The Baron's Quest (17 page)

Chapter 24

Nicholas paced the floor of the solar, waiting as both the midwife and the healer examined Muriel who was lying on his bed.

“Will she be all right?” he asked anxiously. “Will the baby survive?”

The midwife seemed perturbed that he was asking so many questions. Brother Germain stood over the bed as well, and so did Cecily. The monk walked over, putting his hand on Nicholas’s shoulder. “Brother, why don’t you go to the great hall with your friends?”

“Nay. I want to be here for Muriel. She may need me.”

“Forgive me for speaking so freely, my lord, but I do believe everyone would be better off if you waited somewhere else. Your constant questioning and pacing is anything but calming.”

Nicholas took a deep breath and then released it. “Mayhap you’re right. I’ll be in the great hall with the other barons. Please come give me word as soon as you know anything.”

“I will, now go.” The monk walked him to the door and opened it, and his squire and Isaac fell into the room, having had their ears pushed up against the wood.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Nicholas growled.

“Will she be all right?” asked his squire.

“Will the baby live?” added Isaac.

“How the hell should I know? Do I look like a midwife or a healer? Now leave already before I make you two clean out the garderobe for a sennight for being so pesky.”

He stomped down the corridor and into the great hall, seeing his friends sitting by the fire drinking wine. He joined them, sitting down atop the trestle table. He held up his hand and looked at Muriel’s ring on his finger.

“What did they say?” Conlin poured him a goblet of wine and handed it to him. “Will she live?”

“She wasn’t really hurt – I don’t think. Still, she had blood on her gown.”

“Is the rumor true?” asked John. “Is she pregnant with your bastard?”

“God’s eyes, is nothing a secret?” He downed his wine and banged the goblet on the table. “Aye, she is pregnant – with my baby, not my bastard.”

“But – it is a bastard since you two are not married,” Conlin pointed out.

“I don’t need you to tell me that,” spat Nicholas. “I just don’t like my child to be called a bastard.”

“Then do something about it,” said John. “Marry the spinster.”

“What?” His eyes snapped upward. “But I’m a noble, same as you two. By right, we need to marry of like blood. I can’t believe you said that.”

“The king has granted us the right to choose our own brides,” Conlin reminded him.

“I understand. But I’m still not sure the king would agree to this union.”

“You’re just worried you will never get the king to build you a castle if you marry a commoner, aren’t you?” asked John.

The thought
had
entered Nicholas’s mind. The one thing he’d always wanted in life was his own castle. He knew for a fact no king would fund the expense for a man, even if he was one of his barons, if he was married to a merchant’s daughter. He ran his hand over the ring on his finger in thought. What should he do?

“There they are,” said Conlin, putting down his goblet and looking across the room.

Nicholas jumped up, and joined the monk who was accompanied by the healer.

“So how is she?” he asked nervously, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

“She’ll be fine,” said the healer. “Just let her rest, and no heavy lifting for the course of her pregnancy.”

“I won’t lift anything heavy, that’s fine,” he said nervously.

“Not you, you fool!” said John, and he and Conlin burst out in laughter.

“I know what he meant. I just didn’t say it right, that’s all.”

“You seem very nervous,” said the healer. “Is it about the baby?”

“Aye,” he said with a nod. “I’ve never been a father before. Is the baby going to live?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I think they will be fine.”

“They?” he asked. “You mean Muriel and the baby?”

“Lord Nicholas, there’s something more,” the monk intervened. “You might want to sit down.”

“Sit down? Why would I? God’s eyes just tell me what you have to say.”

The monk cleared his throat and shook his head in warning at Nicholas’s use of blasphemy.

“It is very early, and I can’t be sure,” said the healer. “I’ve seen her symptoms only one other time, and the midwife agrees with me.”

“Symptoms? What symptoms? You make this sound like a disease.” Nicholas didn’t know what the hell was going on. “What is it that you two are agreeing upon?”

