ismenin

Good evening, My loves! I'm sorry I'm so late posting this tonight, but I have

tweedle_ here - Squee!!! - and we have been watching Elijah in The War, in which she agrees our man - well, boy then - is tremendous.

It is so lovely to have her here. We hope to have funfunfun tomorrow, in anny case. Watch this space!!

So, without further ado -

Part 28

Thanks, as always, to

ladysunrope for beta.

Elijah was up shortly after dawn, and Dom turned upon his elbow, and gazed at his lover from the comfort of the soft sheets.

"Will you take breakfast before the questioning starts?" he smiled across the room, as Elijah put down the linen towel and pulled on his hose.

Elijah could not help but return the smile. "Of course I shall. I promised you, last night, did I not, that I should do everything possible to keep up my strength?"

Dom reluctantly swung his legs out of bed, and went to the wash basin, and, throwing the water out of the window into the moat below, refilled it from the ewer, and washed hastily.

Astin had not yet brought any hot water, but it seemed Elijah needed to be ready to speak to his steward as soon as he appeared.

In a very few minutes, there was a scratch on the door and Astin entered. He was surprised to see both men already washed and dressed, and said so.

Elijah spoke kindly to him. As far as anyone knew, Astin was innocent of complicity in the matter of Wenna's death - or anyone else's - and would remain so unless found otherwise.

"Astin, we will eat now, if the food is ready. And after that, please report to my office. There are some matters we needs must discuss. Bring the girl Annis with you."

Astin knew that the discussion was about Wenna's death, but bowed himself out of the room untroubled by guilt. No doubt his lordship knew what he was doing, and he trusted him.

He went downstairs to hurry the cooks preparing the boiled bacon and cabbage.

***

That morning it was Elijah who seemed to fancy little of the excellent food before him, but he ate enough to satisfy any observer, and certainly Dom, who was keeping close watch upon his platter.

"I am not looking forward to these interviews," Elijah confided after Astin had left the room, and Dom was finishing his repast with poached eggs - eyren, the duke smiled as he thought on it - on toasted bread.

"I feel much for Astin," Dom said, in a whisper, feeling for the scrap of parchment in his pocket that had been delivered to him minutes before from the abbess. Elijah had been most surprised by its contents, as Dom revealed what he knew concerning them, but no more could be spoken in this most public of places. "Now he is like to lose another relative, and will only have Annis left in the world - if she proves innocent in the matter. It is sad for him. What do you think Vincent will order concerning Conna? She must be confined, at the very least. She is a danger to others."

He mopped up the last of the yolk with a scrap of bread, and washed it down with a draught of ale.

Elijah stood, his hand resting on the back of his chair. "I do not know, Dom. Come, let us go to the office where we can speak further of it in private."

As the door closed behind him, Elijah sighed as if weary, but Dom knew it was not tiredness that afflicted his companion, but apprehension.

"I suspect that Vincent will not order her death. There are religious houses where such people are kept, and I would not have her harmed, despite it all. It is not her fault that she is not in her right mind. I do not believe she knows right from wrong. I will have her confined in a safe place with kindly, experienced folk to look after her. I can afford it, after all, and it will not be expensive. Unless Vincent has other ideas..."

A tap on the door put a stop to their confidences, as Astin, accompanied by Annis, entered the room.

"Please sit down," Elijah said in a cool voice, his outward demeanour far from betraying his inward conflict.

Astin raised an eyebrow, but did as he was ordered. There was no doubt in Dom's mind that it was an order, however courteously the words were couched.

Elijah sat for a moment, marshalling his thoughts, before speaking. "I have sad news for you both," he began, "and there is no easy way to tell of it. Conna has confessed to killing the two girls at the abbey."

Annis's cry of shock was not assumed. Her eyes were enormous in her white face and she began to tremble wildly. Astin put his arm about her shoulder, drawing her near him.

