Alas My Love (11 page)

Sometime later, Maude stood looking out her chamber window. She was seething with rage and jealousy. She hadn’t missed the loving way Tancred had rushed to Helena’s defense, nor had she missed the devotion and admiration in Helena’s eyes. It was surprise enough to find Helena had survived her ordeal and taken refuge with the duke of Gavenshire, but this was too much.

Tancred DuBonnet was in England. Not only in England, but here. How wonderful he looked, Maude mused. He was only better after all these years, and now, with the king’s pardon, he would no doubt be reinstated with the title and lands.

“And that little baggage thinks she can snatch him away from me,” Maude
said venomously. “Methinks there will be no wedded bliss for you, dear stepsis
ter. Tancred DuBonnet rejected me once. He dare not do it a second time.”

Chapter 15

T
ancred felt sweat run down the middle of his back as he hoisted the sword overhead. The leather tunic was newly made and not very supple, and because of this, his movements were far less fluid than he would have liked.

“You fight like a woman,” Roger said smugly. He had been observing the knights in training and found it to be a most disturbing display. His own men were far from being trained as well, and even Tancred, with his years in exile, fought better than many of Roger’s most trusted people.

“Then hoist up your skirts and enter the fray,” Tancred replied, meeting the sword of his opponent with a dull thudding ring.

“How dare you!” Roger’s face reddened as several idle men guffawed and snickered. He glared at them sharply, but to no avail. These men knew he was of little threat to their well-being.

Tancred waved his hand to call off the mock battle and approached Roger. “You have no war with me, Talbot. Be gone from this place so we can work in peace.”

Roger drew his own sword with one fluid motion and pointed it at Tancred’s chest. “I most certainly have a war with you. You have dallied with my sister’s affections.”

“Helena told you the truth about Maude.”

“I speak not of Maude, but of Helena, herself. You speak of her devotion and love amidst the castle’s audience, yet you have no possible hope of ever returning her love.”

“Why say ye this?”

“Because you are nothing, Tancred DuBonnet. You have but a name and not even that, for it bears the tainted blood of your parents. Therefore you are without even that honor. What will you offer my sister? Oh, true enough she has a fine dowry, but it does not include land, and what is a man without land and honor?”

Tancred grimaced at the words. Were they not the same ones he’d focused on throughout the night? “I need you not to explain my plight, Sir Talbot. But Helena’s heart is tender, and I will not see her broken by your anger.”

“Tell me naught of your concern, DuBonnet. Pick up your sword and let us clear this matter once and for all.”

Tancred stared blankly at his old friend. “You wish to fight me?”

“Aye, that I do and to the death!” The words were hissed out between
clenched teeth. One of the young squires went running to the great hall, but
otherwise no one moved.

“I do not wish to fight you, for in spite of the wrong you have done me, you are like a brother to me. Had I said that only months ago, it would have meant little. I would have fought Richard to the death over the anguish and bitterness my soul carried into exile. Now, however, my soul is at peace with God, and therefore, I am at peace with man.”

“That may well be,” Roger said, raising the sword to strike, “but I am not at peace with you.” He brought down the sword hard, causing Tancred to reflexively ward off the blow with his own sword. It was a simple enough way for a fight to begin.

The clanging of metal against metal rang throughout the bailey. Men moved out of the way and surrounded the two fighting knights, but instead of the usual cheering and betting that went on in most disputes, the audience was as silent as a spider spinning a web.

“I see you won’t die easy!” Roger called out after deflecting Tancred’s thrust.

“I seek peace with you, not blood!”

Roger swung around and pulled the sword across in a great arcing sweep. Tancred fell back a step, regained his balance, and deftly managed to ward off the attack.

“I seek revenge!” Roger bellowed against the blows.

“You seek it for a thing that never happened! You know the truth!”

Inside the castle, Helena was just descending the stone stairs when the squire appeared, proclaiming the battle on the castle grounds.

“ ’Tis a fight between His Grace’s brother and Sir Talbot!” the boy exclaimed.

Helena’s hand went to her throat, and several men who sat below in the great hall scurried for the door. She, too, had intended to follow, but her foot no sooner reached the floor when Maude appeared from nowhere.

“And where do you think that you are going?” She took hold of Helena painfully hard. “We need to talk, little sister.”

