To Love Again - Bertrice Small [186]
“But I do not think I want a husband,” Aelfa said nervously. “Perhaps I already have a husband, my lord. What if that is so?”
“Is it, Aelfa? Do you have a husband?” He pierced her with a sharp look. “Perhaps you have run away from a husband who caught you with a lover and then beat you for your faithlessness.”
“I cannot remember, my lord,” she stubbornly insisted.
“Then,” Wulf said, smiling benignly, “I think it best we find you a good man and resettle you, maiden. Is it agreed?”
For a very long moment Aelfa was silent, and then finally she said, “Yes, my lord, but could you not marry me yourself?”
“One wife is more than enough for me,” he replied with a chuckle. “Eh, lambkin?” He swept a loving look at Cailin by his side.
“You will never need another,” she said quietly.
When Nellwyn learned of the other girl’s fate, she complained to her mistress, “Why is it that Aelfa is to have a husband and I am not? Have I not served you well, my lady?”
“More than well, Nellwyn,” Cailin assured her. “You may have a husband whenever you choose him, unless, of course, you would prefer that my lord and I select a good man for you. Aelfa is alone in the world and needs our aid; but you, Nellwyn, have always had me, and whatever you desire within reason I will give you for your faithful service.”
“When Aelfa first came,” Nellwyn told her mistress, “I thought her nice, but she is not, my lady. She teases the men to distraction.”
“I know,” Cailin replied. “That is why I suggested to my lord that he find her a husband—in Orrford, if possible.”
“Orrford?” Nellwyn giggled. “It is far, my lady, and not very big, and there are so many cows. More than people, I think.”
“Indeed?” Cailin said, a single eyebrow cocked.
“She will have to work very hard,” Nellwyn continued. “Life is harsh is Orrford, and once she is married, she cannot flirt with others.”
“No,” Cailin answered solemnly. “Husbands will take umbrage if a wife flirts with other men, Nellwyn. Aelfa will have to become a very good and most proper wife, won’t she?” She grinned at her servant.
Nellwyn giggled. “I do not think Aelfa will like either that or Orrford, my lady. She pretends to be meek and modest before you and my lord, but her tongue is sharp, and sometimes foul. She is not, I think, what she pretends to be, yet never has she spoken to me of her past. She does not even talk in her sleep, for I have listened.”
“Soon Aelfa will not be our worry any longer,” Cailin said soothingly to Nellwyn. “By summer’s end she will be gone from us to a husband.”
“Good riddance!” Nellwyn said feelingly. “I shall not be sorry to see the back of that one, my lady.”
Cailin suddenly had a flash of intuition. “Is it Albert or Bran-hard you favor, Nellwyn, my lass?” she asked the girl.
Nellwyn blushed to the roots of her yellow hair. “Ohh, my lady! How did you know? ‘Tis Albert, the fool, but he cannot see me for his eyes are too full of Aelfa, though she toys with him, first favoring him and then Bran-hard. Both are confused by her wicked behavior, but ’tis Albert I love.”
“He will have forgotten her by Samain, I promise,” Cailin said to the girl. “Then we will see if he favors a marriage with you.”
Nellwyn’s blue eyes filled with tears. “Oh, my lady, thank you! I would make Albert a good wife. I would. The fool!”
Yes, Cailin thought after her revealing discussion with Nellwyn, the sooner Aelfa was gone from Cadda-wic, the better. Still her conscience nagged at her. Was she being fair, foisting the wench off on some poor unsuspecting young man? Wulf, however, was fully aware of Aelfa’s shortcomings. He would choose the right man. It would be up to the bridegroom to correct Aelfa’s behavior. Cailin hoped he would be strong enough.
Wulf had been gone for over a week when Aelfa disappeared one afternoon. “Has she run away, perhaps?” Cailin wondered aloud.
Aelfa, however, reappeared before the gates were closed that evening. When questioned about her whereabouts, she claimed to have been out berrying.
“You brought no berries back,” Cailin noted sharply.
“I could find none, my