Twelfth Night (5 page)

while?”

“If you were a man, I would demand an answer
of you.”

“I’m not a man.” She watched his gaze move
from her eyes to her lips, and thence to her throat and the deep
neckline of her dress.

“Most assuredly, you are female,” he
murmured. “Very well, my lady, I will agree to ask no more
questions of you, thus putting you into my debt a second time.”

“And what will you ask in payment for this
new favor?” she whispered, knowing full well what it was he wanted.
And, heaven help her, aching to give it to him despite her best
resolutions.

“We shall see.” A brief, teasing smile warmed
his face. Then he looked over her shoulder and the smile faded. “We
retire early at Shotley, my lady. I’ll see you to your room.”

When she rose, she saw what he had seen.
Blaise held Constance by one arm and was leading her out of the
hall toward the stairs. It was evident from the way she dragged her
feet and hung back that Constance went unwillingly. Aline took a
step in her direction. Adam put out a hand to prevent her from
leaving the dais.

“You cannot stop that,” he said. “It is her
duty.”

“She’s afraid of him!”

“Then she must learn not to be afraid, but to
accept her husband’s embraces. Blaise does not beat her, and I am
certain he is not rough with her.”

“Did you ever – forgive me, I shouldn’t have
said that.” But he answered her unspoken question anyway.

“No, Aline, I never forced my wife. Nor did
she ever refuse me. She understood a wife’s duty as I understood a
husband’s. As Blaise understands his duty.”

“You make it sound so tedious, so
unemotional. Didn’t you feel the least bit of passion, or love?” It
was another question she shouldn’t have asked, but she couldn’t
seem to control her thoughts, or her tongue. He did not appear to
be offended.

“Love,” Adam said, walking with her out of
the great hall. “Passion. A young man’s dreams. An old man’s
forgotten hopes.”

“You are not old.” She responded to the note
of sadness in his voice. So Adam, bound in a loveless marriage, had
dreamed of something more.

“I am forty-two, much too old to dream of
love.” Taking up an oil lamp from a table in the entry hall, he
mounted the stairs behind her and followed her to her chamber door.
Blaise and Constance had disappeared ahead of them, presumably to
their own chamber. “How old are you, Aline? It’s an impudent
question, I know, but this evening you and I have spoken as if we
were old and dear friends.”

“I have just turned thirty-four,” she
said.

“And do you think you are too old for
passion?” A faint smile curved his lips.

“I am convinced of it.” She opened her door
and would have entered her room, but he stopped her with a hand on
her shoulder.

“You will want this,” he said, giving her the
oil lamp.

“Oh. Yes. Thank you.”

He put a finger under her chin, lifting the
face she had bowed over the small flame of the lamp. With the same
finger he traced the outline of her lips while she held her
breath.

“Are you absolutely certain you are too old?”
he asked, and left her there.

“I want the great hall decorated,” Adam
announced early the next morning. “If we are to bring in greenery,
we will have to do it before midday, for I believe it will soon
begin to snow again.”

“We’ll need a Yule log,” cried Blaise,
entering into the spirit of his father’s suggestion. “I know where
the mistletoe grows. Let us ride into the forest as soon as we have
broken our fast and see what we can find there.”

“Constance, Lady Aline, you will join us,”
Adam commanded.

“Oh, no,” Constance replied. “I cannot. The
cold – and I would have to ride. Oh, no, my lord, I beg you, let me
remain here and supervise the cooking. There is so much to be done
before the holy day. Oh, my lord, do please allow me to stay
behind.”

“Nonsense, Connie.” Aline broke into the
stream of protesting words. “It will be fun, and you deserve a
break from your chores. The fresh air will make your cheeks pink
and give you an appetite.”

“Now, there you are right,” said Blaise, who
had given Aline a strange look upon hearing her nickname for his
wife. “Constance is too pale, and much too thin for my liking.”

“Oh, my lord Blaise, I am sorry if I
displease you.” Constance began to apologize, but Adam stopped
her.

“Lady Aline does not like to ride, either,”
Adam said. “Therefore, she will ride pillion behind me and you,
Constance, will ride in the same manner behind Blaise.” He gave
Aline a conspiratorial wink that she assumed meant she was to go
along with this notion.

