In all of this Josselin de Combourg's loyalty to his lord and his lady was not forgotten. He had gained the valued friendship of them both, and it was that which had brought him to Aelfleah. William knew that he might count upon Josselin de Combourg to keep the peace in this little corner of England, and to raise up a castle that would help to insure that peace.

Mairin led him back downstairs, showing him the b.u.t.tery, the pantry, and the kitchens. He was extremely impressed by the covered portico that separated the main house from the kitchens, by the kitchen garden that lay to one side of it, and the herb garden that lay to the other side. The household well was in a corner by the kitchen and safe within the walls where it could not be poisoned by an enemy. It was a shame that he could not incorporate the manor house into the castle, but the castle would have to be located upon the crest of the hill where it could look down into Wales.

"How is it," he asked Mairin as they returned to the hall, "that a Saxon girl speaks fluent and accentless Norman French?"

She looked up at him, and he saw that her eyes were a wonderful violet color. "I am not Saxon-born although I have been raised as one, my lord. My father was a Breton, my mother Irish. When I was orphaned Aldwine Athelsbeorn and his wife took me as their own child."

"Then you are not really his daughter?"

"I was formally adopted by my Saxon father, and formally recognized as his heiress should there be no male heirs of his blood, my lord. King Edward did this for my father in return for a favor. That is why my father went to Constantinople several years ago as the head of the king's trade delegation. It was the price the king requested in return for agreeing to my adoption. I am, according to Saxon law, the daughter of Aldwine Athelsbeorn and his wife, Eada. My claim to Aelfleah is quite legitimate. I speak not only Norman French, but Breton, Latin, Greek, and of course English. I can read and I can write. I am knowledgeable in mathematics, logic, history, geography, and philosophy. My mother says an educated woman is anathema to a man, but both my father and my husband encouraged my learning."

"You are married?" Josselin asked. Of course she was! She was far too beautiful not to be.

"I was," she said quietly, and for a moment a shadow pa.s.sed over her features. "My husband is dead."

"Did he die like your brother and father fighting the Norwegians, or was he with Harold G.o.dwinson at Hastings?" he queried her, seeking knowledge of this man who had loved her.

"Basil was a prince of Byzantium, my lord. He died in Constantinople at the hand of an a.s.sa.s.sin. The taking of his life was a needless waste for he was a good man."

"Forgive me, Mairin Aldwinesdotter. I did not mean to cause you pain by bringing up unhappy memories."

"Excepting his death, my lord, the memories I have of my husband are happy ones."

"You had no children?"

"We had only been married a few months when he was struck down," she answered. "That is why I returned home to England with my parents. There was nothing left for me in Constantinople once Basil was gone. Now you would take my home from me, but I am not some meek creature who will sit quietly by and let that happen, my lord." Her look was a bold and defiant one.

Josselin couldn't help but chuckle. He quickly saw that his reaction to her words annoyed her greatly. She was not a tiny woman like the d.u.c.h.ess Matilda, but neither was she big. She was rather of medium height, and fine-boned, which gave her a delicate look. Still he towered over her, being very long like his father, and having a medium frame. This lankiness coupled with a youthful face that belied his thirty years had been of great advantage to him in the past for it had given him the appearance of a half-grown youth which was why he had been so successful in his endeavors for William. Those who did not know him thought him a mere boy. They were therefore less careful in their speech. He was relieved that in the last few years his face had gained some maturity, but even now he thought that had he an older visage, Mairin would not be defying him.

In the weeks that followed Mairin could not fault Josselin's courteous behavior. It did not, however, stop Mairin from reminding him at every turn that Aelfleah was hers. To Eada he was gentle and kind, which caused her to remark to her daughter, "It is fortunate you are not married to that good knight, Mairin. If you were he would beat you black and blue for your wicked tongue. I am not certain that I should not encourage him myself in such an undertaking."

"I say nothing that is not truth, mother."

"Nonetheless he is in a difficult position, and you are making it no easier for him."

"I simply do not wish him to become too attached to Aelfleah since it will never be his," was the proud reply.

"Be careful, Mairin, that you do not say something that you will one day regret," Eada warned. Then she went about preparing the clothing that they would take to London when King William was crowned.

