Chapter Thirteen #2
“And probably if she also had one in her belly,” said Joan from the other side of Annys.
“I recall thinking there would be some jealousy for Master Kenneth was a fine catch as a husband but Ella, who had fancied him, told me she took one look at the way the mon looked at Ilsa and gave it all up. Said the fool would ne’er see anyone else anyway. ”
“And so Ilsa and her bairns live weel in the village now. A fine ending.”
“Aye,” agreed Callum who sat across the table from Harcourt. “A verra fine ending.”
“Got better when she brought Ilsa the fruit to grow.”
“Joan,” Annys hissed but her maid ignored her.
“Annys is gifted with plants and Ilsa had skill enough to learn to tend them. She also makes some verra fine things with the fruits, too. But it helped make her enough coin that she could stay in her cottage and for Annys to cease taking the risk of stealing food.” She saw Annys scowling at her.
“Ilsa told me that years ago. I was wondering why she brought those plants all the way here when she was supposed to be watching you.”
“I didnae plan that far.”
“I think ye did a lot of planning for a child,” said Harcourt. “And I thank ye ladies for the tale. It was nice to hear the good of life after seeing what we did.” He looked around and saw that most of the others were gone now.
“It was verra bad, wasnae it,” Annys said and could not stop herself from touching his hand in a soft stroke of comfort.
“She fought until the end.” He decided not to tell them that it was not only the hanging Biddy had had to fight and prayed the skilled Joan would not say anything if she happened to look at the body and see how it had been cleaned up.
“’Tis always worse when ye can see that.
I think the bastard must have hoisted her up there himself and just held on until it was over. ”
“And a mon like that is Sir Adam’s second?” she asked, horrified.
“So says everyone we talk to who kens the mon. My first thought upon seeing it was that she must have truly irritated him all the time he was playing her devoted lover. There was that kind of cold cruelty to it.”
“Poor Biddy. I wish we had kenned what she was about. We might have stopped her before it went too far.”
“He would have hunted up another one. And Biddy may nay have been saved for she had that want in her, that greed for more than she had, and a willingness to do anything to get it. I could hear it when I talked to her.”
“Aye,” agreed Callum. “She had that greed inside her. She felt she had been wronged by nay being a lady proper, just a kitchen maid. And as we have all said, she had a good life here and a good mon for a laird. There was naught here to breed those feelings that ate at her. I often wonder if they are in there when one is born, just waiting for a chance or a nudge to awake. Her sisters dinnae have that same belief that they are so deserving of things they dinnae have that it excuses anything they do to get those things.”
“But they freed her.”
“Family. Just because ye dinnae like one of your siblings all that much doesnae mean ye will turn your back on them when they are in trouble.”
“Then what should be done about her sisters? I have been thinking on it and just cannae decide. Some punishment should be dealt out but that is hard to do when ye ken so weel why they did it.”
Harcourt nodded. “Ye need to think of something that looks like punishment to all the others yet isnae too harsh.”
“Garderobes. Slop buckets. For at least a fortnight.”
“Och, ye have a cruel side, Joan,” said Nicolas and he laughed.
“It serves me weel from time to time.” Joan looked at Annys. “Shall I tell the girls that?”
“Aye, but mayhap nay until they have buried their sister,” said Annys.
“Agreed. I will give them a wee bit of time to grieve and pick a day for them to come to me to hear what their punishment will be. Let them ken one is coming. ’Tis best.”
Annys nodded and then looked at Harcourt. “Ye found nothing to help ye hunt down Clyde or Sir Adam?”
“Nay. We followed the mon’s trail for a wee while but it grew too dark to read a trail weel. We will return there in the light of day and see what we find.” He glanced toward the door. “And I think ye will be sorting out Biddy’s sisters earlier than ye had planned.”
Annys looked to the door and watched two young women walk toward her.
Their faces were blotched with the marks of a long time of heavy crying and they held hands as they moved toward her.
She immediately felt sympathy for them but was determined to be firm.
They had done something that was seriously wrong and needed to be punished for it.
