The Apothecary Rose (31 page)

His old friend. Dear Lord, not his old friend. 'Where
is Wulfstan now?'

"In the infirmary. I left Sebastian with him. Told
him not to let anyone in but you or me.'

'Good. Good.' The Abbot scribbled something, went to
the door, and called for his secretary, Brother Anthony.
Take this to Jehannes, the Archbishop's secretary. He
will know what to do. As you leave, tell the porter to
look out for Brother Michaelo. He must not leave the
abbey.'

Anthony left without a word.

Melisende leapt off Lucie's lap to investigate a move
ment in the corner of the kitchen. Lucie got up,
checked the soup that simmered for tomorrow, sat back down. 'In my wedding chest I found a herbal
with my mother's mother's name on it. I could not remember the book. Or Maman giving it to me.'

Phillippa shook her head. 'Nicholas never showed it
to you? How like a man not to realise what it would
mean to you. Amelie presented it to Nicholas when he became a journeyman. Her mother had given it to her.
It was wondrously illustrated and bound in soft leather.
She had it by heart and thought he might enjoy it.'

'It sounds as though they had a pleasant life, those
two’ Owen noted.

'Ah. But then trouble appeared. Amelie changed.
Her feet skimmed the earth. Her eyes sparkled. She spent hours in the maze, but without Nicholas. It was
Lucie, seven years old and very curious, who told me her mother had a friend in there with her, a fair-haired
prince.'

Lucie looked horrified. 'I betrayed her.'

Phillippa rolled her eyes. 'Nonsense. You simply
understood me better than your mother did. My brother was a lout. If this man could bring Amelie such joy,
I saw no harm in him, none at all. And if that shocks you, so be it.

'So I told Amelie I wished to meet the young
man. And I did. Oh, but he was handsome. Blond,
tall, courtly. I could find no fault with him. And he
had come for her. He'd found a patron in Milan and
meant to take her with him. No one would know she
was not his wife.

'That gave me a start. Milan! I'd heard tales of the
soldiers in service with the Italian nobles who fight
endless wars among themselves. Such a soldier did not
bring with him a wife and child. I reasoned with them.
But they had answers to all my protests. Lucie would
go to a convent there. After all, her mother had been educated in a convent.

'But in France, I reminded her, where they spoke
her language. Shared her customs. "Oh, but they will
speak French. All educated people speak French." She
was such an innocent. I reminded her that Italy was
nothing like Lucie's home. Sunny and warm. The
voices soft and slippery. A child is frightened by such
change. And then to be apart from her mother. Oh,
dear God, what was she thinking?' Phillippa paused a
moment to calm herself. 'But she was decided. And
once Amelie decided, God and all His angels could not
change her mind. It was her undoing’ Tears glittered
in Phillippa's eyes. She watched Lucie, but it was plain
she saw Amelie sitting there before the fire.

Phillippa shook herself. 'I digress. As you can imag
ine, Nicholas now saw little of Amelie. But at sum
mer's end, Geoffrey went off to arrange his life in Milan,
and Amelie once more sought Nicholas's company.
She was jealous of the time he spent in the shop and
out in the garden. His father had opened his purse
for Nicholas, encouraging him to send far and wide
for seeds of exotic strains. The lad was torn between
pleasing his father and indulging Amelie. To his credit,
his work usually won.

'Which made it all the harder for me. I had all I could do to keep my patience with her that winter.
She paced the great hall, snapping at you, poor child,
for the slightest thing, picked at her food, complained
about everything.

'In spring, Geoffrey returned. He went to Nicholas
and thanked him for being a friend to Amelie. And
he assured Nicholas and me that he'd arranged a home for Amelie, though Lucie was still to be put
in a convent for a time. Oh, my love, my heart went
out to you. An Italian convent. Geoffrey swore that the
sisters knew French, that they were quite civilised. He
asked Nicholas and me to be Amelie's support for a
while longer. He must go to his family in Lincolnshire
to make his farewells and settle his affairs. The calm before the storm.

'Amelie's mood darkened, but so gradually that
she was completely caught up in it before I could see
what was happening. She grew secretive. I learned from
Nicholas that she'd come to him one morning, earlier
than usual, alone, frightened. She was with child. She
wanted him to help her. He did not understand. For so
long she had wished for this very news. She said Geoffrey
would not take her with him if she was pregnant.

'Nicholas urged against drastic measures. She might
conceal it long enough. But it was July, and already the swell of her stomach was noticeable. And Geoffrey had
been delayed. He could not leave before Michaelmas.
Two months. She said that she had quickened with
child because at last she was happy. So it would hap
pen again. Later. When it would not mean the death
of all her joy. She begged Nicholas for something that
would pass the child from her. He was frightened. He
knew that it was a mortal sin and that it would be
dangerous for her. She had such a difficult time with
Lucie's birth, and now she was distressed, her humours
in turmoil. In such a state, already weak, a medicine
could quickly become a poison. He refused.

'She fell to her knees, begging him, weeping and threatening to dose herself with rue from my garden.
Fell to her knees and wept. He was almost undone. He
begged for some time to pray over his decision.