Josselin de Combourg had brought with him to Aelfleah an engineer. Master Gilleet of Rouen would oversee the actual building of the castle. It would be a costly endeavor and the bulk of the expense would be borne by Josselin de Combourg himself. Once the king confirmed his ownership of Aelfleah manor and its lands, Josselin would have the right to tax the inhabitants within his domain to help pay for the castle. But for now it was fortunate that the knight was a rich man.

His beautiful mother, Eve Drapier, had been her father's only surviving child. It was expected that she would make a very good marriage, being her father's heiress. Reluctant to lose his child to another man, her indulgent father delayed his choice of a son-in-law. It was then the Comte de Combourg had seen her, and fallen desperately in love with her, an emotion that Eve Drapier reciprocated with equal pa.s.sion.

After that there had been no more talk of marriage, for Eve's father had been wise enough to understand his daughter's heart. Besides, her new status reflected upon him. It was no crime that the beauteous Eve was the comte's mistress, and the mother of his eldest, albeit illegitimate son. When the cloth merchant had died he had left all of his wealth to his only grandson, knowing that to advance himself in life the boy would need gold to help him overcome the slight stigma of his n.o.ble illegitimacy.

Since only a rich man could afford to bear the expense of building a king's castle, the man who held such a castle commanded great power. Particularly if like Josselin de Combourg his loyalty was total and unquestioned. That he had been chosen for this task was a great honor for the king had friends of unquestioned birth in greater families who were themselves great n.o.blemen. Josselin de Combourg was but a simple knight in rank. Few, however, were jealous of the young Breton for he had always been careful not to make enemies. He was considered, despite his birth, a part of the king's inner circle.

The king, too, had been careful. The castle to be raised would not be large, nor was a town to be built with it. It would be little more than a border keep. There would be no jealousy among the king's friends over this gift. Possibly in the future Josselin might find himself enn.o.bled should he again render valuable service to his liege. For now, however, he remained a simple knight whose task was to build a castle.

It was much too late in the year to begin the actual construction of the castle. The site would be chosen, and the buildings raised to house the workers who would be coming to Aelfleah in the springtime. Josselin asked Mairin to ride with him and Master Gilleet that he might familiarize himself with the land, and decide upon the right location.

"Why must you build at Aelfleah?" demanded Mairin irritably. "The Welsh have never bothered us."

"You cannot count upon the fact that in the past you have escaped their detection, my lady Mairin. The king is asking that castles be raised in several spots along the border."

"You will draw them right to us," Mairin grumbled. "Logic dictates that the castle be placed upon the heights. There it will sit like a wart upon a nose. A beacon drawing every Welsh outlaw and raider right to Aelfleah! Why do you think this manor is so prosperous? It is because few know we are here."

"I cannot put the castle in the valley," he said.

"I am aware of that!" she snapped at him. "I wish you didn't have to put a castle anywhere upon my lands."

"Lady, given the choice, I should far rather be a lover than a warrior," he teased her.

The engineer accompanying them chuckled.

"I have seen evidence of neither a lover nor a warrior, my lord," she snipped, and he burst out laughing.

"Which skill do you prefer I demonstrate first?" he chortled as she blushed fiery red.

"Ohh, you are insufferable!" she fumed, kicking her horse into a canter to escape his laughter. She was uncomfortably aware of his masculinity. Admittedly he was an attractive man although he had not the elegant beauty of Basil, nor the handsome prettiness of Eric Longsword. Rather Josselin de Combourg's face gave the impression of severity. Still when he smiled the precise features softened.

He had a long yet roundish face that matched his long body. His tawny dark blond hair was cropped short close to his head, and cut in a bang that only partly covered his wide, high forehead. His nose was big, the nostrils flaring just slightly at the base above the full lips that ran practically the width of his squared and sharply sculpted jaw. His eyes glinted a green-gold from beneath thick brows and heavy eyelids giving the mistaken impression that he was contemplating sleep when he was, in fact, always alert. He was, she decided, a dangerous man.

Catching up with her he apologized. "I should not tease you, my lady, not when our situation is so confusing. Yet I find I enjoy it. I cannot believe you have not been teased before by a man who was as totally enchanted by your beauty as I am. Can we not be friends? I do not believe us enemies."