“Her breasts are very heavy for so early in her pregnancy, and her stomach has already started to grow,” the healer told him.

“Isn’t that normal?” asked Nicholas, not understanding what the man was trying to say.

“It is normal, my lord, but for a woman carrying twins.”

“Twins?” Nicholas felt his legs almost fold beneath him. “Are you sure?”

“Nay, we cannot be sure at this time,” said the healer. “It is only a speculation.”

Nicholas felt so stunned he could barely breathe. What the hell was the matter with him? He should be elated, but yet he almost felt . . . scared. He was going to have not one but two heirs. He was going to be a father. How the hell could he not marry Muriel now? Because the last thing he wanted was two illegitimate children who he’d never be able to call his heirs. “Bring me that chair,” he ordered anyone who happened to be listening. “Because I think I really need to sit down right now.”

Chapter 25

Muriel’s fingers flew as she spun wool faster than she ever had in her life. It had been three days since Nicholas saved her life and brought her back to the manor, and with everything that had happened, he’d yet to say he loved her again.

She wondered if perhaps she’d dreamed the whole thing. He’d told her he was happy about the babies, and that he wanted her and Isaac to stay with him indefinitely. But that was it. He hadn’t said he loved her again, and they hadn’t made love since, because he told her he was afraid of hurting the babies.

“Babies,” she said aloud, trying to get used to the word. She was ecstatic to be pregnant, but a little leery of having twins, if the midwife’s hunch was correct. She couldn’t afford to raise two children by herself, let alone one. And although she’d been told by Nicholas that he’d pay all expenses, she wasn’t sure she wanted to stay at the manor if she was going to have to be his mistress and watch him marry someone of noble blood. That would destroy her.

“Muriel, look what I made for the babies.” Isaac walked over, bringing two gowns made from linen that were so small she could fit them in the palm of her hand.

“Thank you Isaac, they are beautiful. I am sure the babies will love them.” She stopped spinning and gave her brother a hug.

“I am so saddened by the fact father was being deceitful,” he told her.

“So am I. Because of it, you will never be accepted as a journeyman now.”

“It’s all right,” he told her with a smile, pulling a new dagger from his waistbelt. “I got this from Roger. He says if it doesn’t work out for me as a weaver, perhaps I should think about becoming a squire some day.”

“You do that, Isaac,” she said, kissing her brother on the cheek, knowing dreams were what kept people alive, and she wasn’t going to take this dream from him.

“I miss father dearly,” she told him.

“So do I,” he answered. “I can’t believe he was murdered by Cecily’s father.”

“Stepfather,” she corrected him. “And don’t forget, she knew about none of this either. And it is not certain that her mother will survive his last beating.”

Over her brother’s shoulder she saw Nicholas enter the room. He looked around, waved his hand to dismiss the ladies of the solar, and headed toward them.

“Isaac, I’d like to talk with Nicholas alone. Would you mind waiting somewhere else?” she asked.

“Of course, sister. I understand.” He bowed to the baron and left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Muriel, I see you and Isaac have done a wonderful job in making the clothes for the nobles for the banquet. I have rescheduled the banquet as well as the trade fair for two weeks from now.”

“We are ready, as we have just finished,” she told him.

“Aye. I am sorry I haven’t come to talk to you sooner, but I had to take the prisoners to Deal to be tried by the Warden of the Cinque Ports since this case affects the king.”

“I understand,” she said with a nod.

“How is Cecily and her family?” he asked, clearing a spot on the table and leaning against it with one leg.

“Her mother is still in bad condition, but they have hope she will recover. She is moving with the children to live with her sister in Sheffield.”

“Will Cecily be going with her?”

“I suppose so. There is nothing here for her anymore. I am just glad that she as well as myself and Isaac were cleared of any charges.”

“I am sorry I thought you could ever be a part of that, Muriel. And I am also sorry about your father.”

“I am the one who is sorry for deceiving you where Samuel’s receipt is concerned. But I was confused, and didn’t want to lose Cecily as a friend, nor did I want her family to lose everything the way Isaac and I had.”

