The Copper Sign (17 page)

Thibault turned red with anger. “Who knows who else she has been fooling around with? You’re always fawning on her; perhaps you’re the father. I won’t pay a penny for that little trollop.”

Ellen gasped for air. “Rose loves you!” she shouted. “God knows why. As for me, I haven’t touched her.”

“Is that so? I have heard otherwise.” He stepped closer to Ellen and said, “See how you can get her out of this mess, but not at my expense. Why don’t you marry her yourself?” Thibault raised his eyebrows provocatively.

“It’s not my child, but yours. It doesn’t surprise me that you deny any responsibility and try to shift the blame onto someone else. Men in your family are really masters at doing that. Ask your father sometime—that’s just what he did.”

Ellen turned and strode away. She didn’t even need to turn around to know that Thibault was standing there as if rooted to the spot, trying to understand what she meant. When she was out of sight, she turned limp. How could she have said something stupid like that? Even if Béranger had already left town, Ellen could have kicked herself for her big mouth. It would be only a matter of time before Thibault would see his father again. But she tried to put aside those feelings for now and concentrated on Rose, who had given the herb woman all her savings. She was still fifteen shillings short. It didn’t take Ellen long to decide she would pay the rest from her own savings, although none of this really involved her. She hadn’t forgotten how Rose had discovered her secret on board the ship and had kept it right up to the present, without ever expecting anything in return.

After work Ellen went to Donovan and asked him to give her part of the proceeds he had been keeping for her from the sale of the sword. He was surprised at the request but gave her the money without inquiring why she needed it. Ellen hurried off to the herb woman, not noticing that Arnaud was following her at a distance.

The old woman was waiting impatiently in front of her house. “Here you are finally! Do you have the money?”

“The young nobleman refuses to pay. He accuses poor Rose of permitting other young men to have their way with her as well. She loves him just the same, the stupid thing,” she whispered so that Rose couldn’t hear them. “Don’t tell her that I paid instead of him.”

The old woman shook her head. “Are you the father after all?”

“No, certainly not. I’ve never…” Ellen paused and lowered her gaze.

The woman seemed to believe her, and smiled. “All right then, I’ll come down a bit on my price. I can see you are just a simple tradesman, and it doesn’t really matter who the father is. We’ll just get rid of it.”

Ellen paid the amount she asked, looked in on Rose for a moment, and then left. On her way through the forest she stopped and knelt down to pray. Suddenly she heard a crackling sound in the underbrush, a bush parted, and out came Arnaud, smiling broadly.

“I am surprised you would be such a fool.”

“Excuse me?” Ellen looked at him in astonishment.

“I can’t blame you for having your fun with the little English girl. If I could have gotten anywhere with her I certainly wouldn’t have turned down the chance. But with me she never would have gotten into trouble.”

“Is that so?” Ellen saw no reason to correct Arnaud’s error regarding the paternity.

“Of course. I know how to have fun without getting the girl in trouble.”

“My compliments,” Ellen said curtly.

“I can see how eager you are to hear my advice, so I won’t hold out on you.” He bowed patronizingly to Ellen, smiled, and added, “I take them…from behind!”

Ellen looked at him aghast. “But that’s unholy,” she gasped.

“Nonsense, our priests just want to forbid everything because they can’t do it themselves.” It was clear that Arnaud was proud of himself and his precautions.

“I couldn’t care less what you do, and it doesn’t concern me either. Rose isn’t expecting a child from me, she is sick, that’s all.” Ellen stood up and was about to leave.

“Of course she is.”

Ellen was sure he was making fun of her.

“You can think what you want,” she snorted angrily.

“Don’t worry, Alan, your secret will remain with me. I’ll not say a word to the master. Now that you are his journeyman, Donovan may have more time for me and you might even put in a good word in my behalf.” Arnaud gave her an innocent look. “Only if it’s not too much trouble for you, of course.”

Ellen turned away from him and left. Arnaud really thought he could make things hard for her, and by God, he had every reason to do so! She’d have to pay closer attention now when she went to the cottage to visit her friend.

Rose remained with the herb woman for a few days, as expected, and since there were no complications was able to return home soon.