'He went to his old friend Anselm to ask his advice. Anselm advised Nicholas that Amelie would get what
she desired from someone, so if he was concerned about
her, it ought to be him. He was the best apothecary in Yorkshire. He would one day be a master apothecary.
He was the son of a master.'

Lucie could see Anselm's motivation. 'The Arch
deacon hoped it would kill her. He was jealous of her.
And if Nicholas was guilty, he would struggle to forget
her. Then Anselm might have another chance.'

Phillippa shrugged. 'I knew nothing of their rela
tionship. I only knew that Nicholas respected Anselm's
opinion and trusted him to keep the matter to himself. Since Anselm's counsel was to give Amelie what she
wanted, Nicholas did so. He mixed her a potion of rue,
juniper, tansy, and wormwood, the dosage low enough
to ensure that it would work gradually and could not poison her. As much as mortal man can ensure such
things. He told me what he'd given her, what was
the safe dosage. No one of the ingredients could be guaranteed to abort the child, but it was a rare case in
which none of these worked. I thought it clever, but my
heart misgave me. I watched her like a hawk, making
sure she took the smallest dosage morning and night.
She was careful. It seemed he'd impressed on her the
importance of following his instructions. Like a fool,
I eased my supervision.

'September arrived, and still Geoffrey did not appear.
Amelie did not look well. Her hands flew as she spoke,
she jumped at the smallest sound, her eyes were too large in her head, and shadowed, as if she slept little.

'I thought it was the news from Calais. Robert
wrote that King Philip had at last brought a great
army to save the people of Calais, then ordered the
army's retreat a few days later, without battle. Behind
the city walls a great wail rose up. A year besieged, and
now they knew themselves abandoned. Joyous for us,
not so for Amelie. They were still her people.'

'I served with men who were at Calais,' Owen said.
'It was a terrible time. When they opened the gates,
there were no dogs, no animals but a few goats and
cows for milking. All the rest had been slaughtered
to fill the empty bellies. So many had died. It was a
barren, silent city.'

Lucie wiped her eyes. 'Maman's convent had been
raided by Edward's army. That is why she was at home when Sir Robert brought her father back and demanded
ransom. She had been hidden by a sister in the flour bin in the larder. A soldier dragged one of her classmates in
there, raped her, and slit her throat, right there in front
of Maman. She could not scream, she could not move
enough to hide her eyes for fear he'd discover her. She
could just watch’

'She'd had her share of grief, to be sure’ Phillippa said. 'And the news that Calais had fallen to King
Edward's army sent her into hysterics. My brother
had sent word that as soon as the city fell, he would
return to Freythorpe, What if he should arrive before
Geoffrey? Merciful Mother. I kept asking her if she was
certain the child had not yet passed. She was so thin,
I doubted that so little flesh could nurture a growing
child. She swore it had not passed. I warned her that
as soon as she could, she must stop the physick. Every day she grew weaker. She fluttered like a caged bird,
and her eyes were haunted.

'And then Robert arrived, full of himself, blind
to her condition. King Edward had made him aide
to the governor of Calais. He meant to take Amelie
back with him. I saw that he hoped returning to France
would make her happy. Happy enough to bear the son
he wanted. And I suddenly realised how he must love
her. To make the difficult Channel crossing and travel
six days at a gallop to reach her, only to return with
her in a short time. He was not a young man. And
there was no question he must return quickly. The
governor needed him then most of all.

'And I had helped her betray him. Holy Mother, 1 had
encouraged Amelie in her unfaithfulness to my own
brother, who loved her and was her lawful husband. I had been caught up in a romantic dream. Certainly he was a lout, he had no grace, no gentleness. He'd been bred to fight, later to lead men into battle. No one had
taught him to be a husband. But he meant to try. He
meant to give her what he believed she yearned for.
Her country, her people.

'And then it all fell apart.' Phillippa wiped her forehead with a trembling hand. Lucie gripped her
own hands so tight her knuckles showed white.

'Amelie looked very ill when she came to dinner.
I wanted her to lie down, but she insisted that if she played up to Robert's homecoming he would notice
nothing. He was not so blind as that. He asked her
forgiveness for bringing her to Yorkshire. Said he had
not understood how difficult it would be for her. She
sat straight, eating little, staring down at her plate or
at her husband's hands. Her wimple was damp at the
temples. Her colour was bad. Grey. Robert ate and drank
with enthusiasm. He thought her pallor, her trembling
hands, must be her usual state. He looked forward to
changing all that with the voyage to Calais.

'Suddenly she gave a cry and stumbled from her
chair. Robert and I both jumped up. She clutched her stomach. He caught her as she fell. She haemorrhaged.
Lucie, my love, you screamed at the blood soaking
your father's arm, your mother's dress. I grabbed you
and hurried you to your parents' chamber and yelled for Cook to stay with you.

'Amelie had overdosed, thinking to rid herself of the
evidence of her unfaithfulness as quickly as possible,
before Robert noticed. A toxic dose. She said she felt
nothing in her hands and feet. They were like ice. She
was terrified. I do not believe she meant to kill herself.'

'But Nicholas had warned her’ Lucie said. 'And
so had you.'

The arrogance of youth. She thought it might kill a weaker person, but not her. I think if she'd meant
to kill herself she would have taken all that was left.
To make sure of the job. But she left much of it.