Chapter Thirteen #3
Emllyn sighed with frustration as Elyse went back to the subject of her secret admirer. She was getting rather tired with the woman’s pestering and it was a struggle not to become short with her.
“I do not plan to meet him,” she said as she put food on her plate.
Elyse wasn’t happy with the answer. “But why?” she pressed. “Surely you should tell the man that he is wasting his time.”
Emllyn stopped what she was doing and faced the woman. “Elyse, if you are so concerned, then you meet him by the well tonight,” she said with strained patience. “Tell him that I am not interested in his notes. Mayhap he will start writing them to you instead.”
Rather than refuse, Elyse saw it as an opportunity. Her face lit up. “May I meet him?” she asked happily.
Emllyn waved her off and returned to her food. “You have my permission,” she said, disinterested. “Tell him I have no time to spare his nonsense.”
Perhaps she didn’t, but Elyse certainly did.
She was very much looking forward to meeting Emllyn’s lover by the well, if only to see who it was and, if he was acceptable enough, to make another conquest. Emllyn might not have been interested in men but Elyse certainly was.
As they sat down to the feast before them, the solar door opened again and Merradoc appeared.
He had been a fixture in Emllyn’s life, sitting with her when Elyse wasn’t, telling his frank and brutal and terribly funny stories to keep her entertained.
Even after her leg healed completely, he still kept coming back because he enjoyed her company so much.
When he marched into the solar and saw what the women were doing, he threw up his hands.
“Excellent!” he exclaimed. “Let us do what the Romans did; let us become ragingly drunk and then tell our fortunes from our own vomit.”
Emllyn burst out laughing. “God’s Blood,” she said. “You certainly know how to have a good time.”
Merradoc nodded vigorously as he poured himself a large cup of wine and went to sit next to Emllyn.
“I do, indeed,” he said, eyeing her and slapping her lightly on the thigh. “Let me see your leg, you little goat.” When Emllyn began to lift her leg to show him the nearly-healed wound, he slapped her leg again and pushed it down. “Never you mind. I don’t care in the least.”
He was quick-witted and hilarious. With a shrug, Emllyn lowered her leg, returning to her food as Merradoc drank deeply of his wine.
“I have heard something very interesting,” he said, smacking his lips. “It would seem that someone in this room is receiving letters from an admirer.”
As Elyse tittered, Emllyn stopped eating and looked at Merradoc with outrage. “God’s Blood!” she exclaimed. “How would you know that? This entire castle is maelstrom of rumors and lies!”
Merradoc put his hand affectionately on her arm. “Everyone is concerned for everyone, little chick,” he said. “Of course we talk about one another. We have nothing better to do.”
Emllyn made a face at him. “Everyone is in everyone else’s lives and business,” she countered. “Never have I seen such nosy gossips!”
Merradoc was grinning at her. “Nosy or not, tell me of your notes and spare me nothing,” he said. “Have you decided who is sending them?”
Emllyn gave him a look of utter exasperation before motioning to Elyse, who was still holding on to the parchment. Elyse handed it to Merradoc, who studied the handwriting carefully. After a moment, he crowed.
“Of course I know who this is!” he announced.
Both Emllyn and Elyse perked up. “Who?” Elyse demanded.
Merradoc began laughing. He read the carefully scribed note twice before holding it up in the air and howling with laughter. “Remarkable, I say!” he cried.
Emllyn and Elyse were nearly crazed with the need to know. “Tell me who it is!” Emllyn demanded. “Stop cackling and tell me, do you hear?”
Merradoc jumped up from his chair. “You will guess,” he told them. “I will give you clues and you will guess.”
Emllyn and Elyse were eager for the game.
They put the food and drink aside, hanging on Merradoc’s every movement.
At first, he stood up very tall and put his hand at his hip as if holding onto the hilt of a sword.
Then, he beat at his chest and pretended to lower the visor of a helm. Emllyn leapt to her feet.
“A knight!” she exclaimed.
Merradoc nodded vigorously and moved over to Elyse, whom he began to pat on the head. Then, he put his hand to his heart as if to signify that he loved her. He did this several times until Emllyn spoke again.
“A love?” she said, thinking aloud. “Someone who loves Elyse? Is it Connaught?”
Merradoc shook his head, scowling at her incorrect answer. Then, he took an apple from the table and held it next to his groin. He pointed at the apple, and then his groin, repeatedly in that order. Then he pointed at Elyse. Emllyn and Elyse looked at each other in total, utter confusion.
“An apple and… and a man’s member?” Elyse ventured.
Emllyn wasn’t much clearer but she began to think aloud. “An apple and… wait… no, is it fruit?” she said, watching Merradoc nod firmly. “Then it is fruit and… and a groin? Fruit and… and… no, not groin. Is it loins? Fruit and loins? Fruit of loins and…?”
She gasped, looking directly at Elyse as realization dawned. “Fruit of his loins?” she said, pointing at Elyse. “He means your father! You are the fruit of his loins!”
Elyse’s eyes widened with shock. “My father has been sending you notes?” she gasped. “Sweet Jesus, Joseph, and Mary!”
With his job finished, Merradoc sat back down at the table and collected his cup of wine as he tossed the note back onto the tabletop. He was quite smug about it all.
“That is de Noble’s writing,” he said, taking a big gulp of wine. “It would seem that he has affections for our lovely Lady Emllyn.”
Emllyn didn’t know what to say; she looked at Elyse in shock, unsure how her friend was going to handle the news. She couldn’t tell from the woman’s expression.
“Are you still going to meet him by the well?” she finally asked. “You cannot do that now that you know it ’tis him.”
Elyse appeared concerned but not distressed. “Mayhap… mayhap you should just continue to ignore the notes,” she said. “Although I do not want to see my father disappointed, mayhap it would be best if you did not respond.”
Emllyn agreed. “I will not,” she said, eyeing Elyse. “I am sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.”
Elyse shook her head. “It does not,” she said. “I simply cannot believe my father is showing interest in a woman. It is shocking.”
Merradoc entered the conversation, sitting forward to look Elyse in the eye. “By God’s Holy Rood, Elyse,” he exclaimed softly. “Your father is not dead. He saw an attractive woman and reacted naturally. There is nothing mysterious or shameful about that.”
Elyse thought on that a moment before nodding her head. “I suppose not,” she said, regaining some of her humor. “It is a bit strange, though.”
Emllyn agreed, sipping her wine but refraining from saying anything more. She was already uncomfortable enough as it was.
The three of them continued to drink and tell stories for the rest of the afternoon until the storm outside passed and shades of a lovely sunset were visible to the east. At that point, the ladies excused themselves to prepare for the evening meal while Merradoc, with de Noble’s note still in his hand, wandered out to the well at sunset just to see what he could see. The note had said the well, after all.
De Noble was indeed waiting. Merradoc was initially going to have some fun with him but when he saw how disappointed the man became when Emllyn didn’t appear, he decided against it.
After some general chatter and nonsensical conversation, none of which had anything to do with the subject of Emllyn, Merradoc escorted the man into the feasting hall of Glenteige and sat with him while he became drunk and depressed.
It would seem that prim and proper men had deep and fragile hearts.