Chapter 12 #3
The traveling merchant was clearly English, his beard showing below the wide brimmed straw hat he wore upon his head.
From beneath the cart’s cover, she observed a flash of bright sapphire blue, and next to it, a deep shade of crimson, bolts of cloth he had come to sell.
’Twas most unusual to see such cloth in a tinker’s cart, but now that she was once again wearing the clothes of the Lady of Talisand, she needed a new cloak and a few gowns for she’d had no new ones since before her father left for Hastings.
Descending to her chamber, she found Cassie attending the room. “Cassie, a tinker has come and his wares look more like those of a mercer. Perchance he will have some velvet for us to see.”
Her handmaiden set aside the linens she was folding. “He might have silks as well. Ye should have a fine silk gown for yer wedding and also one for court. Sir Maurin told me the Norman king favors the Red Wolf. Ye may be asked to go with him now that ye’ll be his countess.”
“Oh, Cassie,” she sighed, sinking onto the chest at the foot of her bed. “I have no desire to dance attendance on the Norman king I despise, but I will go with you to see the tinker’s cloth. Mayhap he will have a riband or two for us.”
Cassie’s eyes lit up. “I would love a new one!”
When Serena and her handmaiden reached the yard, they found it filling with women who had left off their chores to peruse the wares of the traveling merchant.
The weavers, Ingrith and Annis, appeared especially curious to compare the woolens he had with their fine cloth.
Aethel, who had been distant since Serena had returned to Talisand with the Red Wolf, seemed remarkably cheerful as she examined some ribands in colors of scarlet and emerald green.
Hulda, the potter’s wife, and her young assistant, Edith, who had been injured in the kiln accident, were peering eagerly into the merchant’s cart.
“Are you well, Edith?” asked Serena. She had not seen the girl since being told she would recover.
“Aye, m’lady. I am. A few scars that will nay go away, but ’twas to be expected. I thank ye for what ye and the Norman lord did fer me. Hulda told me of yer kindness. I’m making a special bowl fer yer wedding feast. This time,” she said with a blush, “I’ll be asking fer Godfrith’s help.”
Serena’s cheeks warmed at the reminder that the day was not far off that would bind her to the Norman for the rest of her life.
That is, if he returned from Exeter. But she refused to consider he might not.
Instead, she thought of her people who seemed to be looking toward the future.
A wedding blessing and a feast would be expected for the lord and his bride.
“’Tis most kind of you to think of me, Edith.”
Cassie fingered the blue silk the man had spread out on top of the other bolts.
“My lady,” she directed her comment to Serena, “this would make a fine wedding gown.”
“Aye, it would.” Serena stroked the shimmering cloth and looked at the merchant. “You have brought us rich wares, good sir.”
He glanced at the silver and gold circlet that still graced the crown of her head. “Me name’s Fugol, m’lady. Be ye the Lady of Talisand?”
“Aye, I am Lady Serena. Do you travel far?”
“From Mercia, m’lady.”
Serena knew Mercia to be the lands of Earl Edwin, but she would not speak his name to this man. “’Tis a far distance you’ve come.”
“Not so far, m’lady. No more than few days’ ride. Though my cart travels more slowly, o’ course. I had heard the old lord of Talisand clothed his people well and loved his daughter much. ’Twas why I came. I thought mayhap ye’d want some of me fine velvets and silks.”
She smiled at the merchant. “You are correct, good sir.” Running her hands over the shimmering cloth, Serena glanced at the women of Talisand standing around the cart, captivated by the rich fabrics the likes of which were rarely seen in the village.
“Though my father is no longer with us. We lost him at Hastings.”
“You have me sympathy, m’lady. England lost many good men that awful day.”
She nodded sadly and let out a sigh. But it was no use dwelling on the past or the father she would not see again in this life.
She perused the silks among the mercer’s wares. They were too fine for daily wear, but Cassie was right, she would need a wedding gown. Such a gown would be needful when she entertained the Red Wolf’s guests. “Some ribands and some silk for a gown would serve well, good sir.”
Serena made a selection and gave Fugol the coins to buy the blue silk that Cassie had found for her, some emerald silk for another gown and some ribands for her handmaiden.
While Cassie was engaged in a conversation with one of the village women, Serena also bought some green velvet and a fabric of the same color green to go with it that was imprinted with a gold pattern.
They would make a lovely wedding dress for Cassie with her red hair.
Perfect for a harvest wedding, though she did not tell her friend of her thinking.
Sir Maurin was spending the time that was his own with Cassie, and though the handmaiden had said nothing, Serena believed the two were falling in love.
She had never considered the possibility either she or Cassie would wed Normans, but it seemed her thoughts mattered little.
For Cassie to marry a knight was a good match, more than she might have expected.
Sir Maurin was no fool. Anyone could see Cassie was a woman to treasure.
Two weeks passed with no word from the knights who had ridden south.
Serena anxiously awaited a messenger while working hard at her duties, and sewing with Cassie the gowns they were making together.
The stands of wheat grew high and turned golden in the long days of summer.
The orchards were showing the new apples they would harvest in the fall.
And rising above the manor to the south was the wooden castle set on the large motte of earth.
Rhodri lingered at Talisand and he and Serena sang for the people in the evenings. It was almost like the days of her youth except that Norman French could be heard in the hall and Normans sat at the high table.
As summer lingered, Serena struggled with her emotions. Most of her people appeared resigned to their new lord now that she was to be his bride. But a niggling question persisted in her mind. Was she?