Chapter 1 #2
I happened to be in need of someone like you. We could be sisters.
Katherine now understood the reason behind her ladyship’s unusual comments and unexpected eagerness.
She had thought that this na?ve little villager could play her role in her wedding bed…
That also explained why she’d had her sent to the kitchen immediately upon their arrival, where no one, especially not the groom, would ever see her and remark on the resemblance between them.
“But, my lady, if I lie in your bed when his lordship comes, then he will bed me.”
“Yes, of course, he will, that is the whole point! Why else do you think I am asking you to lie in finery such as you have never seen before? Because I want you to have a good night’s sleep?
” Lady Malpas’s beautiful face was distorted by contempt.
“You will let the Welshman bed you without comment and when he is done, we will swap places again. He will never know what happened.”
All this was said as if Katerine could not voice any objection, as if she were no more than a commodity to be used at her mistress’ disposal.
Lady Malpas assumed that she would not raise any objection, but she most certainly did.
Her whole being rebelled at the idea of being used as a sacrificial lamb, of allowing a man she had never even met make love to her.
It would be painful, degrading, dishonest.
Impossible.
“I cannot do this.”
“Are you telling me that you are not a virgin?”
Lady Malpas sounded aghast at the possibility and no wonder. She could not risk her husband asking uncomfortable questions that would lead to the deception being exposed.
Katherine thought hard. This was her chance. By claiming that she was not untouched she might get out of the whole nightmare.
She quickly saw that lying would not solve a thing, however.
Not only would she lose her employ if she did, but she was sure Lady Malpas would suggest she cut herself to leave some blood on the sheets.
The woman had gone too far to change her mind now.
There would be no time to find someone else to replace her before tonight and she seemed panicked by the idea of bedding her husband herself.
“I am a maid,” Katherine said, reddening at this very personal admission. “But I cannot do what—”
“Oh, you can! You can and you will!” Lady Malpas snarled. In her fury she became almost ugly, nothing like the beautiful, well-mannered woman who had spoken to her back at Allerby. “Tell me, why did you agree to come to this God-forsaken land?”
Katherine recoiled before such venom, but she stood her ground.
“I came to Wales because my family needs the money I will provide, and I did not know what the position really entailed. But now that I do, I regret to say that I cannot give you satisfaction.”
A silence followed her declaration. Then, very slowly, Lady Malpas walked over to her. A sinister grin was floating on her lips, a grin that sent shivers down Katherine’s spine.
“Your family is relying on you for their survival, are they? Then know this. Your father has been arrested on my orders.”
“He’s—What?”
“No need to cry out. It’s just a precaution, and I swear he will not be harmed.
Do as I command tonight, let my husband bed you, and the money you are owed will be forwarded in the morning, along with the order to release your father.
” A snort. “I am not an unfair woman and, after all, the man has done nothing wrong.”
No, he had not. And yet he’d been imprisoned, prevented from working and feeding his family.
Her mother, who was once again with child and nearing her term, would be left to fend for everyone.
Where would she find the money to buy what they needed?
It was winter, which meant she could not rely on their vegetable patch to grow anything—not that it would help much with so many mouths to feed.
The situation had been bad, which was why Katherine had been sent to Wales. It was now catastrophic.
There was no choice but to go along with the scheme if she did not want to condemn the people she loved to starvation. She could not have anyone’s death on her conscience.
“Why did you agree to marry the Welshman if you are so averse to him?” she couldn’t help but ask. Noble people did not marry for love, she knew, but usually they did not call each other animals and refuse to bed one another. This was extreme. So what was it about the man that prompted such hatred?
There was a pause, while Lady Malpas seemed to wonder if she should answer.
“I have only one brother, and I am the youngest of five girls. My parents were unable to provide me with a suitable husband,” she finally explained, as if thinking it only fair Katherine should know what had happened to place her in that situation.
“Finding four eligible young men for my sisters proved hard enough for my parents, and they died before they could find a husband for me. I was left at Allerby Castle with my brother, the new master. He and his wife could not wait to be rid of me but, as you can imagine, no one was in any rush to marry the youngest daughter of an impoverished knight of little standing.”
