother was alive she
would hesitate one instant to seize it? Do you?” She shook her head
mutely. “Pay your respects to Earl Hugh again and get out. You can
remain in your chamber until the day you’re called to Chester!”
    Eleanor curtsied to Hugh and fled the hall.
Sir Thomas turned to his guest. “I must apologize, my lord—”
    “Don’t worry, Father,” Robert said
cheerfully. “The earl likes pious women, don’t you, my lord?
They’re less likely to get in his way and are easier than others to
persuade to perform their procreative duties.”
     
    Gwalaes jumped up with excitement when
Eleanor entered the room but her hopeful grin died away after one
glance at her friend’s pale face. “Is he older than he looked from
afar?” she asked.
    “No,” Eleanor answered shortly.
    Gwalaes didn’t like her
morose expression. “It is the earl, isn’t it? It’s not that angry man you
pointed out yesterday is it?”
    “It’s really the earl.”
    Gwalaes peered at her. “Well…did he say
something nasty to you?”
    “No. He didn’t say anything at all.”
    “Why not? Can’t he talk?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “What’s wrong with you, Eleanor? He’s not
old, he wasn’t nasty to you, he’s an earl and you’re going to be
countess of Chester. It’s absolutely wonderful!”
    “I’d rather be a nun than a countess!” she
retorted bitterly. “It’s what was promised me!”
    Gwalaes took her firmly by the forearms.
“Eleanor, your fate has changed. It’s not going to go away unless
something horrible happens to the earl on his way back to Chester
so you might as well make the best of it. Maybe you only liked
Elstow because it wasn’t Oakby. Chester won’t be at all like Oakby,
either. Alan says it’s a great place—”
    “Has Alan ever been there?”
    “Well, no, but the earl’s right hand man, Sir
Roger, told him much about it. It’s huge and built of red sandstone
and when the setting sun hits it, it glows as though it’s on fire.
Doesn’t that sound pretty?”
    Eleanor stared at her, mouth downturned,
unconvinced. Gwalaes jiggled her arms. “All right, then, think of
this: I couldn’t go with you to Elstow, but I can go with you to
Chester. We can be together! You must promise to take me, Eleanor.
I’ve been absolutely miserable here on my own!”
    A small smile bent the corners of the other
girl’s mouth. “You just want to go where Robert