Free Margo Maguire by The Perfect Seduction

nurse.”
    Edric said no more, but resumed his walktoward the church. The steward glowered at Kathryn before turning away, and she pressed her lips to the bairn’s head. “Aidan,” she whispered. “’Tis a fine name you’ve been given.”
    She felt a quickening in her heart as she watched the proprietary manner in which the Saxon lord led the procession to church, and thought of what he must feel as he carried his dead wife to her burial. Cecily had borne Edric’s child, but thinking of the intimacies they must have shared as husband and wife gave Kathryn an odd, unsettling feeling.
    Moving closer to Lora as they walked, she let her eyes wander. They passed cottages that were surprisingly quiet. There were no pigs rooting in the dirt, and few chickens pecking at the ground. People were scarce as well, with only a few of the villagers joining the procession to the church.
    Much of the village was enclosed by an unfinished wall of timber and stone, though she’d seen a good number of cottages outside. Cecily’s procession passed shops—the chandler’s, a blacksmith’s forge, a glazier’s, the shoemaker, and many more—but all were quiet due to the somber occasion. It occurred to Kathryn that mayhap the inactivity of the village was partly related to the state of Braxton’s lands.
    The malevolent little priest met them at thechurch door and led them inside. The old Norman woman in black was already there, weeping loudly as she sat upon a bench at the back of the church. Her sorrow touched Kathryn, especially since there seemed to be no one here to comfort her.
    “Lora, will you hold Aidan?” Turning the bairn over to Lora, she made her way to the back of the church. She took a seat beside the old woman and spoke to her soothingly, hoping to console her.
    Cecily’s nursemaid turned into her arms, and Kathryn patted her back as she wept, calming her and assuring her that Cecily’s soul was surely in heaven now.
    The men stayed close to the bier all through the Mass. Edric’s attention stayed fully focused on the ritual, while Kathryn’s gaze was torn between watching Aidan sleep in Lora’s arms, and Edric, kneeling with his head bowed in piety and sorrow.
    Kathryn looked away from his powerful physique, and offered prayers for Cecily’s soul, for Lord Bryce’s recovery, and for poor Berta, even as she prayed for her own flight from Braxton. She had to speak to Drogan soon, before she fell completely in love with the lord’s tiny son.
    Or worse, with his father.
     
    Edric felt tense and restless when they returned to the hall for Cecily’s wake. He could not mourn the woman who had made his life a misery these past months, but she’d been his wife, had borne his child, and had died in the process.
    What he felt was certainly not affection, nor was it grief. ’Twas more like regret for what had never been, what could never be. Cecily had been a beautiful woman, and he’d wanted her fiercely in the first few days of their marriage. He’d quickly learned that in all the ways that mattered, she was as cold and uncaring as a fish swimming in one of Braxton’s many lakes. Still, ’twas not every day a man lost his wife.
    Oswin’s voice drew him from his reverie. “Care must be taken with the ale, my lord.” He joined Edric, who stood alone near the fireplace in the great hall. “Our stores are not what they should be.”
    “See to it, then,” Edric said, although he did not anticipate much toasting of Cecily’s grand life. She had insulted or alienated everyone she’d touched here at Braxton.
    ’Twas not to say that the hall was empty, either. The men of his fyrd and many of the villagers had come to pay respects. Though they had little affection for Lady Cecily, they had respect for Edric and for the son who would be eorl after him,providing Edric managed to continue holding his estate from the Norman king. That could easily change, depending upon William’s whim.
    “They come for what food you