'Yes, it does. What used you to do?
Catrin sighed. 'We used to lie beneath the covers, wrapped in each other's arms, while the wind howled like a wolf. There was nothing but us and the winter storm… nothing. Her throat tightened and she swallowed.
'With us it was the summer, on a cloak beneath a night thick with stars, he murmured.
They looked at each other. 'Lord, what fools, he said with a down-turned smile and a shake of his head. Without any purpose, he picked up one of the tafel pieces and turned it round in his fingers.
'I know that it is Emma in the summer mural in the Earl's chamber, she ventured cautiously. 'Richard told me. She must have been very pretty.
'She was. His expression was distant with remembering. 'I was offered the pick between Emma and Amice. Both had similar dowries and status. My family thought that I would choose Amice because she was as lovely as a ripe peach, but she held no appeal for me. I had grown up with a brother and parents all large and fair-haired. I craved difference, not more of the same. He set the tafel piece gently down. 'She was dark and fey, gentle and shy as a doe, with a way of looking at me that made me feel like the king of the world. When she died, I became a beggar.
'I know, Catrin murmured. 'It was the same for me when I lost Lewis.
Once more their eyes met and held. He started to speak, but Catrin had heard no more than: 'I still have my begging bowl, but I no longer need— when Ethel appeared at their side. Her cloak sparkled with water droplets and her ankle boots were splashed with greenish muck from the quagmire of the bailey. She was leaning heavily on a stick of carved hickory wood.
'I've to interrupt your gaming, she said, the hint of a wheeze in her voice. 'Lora the soap-maker's wife is in travail and we're needed. She touched Catrin's shoulder. 'Should be an easy birth. 'Tis her first, but she's broader in the beam than an abbot's barn. I've left everything ready by my hearth. We can pick it up as we leave.
Catrin nodded and lifted her cloak off the bench. Another gift from the Countess, it was fashioned of grey wool with a fleece lining. It insulated her excellently against the cold, and it was so thick that it took a long time for rain to penetrate. There was no hood, but Catrin had bought one of those for herself from the market place. It was a perky, bright brown with a border of scarlet and yellow braid. She pulled it on now, over her wimple.
Ethel turned away, already limping towards the door. 'Make haste, she said over her shoulder.
Oliver pushed the pieces aside. 'Do you want an escort?
Ethel paused and shook her head. 'No, they've sent the journeyman and the apprentice to fetch us. She turned fully and looked at him, the seams around her black eyes deepening. 'We'll be home 'afore cock-crow, whole, hearty and rich.
'I hope so, Oliver said woodenly.
'Folk know better than to interfere with a midwife about her lawful business. 'Tis as deep as an unspoken curse. At dawn, you come to my fire and I'll give you fresh oatcakes to break your fast. She gave him a nod of supreme confidence and went on her way.
'She's right, you know, Catrin said, and lightly touched his arm. 'Our trade endangers us, but equally it protects us.
'Just have a care. He gave her a dark look from beneath his brows.
'We always do. She tightened her grip on his sleeve for an instant, then hastened after Ethel, her midwife's satchel bouncing at her side.
'They're gaining a reputation as the best midwives this side of the Avon, and not without cause, said Geoffrey FitzMar, who had also watched the women leave the hall. He sat on the bench that Catrin had vacated, and rearranged the tafel pieces. 'I know for sure that they saved my son's life. Do you want another game?
Oliver could hardly refuse. Besides, it was probably better than nursing his worries alone with a flagon. He gestured assent.
'You must be proud of them.
'Hah, I have small say in the matter! Oliver declared somewhat bitterly.
FitzMar looked puzzled. 'I thought they were beholden to you.
Oliver opened his mouth to tell FitzMar about Ethel in precise detail, but thought the better of it before the words emerged. She frequently enraged and exasperated him, but beneath her tough exterior was an ailing and vulnerable old woman. And as to Catrin… He thought of her frowning in concentration over her next move on the tafel board because she was determined he would not defeat her. He remembered how she had squeezed his arm. 'Be that as it may, he said, 'they go their own way, and yes, I am proud of them — your move.
As Ethel had predicted, the birth of Lora's baby was simple and straightforward. The infant, a son, was large and yelled lustily the moment he emerged into the air. Lora neither tore as she pushed him out, nor bled more than a trickle, and the afterbirth emerged smooth and whole within moments of the infant's delivery.
The ecstatic father paid the midwives twice the agreed fee of a shilling each, presenting them with twenty- four silver pennies apiece. He also gave them both a jar of soap. It was not the usual grey, strong-smelling liquid used for washing linen, but was thicker, flecked with green and delicately scented with lavender and rosemary. This was a much rarer and more costly soap for washing of the person, and increased their wages twofold again.
Their thanks were waved away with a declaration that it was no more than their due, and after a warming drink of spiced mead they set out for the keep, escorted by the two manservants and in high good spirits.
They passed the church of Saint Mary and took the lane that ran through the butchers' Shambles, the crowded wattle and daub houses to their left and the Avon gleaming on their right. Fishing craft and rowing boats were moored up for the night. There were piles of nets and twists of rope, the plash of starlit water and the heavy smell of the river.
'What I would like to do, Catrin announced, touching the outline of the soap jar in her satchel, 'is to immerse myself in a steaming hot tub, and perfume my skin all over.
'Hah! Ethel wheezed. 'If you did it in this weather, my girl, you'd freeze your nipples off!
The men escorting them snorted with laughter. Catrin put her nose in the air. 'It was only a wish, she said, feeling foolish.
'Aye, well, you'd do better to sell it and buy yourself an
extra chemise for when the snow comes. 'Tis what I'm going to do. Ethel looked at her slyly. 'But then I don't have a man to impress, do I?
Before Catrin could find a suitably withering retort, there was a shout behind them, and they turned to see a thin, middle-aged woman in threadbare garments crying at them to stop.
'Are you the two midwives from the castle? she demanded as she ran up to them. Her breath crowed in her throat and her eyes were wild. A lantern guttered in her hand. 'Someone said they had seen you pass.
'We are. Ethel leaned on her stick and appraised the woman shrewdly.
'Then praise God. Come swiftly, I beg you, it's my daughter. She gestured over her shoulder to the maze of lanes and alleys in the darkness of the Shambles. 'I can't stop the bleeding, I don't know what to do!
'All right, calm yourself, mistress, we'll come, Ethel said, and waved her hand at the two men. 'Best return to your master. I do not know how long we will be.
The woman led them into the dark thoroughfares of the Shambles. Despite the straw that had been thrown down to make walking easier, mud still splashed their clothing and seeped through the stitches in their shoes. Behind the fairly prosperous houses that fronted the street were others which were not as well kept — mean dwellings with scarcely room for a meagre central hearth. Ethel could spare no breath to ask questions as they walked, and so it was left to Catrin to interrogate and discover that they were being called to attend not a birth, but a miscarriage.
'Four months she's been carrying, the woman said. 'My first grandchild. I'm not saying as we wanted the babe, but once she caught, we never tried to get rid of it.
'Husband? Catrin queried.
'Hasn't got one. Father could be one of several.
By which Catrin understood that they were being taken to see one of the town whores who had got herself into difficulties. It never occurred to her to baulk. Having served Amice and having seen the lot of women who were forced to sell their bodies to earn a crust, her censure was reserved for the men who used and misused them.
'If I ever catch the bastard who did this to her, said the mother, 'I will geld him with my own two hands and
