Chapter Nine #3
“It sounds as if you’ve been a naughty lad today,” he said. Then he held out a hand, palm up. “Where is the merchandise you stole from this woman?”
Meriwether shook his head, trying to shake off the stars.
He was going to deny knowing what Douglas was asking for when he caught sight of the woman with the pestle in her hand.
He could also see that several other merchants that they’d stolen from that morning were pounding his comrades and taking back what had been stolen.
Trinkets, soap, combs—they’d had their pick this morning, and no one had challenged them because they’d threatened everybody.
But now, there was safety in numbers. Seeing that the tavernkeep had gotten his money, the merchants descended. When Meriwether was too slow to respond, Douglas snapped his fingers.
“Come on,” he said impatiently. “I don’t have all day. Where is it?”
Realizing he was caught, Meriwether reached into the pockets of his tunic and began pulling things out, slapping them into Douglas’ open palm. It was all jewelry, things for women, and Douglas looked at it in confusion.
“What’s all this?” he asked. “Did you steal this for your wife?”
“I don’t have a wife,” Meriwether said, pulling out the last piece, a necklace. “But gifts like this can get me what I want in any town from Carlisle to Birmingham.”
He lifted his eyebrows suggestively, and Douglas eyed the man he had little patience for.
The woman was standing a few feet away, still screeching about her merchandise, so Douglas called her over to identify it.
She could, of course, inspecting it for damage as she told Meriwether just what she thought of him.
The last thing Douglas handed her was a necklace with a gold cross pendant. He glanced at it as he handed it over to her, but held it a moment longer to inspect it. It was a lovely piece, a delicate cross with semi-precious stones on it, and on the back he could see an inscription.
“Meum arbitrium,” he muttered. “My choice.”
The woman plucked it out of his fingers. “Good,” she said. “I was afraid this one was lost and I didn’t want to lose it. ’Tis worth a good deal.”
Douglas held his hand out for it. “Let me see it,” he said. “What kind of stones are on it?”
The woman reluctantly handed it back to him. “Garnets,” she said. “Amethyst and peridot. And the big pearl in the center of it.”
The more Douglas looked at it, the more exquisite it became. “My choice?” he repeated. “What does that mean? What choice?”
The old woman was holding her hand out for it.
“I purchased it from a nobleman who sold me his daughter’s jewelry,” she said.
“The lass had taken the veil and had no more need for her finery. He said that he gave his daughter that necklace when she decided to take the veil, as a gift to commemorate the occasion, but she had to give her jewelry up when she went in the convent.”
Douglas continued to look at the piece. “It could mean something else,” he said after a moment. “For example, if a man were to give it to a woman, it could indicate that he chose her.”
“Chose her for what?”
“His wife, of course.”
The woman nodded. “True,” she said. “May I have it back now?”
“How much do you want for it?”
The woman realized she might have a sale on her hands. “I bought it for six pounds,” she said. “I’ll take ten if you’re serious. That necklace is solid gold, worth a great deal.”
He nodded. “I can see that,” he said. “I will give you seven pounds for it.”
“Eight pounds and it is yours.”
He handed it back over to her while he pulled out his purse. Eyeing her for a moment, he pulled out two gold coins, worth about seventy pence each. He put them in her palm and she smiled brightly at him, thrilled to have sold him such a fine piece.
“’Tis a pleasure doing business with you, my lord,” she said. “My name is Magda. I own the stall with the red windows over on the street of the merchants. If you’d like to come by and see the rest of the things I bought from the nobleman’s daughter, I’d be delighted to show you.”
He carefully tucked the necklace into his purse and secured it back on his belt.
“I might,” he said. “Set the good pieces aside and I’ll return in the next day or two.
And if anyone ever comes to town again and steals from you, or harasses you or your fellow merchants, send word to Axminster Castle and I will come personally to dispense justice. ”
Magda was thrilled to hear that. “Thank you, my lord,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“De Lohr.”
“De Lohr,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Hereford?”
“Aye.”
That was good enough for her. With a bold wink at him, she headed off with her merchandise and her pestle, talking the other merchants with her because they, too, had reclaimed their merchandise. When they were gone, heading back the way they’d come, Douglas turned to the Tatworth men.
“Now,” he said in a low voice, “I do not want to see your faces in this town again. Tell Tatworth that his men are not welcome in Axminster and neither is he. If I catch you in town again, I’ll throw you in the vault and keep you there. Is this in any way unclear?”
Meriwether nodded reluctantly. “Aye.”
Douglas pointed a finger to the road that led out of town. “Go,” he said. “And do not come back.”
Meriwether gathered his dazed and bruised men, heading to the livery on the edge of town to collect their mounts. Douglas sent a few soldiers after them to make sure they left as ordered. That left Douglas, Jonathan, Davyss, and five soldiers remaining.
“Let get out of here, too,” Douglas said, turning to Jonathan, to Davyss. “Back to Axminster for us.”