"I am not certain what we should be to each other, my lord," she said, turning to look directly at him. "My experience has been somewhat limited where men are concerned. I was half-child, half-woman when I arrived in Byzantium and attracted the attention of my husband. I had never had a suitor until Basil. The only men I have ever known well have been relatives or Dagda, who is like my family to me. I have always been sheltered by the men in my life. My Breton father oversaw the years of my early childhood. When he died, Dagda, who had been my mother's servant, looked after me. Then came my adoptive father, and my husband. Now once again Dagda sees to my safety.

"In Constantinople Basil did not allow me to be part of the court for he considered it corrupt, and felt it would spoil me. I have lived all my life surrounded by those who would shelter me from a world I have never had the opportunity to really know. The only thing I am able to judge you by, my lord, is your motives, which seem to be to take my lands from me. Without my lands I am worthless. Even a serf has more value than a landless n.o.blewoman. Each of us claims Aelfleah. Should this not make us enemies, my lord?"

"No, no," he protested, realizing suddenly the one thing he did not want was her enmity. "The king is fair, and he is just, my lady. When he learns of your existence, and of your status as your father's heiress, he will surely compensate you for Aelfleah. You will not be worthless!"

"My lord, I do not wish to be compensated for the loss of my home. I wish to keep it," she answered him. Though her words were serious her voice was gentle. Then she laughed, almost ruefully. "You and I shall not settle this matter between us, my lord. Neither of us wishes to give up what we rightfully consider ours. Let the king who has unwittingly placed us both in this quandary settle the matter."

"And if he gives Aelfleah to me?" he inquired mischievously.

"He won't," she said with infuriating certainty.

"And in the meantime," he asked her, "shall we be friends?"

"Yes," she answered unhesitantly, "and Master Gilleet shall continue to plan for the king's keep. It matters not, my lord, whether you or I build it. I know now it must be raised to help keep the king's peace."

He smiled at her words. "It requires a great deal of gold to build a castle, my lady Mairin. I was chosen because I am a wealthy man."

"I am a wealthy woman," she answered him airily. "Remember, Josselin de Combourg, I am the widow of a prince of Byzantium. My jewelry alone could have financed your king's war with Harold G.o.dwinson."

"Do not boast so, lady," he cautioned her.

"Do you not believe me? You have but to ask my mother."

"I do not believe you capable of lying, my lady Mairin. If your wealth is as vast as you believe it you must take care. There are those who would desire your wealth more than yourself. You could easily become prey to some unscrupulous knight and so you must be discreet. The happiness you knew with your prince was brief. The unhappiness you might face with the wrong man could be endless."

"Would that make you unhappy?" she heard herself asking him.

Reaching out he drew her horse to a stop beside his. "Yes," he said quietly. "To see you possessed by another man would make me very unhappy." It was in that moment he knew that he wanted her more than he wanted Aelfleah. Or her fortune. Or even the king's favor.

Mairin, her eyes widening slightly with this unexpected revelation, knew it too. "My lord," she whispered half-afraid, "what is this that is happening between us?"

"I do not know," he said honestly. "You are surely an enchantress, Mairin of Aelfleah, to have so quickly captured my heart." Reaching out he took her hand, and raising it to his lips, kissed it.

His mouth was like a burning brand upon her cool skin. The heat coming through the soft kid of her riding gloves. She felt as if her heart had caught within her throat, and for the longest moment she thought her bones were melting. She even believed she might fall from her mount's back, and disgrace herself. Yanking her hand from his grasp she said, "I cannot think when you do that, my lord!"

"Josselin," he answered her hoa.r.s.ely. "My name is Josselin, enchantress. Say it!"

Mairin gathered her reins back into her hands, and gently nudged Thunderer forward again. "Josselin, we are almost at the crest of the hill. I believe I know a perfect site there for the king's keep. Do not look at me that way! Master Gilleet is almost upon us now. Would you have him gossip?"

"Tonight, enchantress mine," he warned her. "You will not escape me so easily again. I vow it!" His heart was beating erratically within his chest and he was uncertain he could even breathe when she looked at him with those huge velvet eyes of hers. Witchcraft! It had to be witchcraft, for when else had he been so suddenly affected by a woman?

The engineer joined them. Together they rode to the top of the hill, where Mairin pointed out a large, almost square piece of land that was surfaced in solid rock.

