The Adventurer's Bride. June Francis

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СКАЧАТЬ away the children and went to his aid. As she undid the fastenings on the sodden garment and set it to dry on a three-legged stool in front of the fire, she noticed a slit in the material. It was sticky and she realised that was where the blade must have penetrated the fabric and the stickiness was blood. She felt slightly faint and for a moment could not move. He could have so easily been killed! The thought frightened her.

      ‘My daughter, Jane,’ he reminded her in a gruff voice.

      She gazed down at his bulging doublet, feeling quite peculiar, almost envious of the child that lay beneath the padded russet broadcloth so close to his heart. What had happened to her mother? Jane’s eyes went to his face and for a moment their questioning gazes locked. Then he closed his eyes and she realised that he was exhausted and she would have to wait for an answer.

      She willed her fingers to remain steady as she removed the girdle about his waist that held his short sword and a pouch. She set them aside and began to undo the fastenings on his doublet. The squashed nose of a baby appeared and then the rest of her face. By my Lady, she is pretty, thought Jane, a catch in her throat. She touched the child’s petal-soft skin with the back of her hand and realised it was not as cold as she feared it might be.

      Then she remembered what Nicholas had told her about the child’s beautiful mother and struggled with a surge of emotion, thinking again of Louise and resenting the relationship she had shared with this man.

      The tiny mouth opened and fastened on the side of Jane’s hand and began to suck. She was strangely moved despite knowing in her heart of hearts that she had no desire to give shelter to this child of Louise’s.

      ‘It is a wonder you did not suffocate her,’ said Jane roughly, undoing the rest of the doublet to enable her to remove the baby, who was dressed in swaddling bands.

      She found herself being surveyed by a pair of hazel eyes that were flecked with green and gold, the same as Nicholas’s. She told herself that she should be relieved that the little girl had her father’s eyes, but her feelings were too confused to feel so. Was that because she wanted to think the worst of Louise, believing that she had lied to Nicholas about the child she carried? Yet as the baby began to cry, Jane’s maternal instincts surfaced and she rocked Matilda in her arms.

      Nicholas gazed at them both from beneath drooping eyelids. ‘I imagined the pair of you looking as you do now,’ he croaked.

      ‘Really,’ said Jane coolly. ‘Is that why you are here, simply because you thought I could take care of your daughter? I had thought better of you, Master Hurst. You disappoint me.’

      Nicholas shifted in the chair and a spasm of pain caused him to place a hand on his wounded shoulder. ‘You misjudge me, Mistress Caldwell! I hired a wet nurse for my daughter in Bruges. I came here to confirm the vows Pip made for me by proxy to be Simon’s godfather and for no other reason.’

      Was he speaking the truth? Disappointed though she was, Jane decided she had to give him the benefit of the doubt. ‘Forgive me! For a moment I forgot that you had promised to be Simon’s godfather,’ she said humbly. ‘What happened to the wet nurse?’

      ‘I deem Berthe must have betrayed me,’ he said bitterly. ‘She was in league with those men who attacked me. As I made my escape I heard her and another woman crying out, “Stop him. He’s got the child. Stop him!”’

      Jane’s head jerked up. ‘Why should she do such a thing? Do you think she was put up to it by the child’s mother?’

      Nicholas sighed, removed his sodden felt hat and fingered where his head hurt. ‘Louise is dead,’ he said heavily. ‘Matilda has no mother.’

      Jane could only stare at him. ‘I see. I didn’t know Louise had died,’ she said slowly.

      ‘Why should you? It isn’t easy to get a message to someone from abroad, especially during the winter months. Even my brothers were unaware of it. When I visited Christopher, he told me to my face that he considered me a fool for taking responsibility for Matilda.’ Nicholas turned the hat between his hands restlessly and then dropped it on the floor and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes. ‘Louise died a couple of days after the birth and she wanted me to have Matilda. I had already decided on that course of action after seeing at close hand what can happen when a daughter is fobbed off as another man’s or placed with relatives who have no love for it. That was why I went in search of Louise.’

      Before Jane could respond, there was a sound at the front door and Margaret entered with a homely-looking woman wearing a cloak over a brown gown. She stared at Nicholas with a lively curiosity in her large round eyes. ‘So you’re the famous explorer,’ she said. ‘I’ve been hearing about you off and on for the past few weeks.’ She folded her arms across her ample bosom. ‘About time you arrived—they’ve all been on pins in this house, thinking you mightn’t get here in time for Our Lady’s day.’ She paused for breath.

      ‘Where is Matt?’ asked Jane swiftly.

      ‘He will be here soon,’ replied Anna and continued with her former dialogue with Nicholas. ‘And now you have come, what’s this I hear about you not only being attacked but that you’ve brought a babe with you that needs suckling?’

      Jane said hastily, ‘Dear Anna, do not be bothering Master Hurst about such matters now. He is wounded and exhausted and much concerned for his daughter. Here, take the child! I will see that you are paid later.’ She thrust Matilda at the wet nurse without waiting to see Nicholas’s reaction to the woman who was temporarily to act as mother to his daughter. No doubt the news of Nicholas’s arrival would soon be all over Witney. Anna’s husband was the local baker and as much of a gossip as his wife. Would the information be spread abroad beyond the town and reach not only the men who had tried to kill him, but also the women who appeared to want the child? It was a puzzle to her.

      From a chest Jane took a couple of handfuls of linen bindings and wrapped them in a drying cloth before tucking them under Anna’s arm. She wasted no time in seeing the wet nurse out. Then she picked up a candlestick and brought it over to where Nicholas was seated, thinking she would need more light if she was to attend to his wound.

      ‘I hope my actions meet with your approval where your daughter is concerned,’ she said briskly. ‘Do not mind Anna’s tongue. She has a warm heart and, for now, abundant milk. I can reassure you that she is clean and extremely fond of babies, otherwise I would not trust Simon to her.’

      ‘I will take your word for it,’ he said, attempting a smile despite his exhaustion.

      ‘I have known her for years,’ said Jane, bending over him. ‘We were girls together when I lived here in Witney with my parents and brother.’ She paused. ‘Now shall we remove your doublet so I can take a look at your wound? Did those ruffians rob you at all?’

      ‘No, they did not get the opportunity.’ His dark reddish-gold brows knit. ‘Although, perhaps I should have not been so trusting of Berthe. My coin pouch was of late within easy reach of her fingers.’

      Jane glanced at the girdle she had laid to one side earlier and crossed to where she had placed it. She picked it up and handed it to him. ‘Do you wish to count the coin?’

      He weighed the pouch in his hand. ‘It is a little lighter than I remember and I did not feel a thing. Fortunately I soon learnt whilst on my travels that it is always wise to have another stash of money concealed somewhere else.’

      ‘You don’t think she knew where that was?’ asked Jane, wondering how he had come by this СКАЧАТЬ