“What a good idea,” she said bravely, trying
to hide her own trepidation at the thought of riding on a horse.
But perhaps there was a way to make the riding easier. The
measuring look she cast upon Adam and then on Blaise made each man
shift position a bit uncomfortably. “Before I venture out of doors,
however, I will need the right clothing. Those aren’t trousers you
are wearing, they’re more like tights. I could probably roll a pair
down at the top so they aren’t too long, and tie them around my
waist to keep them up.”

“Do you mean our hose?” exclaimed Blaise.

“Yes, if that’s what you call them,” Aline
responded. “I will also need a warm woolen tunic and an undershirt,
too. I can wear my own cape. Oh, and a pair of shoes or boots. My
own aren’t sturdy enough for tramping around in the snow.”

“Do I understand,” asked Adam, “that you are
proposing to don men’s clothing?”

“It’s the sensible way to go.” Seeing how
horrified he was by the idea, she gave him a wink to match the one
he had sent her.

“On second thought,” Adam said, apparently
deciding to go along with whatever Aline was trying to do, “it does
sound like the best way for you to keep warm. I’ll see that you
have what you need.”

“Thank you, my lord. Connie, what about you?
If you wear a long skirt, it will only get wet and be
uncomfortable.”

“Oh, no, I could not.” Constance began her
usual protest, but she was brought up short by Blaise’s shout of
laughter.

“Yes,
Connie
,“ he said. “A tunic and
hose will make it easier for you to ride. Astride,” he added,
lowering his voice until only Constance and Aline, standing
together near Blaise, could hear his next words. “You will have to
spread your legs and grip your mount tightly to keep from falling
off. Do you think you can do that?”

Aline put an arm around Constance, who was
staring white-faced at Blaise. Aline looked at Blaise,
really
looked at him, in mingle fury and embarrassment for
Connie’s sake. To her astonishment she saw in his countenance
something other than the contempt and cruelty she had expected to
find there. On Blaise’s handsome face as he regarded his wife, she
saw a faint glimmer of hope.

“If I can do it, you can,” she said to
Connie.

“My lord,” Connie whispered, still staring at
Blaise, “are you giving me permission to wear men’s clothing? But
it would be most improper.”

“Permission?” Blaise looked her up and down,
then let his glance flicker toward Aline. “No,
Connie
, I do
not give you permission. Nor do I command you. I challenge you.
Will you accept the dare?”

“Oh, my lord, please –“

“Do it,” Aline whispered into her ear. “Take
a chance. Say yes.” She could feel Connie sucking in a great gulp
of air, felt the girl trembling, and trying to control herself.

“Yes, my lord.” Connie’s voice was barely
audible. “I will go in men’s clothing.”

“Well done, my dear.” Blaise laid a hand on
his wife’s shoulder. Aline thought it might be the first time he
had ever shown approval of any act of Connie’s. “You cannot wear my
clothes; I’m much too large for them to fit you, but I know a
stableboy who is about your size. Go to our chamber and undress.
I’ll be there shortly with your new costume and I will help you to
put it on.”

“Do you really think you ought to?” Connie
began. Blaise cut off her pleading words.

“Trust me, Connie. You cannot hope to fasten
your hose alone.”

“Go on,” Aline urged, pushing Connie toward
the hall doorway. “Do as he says. And don’t forget to thank him for
helping you. But not for allowing you to wear a tunic and hose.
That was your decision, not his.”

“My lady Aline,” Adam said, coming up behind
her, “your methods are positively scandalous.”

She whirled around just in time to catch him
laughing at her.

“If you will retire to your own chamber,“ he
said, “I will shortly appear at your door with the garments you
will need. Dare I hope that, like Constance, you will also require
assistance to don them?”

“I’m sure I can figure things out for
myself,” she retorted.

“As you wish. However, should you discover
that you cannot manage alone, do not hesitate to call for me and I
will rush to your aid.”

“You are the perfect host, my lord.” He bowed
politely at that, but the look in his eyes was both dangerous and
exciting.

