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‘I did that but little good did I derive from it.’
‘Oh, poor, poor Edith.’
The sisters clung together and Edith said: ‘Have you forgotten, Mary, that when you go I shall be here alone?’
‘Oh, Edith, I do remember it. That will spoil my joy.’
‘You must not allow it to be spoilt. It is better for one of us to be happy than neither of us.’
She did not want her sister to know how desperate she felt. Mary’s going away, herself alone and Aunt Christina increasing the pressure on her to take the veil!
It was a dismal prospect.
* * * * *
How like that other occasion when Alan of Bretagne had come to Rumsey.
They were both summoned to the great hall there to receive the suitor.
I pray that he is not old and lascivious and that Mary will be happy with him, thought Edith.
Aunt Christina brought the visitors into the hall. There were several of them and one was quite handsome.
The Abbess was looking angry, but of course she would, for although she did not wish Mary to succeed her as Abbess she would have preferred her to take the veil rather than emerge on what she could only think of as a lustful life.
The handsome young man smiled. He had a worldly look about him which was engaging. If Alan of Bretagne had looked like that she would not have hesitated to choose him.
The Abbess said: ‘Here are the Princesses.’
They curtseyed; the men bowed. ‘The Princess Edith; the Princess Mary.’
The handsome young man was looking at Edith and smiling. Fortunate Mary! He had a certain charm about him.
‘The Count of Boulogne.’ said the Abbess presenting, not as Edith thought, the handsome young man, but another, much older man. Edith had scarcely noticed him. He took Mary’s hand and said: ‘I would speak with you.’
As before, the Abbess insisted that this could only be under her surveillance and as Edith had once sat in a window seat with Alan of Bretagne, so Mary would now sit with Eustace of Boulogne.
‘And the Earl of Surrey,’ said the Abbess, indicating the man who had roused Edith’s interest. He bowed and took Edith’s hand and led her to another window seat.
What could this mean? Rarely had Edith seen her aunt so angry.
‘I do not understand,’ she said.
‘I have the King’s consent to visit you,’ he replied.
‘Why so?’
‘If Eustace of Boulogne can visit the Princess Mary why should not William of Surrey visit the Princess Edith?’
‘But...’
‘Remember I come with the King’s blessing. Let me tell you who I am. My mother was Gundred, the youngest daughter of William the Conqueror. She married William Warren, Earl of Surrey. My parents are both dead, and my uncle, the King, has always been kind to me.’
‘I see, and he has sent you here to see me.’
‘You know for what purpose.’
‘The Abbess...’
‘Is a dragon. I see it. She was angry when she knew that I was here. She had been expecting only Eustace. My uncle had told me that she would not welcome me. The situation amused him. So he allowed me to come with Eustace.’
Edith smiled and checked herself.
‘I am glad to see you smile,’ he said. ‘It transforms you.’
‘There is little cause for smiling here.’
‘That is a pity.’
‘The King is not sure whether you have taken the veil.’
‘I have not.’
‘Then I have come in time.’
The Abbess watching Edith and William Warren together was seething with indignation. How like the evil King of England to play such a trick on her! When she had made up her mind that in a very short time Edith would take vows from which it would be impossible for her to retract, this man had come.
She rose, her face white and tense with suppressed fury. ‘I can allow no more time,’ she said. ‘I must ask you to leave.’
William Warren took Edith’s hand and pressed it.
‘I will come again,’ he whispered.
The Abbess conducted the visitors to the door.
Edith and Mary went to Edith’s cell.
‘Edith,’ cried Mary, as soon as they were there. ‘Is this not a miracle? You as well.’ She added wistfully: ‘The Earl of Surrey is charming, is he not? Of course he is so much younger than Eustace. But just think of it. We are going to be free.’
Edith was thinking of it.
It was another miracle. She was not entirely sure of her feelings for the young man. All she did know was that a way of escape had been offered to her.
* * * * *
She tossed on her straw, unable to sleep. Another opportunity. He was young and handsome; he was a grandson of the Conqueror. He was not repulsive to her and yet...
What was wrong with her? Mary had been so determined to accept Eustace that she had made no complaint although he was not the handsome young man she had hoped for. She was in a happy state of euphoria. The world had taken on a new beauty. Mary had become quite beautiful and her black robes looked more incongruous than ever.
And I, thought Edith, who had believed I was to be left here without her, that I would have to go on battling with
Aunt Christina, with the certainty that if I stayed here I must in time obey, have another chance.
She was not apprehensive but she felt no rapturous joy. Why should this be? What was wrong with her? William Warren was young, handsome, amiable. He had been courteous and she was being offered escape and yet she felt a vague depression.
She wanted to escape and yet...
What was it? Something she herself would not understand.
The Abbess came to her cell.
‘So this man has come. Yet another of them.’
Edith was silent.
‘The King may give his consent. If he does so it will not be easy to prevent a marriage. But if you declared your determination to take the veil...’
‘Nay,’ said Edith. ‘I will not take the veil.’
‘When I am dead you will be mistress of Wilton. Think of that. Here in this little world you would command all. You would be a ruler. Everyone here would obey you as they do me. If you marry this man, what will your life be? You will be submitted to indignities such as those I have warned you of. You will suffer painful childbearing, which is the lot of women who give way to the carnal desires of men. You still have a chance to escape it.’
‘I do not wish to take the veil.’
‘So you wish to marry this man. You have learned nothing. Have you forgotten your fears of Alan of Bretagne?’
‘The Earl of Surrey is not Alan of Bretagne.’
‘He is a man.’
‘I want time,’ said Edith, ‘time to think.’
A gleam of hope touched the stern features of the Abbess. So she had not been altogether seduced by the Earl’s good looks.
‘Then think of it,’ said the Abbess. ‘Think of what it means. Remember what will be expected of you. Remember that God once gave you a sign. He is testing you. Do not fail Him.’
When she had gone Edith lay thinking of her and she told herself then: ‘But of course I shall take him. It is just that because of what the Abbess has told me I am afraid. I could love him, I doubt not, in time. And marriage with him would mean escape from Wilton and Aunt Christina.’
* * * * *
The Abbess fell sick and was obliged to keep to her bed. It so happened that at this time the two suitors called once more at the Abbey. Christina was unaware that they had come and the two nuns who acted as her deputy, knowing that these men had the sanction of the King and that the object of Eustace of Boulogne was to decide whether he wished to ask for the hand of Mary, took them to the hall and the Princesses came down to see them.
There was a man in the party who had not visited the Abbey before; and it was his presence which wrought a subtle change. He was older than the Earl of Surrey by some ten years and it was apparent from the first that both the suitors were in awe of him.
There was an air of authority about him. His black hair parted in the centre and worn long in the fashion of the day fell about his shoulders in luxuriant curls, but there was nothing effeminate about him. His eyes flashed imperiously; his mouth was sensual but it could be suddenly hard and cruel. Christina’s trembling deputies knew that they were in the presence of an important personage, and as soon as Eustace demanded that the Princesses be sent for they were brought.