In other circumstances Katherine might have sympathized with her.
Being noble didn’t guarantee your happiness, even if it generally warded off starvation and most of the other ills that befell simple villagers, and she understood that it would be hard to see her only brother sell her to a stranger.
But such problems excused nothing. Being miserable didn’t mean that you had the right to make someone else even more miserable.
As offering any word of comfort was beyond her, Katherine stayed silent. But Lady Malpas seemed to have warmed to her theme and carried on.
“My brother was only too happy to send me away at last and the Welshman, as you can imagine, jumped at the opportunity to ally himself with an English woman. I am of no interest to him, of course. He only means to ensure that his children get the status he thinks they deserve. Marrying a woman from England is the only way he can guarantee that they are not viewed as savages.” She snorted, as if thinking they would be savages, no matter who their mother was or what anyone said.
“So you understand why I am asking you to take my place tonight.”
No. Katherine didn’t understand, but there would be no convincing the lady that she was being unreasonable or cruel.
She bowed her head, knowing her fate had been sealed.
Considering she had said everything she needed to say, Lady Malpas walked to the door.
“I will return to my groom now. Not that he will have missed me, I don’t think.
And make sure to ask the cook to send something edible up next.
So far, this banquet has been a disaster.
Come with a hot posset once I have retreated for the night.
I will dismiss my ladies and we will proceed to the exchange.
Thank God, the Welshman is not royalty. At least the bedding will not have to be public.
” She shivered and said under her breath. “I will not let that animal touch me.”
Animal.
Katherine shivered in turn. She was a sacrificial lamb indeed and this woman had just decided to throw her to the wolf. What would he do to her?
Later that night, once the kitchen had been informed that the bride and groom had left the great hall, she asked for the permission to make a posset.
It was not something a scullion would usually do but she had explained that her ladyship had asked for the specific recipe she was used to at home.
No one suspected the lie and she was allowed to go get some of the expensive nutmeg in the storeroom.
Stirring the hot milk in a rhythm matching her frantic heartbeat, Katherine tried to forget that, before long, she would be in bed with a man she didn’t know. A man who had been called a savage, an animal. How would she survive this?
All too soon, the drink was ready and she was walking up the spiral staircase on legs that felt filled with water.
“Come in.”
“The posset you asked for, my lady,” she said in a low voice, thereby giving her agreement to the outrageous scheme.
“Excellent, you can leave it here. Lady Helen, Maud, you are dismissed. I am ready, and will now pray until my husband comes.”
With a respectful bow the ladies took their leave and the two women were left alone. Lady Malpas immediately jumped out of the bed and sprang into action.
“Quick. We need to get you out of these clothes. Heavens, but you reek!” she exclaimed, coming closer to Katherine.
“You will have to bathe before you change; even the Welshman will notice that his wife should not stink of fat and smoke. Fortunately, the tub I used is still in the antechamber. Go and use it.”
The tub was indeed still full but the water was icy cold. Under the eagle eye of Lady Malpas, who did not worry about sparing her modesty or keeping her scathing comments to herself, Katherine rubbed her skin raw, partly to erase the smell of the kitchen, partly to get warm.
“You will have to stay utterly silent, do you hear, or he’ll know you are not who you are supposed to be.”
She indicated the discarded linen cloth she had used to dry herself earlier. It was still wet, and cold. Shivering, Katherine dried herself as best she could, then slipped into a delicate linen shift Lady Malpas had found for her.
“Comb your hair. Use that oil of roses on your neck, and on your wrists. Take this ring.” The orders were issued in a panicked voice. “Quick. My blasted groom cannot be too far from being ready himself. He must not suspect anything or it will be the death of me.”
“Yes,” Katherine said absent-mindedly. Her mind seemed to have gone as numb as her body.
“Go and lie on the bed. I have already warned the Welshman that I would not countenance having any light in the room when he comes.”
With those words, Lady Malpas snuffed the two beeswax candles and retreated to the antechamber.