"If he thinks the English will ever be what they were before Hastings, he's a fool," Aldyth said with spirit. Privately she planned to have a talk with her elder brother if the opportunity presented itself. G.o.drio should know how his rebellious att.i.tude was worrying their father. There was nothing she could do about it now, however, so she might as well enjoy the ride and plan what she was going to wear when she saw Ranulf and what she would say to him, the man she loved.

The object of her thoughts was nowhere in evidence as they rode into the bailey at Kingsclere and were ushered into the solar, where Earl lfienne and Countess Nichols greeted them warmly. It was more than an hour until supper, but Lady Nichola a.s.sured them she was having heated water brought up for them to wash and meanwhile they must warm themselves with a cup of mulled wine.

Aldyth and her father accepted the spiced beverage gratefully, for the sky had grown cloudy and the temperature colder during the last portion of their journey.

Though she had looked for Ranulf, Aldyth was glad she would have a chance to wash the scent of horse and the stains of travel away before she saw him.

She would wear the jade green gown with some matching ribbons she had bought from a peddler twined through her hair to remind him of their disastrous dunking in the brook. "l--I'm sorry, Lady Nichols. I fear I was not attending..." Aldyth stammered, realizing belatedly that the countess had been addressing her.

"I was saying what a beautiful young woman you've become, Aldyth,"

Lady Nichola repeated gently, unperturbed.

"And h w can it be that you remain unmarried, as pretty as you are?"

Earl Etienne joined in.

"I would think the young cubs around Sherborne would be flocking into the hall, suing for your hand."

Aldyth blushed to the roots of her hair and looked down in confusion while her father spoke up.

"Aye, that they do, my lord. She could have her pick of the shire. I'm afraid my Aldyth is entirely too choosy, though I'll not deny I've enjoyed having her at home to keep me company."

"He, my lord, you've embarra.s.sed the gift," Lady Nichols chided her husband.

"I have sent for Warin, and no doubt you will see G.o.dric at supper," she said, turning back 19 to her guests.

"I knew you would be eager to-- Ah, here he is!" She turned to the entranceway as a lad with the same brown hair as Aldyth bounded through it, then remembered his manners and bowed with all the grace of a French courtier.

"That's better," Earl ltienne said, approving the bow, while Aldyth marveled to see that Warin lacked but an inch till he was as tall as she. He was all long legs and arms, reminding her of a colt, and his cheeks remained smooth.

His voice, when he spoke, showed an adolescent boy's tendency to leap from ba.s.s to treble, but the courteous greeting he murmured in Norman French was flawless. "You have made good progress, son," approved Sir Nyle in the same tongue, then held out his arms, speaking in English.

"Enough of that, now! Come greet your sister and me!"

After a nervous glance to make sure he had his 1ord's permission to abandon his newfound dignity temporarily, Warin leaped to comply, becoming just another boy reunited with his family. Excitedly he told them of his progress at tilting at the quintain, that dangerous game in which a horseman gallops at target, knowing that if he does not hit the target just ,ight with his lance, a whirling, cloth-wrapped paddle will swing around from behind to buffet him from his saddle.

"I have become very good with my bow, too, Father," he added.

"I can hit the bull's-eye at a hundred paces. And, Aldyth, wait till you see my puppy! He's a brach et out of one of my 1ord's prized hunting b.i.t.c.hes!

His name is Roland, for the hero of the romance! And I can show you my lord's hawks--Lord ltienne says I'm the only page quiet enough to go into his mews!"

"You are not demonstrating that virtue now!" teased the earl.

Warin made a visible effort to calm himself.

"I've saved the best news for last, though."

"Oh? And what is that?" his sister asked, smiling at his barely contained excitement.

"When Lord Ranulf goes back to court, I am to go, too! As his page!"

"I'm proud of you, son," Sir Nyle said, patting his son's shoulder.

"You've done well."

"Your father and sister are no doubt tired from their journey," Lord l.

tienne interposed, "and will want to bathe before supper. Why don't you escort them to their chambers, then return to the hall to help set up for the meal? I'm sure some of this will keep until then."

Sir Nyle rose to go, but Aldyth had to know the answer to the question that had been tormenting her since their arrival.

"My lord, will R--Lord Ranulf be present at supper? I... that is, we wanted to congratulate him upon his being granted a barony and hear all about the coronation of the new king."

She was aware that she was blushing afresh as she said the name of her childhood sweetheart. Aldyth was pnzT. led at the vet led look that shot from the earl to his counts before he replied to her question.

"Yes, he'll be them."

Aldyth noticed the curtness of the Carol's answer. She dared an uncertain glance at Lady Nichola, who seemed a little at a loss for words.

"I'm afraid you will find Ranulf slightly, uh, changed now that he lives at court," the countess said, her words uncharacterisfically vague.

"He's become quite the courtier, I suppose you'd say."

"That's not what I'd call him," growled Earl lfienne at her side.

But at a look from his wife, he fell quiet again, leaving Aldyth to ponder the countess's troubled eyes.

Chapter Two

Though the steaming water in the big wooden tub tempted her to linger, Aldyth hurried through her bath and into the green gown that she knew became her well. She was eager to return to the hall below. Perhaps she would encounter Ranulf there before the supper horn blew and they would have time for conversation. Perhaps he would even ask her to sit by him!

Once in the great hall, however, the only familiar face was her father's.

Sir Nyle was a simple man who had not taken long with his ablutions, either.

Seeing her, he motioned Aldyth to the high table where he waited. Since them were no guests of higher rank, Aldyth and her father would have the honor of sitting to the right of the Earl and Countess of Kingsdem.

Below the dais, all the lesser folk were finding their places at the intersecting tres fie tables laid with trenchers. The hall was filled with the babble of conversation as those who served the castle greeted one another, only to fall respectfully silent as the earl, his countess and their daughters, Adele and Agathe, made their way to their places at the center of the dais.

Kingsclere's priest said a sonorous grace, and then, at a nod from the earl, the servers began bringing around platters of roast meats, loaves of bread and bowls of stewed vegetables and baked apples. The buzz of conversation began again as the loaves were broken and the platters of food were pa.s.sed down the tables.

G.o.dric appeared in front of the high table, kneeling gracefully in front of the earl and his lady with his platter of roast venison. As squire, it was his duty to serve his liege lord. He would eat only after they were finished. He smiled when he saw his father and sister and promised to meet with them later.

"He looks well," Aldyth commented to her father. G.o.drio had grown.

His shoulder muscles strained the livery tunic of blue and crimson. His flaxen hair, though longer than a Norman youth's, was nevertheless clean and well brushed. A pale mustache that Aldyth had not seen before graced his upper lip, accenting a face that was colored by much time spent outdoors.

"Aye. Perhaps he is over his youthful rebelliousness. And see--there's Warin!" Sir Nyle said, and pointed while Aldyth looked down the table to where her younger brother was struggling to pour wine from a huge flagon without leaving any crimson stains on the spotless linen. He paused to bestow a cheerful grin on his sister, which Aldyth returned, her heart swelling with pride over her two handsome brothers.

But where was Ranulf? The place to the left of the earl and countess was still empty. Surely he didn't intend to miss the meal.

Aldyth was determined she would not betray her feelings a second time by asking about Ranulf. The delicious meal, however, went almost untasted and their hosts' courteous talk only half-heard as she watched the arched entranceway for any late arrivals.