Thibault steered clear of her and even had her turned away from the door when she came to see him. Rose was in despair and cried bitter tears in front of Ellen.

“Maybe he just can’t come at the moment. Surely he’ll visit you soon,” Ellen tried to console her, even though she knew he never would.

Less than a month later, Rose came running to the smithy to see Ellen. She was completely out of breath.

“Please, I must tell you something right away, it is terribly important!” she panted.

Except for Arnaud there was no one in the workshop. Donovan, Glenna, Art, and Vincent had been invited to a wedding in the village. Ellen didn’t want to go because she didn’t feel like celebrating, and Arnaud was at loggerheads with the bride’s father because he had seduced the girl before the marriage. He had not gotten her pregnant, however, and everyone agreed to keep silent about it. In the future, Arnaud was to stay away from her and of course not appear at the wedding.

“All right, you lovebirds. I’ll leave you alone. I wanted to go to town anyway for a tankard of cider,” he said, grinning.

Ellen was angry because he was exploiting the situation. Donovan had forbidden him to go into town so he wouldn’t disturb the wedding, and it was Ellen’s job to make sure he obeyed these instructions. She thought about what she could do. If she didn’t say anything now and if he drank too much and misbehaved, Donovan would be furious at her. Rose shifted restlessly from one foot to another.

“You know very well what the master said. If you go to town, I’ll tell him you sneaked away.”

“Oh, I’m sure the master will understand you didn’t see me leave because you had a little tryst with Rose,” Arnaud answered calmly.

Once again he was trying to blackmail her.

“Please, Ellen, it’s important!” Rose whispered, not knowing what was going on between Arnaud and Ellen.

“Go and do what you think is right,” Ellen snorted, “but leave us alone now!”

“You can hardly wait, can you?” Arnold sneered as he was leaving, but then he turned around again and added, “I’ll bet you won’t take my advice and will get the poor girl in trouble again.” He burst out laughing and sauntered off.

“Ugh, what a disgusting fellow. How can a girl be taken in by someone like him? So now, Rose, have a seat and take a deep breath. That will calm you down.” Ellen directed her to a chest and pulled up a stool alongside her.

Rose’s whole body was trembling. “I didn’t want this to happen! You’ve got to believe me. I would never do anything to hurt you, but he made me so mad! I felt so helpless, and then it slipped out. If I had known what might happen then—I never would have said a word about it.” She was crying so hard she could scarcely speak.

Ellen frowned. “Now let’s take one thing at a time. I haven’t understood a word. What did you say to whom, and how could it hurt me?”

“Thibault!” Rose sobbed.

Suddenly a strange fear overcame Ellen.

“He came to see me and said he was not the father of the child, but you were. He acted like a man whose wife had been cheating on him. I laughed and told him I had always been his.” Rose broke down completely. “He was so mean, he even told me he hadn’t paid the herb woman. ‘Who was it, then?’ I asked him. ‘Do you think I had all that money?’ he said. You can’t imagine how he looked at me—I’ve never seen him like that before. ‘It was Alan,’ he snarled, ‘Alan, the father of your child. He did it because he didn’t want to marry you.’” Tears were streaming down her face. “I told him again and again that you’re not the father, but he didn’t believe me. He called me a whore and cursed me because I had double-crossed him with you. Then it slipped out.”

“What?” Ellen asked.

Rose stared at the floor. “I told him it couldn’t have been you because you are a girl. He was always my only love, Ellen!”

“Rose, no! You didn’t!” Ellen’s eyes were wide open in horror. “Do you know what you have done?”

Rose nodded, but Ellen assumed she wasn’t really aware of the consequences of her betrayal. Ellen covered her face with her hands. She felt as if a gaping hole had opened up in front of her, threatening to engulf her. Everything she had achieved up to now was suddenly slipping away from her. Thibault wouldn’t keep this to himself for very long, and that would make her life here in Tancarville impossible. Even worse, she would be punished; they would break her on the wheel or slit open her stomach. Ellen shuddered.