"Now, Lord Dominic tells me that you, Astin, believe that Dame Rowenna was also murdered, and, he believes it was by the same hand."

Annis was wiping her face in her apron, but she trembled anew at this. "Oh, no!" she cried, "not Wenna, too!"

"Annis," Elijah's voice was kind, but no-one there doubted the authority behind it. "You will tell us all you know concerning the matter - everything. Leave nothing out. You will not be punished for telling the truth."

Astin's arm remained about the girl, and he spoke in a calm voice, encouraging her to speak. "Wenna was ever kind to you, Annis. Remember that, and speak up."

The girl raised her eyes to look at Elijah, and both he and Dom were startled by her likeness to her sister. Both men thought they knew what had happened, but wanted Annis to tell the story to confirm their thoughts.

"Conna sometimes got tired of the abbey. She said the food was not as good as it was here, and she had a liking for sweetmeats, of which there were none at the abbey. Astin brought her small things from the kitchens, but she always wanted more."

Astin glanced at his master, hoping not to see disapproval etched on his face, but to his relief, there was none. Elijah was very good at hiding his true feelings from everyone, except Dom.

"Sometimes we used to change places. If Astin took me with him to the abbey, we would contrive to go apart and exchange our clothing. We are very much alike, you must understand, although Conna is a year older than me."

It was plain Astin knew nothing of this. His face registered his total surprise at the revelation.

"No-one was expecting it, of course, and I have found that people see what they expect to see. I kept to myself and spoke little, when in this guise, as did she. When Conna was here, she said, she contrived to stay out of Astin's way because he perhaps would have seen it. Then, after a few days - of freedom, as she called it, - she would wait until it was quiet, and creep out of the castle, and return to the abbey by the back way, and I would do the same and come back to Beauvallet."

"I did not like being in the abbey, my friends are here, but it gave Conna so much pleasure to be outside its walls, and I think she enjoyed duping everyone, too. I was always glad to come home, though I didn't begrudge her such outings. She did not like it there; I never understood why Wilda and Wenna wanted her to live at the abbey."

"You were very wrong, Annis, to do such a thing. Exchange places, indeed! You must know that, girl? What must his lordship think of you?"

Astin cast a pleading glance at his master, and was surprised beyond measure to find him smiling slightly. "One of my cousins and I are equally alike, and used to do something very similar as children," Elijah revealed. Then his face grew solemn again. "Tell us, Annis, what Conna said to you concerning Wenna's death?" There was no smile upon his lips now.

She bowed her head for a moment, then looked Elijah straight in the eye, and Elijah noticed, with dismay, the same unfocussed gaze that lingered in Conna's eyes. But the girl did not appear mad, as her sister did; merely a trifle...lost, he thought.

"She told me she and Wenna had been making up the beds, my lord. And Wenna fell as they carried the dirty linens down the stairs...I swear she said nothing to me of pushing Wenna. It is true that my sister had some scratches upon her arms, but she said that they had occurred when Wenna put out her hands to grab her. Truly that is what she said...nothing more. And she begged me not to tell - she said she would get into trouble with the abbess, if she found out about the exchange, so I kept quiet - you must believe me!"

It was now that Astin spoke. Looking straight at his master and judge, he spoke clearly, but it was plain he was much disturbed by the revelations of the morning.

"I washed her, and dressed dear Wenna in her best gown, ready for burial, my lord. The gouges on her arms and neck could not have been caused by a passing clutch of someone's arm. They were deep, and there were many. Several of her fingernails were torn off. It was plain to me that there had been a fight, or at least a tussle. That was what made me think that she had been murdered."

"This is what I told his lordship of Mortain. I knew Annis was not being exactly honest, but I could not catch her out in a lie, and there were no marks on her arms or neck. I had seen her with her sleeves rolled up at the laundry tubs. I did not know what to do, so I approached his lordship, here. Annis's eyes did not seem to be a murderer's eyes, and I was at a loss. I never dreamt.... I am sorry, my lord duke, to have let you down so. I shall leave the castle immediately. You will not wish me to be here after this - neither me or Annis."