Master Gilleet was delighted, for a castle built upon a foundation of solid rock would never fall. "We will allow the walls to follow the slightly irregular shape of our foundation," he said, extremely pleased as he walked about making mental measurements. "Your serfs can spend the winter building housing up here for the workers. With any luck by March we shall be able to begin the digging for the walls, my lord. Look to the west! The view is un.o.bstructed for miles in all directions. This will be an important castle despite its small size."

They smiled at his enthusiasm, their eyes meeting over his head. When the engineer was satisfied with his inspection of the site he remounted his horse. Turning their horses once more toward Aelfleah they began the descent into the valley. A wind had sprung up, and the sun was beginning to slip behind the horizon as they reached the manor house.

"The day was so fair that I forgot it is December," said Mairin, dismounting her animal to hurry swiftly into the building. Standing before the blazing fireplace in the hall she pulled off her gloves and held out her hands to the warmth.

"With you every day would be fair," he said quietly coming up behind her to place his hands upon her shoulders and draw her back against him. "The day I arrived at Aelfleah I saw you coming from the woods with a group of young girls. I thought that you were the loveliest creature I had ever seen." He brushed his lips against the crown of her head, savoring the soft texture of her hair against his lips, inhaling the haunting fragrance of her in his nostrils. His arms slipped down to encircle her narrow waist, to bring her even closer against him. "I thought to myself that if you were a serf I should have you in my bed that very night," he finished with brutal honesty.

She stiffened at his words, and attempted to pull away from him. "But I am not a serf, Josselin."

He maintained his firm grasp on her, and she thought she heard humor in his voice as he said, "No, you are not a serf, Mairin. You are the heiress to Aelfleah, and I find to my own amazement that I have fallen in love with you. I have made love to women, but I have never loved one."

"Do you not love your mother?" she said infuriatingly.

"That is different," he said. "You know it is!"

"How?" she demanded, feeling incredibly elated by his words. This is what she had been waiting for all her life, and until this moment she had not realized it! Still she would follow the advice he himself had earlier given her. Could love really happen this quickly? How could she be certain? She must be wary.

"How?" He echoed her question. "I am not certain that I can explain. I want to be with you. Not just today. I want to be with you always. I want your children to be our children. I would grow old with you," he finished desperately, wondering if she understood him.

"Not too quickly, I hope," she gently mocked him.

He turned her so that they faced one another. "I have never before opened my heart to a woman," he said quietly.

"Basil loved me for my beauty," she said seriously. "He adored perfection and in Byzantium my type of beauty was unique. He was not unkind to me. I believe I loved him in my naivete. You, I think, love me for my lands, my lord. No, do not be distressed," she said, putting a gentle hand upon his arm. "My innocence was lost these many months past. I am no longer certain that I believe in the kind of love that is yet sung by the bards in the halls on long winter nights." She sighed deeply. "Perhaps it is better I do not believe in love. Then I cannot be disappointed, can I?"

"Do you say then that I lie, Mairin?" She could hear the hurt in his voice.

"Nay, Josselin. I believe that you believe you love me."

"But you do not."

"I cannot help but wonder how great this love of yours for me would be if I were not the heiress to Aelfleah."

He nodded slowly. He could understand her dilemma. In his heart he knew that he had loved her from the first moment he had seen her. "I am not certain how to prove my love for you, Mairin, but I will try."

"Kiss me," she said, and when he looked startled, as if he had not heard her correctly, she laughed and repeated, "Kiss me!"

He needed no further urging and dipped his tawny head to meet her luscious mouth with his own. To Mairin's great surprise the touch of his cool lips upon her sent her senses reeling. His mouth was hard, and instinctively her mouth softened and opened slightly beneath his. Her arms moved up, and about his neck as she pressed herself against him. They kissed for what seemed like an interminable time. Then she broke off their embrace, and throwing back her head, said, "There is an obvious solution to this problem, Josselin. You could marry me. I am not so great a fool that I do not realize I must have another husband. Depending upon the viewpoint, we each have a legitimate claim to this manor. Would not such a marriage settle everything between us?" She pulled his head back to hers and nibbled upon his lips a moment. "I have not the widest experience but I like the way you kiss. We could be content together."

She had totally surprised him. One moment she was so innocent and lacking in guile that he feared for her, and then suddenly she was all the wisdom that women had acc.u.mulated throughout the ages. He had often heard William proclaim the female of the species a deep and great puzzlement. Now faced with Mairin's outspokenness he wondered if any man ever truly understood a woman. She could chide him for loving her because she believed it was her lands he loved best, and with her next breath she was proposing marriage between them because she claimed to like the way he kissed her. How he wished he might marry her this very night! If she had enchanted him, he wanted to stay enchanted forever.

