XII
‘Why did you follow me?’ Eleyne went straight to Elizabeth’s chamber when she returned to the castle.
Her ladies, sitting around the broad table with their embroidery and their spindles, looked up in astonishment.
‘Your husband suspects you of being unfaithful,’ Elizabeth said.
‘No, that would never cross Donald’s mind. Not unless you suggested it to him, as you suggested to him that he leave my bed.’ Eleyne held Elizabeth’s gaze without wavering, and was gratified to see the countess look away first.
‘I suggested he leave your bed, madam, to relieve you of a presence which must have become intolerable,’ Elizabeth said stiffly. ‘As for the other, it is as well I told him of your rides. No faithful wife goes completely alone, day after day, into the hills.’
‘It is something I have always done,’ Eleyne replied, ‘and something I shall continue to do. When Donald is here, he often rides with me.’
‘Indeed.’ Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. ‘How annoying for you. So, unwittingly I have done you a favour, it seems, in reminding my son of his duties at his father’s side. You can once more ride alone. Though I must say, I’m astonished that you persist in riding in your condition. Tell me -’ She changed the subject unexpectedly. ‘Have your lonely rides taken you to this sacred well? Do you know where it is?’
‘I know,’ Eleyne said quietly. Guided by Morna, she had ridden there and splashed the crystal water over her face and breasts, leaving an offering to the gods in the hope that the magic waters would keep her young. Only days later she had conceived this second child.
XIII
When Eleyne arrived at Morna’s cottage a few days later, she found her friend seated by the cool brown water of the river. The birch trees had scattered golden leaves in the whirling pools of the backwater eddies, and Morna was watching as Mairi tried to catch the flying leaves on the bank.
‘Your mother-in-law was here again this morning,’ Morna said as Eleyne sat down beside her. ‘She arrived with such an escort I felt sure she had come to arrest me.’
‘And why did she come?’
‘To ask my help. Her heart pains her a great deal and she doesn’t dare ask the castle physicians in case they tell her she is mortally sick.’
‘And what did you tell her?’ Eleyne raised an eyebrow.
‘I told her, as I told her before, that I was no physician. If she doesn’t want the doctor at the castle, she could send for the infirmarian at Cabrach. I sent her home with water from the sacred spring, and I told her to rest.’ She smiled. ‘And I told her you were a faithful and obedient wife.’
‘Thank you.’ Eleyne groaned as she sat down. ‘What else could I be, like this? Look at me! I’ve never been so huge.’
‘It won’t be long,’ Morna said comfortingly. ‘Then you’ll be slim again. And I will tell you what to do to prevent another baby coming.’
Eleyne stared at her. ‘You can?’
The other woman nodded. ‘When the time is right I will show you. But you must say nothing to anyone, especially your husband. Such things are considered a sin against God.’
XIV
Eleyne was resting on her bed; her back ached and she was tired. The child in her womb did not kick so much now, held too tightly in its dark prison. She was larger than she had been with any of her other children. A few weeks before, while there was still room, it had kicked and flailed endlessly until Eleyne had wondered if she were going to give birth to a litter of pups, just as Sabina had done a few months before. She sighed, trying to ease her position on the bed. The command to go at once to Elizabeth’s chamber did not please her at all.
Lady Mar was lying on her bed, her face very pale. It had been a hot day and the stone of the castle held the heat as one of the first of the heavy dews of autumn started to fall.
‘You said you knew where the sacred well is?’ Elizabeth began without preamble.
Eleyne nodded. A century or so before a hermit had built himself a stone hut beside it and now it sheltered pilgrims who came to bathe in its healing waters or make offerings to the saint who guarded it.
‘I want to go there.’ Elizabeth’s hand was pressed against her chest.
Eleyne stared at her in astonishment. ‘But it’s a long way. It’s up in the hills and hard to reach. Morna will give you more water from the spring – ’
‘That’s no use!’ Elizabeth lay back on the pillow, pressing her lips together tightly as a wave of pain hit her. ‘Morna is away from her bothy. I hear she is sometimes away for days or weeks on end. I can’t wait until she gets back. I want to go to the well myself.’
‘You can’t possibly!’ Eleyne was shocked out of her attempt to comfort the woman. ‘It’s a long steep ride; even for someone who is fit it’s difficult. Water can be fetched…’
‘I want to go there. I have to go there,’ Elizabeth repeated stubbornly, willing herself into a sitting position. ‘I shall order a litter first thing tomorrow and you will guide me there.’
‘I can’t. It would be madness,’ Eleyne cried. She was sorry for the anguish and fear she saw in the other woman’s eyes; the fear of illness and death. ‘It would be foolish for you to try to ride that far when you are unwell.’
‘It will kill me if I don’t go.’ Elizabeth shook her head. ‘I have to go, don’t you see? I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. I remember hearing of the spring when I was a child in Buchan. My grandfather, Fergus, was full of old tales of the hills. He said if you bathed in its holy waters you would live forever. I had forgotten about it until that spaewife told me the story again. I have to get there, it’s my only chance.’
Eleyne shook her head and put her hand to her stomach. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t ride that far, even if you can. My time is close…’
‘I see!’ Elizabeth’s voice was mocking. ‘You protest that you must ride all day to please yourself, but to save my life you’re not prepared to ride at all – ’
‘That’s not true!’
‘Then come with me.’ Elizabeth stood up. She staggered slightly, then straightened. ‘I will order you a litter too. We have two I believe.’
‘No.’ Eleyne was looking at her in disbelief. ‘Please. Neither of us is in a fit state to go.’
‘I have to.’ Elizabeth’s face tightened in a grimace of pain. ‘You are my daughter-in-law, it’s your duty to obey me in this.’ She snapped her fingers at one of her ladies. ‘Go and order the litters and an escort of armed men. Tell them to be ready tomorrow after mass.’ She turned again to Eleyne. ‘Of course we have to take into account the fact that you are no longer as young as you were,’ she said spitefully. ‘But you have always insisted your age made no difference to your activities. Is that it? Are you afraid?’
Eleyne clenched her fists. ‘Of course not.’
‘Then you will come with me.’
