The Velvet Promise (Montgomery/Taggert 2)

“And this is where Gavin is kept?”

“Yes, my lady,” Joan said quietly. “The ceiling of that hole is the cellar floor, and it is high above the hole’s floor. The only descent is down a ladder.”

“You have seen this place?”

“Yes, my lady.” She bowed her head again. “And I have seen Lord Gavin.”

Judith grabbed the girl’s arms fiercely. “You have seen him and you waited this long to tell me?”

“I didn’t believe that…that man was Lord Gavin.” She looked up, agony etching her face. “He has always been so handsome, so strong, but now there is little more than skin on his bones. His eyes are black circles that burn through you. The guard, the man I spent the night with, opened the trapdoor and held a candle. The stench! I could barely look into the blackness. Lord Gavin—I wasn’t at first sure it was he—covered his face from the brightness of just one candle. The floor, my lady—it crawled! There was no dry place on it. How does he sleep? There could be no place to lie down.”

“You are sure this man was Lord Gavin?”

“Yes. The guard’s whip licked at him, and he drew his hand away and stared up at us in hatred.”

“Did he know you?”

“I don’t think so. I feared that at first, but now I believe him to be beyond recognizing anyone.”

Judith looked away in thought.

Joan touched her arm. “My lady, it is too late. He’s not long for this world. He can’t last for more than a few days, at most. Forget him. He is worse than dead.”

Judith gave her a hard look. “Didn’t you just say he is alive?”

“Only barely. Even if he were taken out today, the sunlight would kill him in moments.”

Judith left the bed. “I must dress.”

Joan looked at her mistress’s straight back. She was glad she’d given up any idea of rescue. The shrunken, emaciated face still haunted her. Still, Joan was suspicious. She’d lived with Judith too long, and she knew her little mistress rarely let a problem go unsolved. There were times when Joan had been completely exhausted from arranging and rearranging some matter so that Judith could see it from all angles. Yet Judith never gave up. If she set her mind to the harvesting of a field before a certain date, it was harvested by then, even if Judith herself had to help in the threshing.

“Joan, I will need a garment of russet, very dark, like the serfs wear. And some boots—tall ones. It won’t matter if they’re too large—for I can lace them tight. And a bench. Make sure it is a long one, but narrow enough to fit through the trapdoor. Also, I will need an ironbound box. Not too big, but one I can strap to my stomach.”

“Stomach?” Joan managed to get out. “You can’t think—Haven’t I explained to you that he is nearly dead, that he can’t be rescued? You can’t take a bench to him and think no one will notice. Food, perhaps, but—” Judith’s look stopped her. She was a small woman, but when those gold eyes turned as hard as that, there was no disobeying her. “Yes, my lady,” Joan said meekly. “A bench, boots, a servant’s garments and…an iron box to fit your stomach,” she said sarcastically.

“Yes, to fit my stomach,” Judith said without humor. “Now help me dress.” She lifted a yellow silk underdress from the large chest by the bed. There were twenty pearl buttons running from wrist to elbow. Over it she slipped a gown of tawny gold velvet with wide, hanging sleeves. A belt of brown silk cords threaded with pearls hung from her waist to the ground.

Joan took an ivory comb and began to arrange her mistress’s hair. “Don’t let him know you care anything for Lord Gavin.”

“I don’t need to be told that. Go now and find the things I want. And don’t let anyone see you with them.”

“I can’t carry a bench about in secrecy.”

“Joan!”

“Yes, my lady, I will do as I am told.”

Hours later after he’d spen

d the morning escorting her through stables and dairies Walter said, “My lady, you must be tired; surely all this must have little interest for you.”

“Oh, but it does!” Judith smiled. “The walls are so thick,” she said with wide-eyed innocence. The castle was of the simplest form. It contained one large four-story stone tower set inside a single twelve-foot-thick wall. There were a few men atop the walls, but they looked sleepy and not very alert.

“Perhaps my lady would like to inspect the armor of the knights and look for flaws,” Arthur said as he watched her.

Judith managed to keep her face blank. “I don’t understand what you mean, sir,” she said in confusion.

“Nor do I, Arthur!” Walter added.