He was filled with joyous laughter, but mastering his emotions he said to her, "The king did not know of your existence when he awarded me the lands of Aelfleah, but I cannot marry you without his permission. He may wish to place both you and your lands in the hands of one of his great lords. I am but a humble knight, Mairin, the n.o.bility-born b.a.s.t.a.r.d of Raoul de Rohan, the Comte de Combourg."

"The Comte de Combourg? He was my father's dearest friend! You are his son?"

"His b.a.s.t.a.r.d," he repeated, wanting to be certain that she understood him.

"William of Normandy is b.a.s.t.a.r.d-born," she answered him with a wave of her hand. "My stepmother declared me a b.a.s.t.a.r.d though it was not true. It matters not to me, Josselin de Combourg, but to find that you are the son of my father's friend. I was only five and a half when my Breton father died, but I remember his best friend, Raoul de Rohan. He came to the Argoat twice each year to hunt with papa within our forest. When papa died my stepmother had the church declare that I was not true-born so that her daughter might inherit my lands. Then Dagda and I came to England. Aldwine Athelsbeorn saw me, and brought me home to his wife who was grieving the loss of their own daughter, Edyth. The rest you know. An heiress I may be, Josselin, but I have no great name either here in England or in Brittany. My lands are not so vast that a great lord might covet them. Surely the king will agree to our marriage. It is the perfect answer!"

"I cannot wed you without my lord's permission," he repeated.

"Yet you say you love me. Perhaps you really do, Josselin de Combourg. A greedy man would wed me and bed me before he next saw the king, and only then ask for royal permission. You seek my lands, but you refuse the easy solution."

"When the king first knighted me I could not decide upon a motto for my future family. Only recently have I made that decision. The words I will emblazon upon my shield will read, Honor Above All. I have tried all my life to live by those words. I cannot change now even for the love of you, Mairin of Aelfleah."

"I could not be happy with you, Josselin, if you did. Men like to believe that honor is something belonging only to them, but women, too, have their honor. When my stepmother sent me from my home she dishonored not only my father's name and memory, but my mother's name and memory as well. One day I will right that wrong."

"Have you proof that she testified falsely against you? If you do the king will see that your lands in Brittany are returned to you."

"I have the proof," she answered him. "I always did. But Dagda said we were safer leaving Brittany for my stepmother would not rest until my lands were her child's. Even if it meant committing murder. I have lived most of my life an Englishwoman and so I do not seek my father's lands, Josselin, because I have Aelfleah. Yet I do want to clear my mother's name."

All the while she had spoken she had stood within his embrace. Now he gently released her, and set her back so he might look into her face. His eyes gleamed with love. "You are everything I have always sought in a wife," he said, "and now I know why I have never loved another. To have loved any woman less than you would have rendered valueless the love I have for you. If it be necessary I will do battle for you. Only you will be my wife. I will have no other!"

Chapter 9.

William of Normandy had declared all along that he would be crowned in London on Christmas Day. He was not, however, able to enter the city of London itself until just a few days before his coronation. Hastings had not been an automatic entree to all of England, and there were yet strong pockets of resistance against William.

Josselin de Combourg and his party did not arrive in the great city until December 24th. Mairin told him of the small house located on the edge of the town owned by Aelfleah manor and they immediately realized how providential such a dwelling was for the city was filled with those who had come to see the new king crowned. Since housing was at a premium, they were fortunate the little house had not already been confiscated to shelter some Norman lord. They found William at the archbishop of York's London residence.

"Ho, Josselin de Combourg!" The king's usually stern features were relaxed this day. "Have you so quickly subdued the manor I gave you that you can come to see me crowned?" He held out his hand in friendship, and Josselin grasped it with a smile.

Then he turned to greet those closest to William. His half-brother, Odo, the bishop of Bayeux. William FitzOsbern, the king's steward. Robert, Count of Eu. Robert de Beaumont, William de Warenne, and Hugh de Montfort. "There was nothing to subdue, my lord. I was welcomed at Aelfleah. Had it been necessary for me to subdue the manor it would now be done. I would not miss your greatest hour of triumph."