“I am so sorry, Ellen, honestly! I don’t know what I expected to gain from that. Perhaps that he would just be relieved and no longer in the grip of this foolish anger toward you. I just wanted to have him back.” Rose rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. “‘A girl?’ he repeated slowly. His voice was as cold as ice, and his face twisted in an evil grimace. I was overcome with fear and came running to you at once. Ellen, what can we do now?”

“Oh,
you
have done enough!” Ellen herself was surprised at how hard her voice sounded.

“Please, I didn’t want to do anything to hurt you!” Rose pleaded with her. Then, after some hesitation, she asked sheepishly, “Is it true that you paid the herb woman?”

“Excuse me, but that’s of no importance now. I’ve got to leave here at once,” she said in a soft undertone. “I won’t even get to say good-bye to Donovan and Glenna.”

“Please don’t go,” Rose pleaded, gripping Ellen’s arm tightly.

“You have sent me to my doom! Earlier, on the ship, you stayed with me and helped me, and I was always grateful for that. That’s why I paid the herb woman. But I no longer owe you anything. We were friends, and I thought I could depend on you!” Ellen felt like a hunted animal and looked around the workshop trying to figure out what to take along.

“But why can’t you stay?” Rose persisted, not wanting to believe how devastating her betrayal was for Ellen.

“Are you really that dumb?” Ellen said angrily. “There is nothing else I can do but to leave here as soon as possible. You know yourself how much Thibault hates me, heaven knows why! But now because of your stupid babbling he finally has something in hand to use against me. And he will no doubt use it. When word gets out of who I am, I’ll be cast in prison for my deceit or I’ll wind up on the gallows, and Donovan’s reputation will also be ruined. Glenna would not survive that, and neither would he.” While she was talking, she packed up her tools, cap, and leather apron. Then she rushed over to the house to pick up her money and the few possessions she had.

Rose followed her like a puppy. “Please, Ellen, say you forgive me!” she begged.

“You destroyed my life, and you want me to forgive you?” Ellen shouted. “Don’t you think that is asking a bit too much?” She avoided looking at Rose but could hear her sobbing. “Stop your moaning! You don’t really care what happens to me—you are only thinking of yourself and your own peace of mind. I don’t want to leave, I’m happy here, but I have to go because you didn’t think before you opened your mouth.” Ellen closed the door and hurried back again to the shop. On the way, she met Arnaud. She had forgotten about him because she thought he had left for the village long ago. He grinned as if he knew more than he should. Had he been eavesdropping? How much of their conversation might he have heard?

“I’m leaving Tancarville, and Donovan will have lots of time for you now. Use it well,” she said gruffly.

“Thank you so much, I’ll do that.” His smile infuriated Ellen even more. “If he asks what you are up to I’ll say I know nothing about it—that would only hurt me, you do understand, don’t you?” Arnaud’s spoke in a sweet, silky voice that was nonetheless that of a vicious predator.

“But of course, you sweet, innocent child.” Ellen slammed the door behind her and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she turned to leave.

“I’m so sorry, please believe me,” Rose sobbed, looking up at her. Ellen stopped.

“Quit running after me.”

Rose looked at her, pleading, “Isn’t there anything I can do?”

“Go to Donovan tomorrow and tell him I had to leave suddenly.” Ellen reflected for a moment. “Tell him I had urgent news from home, or think of something yourself. He must be told that there were important reasons for my leaving so he doesn’t have anyone go out to look for me. And pray that Thibault drops the matter after I am gone.”

“Whatever you want,” Rose implored, rubbing her eyes. Her face was streaked with tears.

Ellen left her standing there and turned her back on the workshop without looking around again. In a daze she headed for the same highway she had always taken for her Sunday meetings with William. He had left Tancarville months ago. His master had, in fact, never replaced the lost horse, and even told his ward that he no longer wanted him at his court. He hired him for one last tournament, and William was anything but confident thinking about how he would soon be entirely on his own. Before he left Ellen he was nonetheless in a rebellious mood, jutting out his chin and declaring, “Wait and see, soon the whole world will know my battle cry!”

Ellen sighed. At least he wouldn’t find out she had been lying to him for all those years. Thibault would have really enjoyed rubbing William’s nose in this news. She was overcome with sadness thinking of William. Would she ever see him again?