Davyss and the soldiers broke away, heading back to the area where they’d left their horses, as Douglas and Jonathan brought up the rear.
“Did I see a welt on de Winter’s eye?” Douglas asked.
Jonathan grinned. “He is going to have a beautiful black eye by tonight,” he said. “But he is a true de Winter. The man is greatly at home in a fight.”
Douglas grinned as they skirted the marketplace on their way to the horses. “He is eager, that is certain,” he said. Then he glanced at Jonathan. “And you? No damage?”
Jonathan shook his head. “I hardly raised a sweat,” he said. “What did you buy from that woman?”
“You saw that, did you?”
“I did. What was it?”
Douglas reached into his purse and carefully pulled out the necklace, handing it to Jonathan, who inspected it closely.
“Exquisite,” he said. Then he noticed the inscription on the back. “Meum arbitrium. My choice? My choice for what?”
“It evidently belonged to a young woman who took the veil,” he said. “Her father gave her that to commemorate the moment, but she couldn’t take it with her, so the merchant purchased it.”
“Charming,” Jonathan said, handing it back to him. “What are you going to do with it?”
“Give it to Lady Mira.”
Jonathan looked at him then. There was a scowl on his brow. “I heard about the spectacle yesterday,” he said. “When you knelt before her and declared your undying love.”
Douglas fought off a grin. “Is that what I did?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Nay,” he said. “Not at all. It was a ruse to keep all of those silly women off my trail. If they know their quarry has been captured by someone else, then they should leave me alone. At least, that was the hope. Unfortunately, they’ve been making Mira’s life miserable because of it. Jealous, petty women.”
“So you’re going to give the necklace to Mira and make it worse?”
Douglas shrugged. “I’ve decided that I will marry her,” he said, looking at Jonathan’s surprised expression.
“I’m serious. I must marry, Wolfie. My mother has been harping on it for years, and I’ve finally found someone I can imagine spending my life with.
Mira’s a good lass. Beautiful, intelligent. My choice.”
He was holding up the necklace as he said it, and Jonathan wasn’t any less surprised by the declaration. In fact, he was a little apprehensive about it.
“Careful,” he murmured. “An entanglement with a woman is how I ended up here, at Axminster. You must be careful how you handle this, Douglas.”
“What do you mean?” Douglas said. “What does this have to do with you?”
Jonathan took a thoughtful breath. “Surely you have been wondering why de Winter ordered me to remain here.”
“I assumed you would tell me when you were ready.”
They’d reached the horses by this point. Davyss was already mounted, as were most of the soldiers, and the others were just now coming down the road in their direction, having seen off the Tatworth men. Jonathan took the reins of his horse before turning to Douglas.
“Lady Elizabeth Bigod is the niece of Roger, my liege,” he said quietly.
“I will not bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that Libby and I loved one another. But she was pledged to a Flemish warlord, an old bastard with more money than God and a big army. I will admit that we were planning on running off together to be married, far away where her uncle could not find us, but she was betrayed by one of her maids and our plans were discovered. Bigod put her on a ship to Flanders and that was the last I saw of her. He sent me to de Winter because he feels that he can no longer trust me, which is true. I did betray his trust, at least where Libby was concerned. All this to say that you must be careful when it comes to a woman. Sometimes… sometimes the unexpected happens. People get very odd when it comes to love.”
Douglas was genuinely saddened to hear the tale. “I am sorry for you, lad,” he said. “Why not go after her? If I loved a woman, nothing could stop me.”
Jonathan was trying to be brave about a very touchy subject. “You’d think so,” he said. “You’d be wrong. She is already married, and even I cannot come between a husband and wife. Even if the wife should have been mine.”
Douglas couldn’t say much to that, mostly because he knew the man was right. “Then what will you do once we leave Axminster?” he asked. “Return to Grayson?”
Jonathan nodded. “Probably,” he said. “I thought to return to my brother, too. Although Robert and I are like oil and water together, I know he will accept my fealty, so it is not as if I have nowhere to go. But I will admit that it has been a difficult few months.”
He was smiling weakly, but Douglas could see the pain in his eyes. “I can only imagine, my friend,” he said softly. “Why not come to Lioncross with me? My father would kill for the services of a knight like you. We could keep you very busy on the marches.”
Jonathan’s smile turned genuine. “I was thinking about that, to be truthful,” he said. “It might be better than returning to Warstone, where Robert and I will butt heads over every little thing.”
A smile crossed Douglas’ lips. “Think about it, then,” he said. “We’ll speak more when you’ve had a chance to ponder it.”
“I will do that.”
By this time, the soldiers from the Tatworth departure had finally joined them and everyone mounted up. In short order, they were heading back to Axminster, tearing down the road as the sun began to wane. It had been an eventful day already and they were eager to return home.
None more eager than Douglas.
He had a certain young lady to see.