The marks of the pikes and swords as they had plunged through the fabric were easy to see.
The mess in Esclarmonde’s consulting room was worse. The curtain had been ripped from the ceiling. Smashed earthenware jars and shattered bowls lay all around in pools of spilled liquids and compresses, brown, white and deep red. Bunches of herbs, flowers and leaves were trampled into the earth floor.
Had Esclarmonde been here when the soldiers returned? Alais ran back outside, in the hope of finding someone who could tell her what had happened. The doors all around were shut and the windows latched.
“Dame Alais.”
At first she thought she’d imagined it. “Dame Alais.”
“Sajhe?” she whispered. “Sajhe? Where are you?”
“Up here.”
Alais stepped out of the shadow of the building and looked up. In the gathering dusk, she could just make out a tumbling mass of light brown hair and two amber eyes peering at her from between the sloped eaves of the houses.
“Sajhe, you’ll kill yourself!”
“I won’t,” he grinned. “I’ve done it lots of times. I can get in and out of the Chateau Comtal over the roof too!”
Well, you’re making me dizzy. Come down.“
Alais held her breath as Sajhe swung himself over the edge and dropped on the ground in front of her.
What happened? Where’s Esclarmonde?“
“Menina is safe. She told me to wait until you came. She knew you would.”
Glancing over her shoulder, Alais drew him into the shelter of a doorway. What happened?“ she repeated urgently.
Sajhe looked unhappily at his feet. “The soldiers came back. I heard most of it from the window. Menina feared they would, once your sister had taken you back to the Chateau, so as soon as you were gone, we gathered everything of importance and hid in the cellars.” He took a deep breath. They were very quick. We heard them going from door to door asking for us, questioning the neighbours. I could hear them stamping around over our heads, making the floor shake, but they didn’t find the trap door. I was frightened.“ He broke off, all mischief gone from his voice. ”They broke Menina’s jars. All her medicines.“
“I know,” she said softly. “I saw.”
They didn’t stop shouting. They said they were looking for heretics, but they were lying, I think. They didn’t ask the usual questions.“
Alais put her fingers under his chin and made him look at her.
“This is very important, Sajhe. Were they the same soldiers who came are? Did you see them?”
“I didn’t see.”
“Never mind,” she said quickly, seeing he was close to tears. “It sounds as if you were very brave. You must have been a great comfort to Esclarmonde.” She hesitated. Was anyone with them?“
“I don’t think so,” he said miserably. “I couldn’t stop them.”
Alais put her arms around him as the first tear rolled down his cheek.
,“Ssh, ssh, it will be well. Don’t distress yourself. You did your best, if I. That is all any of us can do.”
He nodded.
Where is Esclarmonde now?“
“There’s a house in Sant-Miquel,” he gulped. “She says we are to wait there until you tell us Intendant Pelletier is coming.”
Alais stiffened. “Is that what Esclarmonde said, Sajhe?” she said quickly.
“That she is waiting for a message from my father?”
Sajhe looked puzzled. “Is she mistaken then?”
“No, no, it’s just that I don’t see how…” Alais broke off. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” She wiped his face with her kerchief. “There. That’s better. My father does wish to talk with Esclarmonde, however he is waiting on the arrival of another… a friend who is travelling from Besiers.”
Sajhe nodded. “Simeon.”
Alais looked at him in astonishment. “Yes,” she said, smiling now.
“Simeon. Tell me, Sajhe, is there anything you don’t know?”
He managed to raise a grin. “Not much.”
You must tell Esclarmonde I will tell my father of what has happened, but that she – you both – should stay in Sant-Miquel for the time being.“
He surprised her by taking her hand. “Tell her yourself,” he said. “She will be glad to see you. And you can talk more. Menina said you had to go before you had finished talking.”
Alais looked down at his amber eyes, shining brightly with enthusiasm.
Will you come?“
She laughed. “For you, Sajhe? Of course. But not now. It is too dangerous. They might be watching the house. I will send word.”
Sajhe nodded, then disappeared as quickly as he had come.
“Deman al vespre,” he called out.
CHAPTER 37
Jehan Congost had seen little of his wife since returning from Montpellier. Oriane had not welcomed him home as she should, showing no respect for the hardships and indignities he’d suffered. He had also not forgotten her lewd behaviour in their chamber shortly before his departure.
He scuttled across the courtyard, muttering to himself, then into the living quarters. Pelletier’s manservant, Francois, was coming towards him.
Congost thought him untrustworthy, inclined to think too much of himself, always skulking around and reporting everything back to his master. There was no business for him to be in the living quarters at this time of day.
Francois bowed his head. “Escrivan.”
Congost did not acknowledge him.
By the time he reached his quarters, Congost had worked himself into “fm frenzy of righteous indignation. The time had come to teach Oriane a lesson. He could not allow such provocative and deliberate disobedience to go unpunished. He flung open the door without knocking.
“Oriane! Where are you? Come here.”
The room was empty. In his frustration at finding her absent, he swept everything off the table. Bowls smashed, the candle holder clattered on the ground. He strode over to the wardrobe and pulled everything out and wrenched the covers off the bed, the bedding with her wanton scent on them.
Furious, Congost threw himself down on a chair and looked at his handiwork. Torn material, broken bowls, candles. It was Oriane’s fault. ill behaviour had caused this.
He went in search of Guirande to clear up the mess, reflecting on the ways he could bring his errant wife to heel.
The air was humid and heavy when Guilhem emerged from the bath to find Guirande waiting for him, her wide mouth upturned in a it smile.
His mood darkened. “What is it?”
She giggled and looked at him from beneath a fringe of dark lashes.
Well?“ he said harshly. ”If you have something to say, say it, or leave me in peace.“
Guirande leaned forward and whispered in his ear.
He straightened up. “What does she want?”
“I cannot say, Messire. My lady does not confide her wishes to me.”
“You’re a poor liar, Guirande.”
“Is there any message?”
He hesitated. Tell your mistress I will attend her presently.“ He pressed a coin into her hand. ”And keep your mouth shut.“
He watched her go, then walked to the centre of the courtyard and sat down beneath the elm tree. He didn’t have to go. Why put himself in the way of temptation? It was too dangerous. She was dangerous.
He had never intended things to go so far. A winter’s night, bare skin wrapped in furs, his blood heated by the mulled wine and the exhilaration of the chase. A kind of madness had come over him. He’d been bewitched.
In the morning, he’d woken with regret and vowed that it would never happen again. For the first few months after his marriage, he had kept his word. Then there had been another such night, then a third and a fourth.
She overwhelmed him, took his senses captive.
Now, given how things were, he was even more desperate to ensure no whisper of scandal seeped out. But he must be careful. It was important to finish the affair well. He would keep this appointment only to tell her that their meetings must stop.