Helena’s surprise was so great that she could do nothing but allow Maude to pull her into the privacy of the duke’s receiving room.

“What is the meaning of this?” Helena finally found her voice. Jerking away from the talonlike hands of her stepsister, Helena refused to let Maude have the advantage. “Be gone from me. I have matters that do not concern you.”

“Pray tell? If you mean the matter of Tancred and Roger doing battle, then it is you who have no place in the matter. They are fighting over me.”

Helena laughed. “So say you. I believe it to be otherwise, and I will go to Tanny and offer my encouragement.”

Maude screeched at her with hands raised and nails bared. “You insufferable ingrate. Roger has given you everything, and you scorn him.” She stopped just short of tearing at Helena’s face.

Helena backed away. “I have known nothing but misery at your hands and Roger’s. I wish only to be left alone.”

“That is no longer possible for you. You have cost me too much and now you must pay the price.”

“I have cost you?” Helena’s stunned tone did not bode well with her stepsister.

“Aye, and do not deny it. You have grieved me in every way, but especially where that man is concerned.”

“Tancred?”

“Aye, your beloved Tanny.” Maude’s face contorted in disgust. “You, a mere child. How old could you have been? Eight? Nine? Surely, not old enough to know
the truth of love, yet here you stand proclaiming for the world your undying devo
tion to a man you scarcely know. He is a deceiver, and I would be less than a loving sister to not guide you away from his cruelty.”

“He is not a deceiver!”

Maude laughed loud and harshly. “So you say. I have the painful memories to haunt me. I have the broken promises—”

“You have nothing!” Helena countered in anger. “I was there. I saw you throw yourself at him, begging for him to save you from the misery of your loveless home. I wanted to retch at the way you played him for a fool, pleading your purity and innocence, pledging your virginal love. Hah! I saw what you did, night after night. Playing many a man false, offering of yourself whatever it took to get some trinket or bauble that you took a fancy to.”

“How dare you!”

“I dare because it is the truth!”

Maude’s face turned reddish-purple, and her eyes were narrow slits that stared evilly back at Helena. Her voice dropped to a deadly softness. “You have always come between me and my suitors. You think I could forget that? I will see you dead before you marry Tancred DuBonnet. Do you understand me?”

“You speak idle,” Helena said, turning to leave.

“Do I?” Maude called, making no move to stop her. “I still have the bottle of poison I used to rid myself of your mother.” Helena froze in place. She turned to see the wickedly satisfied smile on Maude’s face. “That’s right, I killed her. What of it?”

“I will tell my brother. I will tell the duke of Gavenshire and King Henry as well!” Helena declared. There were tears in her eyes as she thought of her mother dying painfully at Maude’s hand. “Murderer!”

“Call me what you like, but you will say naught to Roger or anyone else.”

“And how do you intend to stop me?” Helena questioned. She was trembling in fear, but prayed silently that Maude would not see how she’d upset her.

“If you do anything to imply my responsibility in Eleanor’s death, I will see to it that Tancred dies most painfully.”

“He may already lie dead by Roger’s hand, for all I know. You’re evil, Maude, and I will have no more part in this.” Helena opened the door and quickly made her way across the hall.

Maude was immediately at her heels, whispering in a hissing tone that could not be understood. “Should you seek our brother’s ear on this matter, it will cost Tancred’s life.”

Helena paused to look at Maude. There was no doubt of her seriousness.
What should I do?
Helena wondered.
What can I do?

“Aye, I will do the deed,” Maude replied. “But if you keep your mouth closed, return home with Roger, and leave me to rekindle the flames of passion that once existed between Tancred and myself, then I will let him live. Otherwise. . .”

Helena looked away from Maude and contemplated the words. “He may well lie dead at this moment.”

“Roger will not kill him. There is nothing more than a misunderstanding between them. I’ve been most fortunate that it’s lasted eleven years. I cannot hope for it to bear through even another day. Nay, your problems do not lie with Roger.”

Helena heard her name being called, and soon a young woman came through the castle’s outer door. “Come, Lady Helena, Her Grace has sent me to fetch you.”

Helena turned to leave, but Maude was at her heel again. “Remember what I said.”

