Christiana still wore her bejeweled dress, the pearls about her neck. It somehow emphasized her fallen status—she still wore her riches but now her fine dress was torn, her hair matted, her cheek bruised and the slime from the pond was dried and still clinging to her.
When at last they stopped beside the road, near a large group of travelers just waking, Elizabeth nearly fell in an exhausted heap. Miles caught her to him, pulled her across his lap. “If you ever do anything like that again, wife—” he began but stopped when he kissed her so hard her mouth was bruised.
Tears came to her eyes, tears of joy that he was safe. There’d been a time, when she saw Miles draw a sword, that she was sure she’d never see him alive again. “I would risk all for you,” she whispered and fell asleep in his arms.
It seemed like only moments before Elizabeth was wakened again and they began walking just a short distance behind the other travelers. The girl, Christiana, now wore a coarse woolen dress with a large concealing hood.
At midday they stopped and the men left the women alone while they went to the travelers to negotiate for bread and cheese, using the hated cloak.
Elizabeth leaned against a tree, her body trying to relax, but Christiana’s nearness prevented rest. She couldn’t help resenting the girl who’d nearly caused their deaths.
“Will you hate me for long, Elizabeth?” Christiana asked softly.
Elizabeth gave her one startled look before turning away. “I do not…hate you.”
“You are not accustomed to lying,” the girl said.
Elizabeth turned on her. “My husband could have been killed rescuing you!” she said fiercely. “As well as my brother! What hold do you have on Roger? Ha
ve you bewitched him?”
Christiana did not smile nor did she frown. Her big eyes blazed with intensity. “I have always dreamed of a man like Roger. I have always known he’d come for me. Last year my uncle gave me in marriage to a cruel man but still I knew Roger would come. Three nights ago I dreamed and I saw his face. He was traveling in coarse clothes and with a woman related to him. I knew that he’d finally come.”
Elizabeth looked at the girl as if she were a witch.
Chris continued, “You curse me for putting the man you love in danger, but what would you risk to be with your man? Perhaps if I were braver I could have gone to the torture and death my husband planned for me, but instead I sat in camp tied to the tree and prayed with all my might for my Roger to come.”
She looked away, down the road to where Miles and Roger were approaching, and an inner light appeared in her eyes. “God has given me Roger to repay me for what has happened to me before. Tonight I will lie with Roger and after that I am ready to forsake all life, if need be. I have risked his life, yours and your kind husband’s for this one night with my beloved.”
She put her hand over Elizabeth’s and her eyes were pleading. “Forgive me if I have asked too much of all of you.”
Elizabeth’s anger evaporated. Her hand took Christiana’s. “Don’t talk of death. Roger needs love perhaps more than you do. Stay beside him.”
For the first time, Chris gave a bit of a smile and a single dimple showed in her left cheek. “Only force will take me away from him.”
Elizabeth glanced upward, saw Roger standing over them, his face showing puzzlement. He’s bewildered by all this, Elizabeth thought. Chris confuses him as much as she does us.
They rested only minutes, ate hurriedly and were again on their way.
That night, as Elizabeth snuggled in Miles’s arms, she had her first chance to talk to him. “What do you think of this young woman you risked your life for?” she asked.
“I know she’s dangerous,” he answered. “She was married to the Duke of Lorillard. As a child I used to hear of his cruelty. He’s been through seven or eight rich, highborn young women. They all seem to die within a few years of marriage.”
“Is Chris highborn?”
Miles gave a snort. “She’s descended from generations of kings.”
“How do you know all this?”
“From my French relatives. They’ve had a few dealings with the Lorillard family. Elizabeth,” he said solemnly, “I want you to keep these.” He closed her hand over the long strand of pearls Christiana’d worn yesterday. “Tomorrow, late, we should reach the home of my relatives but in case we don’t…No!” He put a finger to her lips to quiet her. “I want to tell you the truth so you can be prepared. The Lorillard family is powerful and we’ve taken the life of one member and now harbor another. They’ll tear the countryside apart looking for us. If anything happens, take the pearls and go back to England to my brothers. They will take care of you.”
“But what about your French relatives? Couldn’t I go to them?”
“I’ll tell you the story someday, but for now let’s just say that the Lorillards know me. If I’m captured, the way to my people here will be blocked. Go home to my brothers. Will you swear that? No more attempts to rescue me, but get home to safety.”
She refused to answer him.
“Elizabeth!”