The Captive Heart by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online Page B

face, and did not seem hostile to her as so many of the servants did.
    “What is your name?” Alix asked him.
    “Wat, mistress” came the reply.
    “I will speak to the steward, Wat, for I should like you to look after my father, to be his body servant,” Alix said.
    “Thank you, mistress,” Wat answered her. Then he helped Alexander Givet from his chair. “Lean on me, sir. I am strong.”
    “When you are settled, Papa, I will come and bid you good night,” Alix told her father. Then she turned to Sir Udolf. “He cannot continue to sleep in the hall,” she said. “He must have his own chamber. Since your son must now share my bed, I shall take his room for my father. If Hayle needs another place, let him make it somewhere else.”
    “Should you not go to your chamber now to await your husband?” Sir Udolf ventured quietly.
    “I will go nowhere until I see my father properly settled for this night. Besides, your son is with his mistress. He is in no hurry to bed me.”
    The baron looked unhappy, but he said nothing, for he knew that Alix was right. She sat at his left hand with a stony face looking out over the hall, which was now empty. The queen quietly departed, taking her son with her. The king’s body servant had come for him during the dancing and taken his master away. Finally Wat came to tell Alix that her father was settled within his bedspace next to the large hearth.
    Alix went to him and kissed her parent’s brow. “Tomorrow I will prepare a chamber for you, Papa. You will no longer have to sleep in the hall.”
    “There is still time,” he said softly to her.
    Alix shook her head. “Remember what Mama always said? You must make the best of a bad situation no matter how you may feel. While I may scorn Hayle Watteson in my heart and mind, I will always treat him respectfully in public. From his behavior today, I suspect I will see him but infrequently.”
    Her father reached out, and in his hand there was a small pouch. “If you are determined to go through with this travesty, mignon , then you will need extra strength of both body and mind for your ordeal. Put a pinch from the contents of this bag into a cup of wine tonight and drink it. Then take a pinch of it in wine or cider each morning. I will give you more when you need it.” He put the pouch in her hand, grasping her wrist and saying, “Promise me you will take it, Alix. Promise me !”
    “If you believe it will help me, Papa, then yes, I will take it tonight, and each morning as you have prescribed.” She bent and kissed his cheek. “ Bon soir , Papa.”
    “ Bon soir, mignon ,” Alexander Givet replied. “God keep you safe this night.”
    Alix left him, and without even a word to Sir Udolf, departed the hall, going upstairs to the chamber she was to share with her husband. Bab was waiting for her. “Fetch me a small goblet of wine,” Alix told the serving woman.
    Bab did as she was bid, setting the goblet on the table next to the bed. Then she helped Alix disrobe. “He’ll want you naked,” Bab informed Alix, who now stood in her chemise washing her face and hands.
    “Then I will be naked,” Alix responded. She felt numb, and she was cold. Perhaps the wine would help to warm her. “Be careful with my gown,” she warned Bab. “It is my one good one.” And while the servant folded the violet silk with meticulous care, Alix took a pinch from the contents of the little pouch, put it in her wine, and drank it down. She must remember to ask her father what it was. She didn’t want Bab to see the pouch, and so she tucked it discreetly beneath the bed’s mattress until she was alone and could find another hiding spot. “Has my husband returned yet?” she asked Bab, knowing the serving woman would be aware of Hayle’s whereabouts.
    “Not yet,” Bab replied sourly. “Get into bed and sleep. He’ll awaken you when he comes. I hope for your sake there is blood on the sheet come morning. He won’t like it if you