“I understand how you feel, but I can’t say I condone your behavior.”

“Will I be punished for it, my lord?”

He reached down and put a hand on her belly as he spoke. “There is no punishment for pregnant women, so you should thank our baby for that.”

She put down her spindle and placed her hands atop his.

“My father would have been so happy to know he was going to be a grandfather. He wasn’t really a bad man, Nicholas. He only did it for his family.”

“I don’t condone what he did either, but once again, I understand what you say. A man should do everything he can to support his family. But within reason, of course.”

“Really?” She looked up, wondering what he meant.

“Aye, Muriel, me too. And as I told you, I will do anything I can to support you and our babies.”

“Of course, my lord,” she said, feeling like she was going to cry. She had to tell him she was going to leave, but part of her made her want to change her mind. “I need to let you know, Isaac and I will be leaving after the banquet.”

“What?” His leg slid off the table and he stood in front of her. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t stay here and be your mistress while I watch you marry a noble. It would destroy me. I love you too much to be just the other woman.”

“Muriel . . . you would really leave?”

“I don’t want to, but I need to do it. For the babies.” She rubbed her belly as she spoke.

“Then take this,” he said, slipping her mother’s ring off his finger and handing it to her.

“So my debt is paid then? And you are returning the ring?” Her heart dropped, and she couldn’t even take the ring from him right now. This was the final moment that would seal her fate forever.

“Your debt has been paid up long ago, sweetheart. I only held onto the ring because I knew if I had it, you would not leave.”

“I have no other choice, I’m sorry,” she said, taking the ring from him.

“You do have a choice, Muriel. You can stay. Forever. And ask Cecily to come stay here as well.”

“Why would you say that, my lord?” She truly didn’t understand his motives.

“I say that, because you are going to need a handmaiden if you are going to be my wife, as well as someone to help the nursemaid care for the babies. I think your best friend would be happy to be at your side when you birth our children.”

“Y- your wife?” She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly, and needed him to say it again.

“Muriel,” he said, taking the ring from her hand, and slipping it onto her finger. “I love you. And I am looking forward to being a father to our children. But I don’t want you as a mistress, nor our children to be bastards. Will you marry me, and be Lady of Vaughn Manor – Lady Romney? Will you be my wife?”

“Nicholas!” she exclaimed, feeling filled with jubilation. “I love you, too, but are you sure? I am not a noble.”

“But you will be a noble, as will our children once you marry me. Even if it isn’t from a long, noble bloodline. We will start a new one. So what is your answer?”

“My answer is yes, my lord. I will be your wife and lady of the manor, and I will do my best to uphold every standard you have. But what about your castle? The one you always dreamed of having? I’m guessing the king will never give you one now.”

“Nay, it’ll never happen, but it’s all right. A man’s home is his castle as long as he has his family at his side. And I would give up a castle ten times over, just to have you as my wife.”

She kissed him then, and with so much force, they almost fell backwards.

“Wait,” he said, leaving her and walking over to bar the door. “I don’t want anyone watching this time,” he said with a smile and took off his weaponbelt as he headed back across the room.

“Are you planning on coupling with me right here in the solar?”

“I am,” he admitted, kissing her and reaching out to fondle her breasts. “Aye, you
have
grown,” he said against her mouth.

“And so have you,” she said with a giggle, fondling him below his waist. “I thought you didn’t want to couple because you were afraid of hurting the babies.”

“Nay, not at all. I just know what a wildcat you are in bed, and I was afraid you’d be the one to hurt them, so take it easy this time, Muriel.”

“You, my lord, are lying,” she said, running her hands up under his tunic.

“How can you tell?” He unlaced her bodice as he spoke. “Did you see it in my eyes?”

“Who was looking at your eyes?” she asked, pulling down his hose and braies.

And there in the solar, atop a few bags of wool, they consummated the betrothal of their marriage – of the promise of becoming man and wife.