When the young woman had closed the door, Ivetta drained her cup again. “Martin said he had a night’s work for me, my lady. This was always done in the same room at the inn. When I arrived, he was already there.”
“Did you contract with the innkeeper for the room or did Martin?” The prioress sipped her wine.
“Martin did.”
“Were you to serve him or others that night?”
“I never knew. He always collected the price first so I was not surprised to see him.”
“Was there anything different about the arrangements last night?”
“Not that I knew.”
“Had the food and wine been brought up before you arrived?” Anne asked.
“No.” Ivetta turned away. “If a man wanted refreshment, he was told to sup with the others downstairs after my allotted time was done.”
“Yet there was food and drink that night…”
“When Martin wanted me for himself, or with special friends, he always ate before we bedded. There was a game we often played when we were alone, you see. I pretended to be a beggar woman…do you want those details?”
“Perhaps you need only say if you shared either food or drink after it had arrived that night,” Anne replied with a hint of amusement in her eyes.
“I did not have the chance. I never ate until I had sated his other needs and he had fallen asleep. That was part of our game.”
“And in this way your life may have been saved,” Eleanor said, her expression growing solemn. “So you came up to the room. Martin was waiting for you, but the food and wine had not been served. He was by himself…”
“He was not alone, my lady.”
“If refreshment was ordered, then they were friends rather than strangers staying at the inn?”
“Friends. Hob and Will, the blacksmith brothers. Many times in the past he has shared me with the elder if there were no others in need of my service.”
“Was that the arrangement for the night?” Anne asked, glancing at Eleanor. No mention had been made of the blacksmith and his brother.
“I assumed as much when I first arrived, but the three were arguing.”
“What was the dispute?”
“Martin was ridiculing Will’s manhood.”
“And Hob’s as well?”
“Nay, only Will’s. His sex had become a cowardly thing on the tilting grounds, as I have oft discovered.” Ivetta snorted. “As for Hob, he has spurned my talents for a long time. For all I know, the heat of the smithy did melt his rod as well.”
Eleanor coughed to hide her mirth.
“You say the three were arguing?” Anne asked.
“When I walked into the room, I heard Martin tell Will that he should dress in women’s attire because his sex was no bigger than…” Ivetta shrugged. “Will’s face was scarlet and he tried to strike out but tripped. Methinks he had drunk too much ale already. Then Hob swung at Martin. I did not want to get hurt so I backed out of the room.”
“Did Martin often insult Will in this manner?” Eleanor asked.
“Often enough.”
“Did you shut the door when you left?” Anne continued.
“I might have done, but the tavern wench arrived just then with a jug and plate. I stood aside to let her enter, and she shut the door behind her.”
“Which woman served?”
“Signy,” Ivetta replied, then spat.
Anne raised an eyebrow at the prioress.
“Did Hob and Will stay in the room with her?” Eleanor continued.
“For a short time. When she shut the door, the men stopped yelling.” Ivetta hesitated. “One must have felt her up because I heard her screeching. Then Hob threw open the door and dragged his brother out by the collar. They went down the stairs, shouting at each other. I paid no further heed to what they said or did since they were well on their way.”
“You went in then?” Eleanor asked.
“Signy slammed the door in my face.”
“You waited outside?”
“For a few minutes. They must have had some heated words because I could hear their voices above the din, but not what they said. When the wench left, I went in to Martin and then shut the door behind me.”
“Did Signy say anything to you?”
“We are not friends. She may be the innkeeper’s niece, but she is still a tavern wench and can handle her own problems with the men.”
Anne nodded. “What do you remember next?”
“When I came in, Martin was sitting on the bed, drinking wine.”
“Was he distraught?” Eleanor asked.
“He was smiling, my lady, as if quite pleased. Had I not seen the fight amongst the men, I would never have imagined it had occurred.”
“Did he both eat and drink, or only drink?” Anne asked.
“I do not know what he did before I came back into the room, Sister. I only saw him drink.”
“Please go on.”
“We did not play beggar girl and knight as we often did. He began to strip me and fumbled at it. He was trembling so, I assumed he was especially impatient to mount me. Then his eyes grew dark, almost black. I recall that because they were always the most beautiful blue…” Ivetta began to chew on a finger. “His trembling changed to fits…” She could not go on.
“Do you remember the color of his skin, lips?” Anne asked.
Ivetta squeezed her eyes shut. “Only his eyes.”
The sub-infirmarian shot a glance at her prioress.
“I know these details are horrible to bring back to mind, but we must hear the whole tale.” Eleanor’s voice was as gentle as a soft touch.
“He began to scream and jerk about. I knew something was horribly wrong.” Ivetta rubbed her hand under her eyes to dry the wetness there. “I screamed for help. He got twisted in the sheet, vomiting and…it seemed forever before the innkeeper came. By then, Martin had stopped breathing… Don’t ask me more, please!”
“I have no wish to be cruel, but God’s justice requires your strength in telling all you can recall.” Eleanor reached out with commiseration to the woman.
“The next thing I remember was the crowner taunting me!” Ivetta shouted, and then began to sob without attempting to hide it. “He was a beast to say what he did, accusing me of murder. Martin was not… Oh, my lady, I may be the vilest of God’s creation, but even soulless creatures know tenderness. I loved him! And I am bearing his child!”
Chapter Twelve
“Devoted lover?” Ralf snorted. “Martin? He may have liked to swyve Ivetta from time to time, but he never would have let her keep the babe had she told him of it.”
The prioress remained silent, her gray eyes darkening.
“Surely you do not mean…” Anne pressed her hand against her waist.
“He hired her out. She let the cooper take whatever she earned, and he paid as little as possible for her keep in return. A pregnant whore brings little trade, Annie. He would never have tolerated the loss of income. Is this sweet love?”
“Perhaps he had gained affection for her after all this time,” Anne interjected.
“A bull would sooner grow wings. By all reports, Ivetta is skilled at her craft. That may satisfy a man’s hungry yard, leaving behind some short-lived taste for the food, but it rarely fills his heart with tenderness.”
“What of Hob and Will, the two men who were alone with Martin that night? They argued with the cooper. How quickly the number of your suspects has increased from one to three,” the sub-infirmarian concluded.
“A number enlarged by the very woman who may have poisoned him and wishes to point us in some other direction.”
“There is also the innkeeper’s niece,” Eleanor said. “She, too, was alone with him.”
Ralf shook his head. “Signy is innocent,” he mumbled.
“We cannot ignore her. After all, she delivered the food and drink and apparently had heated words with the cooper. At some point, Signy, Hob, and Will were all alone with Martin for a while. After that, when Ivetta entered the room the second time, Martin was drinking the wine. Any one could have poisoned the drink before she arrived.”
“So claims the harlot,” he replied. “Shall I mention that the goblet was empty, as was the jug that contained it, by the time I got up the stairs?” Who might have done that and for what purpose?”