Helena said nothing. Instead, she hoisted her skirts and ran most unladylike down the stairs to the bailey. She followed the messenger at a run, and when she came upon the scene of Tancred and Roger’s fight, she wanted to die a thousand deaths. Roger had Tancred on the ground, his sword poised at the hollow of Tancred’s neck, ready for the kill.

Just as Helena opened her mouth to scream, Roger burst out laughing and Tancred joined in. Helena was stunned. She wanted to sink to her knees from shock, but Arianne quickly came to her side and extended her arm.

“Remember that time when we were boys,” Roger said, laughing so hard he could barely stand up. “You and I were staging a battle for my father. He was so impressed with our abilities and entered the fray himself. It wasn’t long before he had both of us pinned to the ground in just this manner.”

“I remember it well,” Tancred replied, his laughter joining Roger’s. “He said, ‘Will you yield?’ and instead of answering, you made a face at him.”

“Aye, and it so surprised him to see his honorable son, in training to become a knight, with tongue waggling from side to side and eyes rolling in circles that he was taken unaware when you pushed him backward. He landed with a mighty thud, as I recall.” Tancred remembered the moment with great pleasure.

Roger sobered for a moment, then slipped his sword into the scabbard and extended his arm to Tancred. “I have wronged you greatly. Never have I once truly believed you capable of killing your parents, yet I allowed you to bear the shame alone. I did nothing to defend you.”

Tancred took the offered hand and got to his feet. “ ’Tis a matter for the past.”

“Only if you place it there,” Roger said quite seriously, “for I still carry the wrongfulness of it here.” He placed his hand over his heart.

“You have my forgiveness, Friend,” Tancred replied. His dark eyes softened. “Have I yours?”

“Aye, that and much more!” Roger exclaimed and embraced Tancred heartily.

Helena watched the reunion as if in a dream. Only moments before she had learned that Maude was responsible for the death of her cherished mother. Now Roger and Tancred were embracing with all possible joy, and it was quickly becoming too much for Helena.

“ ’Tis wondrous the way that God works in our lives,” Arianne whispered in Helena’s ear.

Helena turned and found Maude approaching her. A low moan escaped her lips, and Arianne turned to see what the problem might be. “Come with me to the solar,” Arianne suggested. “ ’Tis time for Timothy’s feeding.”

Helena could only nod and allow Arianne to lead her toward the castle. She knew that with Arianne present, Maude would say nothing, and because of this, Helena felt a false sense of security. It was a security that was quickly snatched from her, however, when Helena met Maude’s hateful stare. Her eyes burned into Helena and it was more than she could bear. Without warning to Arianne, Helena fainted dead away.

“Helena?” She heard her name being called. The voice was soft and muffled. The blackness that held her spellbound was lifting, and Helena could barely make out Tancred’s face overhead.

“Helena, wake up,” he commanded, and she fought hard to be obedient.

“Oh, Tanny,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his face. “What happened?”

“I was to ask you the same thing. Do you not remember?”

She gave him a gentle, sleepy smile, but then the memory of Maude’s threatening words came back to haunt her, and Helena abruptly pulled back her hand and tried to turn away.

“What is this?” Tancred questioned, taking hold of her shoulders.

Arianne was at her side in a moment. “What is it, Helena? What is wrong?”

Helena moaned and shook her head from side to side. She couldn’t speak to either one of them. She mustn’t give Maude any reason to harm yet another person. Hot tears formed in her eyes and threatened to spill.

“Please go,” she finally said.

“Go?” Tancred questioned, turning her to face him. His eyes were so full of tender concern that Helena wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms. Instead, she forced herself to push against him.

“Yes! Go! I don’t want you here!” The tears poured down her cheeks as she turned away. She wasn’t quick enough to avoid seeing the hurt in his eyes. Burying her face in her hands, Helena sobbed.

Tancred looked up at Arianne, who stared thoughtfully at the young woman. With a shrug, she motioned Tancred to the door. “I have a feeling there is much we do not know. Do not be too quick to judge her in this matter. Something is amiss, and I will seek to find out what it might be. Until then, please do not lose hope.”

Tancred glanced from his sister-in-law to the sobbing woman across the room. “But I know not what I’ve done.”

“ ’Tis my strong suspicion,” Arianne said, with a note of anger in her voice,
“that you’ve done nothing to bring this about.” She touched his arm reassuring
ly. “Give us time, Tancred. Secrets have a way of coming out.”