The Innocent

husband?'

'Never!' Elf hissed. 'The man is an adulterer who lay with my brother’s wife! I would not have him if he were the last man on earth, my lord, but I beg you, do not force me to the marriage altar. I will give you Ashlin if you desire it, but let me continue on with my life as I have always planned it. In my heart and mind I am a nun.'

'Then, if you will not have this man who covets you, lady, I must choose a husband for you,' the king said firmly. 'Anticipating this, I have already made my choice. You will wed one of my own knights: a man raised in my Uncle Henry’s court, a man who has served us with loyalty and devotion for many years. He, like Saer de Bude, is landless. It is time I rewarded him for his many years of service. He is a good man, Eleanore de Montfort. A godly man who will treat you with respect. You and your people will be safe in his hands, as will your manor of Ashlin,' Stephen said calmly ignoring her desperate plea. 'Come forward, Sir Ranulf de Glandeville, and greet your bride.'

The abbess moved to Elf’s side, and gently removed her wimple revealing her hair, unpinning her single thick braid. The girl turned frightened eyes to her. 'Please, Reverend Mother,' she whispered. When the abbess did not answer, too stricken herself with emotion, Elf turned to the king again. 'Why are you doing this to me, my lord? Why?'

'Have you learned no obedience, Eleanore de Montfort, in your years at St. Frideswide's?' the bishop scolded her.

'Nay, my lord bishop, the girl is certainly entitled to an explanation of why I am so drastically changing her life.' King Stephen held out his hand to Elf. 'Come here, my child, and I will explain,' he said gently, and when she had hesitantly taken the royal hand, he drew her to his side, speaking quietly. 'This decision is not one I have made arbitrarily, or without prayerful thought. The de Montforts, I have learned, fought for my grandfather, the Conqueror, both in Normandy and England, coming with him to take part in his great victory at Hastings. Your great-grandfather then wed Ashlin’s Saxon heiress. I suspect it is from her you gained your pale red-gold hair.' He smiled encouragingly, then continued. 'The blood of Ashlin’s original family continued to flow through the veins of Ashlin’s de Montfort lords because of that alliance. You have serfs, do you not, my lady Eleanore? How many? '

'Seventy-three, and ten freedmen are part of the manor,' she answered the king softly.

'Have they ever rebelled against their lords?' the king inquired.

'Oh, no, my lord! Ashlin folk are peaceful folk,' Elf quickly reassured him.

'If called upon to defend Ashlin, would they?' he probed further.

'Of course! Ashlin folk have always been loyal to us,' she said.

'Loyal to us. To whom, my lady? To your family because they are related by blood to Ashlin’s original lords. And this is the reason you must wed. I cannot allow the continuity that Ashlin’s blood lords have to their land and to their serfs to be disrupted. It would but confuse your folk and make them resentful of a new lord, unless, of course, that lord was married to the de Montfort heiress. You, my lady Eleanore, are she. Your husband will be able to peacefully oversee the land and defend it for me, because the transition that is to be made from your late brother, Richard, may God assoil his good soul, will be made through you. You seem to be an intelligent girl, and so I am certain that you understand the importance of this transit from the de Montforts to the de Glandevilles.'

'Yes, my lord,' Elf said low.

'But yet you are resistant,' the king noted. 'Speak to me truthfully, my lady, and I will try to allay your fears.'

Elf moved closer to the king, still clutching his hand nervously. 'My lord, I do not know how to be a wife,' she whispered. 'Even if I were, in my heart, willing, I have been schooled to be a nun. I can read, and I can write. I speak French, English, and Latin. I have become in my short lifetime a skilled herbalist and infirmarian. I can chant plainsong. But, alas, I know nothing about keeping a house, or cooking, or preserving, or making jams, or any other of the valued skills of a good wife. I cannot play upon any instrument. Worst of all'-and here Elf blushed deeply-'I know naught of men or their desires. I would be a most dreadful wife, but I shall be a very good nun.'

The king listened gravely to the girl’s litany, then he said, 'All this may be true, my dear, but as you have learned how to be a good nun, I am certain there are those among your folk who will teach you how to be a good chatelaine. As for the rest, it has been my experience that a bridegroom enjoys schooling his bride in those other matters.'

'But, my lord,' Elf attempted to plead her case once more, but was interrupted by the bishop.

'My daughter, you have been told what you are to do. Now, cease your complaints, and tell the king you will obey him,' the Bishop of Worcester snapped angrily. This stubborn little chit was behaving far above her station.

Elf, however, was not about to admit defeat quite yet. There was a light of battle in her gray eyes; she opened her mouth to speak, only to be arrested by a look from the abbess. Elf’s mouth shut with an almost audible snap.

'My daughter,' Reverend Mother Eunice said, 'when you came to us, I believed it God’s will that you remain with us forever. However, it is now plain to me that God’s will for you has changed, and you must obey it, Eleanore de Montfort. You will be a wife, not a nun. You will give obedience and respect to this good knight who is to be your husband. Perhaps one day you will send us one of your daughters to join our ranks, and that will be God’s will. But if you continue to argue with both the king and the bishop, you will shame us, for it will be said that we do not properly bring up the girls sent to us. Surely you would not shame us, child.'

Elf sighed deeply, then she looked up at the king. 'I am not happy in my heart, my lord, but I will obey you,' she said reluctantly.

King Stephen patted the small white hand in his. 'Sometimes God’s will is difficult to both obey and understand, Eleanore de Montfort. Nonetheless obey we must, my dear. Do not fear. This is a good man to whom I have given you.' He turned his head briefly. 'Come to my side, Ranulf de Glandeville,' he called, and when the knight had joined them, the king put the girl’s little soft hand into the large hand of the knight. ' In my capacity as guardian of this maiden, Ranulf de Glandeville, I give her to you as a wife with all her goods and chattels. Will you treat her with love and respect, and defend her lands in my name?'

The big hand closed about her hand. It was warm, and there was strength in it. 'I will, my liege, as God is my witness,' the deep familiar voice said quietly.

Elf’s head snapped up, and for the first time since all this had begun, she looked at the man who was to be her husband. 'You!' she said. 'You are the knight who passed through Ashlin before my brother died. You carried Richard’s will to both the bishop and the king.'

'I am he, lady,' Ranulf de Glandeville answered.

'They will be wed tomorrow by the bishop, and in my presence,' the king said. 'My lady abbess, will you see that the lady Eleanore is suitably dressed for her wedding?'

'I would gladly, my lord, but alas, I have no coin with which to purchase proper garments,' the abbess replied, embarrassed.

'The bishop will supply you with all that is needed,' the king said, and then a twinkle arose in his blue eyes. 'Do not stint in your choices, lady. The bishop, I know, would want to be generous in this particular matter. He must perceive that it will please me to see the lady Eleanore of Ashlin prettily garbed.'

'Indeed, yes,' the bishop quickly agreed. 'Choose what you will for the bride, Reverend Mother.'

'My lord,' Elf said to the king. 'There are two small matters to address before you dismiss us. May I speak?' She gently disengaged her hand from that of Ranulf de Glandeville.