“It is my intent to see you well served
during your stay at Shotley,” he replied.

In order to put on boys’ clothing, Connie had
been forced to remove her coif, revealing braids of a lovely
golden-brown shade. She also had beautiful legs. The tan woolen
hose Blaise had found for her were a little too small, so they fit
snugly, outlining every feminine curve of her calf and thigh. The
low brown leather boots and brown woolen tunic only emphasized the
fact that she possessed a slender, delicate figure. Her newly
revealed charms were not lost upon her husband. When Blaise saw the
other men surreptitiously looking in Connie’s direction, he made
haste to cover her with a voluminous cloak. But the point had been
made, and frequently during their woodland excursion that morning
Aline noticed him regarding Connie with a smoldering gaze.

“I feel so wicked,” Connie whispered to Aline
as they stood in the inner bailey waiting for the horses to be
brought out of the stable. “These hose are so unlike women’s
clothing. My own stockings are gartered just below the knee, but
these go up to my waist. They touch my body in strange ways.”

“Enjoy it,” Aline whispered back, just before
Blaise claimed his bride and bore her off to mount her behind him
on his massive chestnut steed.

As for Aline, Adam’s hose were far too large
for her, so they hung wrinkled but warm about her legs. The shoes
were also too big, but serviceable.

“I could have helped you to a smoother fit,”
Adam chided. “And a belt would nip in that too-large tunic.”

“I’ll be just fine this way, thank you. What
have you done with my cape?’

“Exchanged it for this cloak,” he told her.
“It is shorter and thus will be easier to manage after you are
mounted.” He lifted her onto his black horse and with a small
company of servants to help, they set off for the nearby
forest.

It was a sparkling day, with a deep blue sky,
though Aline could see a line of clouds along the western
horizon.

“Is that the storm you think well come
tonight?’ she asked Adam.

“Sooner than tonight,” he replied, turning
his head to look back at her. “Is it well with you, Lady Aline? I
cannot see you when you ride behind me.”

“No problem at all,” she assured him.

“Your hands will be cold. I should have given
you gloves.”

“I think yours would be too large for me,”
she said, conscious of the way she was forced to sit with her arms
wrapped around his waist.

“No matter. I’ll keep you warm thusly.” He
covered her clasped hands with one of his, then drew a fold of his
cloak around them, tucking in the fabric to keep her fingers
warm.

They rode across the fields and a mile or
more into the woods before Blaise called a halt.

“Here is holly and pine,” he said to Adam,
“and ivy on the ground just there. Ahead is a tree I marked earlier
in the year for our Yule log. Come along, lads.” Having dismounted
and helped Connie to the ground, he led three young men armed with
axes into the trees, leaving Adam to direct the rest of their party
in gathering the necessary greenery. A large piece of heavy cloth
had been brought along, and now this was spread out on the ground
like a tarpaulin. Soon they were all piling branches of pine and
holly onto the cloth.

“Here’s the ivy.” Connie grabbed a stem and
pulled, her feet slipping in the snow. She went down face first.
Aline expected her to dissolve into tears, but she got up laughing.
There was a smudge of mud on her nose and her cheeks were as pink
as Aline had predicted they would be. She looked surprisingly
pretty.

“Blaise said he was glad I came with him,”
Connie informed Aline, who was trying to remove some of the dirt
from her tunic. “I expected to be cold and wet, but this is
fun.”

“Perhaps you should put on boys’ clothing
more often,” Aline said.

“It is comfortable. But the hose produce the
most unusual sensations.” Connie’s cheeks grew pinker still. In a
moment she was back at work on the ivy, pulling up long strands of
it. At the same time, the young men who had come with them began to
move farther into the forest under Adam’s direction, searching for
more pine boughs and more red-berried holly. Aline stood alone,
looking about the area where they had been working.

“We need mistletoe, too,” she murmured,
glancing upward to see if she could find any. She quickly located a
tree bearing a growth of the parasitic vine, but there were no
branches on the tree that were low enough to offer help in climbing
it. There was a pine growing close to the host tree. “If I climb up
that pine until I’m level with the mistletoe and then pull hard on
it, I’ll bet it would come down.”