Chapter Eight
Bexley Manor
Northwest of Rochester
It was very dark on this night, so dark that Alessandria could hardly see her hand in front of her face.
It had been the same way the night before, with the moon rising more towards morning so that the entire night was as black as ink.
Not even the blanket of stars above could pierce the veil of darkness very much. It was quiet, dark, and eerie.
The land smelled of compost, too, that moldering smell when there is heat and moisture, with the leaves rotting on ground.
Although Alessandria couldn’t see the tree groves except for black masses against the moonless night, she could certainly smell them.
She could imagine the creatures and even spirits out in the darkness that she couldn’t see.
The Mother Prioress had told her charges that there were no such things as spirits or phantoms, but Alessandria had seen a ghost, once while she was fostering at Orford, so she believed in such things. She was rather frightened by them.
But riding with Chad made her feel safe.
Having left Canterbury earlier that day at a dead run, there hadn’t been the opportunity for much conversation but Alessandria didn’t much care.
She was comforted by his mere presence. As they’d cantered across the land, heading northwest, she’d stolen glances at him now and again.
He was such a fine-looking man with an effortless posture as he rode his big, fat-arsed horse.
Effortless in that he rode the horse with such ease, holding the reins but seemingly guiding the horse only with pressure from his thighs. That was true horsemanship.
As they rode along, Alessandria kept reliving their last conversation in which he’d asked to call her Aless.
It made her heart thump simply to think on it again.
In fact, everything about the man made her heart thump as of late – she had to only look at him to feel her heart begin to race.
It was a feeling like she couldn’t even describe – something to do with a lightness of heart and soul, of joy, because the mere thought of him made her smile.
No one had made her feel the way Chad did but she was quite certain the feelings were one-sided.
A man as great and prestigious as Chad de Lohr could never feel the same way about her; of that, she was certain. But it didn’t stop her from dreaming.
Dreams that kept her occupied until Chad slowed their pace.
They entered a small village called Bexleyheath, a sleepy town that, at the late hour, was all bottled up for the night.
Alessandria looked around the village with interest, for having been stuck in Newington for all of those years made her very interested in new places.
She wanted to ask what Chad’s plans were for the night but it seemed ill-advised to speak since he had been so silent.
Perhaps there was a reason he’d not said a word, remaining quiet as they moved through the town.
Therefore, Alessandria simply followed without saying a word even though she was dying to. It wasn’t so much out of curiosity than it was simply because she wanted to hear the sound of his voice. She did so love the sound of his voice.
“There is a manor home at the end of this village,” he said, his deep, raspy voice filling the damp night air.
“That is where I intend to seek shelter for the night. However, the lord of Bexley Manor is loyal to Henry and I have been wracking my brain trying to determine how I should introduce you. The de Shera name is not welcome amongst Henry’s loyalists these days. ”
Alessandria shrugged. “You certainly do not have to be truthful about my identity, do you?”
Chad shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But that brings us to another issue – you are an unmarried woman and I am an unmarried man, and we are riding together without a chaperone. That factor alone will probably give you a worse reputation than if I tell them you are a de Shera.”
“So what will you do?”
Chad looked over his shoulder, glancing at her. “You may not like it.”
“You will not know unless you tell me.”
A flicker of a smile crossed his lips. “It would be far easier if I simply introduce you as my wife,” he said. “There will be no questions and certainly no judgment. In the morning, we shall leave and they will be none the wiser.”
My wife. Alessandria looked at him in shock at the impropriety of what he was suggesting when she suddenly realized that nothing on earth would be more pleasurable.
The wife of Chad de Lohr, a strong and virtuous and talented man, chivalrous to a fault.
Nay, nothing on earth would please her more than to be the man’s wife and she began to feel some sorrow at the fact that something that gave her such pleasure could never be.
Oh, what a dagger to her foolish heart was that awareness.
Chad could never be hers.
“I have no objections,” she said, feeling depressed even as she said it. “Whatever you feel is best.”
She didn’t seem enthused about it. “Are you sure?” he asked. “I could come up with another excuse, but it would not be nearly as neat.”
“I am sure. You may tell them I am your wife.”
Chad turned to look at her, wondering why she sounded so moody.
Was it possible that such a suggestion, even the mere mention of it, was so distasteful to her?
His heart sank for reasons he could not begin to understand.
Surely she believed him to be a heartless and cruel individual considering the misfortune and discomfort she’d met with since he wrested her from Newington.
She certainly couldn’t think otherwise. Chad realized he would have given his right arm to be able to court the woman, to show her a side of him that wasn’t brutal and reasonable and warlike.
All he’d ever shown her was hardship. God, he wished he could show her so much more.
But he kept his mouth shut, feeling her morose mood, trying not to feel too badly for the way things had gone for her from the moment of their association. Instead, he focused on ahead, through the miserable little pimple of a village to the other side where a large manor house was situated.
Even in the dark of night, he could see it outlined against the dusting of stars in the sky.
The structure of Bexley Manor was rather tall and oddly shaped, with the bulk of the structure being on the second and third floors, which made it project out from the ground floor below.
It was quite lit up, lights in the windows acting like beacons in the darkness, and as Chad and Alessandria drew near, they could see a massive moat encircling the structure and then an enormous wall on the other side of the moat.
There was a bridge, which had been removed for the night, and Chad drew his horse to a halt on the banks of the moat and yelled across to the sentries, identifying himself.
At first, the sentries didn’t seem apt to believe he was who he said he was.
They yelled back at him, ridiculed him a bit, but Chad seemed to know how to deal with it.
Mention of the threat from the House of de Lohr seemed to force the sentries to take him seriously.
When Chad also mentioned Evesham and news from someone who had been in the battle, it prompted them to order some men to produce the bridge over the moat.
Several men emerged from the protection of the manor, carrying the narrow bridge between them, and they pushed it across the moat until it reached the other side and came to a rest on firm ground.
More men bearing torches came out to greet them as they crossed the skinny bridge.
The wood creaked and groaned under the weight of the horses and Alessandria was a bit nervous about it, relieved when the horses finally returned to solid ground on the other side.
She directed her horse behind Chad and listened to him as he spoke with a bald-headed man, one of the men who had come from the manor bearing torches.
Evidently, the lady of the house was having some kind of feast and there were other guests inside, crowded into the odd-looking manor house.
Chad, however, didn’t care about any other guests.
He only cared about himself and Alessandria, and made sure to throw the de Lohr name around a few times before the man he had been speaking with offered to usher him inside.
It was the answer Chad had been seeking.
So they followed the men with torches into a large, rounded doorway that Alessandria took to be the entrance, only she was puzzled that the horses were allowed in.
She soon saw why; the entry door led to an inner courtyard of sorts and as soon as they entered the spacious courtyard, Chad dismounted his steed and made his way to Alessandria, removing her from the leggy mare.
He then took her satchel, his saddlebags and sword, and followed the bald-headed man into an arched entryway, which led directly into a two-storied hall.
The heat and stench of the hall hit both Chad and Alessandria in the face like a slap.
The smell of dogs was nearly overwhelming, as was the smell of roasting meat.
Smoke lay across the ceiling in a haze from the blazing hearth, filling their nostrils with the acrid scent.
It was noisy inside, with musicians in the corner playing and about a dozen people seated at a heavily-laden table.
Food and wine scattered all across the table and the bald man approached an older woman with wild gray hair seated at the end, bending over to whisper in her ear. When he was finished, the woman immediately looked to Chad and Alessandria, practically shoving away the bald man.
“You two!” she cried rather happily. “Come closer! Let me get a good look at a de Lohr!”