The two girls curtsied and the taller one said, “We have come to beg your forgiveness, m’lady. I am Florence and this is Davida. We did wrong, m’lady. We ken it. ’Tis just that Biddy was so scared and crying and . . .” She fell silent when Davida nudged her in the ribs.
“Biddy was the eldest and we have long done what she told us to. This time we should have found the backbone to say nay. She had done a terrible thing. Nay, a lot of terrible things and would have done more with no care to who might suffer. I am shamed by what she did. I helped let her go simply because I couldnae bear to watch her die e’en though she deserved such punishment. ”
Annys was a little stunned by the blunt honesty of Davida, the girl’s gaze never faltering as she had spoken.
This girl was the strong one in the family, she suspected, with none of Biddy’s weaknesses.
It was tempting to say they were forgiven and send them on their way but she could not, as the lady of the keep, be that lenient over what was a very serious crime.
“’Tis good that ye ken how wrong ye were and there will be a punishment handed down. Howbeit, your sister is dead and it can wait until ye bury her. Good or bad, she was your kin. When that is done, ye go to Joan and she will tell ye what ye must do to pay for this.”
Annys reached out and took each girl by the hand. “I understand and I forgive ye. But, it was a grave wrong ye did, so I will also see that ye serve your punishment. Aye?”
“Aye,” said both girls and they turned to leave but halted after a few steps and Davida looked back at her.
“It was a grave wrong but, do ye ken, it was also foolish. One of the saddest things is that we risked ourselves to try and save her from hanging, but she kenned full weel her plans and her betrayals would bring an army to these gates, mayhap right inside when we were nay looking so that we could be slaughtered more easily. She didnae e’en consider that that could mean we die, too, and all so she could sit higher at the table.
“So I bless ye for being kind enough to forgive us but, weel, I am nay sure I have that kind a heart. Help her though I did, it will be a verra long time before I e’en consider forgiving Biddy.”
Annys sighed as she watched the two girls leave.
Having a sister who had blackened their names as deeply as Biddy had meant the girls were already being punished.
She would not relent though for the people of Glencullaich had to see that she could be firm, forgiving but also ready to give punishment when it was deserved.
“That Davida bears watching,” said Joan. “She has a good sharp wit and backbone.”
“Aye, she does. And isnae easily fooled.”
“Nay. Florence has a tender heart and I suspect Biddy kenned how to use that to her advantage. Davida did what she felt a sister must but wasnae fooled for a moment.” Joan stood and brushed down her skirts.
“I will go see if they need or want any help preparing the body after I make sure Benet is abed as he should be.”
“I could check on Benet if ye wish, Joan, so that ye can go to the girls,” said Harcourt.
Joan just cocked one brow at him and nodded. “Ye do that. And if he has that cursed lamb in the room be sure to take it back to the barn. Lad has been trying to keep it close because he fears someone might try to kill and eat it again.”
Seeing the look of motherly concern on Annys’s face, Harcourt placed a hand on her shoulder and held her in her seat. “I will, Joan.”
Joan looked at Annys. “Let him deal with it. Benet might still be little more than a bairn, but he is a boy, and maybe hearing a mon talk some sense into him will sink into his head and ease his fear for the beastie.”
Annys frowned as Joan walked out of the hall in search of Biddy’s sisters.
What Joan said about letting a man talk to Benet made sense but she felt a little annoyed that she couldn’t fix everything for him.
She looked up at Harcourt and inwardly sighed.
She would let him go to Benet. At some point in his life Benet would have to learn about Harcourt.
It would not hurt if he had a few good childhood memories of the man when that time came.
“Shall I go?” he asked, praying she would not say no.
“Aye, go on. I had not realized he was still doing that. And, after all, ye were right there when it happened and helped rescue him as weel. Might add some weight to what ye say. I think at times he just thinks I am being a mother and saying things to calm him down just as mothers should do.”
Harcourt laughed and kissed her on the forehead. She fought not to reveal her excitement tinged with a hint of embarrassment when he whispered the word later in her ear. A moment later he was gone, eager to do something to help the boy he could not claim.
“So,” said Gybbon as he looked at her after watching Harcourt leave, “I must assume that there will ne’er be a nice roasted lamb served at a Glencullaich table then.”