She got up suddenly and smoothed her wine-coloured kirtle with her hand. ‘If you don’t mind, I would like a little time in solitude. I won’t be long.’
‘Of course. If there’s anything I can do...?’
‘Thank you, but, no, you have done enough. Until later,’ she said, nodding curtly at him.
Hugh watched as his wife met her maid and quickly hurried away, cloaked under a plain cape with a hood pulled high across her head, similar to the one she had worn that night when he had followed her outside Tallany Castle. When she’d met The Fox.
She stopped and looked over her shoulder, as if making sure they weren’t being followed.
Solitude?
Hugh followed his wife and her maid out of the little village of Milnthorpe as she surreptitiously made her way down the narrow, cobbled path with buildings and dwellings on either side. He had been right to wait and allow Eleanor to expose herself rather than make glib accusations straight away.
Where the hell was she going?
After her talk earlier, about her loss, Hugh had wondered whether Eleanor’s friendship with Le Renard, or whatever their relationship was, had started after the loss of her family—or possibly during her turbulent marriage to Millais. Not that it made him feel any easier about it, but he could grudgingly understand it.
What he couldn’t understand or accept was that she would still risk everything now to see the outlaw.
With his frustration mounting he followed them down the winding pathway as it opened out into the beautiful rolling countryside.
They continued to make their way until they stopped by what looked like a small stone priory or convent, which must instead be part of St Michael’s beneficiary hospital. The monastic institution had been founded by Eleanor’s late father. Hugh knew this because the priest had earlier informed him about the good work the sisters at the infirmary did for the sick and the needy.
His wife and her maid went inside the gate and pulled the bell rope and were soon met by an elderly nun who hugged Eleanor, cupped her face and planted a motherly kiss on each of her cheeks.
Together they went inside the walled gardens and through the cloister, where the light danced through the arches and onto the stone floor. Hugh watched as they entered a large chamber with a dozen pallets arranged against the walls, where elderly men and women lay. With the clear lack of beds, some had resorted to lying on sackcloth on the floor.
The space was basic, but clean, with a hearth on the adjacent wall offering warmth whilst younger nuns milled around, tending to the needy with industrious efficiency.
Hugh stayed at a distance as Eleanor gave three leather pouches of alms to the nun, opening one wide enough for him to see it was filled with silver. No doubt the silver the outlaws had stolen from him!
Then, to Hugh’s surprise, she went to tend to every incapacitated person, with purpose—talking to them, holding their hands, even mopping their brows and smoothing down their hair. Her thoughtful kindness and compassion for these poor souls brought a lump to his throat and humbled him as he stood and watched from the doorway.
Hugh had thought the worst of his wife but he had been wrong. She was not bent on another assignation with Le Renard.
Not this time...
Eleanor lifted her head and caught his eye, frowning. She moved towards him, seemingly not too pleased to see him.
‘Hugh? What are you doing here?’
‘Ensuring that you enjoy your solitude in safety, my lady.’
Eleanor shot him an exasperated look. ‘That’s unnecessary. We’re not, as you said earlier, always bound together.’
‘No, you’re right, we’re not.’ He smiled wryly. How like Eleanor to throw his careless words back to him. ‘I will leave you now and meet you for our departure.’
‘Wait. Since you’re here now, why don’t you stay? You can see for yourself all the marvellous work they do here.’
‘Yes, I can...’
‘This place was founded by my father, in my mother’s memory. The whole building was erected for the purpose of looking after the elderly, the infirm and the destitute.’
Hugh looked around and nodded his approval. ‘It is a fine legacy, Eleanor, you should be proud.’
She screwed up her face in self-conscious embarrassment. ‘There’s only so much we can do—people travel from far and wide to come here. We don’t turn anyone away, but it’s not possible to help everyone in the kingdom. We’re only modestly sized, with limited means.’
He nodded at the room. ‘That is a difficulty—but I see that they have a very generous patron in you, Eleanor.’
‘Yes...’ She flushed uncomfortably. ‘Come, let me show you around.’
They walked back to the cloisters and then from one chamber to another as Hugh listened intently to Eleanor with his hands behind his back. He saw with astonishment the unique work being done and his wife’s quiet satisfaction in taking her role as diligent patron very seriously.
As they passed through all the nuns, as well as the sick and the poor, lifted their heads and turned to greet Eleanor with a smile or a nod of recognition. She was evidently much admired here—but then Hugh could see the reason for that himself.
‘It’s very impressive. Why didn’t you tell me about this place before?’
She shrugged as they stepped out into the cloisters once more. ‘I wasn’t sure whether you’d approve or not.’
He frowned. ‘Why wouldn’t anyone approve of this place?’
Eleanor continued to stroll, with Hugh by her side. ‘When Richard Millais found out about this place he wouldn’t allow me to continue my work here and immediately stopped the precious funds being used for its upkeep. It fell into disrepair for a number of years,’ she said, looking thoughtfully at the tranquil gardens in the centre of the cloisters that edged it. ‘But thankfully after his death I was able to resume everything, making it exactly
