rose from her seat. 'Come,' she said to him, 'the air is growing chill again, and the sun has gone behind those clouds.' She helped him to stand, and together they walked back into the hall.
That evening Alexander Givet and Sir Udolf Watteson sat separated by a game table as they discussed a union between their only children. 'My daughter is not penniless,' the physician said. 'She will come to your son with a dower portion of five gold pieces and ten of silver. Unfortunately, her dower trunk with her linens and her feather bed had to be left behind at Windsor. But she has been raised in the queen's household, and knows all there is to know about running a nobleman's hall. And, of course, she is a virgin. She is modest, obedient, and devout. Your son cannot be dissatisfied with her.'
'Your wife had but one child,' Sir Udolf noted.
'Blanche chose to have one child because her service to the queen came first. There are ways to prevent conception, though the church might not approve,' Alexander Givet told his companion. 'Blanche's mother had several healthy children. It was my wife's birth that was her undoing. I am one of nine.'
Sir Udolf nodded. 'Then I see no impediment to a match between Hayle and Alix,' he said. 'I will have the priest draw up the betrothal agreement. And, Alexander, you will have a home here at Wulfborn too. You have my word on it.'
The physician nodded. 'I am frail now, it is true, but I am still capable of performing my trade. One thing concerns me, however, Udolf. Your son does not want a wife. Can you force him to the altar? Will he hate Alix for it and be cruel to her? Will he keep his mistress?'
'I will be candid with you,' Sir Udolf said. 'He will wed with your daughter because he knows I will never allow a miller's daughter to birth my heirs. And despite his determination to have his own way, he knows he needs legitimate heirs. His loyalty to Wulfborn is strong, for he is a proud man. But he will keep his mistress, and I will not dissemble with you over it, Alexander. I am sorry, but even to gain Alix for Hayle, I will not lie to you, my friend.'
The physician nodded. 'Your honesty means much to me,' he told his companion. 'Now I will be honest with you. Were there any other choice, I should take Alix and return to Anjou. But I will never again be well enough to make that journey. I will die within a year or two. I need to know my daughter is safe, if not with a man who will love her, at least with a good family who will appreciate and respect her. If you will guarantee me that, then you may call your priest and we will draw up the contracts.'
'I swear to you on the Blessed Virgin that my son and I will always take care of your daughter, Alexander. If I should die, he will honor my wishes,' Sir Udolf said.
'Then I will speak to my daughter,' the physician said.
Alix was not pleased to learn the future that was being planned for her. 'Why can I not just serve the queen as Mama did?' she wanted to know.
'The queen is no longer honored as England's queen,' her father answered her. 'There is no court or royal household in which we may serve. I am too weak to take you home to Anjou, Alix. You do not wish to devote your life to God. There is no other choice open to you but marriage.'
'But who will help old Edmee if I am not with them? Who will sing to the king when the dolor is upon him if I am not with them?' Alix demanded to know.
'There is no other choice,' her father repeated.
'Have I ever seen this man you propose to wed me to, Papa?' she asked.
'He is the tall young man in the hall with the white-blond hair,' the physician said. 'He is there in the evenings sometimes.'
'I do not recall such a man,' Alix answered her father, 'and I am in the hall every evening. Wouldn't he sit at the high board? Yet only the queen and the little prince sit with Sir Udolf. The king eats in his chambers.'
'I have seen the lad,' Alexander Givet responded stubbornly. 'Look more closely this evening,
'We speak of bygone days,' Alix told her father. 'They miss their old life greatly. I do too, and I miss Mama.'
'That life is gone for us all,' he replied. 'And you will not spend your days at court,
'You are marrying me to a stranger,' Alix said unhappily. 'At least you and Mama knew each other a little bit when the Count of Anjou approved your match.'
'Aye, Hayle Watteson is a stranger to you, but I will be with you,
Alix sighed sadly. She might protest, but the truth was there was no other choice for her. The queen could no longer keep them, and her father grew frailer with each passing day. At least this marriage she was entering into would give her father a safe haven for whatever time he had left upon this earth. Alix was a sensible girl, and she knew her father's days were numbered. Aye. Her mother would want this both for Alix and for Alexander Givet. And she had to marry sooner than later, didn't she? Sir Udolf was a kind man. He always had a twinkle in his eye, and Alix suspected if she ran his household well, and gave him grandchildren, he would treat her with great kindness and respect. Although she honestly could not recall having seen his son, he certainly couldn't be a terrible person. Not with such a father.
'There is one thing you must know about your intended,' her father said, breaking into her thoughts.
'What, Papa?'
'He has a mistress he holds dear. He will not give her up even for a wife,' Alexander Givet said, looking closely at his daughter for her reaction.
'Many men have mistresses they will not give up. I care not as long as I am treated with the respect due the wife of the heir to Wulfborn,' Alix said sanguinely, surprising her father. 'Perhaps Hayle and I will come to love each other. Perhaps not. But as long as he is kind and my place is secure, it matters not to me.'
'For a maid born and raised in England, you speak like a Frenchwoman,' the physician said with a small chuckle. 'I suppose it is being influenced by French women all your life that has made you such a practical girl.'
'When is the wedding to take place?' Alix wanted to know.
'The contracts must be drawn. Then they will be signed, and we will adjourn immediately to the church for the priest's blessing,' her father said. 'A few days,
'Am I to meet my betrothed husband before that day?' Alix wanted to know.
'Indeed, you should,' he agreed. 'I will speak with Sir Udolf.'
Alix dressed carefully before she came to the hall that evening. Her gown was simple, of dark green jersey with a high waist, gathered sleeves with cuffs trimmed in a thin skim of brown marten that matched the trim around her neckline. She wore a gold chain to which was attached a small jeweled cross. A slender pretty girl of medium height with long hair the color of dark honey that she wore loose to denote her unmarried status, she had fair skin and hazel-green eyes.
Entering the hall discreetly, she let her gaze sweep about, seeking out those who were already there. Her father and Sir Udolf were sitting by the hearth drinking and talking. Alix was glad that they liked each other. It would make her father's last days pleasant to have a friend. And then she saw him. A tall boy, and yet he was said to be twenty. Still he had a boy's face. His hair was the lightest blond she had ever seen, and he wore a sullen look upon his almost pretty face. Was he to be her husband? Swallowing hard, Alix walked across the hall to greet her father and Sir Udolf. She curtsied to them.
'Ah, Alix, here you are,' Sir Udolf said with a smile. Then, turning his head, he beckoned to the young man. 'Hayle, come and meet your bride-to-be.'
The young man sauntered from his place at the end of the room to where his father sat. He looked Alix over with a bold eye, causing her to blush. 'Her breasts are small,' he pronounced. 'Maida has breasts a man can pillow his head upon.'
Alexander Givet drew a sharp breath.
'Hayle,' his father remonstrated, 'some thoughts we keep to ourselves. Greet Mistress Alix politely now, and ask her pardon for your rudeness.'