Elijah put his hand up as Astin and the girl rose, and gestured them to be seated once more. He asked Dom quietly for the note from his aunt, and read it out loud.

Dear Dominic. I have examined Conna myself, with Sister Aefre and Sister Placida in attendance as witnesses. The girl has several very deep scratches on her arms, deep enough to require the infirmarer's attention, for they have festered. When questioned about them, she freely admitted they were inflicted by Wenna as she fought for her life on the stairs. Apparently Wenna had recognised her, and had told the girl that she was going to inform me of the imposture.

He did not read out the last sentences, however.

It is clear to me that the girl is not in her right senses. Poor Wenna! Tell Lij gently of this, Dom, the dear boy has suffered enough.

"You are in no way to blame, Astin. And the only thing Annis is guilty of is playing a game that went badly wrong, and not confessing to it afterwards."

He looked at the girl, who was weeping silently. "Answer me carefully, now, girl. Did you think, at any time, that Wenna had been murdered by your sister?"

The girl shook her head, emphatically. "No, my lord. I swear I would have told Astin if I'd guessed - I would! Wenna had ever been kind to us. I believed Conna - why should I not? She had naught against the old lady that I knew. Why would I think she had not been honest with me? Wenna fell on the stairs after complaining of feeling faint, she said. And she, Wilda and Astin were all the family we had in the world."

The girl started weeping again, and Astin looked to his master for guidance. "Take her out, Astin, and care for her. Order her tasks for today - and your own - be given to others. It is a sad day for us all. But fear not - neither of you will be punished for this, and your places here are safe."

Astin bowed and led the girl tenderly out of the room. Elijah sighed. "In truth, I do not feel up to questioning Conna further, Dom. I am sad enough as it is, without seeing her eyes shining with glee as she describes to me Wenna's last battle for life. I shall leave that to the bishop's tribunal."

He sat back in the chair and allowed Dom to take hold of his hand, as they sat for a few moments in silence.

Then Elijah turned to his love. "I wonder why it was that Wenna never told me of these members of her family, Dom? She spoke much of her husband, and a daughter who had died in childbed."

Dom clasped both Elijah's hands, and spoke quietly. "There is more that I must tell you, Lij. It may be there is an answer - I do not know."

As Elijah turned anxious eyes upon his companion, Dom smiled. "Perhaps it is better if I show you. Are you ready for more surprises? Pleasant surprises, I mean?"

Elijah smiled back. "More surprises - but good ones? God's boots, as Vince would say. Can I bear it? Lead on!"

The duke followed Dom to the late duchess’s office, and as they entered, Elijah drew a deep breath. "I have not been in this room since my dear mother died, but it is still very familiar to me. Nothing has changed, here. Nothing at all."

He looked around him, and clasped Dom's hand. "Show me, Dom. I am much intrigued, and not a little apprehensive."

Dom smiled, reassuringly. "It is nothing so terrible that you needs must be in a quake over it. Cast your eyes over that wall. Do you see anything striking upon it?"

Elijah obediently scanned the wall, and shook his head. "Whatever it is your sharp eyes have seen, mine have missed it. I see nothing unusual."

Dom went to the wall, and pointed out the boss as Elijah stared at it. "See? There are less petals on this rose."

He twisted and pushed, and was gratified to hear Elijah gasp as the secret panel swung open. "Good God, Dom! I never guessed! Why did my father never tell...? "

Dom held the door open as Elijah ducked and walked into the secret chamber. Everything was as Dom had left it. He had sneaked down to replace the books in the chest - afraid that mice or rats might chew them if they were left on the floor where he had hastily thrown them - but had not returned, for Elijah had still been sick, and had needed him.

He watched happily as Elijah approached the chests, and grinned as he lifted the lids and gaped at the treasures within them.

