Free Justice for the Damned by Priscilla Royal Page A

know the cause of their disagreement, but it
must have been a petty thing. Sayer is a sweet lad."
    Eleanor
hesitated, feeling her fatigue. Her usual quickness of mind was another
casualty of her illness, and the moment to pursue any more questions under the
guise of innocence passed. Taking a deep breath of regret, she continued.
"You have been quite brave in this matter. Were you out walking with your
mother and affianced.
    The
girl covered her face and moaned with renewed anguish.
    Anne
and Eleanor stared at each other. What had Eleanor said to expose even greater
grief? Had Brother Thomas failed to tell them something?
    "Please
forgive me," the prioress begged, clasping the girl to her for comforting.
    After
a few minutes, Alys calmed. "You said nothing amiss, Sister. I sorrow most
for my uncle's death and hope God will have mercy on his blemished soul. I pray
as well that my mother, whose husband died most recently, may find ease. Yet I
have a secret grief as well."
    Anne
stepped away so they could speak privately.
    "I
will keep your tale in confidence," Eleanor said.
    "My
mother wants me to marry a man I hate!" she burst out. "I confess
that my feelings may do him some injustice. Were my heart not joined with that
of another, I might feel..." Giving up the struggle to find a word, she
went on. "I can view no other man with joy. If I did not say so, I would
not be truthful."
    Eleanor
liked the young woman for that. Her blunt speech reminded the prioress of
Gytha, her maid at Tyndal and a woman not much different in age. "Will you
join us?" She gestured toward the gardens where she knew she could sit.
    Alys
agreed, her face slowly regaining its natural rosy color.
    The
trio set off along a path, the stones worn deep by the rough elements and soft
shoes of many nuns over even more centuries. With silent discretion, Anne
dropped back to examine a yellow-flowered Planta Genista, the Broom plant
doubtless placed in the garden to honor the current king's grandfather who had
rededicated the priory to the Order of Fontevraud.
    Eleanor
drew Alys into a corner of the garden, bounded by a trinity of ancient yews.
"A woman has the legal right to refuse a husband, for cert, but our
parents often see things with more wisdom than we do," she said. "Do
not misunderstand. I have not chosen to ignore your grief, but you seem a
sensible woman. I would hear why you have concluded that your heart is wiser
than your mother."
    "I
long to do as commanded, Sister, but I fear I am much confused. I do not understand
why my parents decided Master Herbert must be the only choice. He is older,
although not without favor, and dresses well, which speaks of wealth. I can see
the merit in that. My father, before he died, had apparently found in him a
proper match for me."
    Eleanor
laid a sympathetic hand on Alys' arm.
    Gaining
solace from the supportive touch, the young woman continued. "My Bernard
is the son of a glover in the village, one who had an established business when
he died last year..."
    "..
.a man closer to your age who has not yet acquired much or any wealth?"
The failure to add the word profitable had not escaped Eleanor's notice.
    "But
one who will in due course! Of that I am confident. If my parents had found him
so unacceptable as a husband, why was he never discouraged, even barred from
coming to court me? Surely our blushes must have spoken the truth of our desire
to marry. We did nothing to hide our feelings. We had no cause. Yet, after my
father's death, my mother became obsessed with this vintner and now claims
Bernard is unsuitable!"
    "Did
your father never speak of this arrangement to you?"
    "No."
    The
prioress noted with curiosity that the girl's eyes remained quite dry when she
spoke of this recently deceased father. "Was his death sudden?" she
asked softly. "Perhaps he did not have time..."
    Alys
turned away from Eleanor. "He and I spoke together as little as possible.
What he wished to convey to me, he usually did through my