But Dom, sitting at the small table, saw that it was not the jewels or the gold and silver coins that Elijah was so thrilled to discover, but the accounts in his mother's hand. He exclaimed loudly as he riffled through the pages.

"Look, Dom! Here she writes that pickled herring was two pence a bushel! God's bones, that was pretty dear that year. I wonder if there was a shortage..."

"Lij," Dom interrupted without ceremony. "Do you pick up the ones wrapped in linen. Parts of one of those I have read. I hope you do not mind that I have done so. I did not, then, know what they contained."

Elijah looked up at this. "Mind? Of course I do not. Everything I have is yours, now, as I am certain that what you have is mine. Why should I mind?"

He approached the desk, unwrapping the books, and Dom rose so that he could place them flat on the table to read the contents.

"My mother's own thoughts in words, Dom! How marvellous it is to me..."

He was wrapt in concentration, but Dom brought him back to the present, by laying a hand over his.

"I do not know if it has bearing on present circumstances, but it says in here who Astin's parents might be."

Dom picked up the book and found the relevant passage. "I have not turned the page, Lij, so we shall make the discovery together.

...Yesterday, my dearest Wenna brought to me a sad youth whom she said was called Astin. He was the son of my beloved husband and a girl, who was related to Wenna - perhaps her own sister's daughter, she did not then say.

Now, I was not ignorant of these children, for my lord had told me of this lapse committed before we wed - he was much ashamed of it - but said the boy - and a girl, also - together with their mother, were living on a farm some distance away, that he had purchased for them.

It seems that the mother got to hear of his marriage to me, and lost her ,and drowned herself. Wenna told me the girl - some three years older than her brother - had been taken to the abbey as she was wishful of joining her grandmother there - Wenna's sister, as I discovered, who was only too glad to take her on. It seems the girl was as light-skirted as her mother had been, and bore two girls whilst at the abbey. She was not suited to a religious life, and worked in the laundry, until a fever took her off, a few years later. The Abbess Gertruda only kept her on there as Wenna had pleaded for her to do so.

The boy did not wish to remain with his sister. It seems she did not treat him as she should, and Wenna, discovering the lad suffering some hardship, brought him here, to his father.

My lord was at this time, in the north, seeing to urgent business, but the lad was clean, and polite and seemed anxious to stay, so I allowed him to do so. He does not have the look of my husband about him, Wenna says he favours his mother, so I had no qualms that his position in life would be found out by those within the castle. A duke's bastard would come in for harsh treatment if the other servants found this out.

I interviewed him, and told him that he might stay. Apparently he had not been told who was his father, and I urged Wenna not to do so. No good could come of the lad thinking he would inherit, as I am now with child, and hope for a son just like his father. How my beloved will rejoice in the news when he returns to my arms!

Astin - it is his only name, for he can in no wise be called Astin de Woode - shows aptitude at household tasks. I shall have him trained to help the old steward, as Kenric needs assistance, having been forty years in service here.

I hope I have done the right thing. It would be un-christian of me to throw the lad out of his father's house, and I have no objection to him staying. He seems a kind and willing lad. I hope he prospers

Elijah closed the book and stared at Dom in astonishment. "God's boots, Dom! So Astin - and, therefore, the girls, also - are related to me!" He sat on the chair, not speaking for a moment, marshalling his thoughts, then he slapped his thigh, and smiled up at Dom sitting on the edge of the desk beside him. "Well, he shall be told, now! He is my brother, God 'ild us! I would have him know it. And Aunt Truda must also be told Conna and Annis's position. I am certain she does not know, for she must have said something to me when we became reconciled, do you not think?"

Dom kissed Elijah's brow, for he looked so happy to have found another brother, he could not help it. "At least, my love, Astin seems to have missed the taint of madness that has infected the women of the family."

"Not all the women, Dom. Wenna was not..." Then he became silent for a moment. "Do you think Wilda had it? After all, her behaviour with Conna was not exactly...normal, was it? To hide two - no, three - murders - if she knew of Wenna's. Surely..."

Dom rose and gathered Elijah into his arms. "No good will serve thinking of these things, now, Lij. All you can do is write once more to Vincent, apprising him of the situation, and..."

They had neglected to close the secret door, and Astin stood in the frame, staring intently at all about him. "I am sorry, my lord...I did not mean to intrude..."

Elijah smiled at the shocked man. "Come in, Astin, and look well in those chests. For you, too, must be held guardian of their secrets."

The steward walked slowly over to the chests and stared in amazement at their contents. "But...but, my lord..."

"Come to my chamber after the mid-day meal, and we may talk in private. I have something to divulge to you that may - or may not - please you."

The man nodded, abstractly, amazed by what he had seen. "I came to tell you, my lord, that Ben and Osred are just now entering the bailey. They will be wishful to see that you are both well, I am sure."

Elijah grinned. "Then make it after the evening meal, for I am certain Red and Ben will have much to say concerning their stay with my bailiff, and we, too, have much to tell them."

He looked carefully at Astin. "How does Annis? Why are you not with her?"

"She is sleeping, my lord. I gave her a draught prepared by Father Barebone, for she was trembling all over. It is well, for I have detailed her particular friend to sit with her. I am better when I have something to do. It has all been such a shock."

Elijah thought that the shocks had not ended - not quite yet - but hoped that the revelations to come would prove to be more welcome news.

They went out of the secret chamber, and at Elijah's nod, Dom showed Astin how to get in. Elijah carried under his arm the two volumes wrapped up in the cloth in which they had lain wrapped. He handed them to his steward. "Take these to my chamber, and place them in the chest under the window, if you please. For now, we must go and greet the home-comers."

Dom grinned. "I doubt me if we will be able to get a word in edgewise before bed, between the two of them. But I am glad they are back. Funnily enough, I have missed them."

"So have I," remarked Elijah as they made their convoluted way to the Great Hall, where he was sure the lads would be waiting for them.

The Return of the Prodigal Son was nothing to it, as Dom whispered into Elijah's ears after the boys had been greeted, clapped on the back, regaled with food and drink, and invited to tell their story.

Ben and Red had enjoyed their time on the river, there was no doubt. The pestis had not reached that part of the county, and so they were able to go about - within reason - in safety. The boys described their adventures upon land and water with all the enthusiasm of youth, and then listened, open-mouthed to Elijah and Dom describing a very expurgated account of Elijah's sickness, and the king's visit.

"The king - and his mother, the queen!" said Red, in awe, his mouth filled with a sugar plum. "I would very much liked to have seen him, sirs, at least. What is he like to look on?"

Dom described the king's person, leaving out all the defects of personality and temperament, and with that the lads were eminently satisfied.

"I believe, somewhere in one of my chests, I have a portrait of him that he presented to me, that was painted by a talented artist whilst we were at Outremer," Elijah volunteered. "It is very like him. Later, I will look for it so that you can see we have not exaggerated his, er - magnificence."

Dom raised his eyebrow at this, and Elijah stifled a laugh, for he understood that no-one knew better than did Dom, what Elijah's feelings were concerning his cousin, the king. And he knew that any failings regarding the king's behaviour would be kept between themselves. It was not for them to bruit abroad Richard's violent temper, nor his need to be first in the lives of all men. Others could discover that for themselves.

It was late into the evening when the boys had worn themselves out asking questions, and had gone sleepily to bed, that Dom and Elijah went to Elijah's room, ready to meet with Astin to tell him his story.

He knocked upon the door just as Elijah was lifting the books out of the chest. "Pour him some wine, Dom, if you will. I have a feeling he will need it."

Astin entered the room, and bowed.

"Sit down, Astin, old friend. I have news for you," said Elijah, smiling at his half-brother, as he unwrapped the books. "And I vow that you are like to be amazed by it."