Page 42 of Ulf's Destiny
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“Where is this man then?”
After leaving Ylva alone in the hut, Ulf had gone in search of Judith and found her in the vegetable patch, weeding the plants by the gate.
She blinked when he asked the question even before he had come to a halt next to her. “What man?”
But, of course, she had no idea whether he’d found out Ylva was with child yet.
“The baby’s father,” he said with as much patience as he could muster. “You wanted my help to make him do the right thing by Ylva, I gather. Well, here I am. So tell me where I can go find him.”
“You mean… She didn’t tell you who he was?”
“No. She refuses to talk about it. But you will tell me.” Wasn’t that why she had gone to find him? One way or the other, she would be made to talk.
Judith sighed and sat on a big stone in the shape of an anvil. She mumbled something that sounded like “stubborn woman,”and looked up at him. If he didn’t know better, Ulf would have said that she pitied him. But he did know better. The Saxon did not like him, and frankly, he wasn’t sure he liked her much either.
“Before you go find him, you need to know what happened,” she said. Damnation, but itwaspity he could see in her eyes! “I don’t think Ylva will tell you, though, so we will have to be clever about it.”
“What do you mean?”
She stood back up, decision etched over her face.
“I’m going to go speak to Ylva. Follow me. Don’t let her see you, but sit on the bench by the window. I will open it so you can hear our conversation. I promise I will ensure you get all the information you need. She will probably hate me even more, but at this point I don’t see any other solution.”
Ulf wasn’t sure what to say, or whether he should agree. Listening to a private conversation seemed rather underhanded, but if neither woman was prepared to give him the name of the baby’s father, he didn’t have much choice. He needed to know who he was, so he could do what he had been brought here to do.
“Very well.”
“Whatever you do, don’t make a sound, do not move until I have left the hut. Then do what you feel you have to do. If you want to go speak to Ylva, do. If you want to go back to your village rather than deal with what you heard, leave without seeing her first. It’s for the best. She has gone through enough already.”
That was an odd thing to say. After going to all that trouble to get him, Judith wouldn’t mind him leaving without a word?
Well, he wouldn’t. He would hear who the father of Ylva’s child was, and then he would deal with the knowledge, in one way or the other.
“You needto tell him everything, not just that you are with child.” Judith launched her accusation as soon as she entered the hut. “That is why I brought him here, in case you hadn’t realized.”
Not realized! Ylva rounded on her friend, who had gone to open the window and was barely looking at her, as if what she was saying was of little importance.
Which was not her opinion at all.
“Yes, you brought him here. You ignored my wishes and did the one thing I told you not to do. How dare you?—”
“I did what had to be done. Don’t you see?” The window suddenly forgotten, Judith turned to face her.
“No, I don’t see.”
“Let me be clear then. Why are you refusing to tell Ulf he is the father of your child? He deserves to know.”
“Because I know he will never believe it and I cannot even blame him!” Ylva exploded. How many times had they had the same argument? Her situation was a highly problematic one.
When she had been obliged to accept that, against all logic, she was with child, unable to absorb the shock alone, she had confided in her friend. It would have been impossible to keep it a secret for much longer anyway. But it had been a difficult conversation. Judith had naturally taken this to mean that Ylva had lied about Ulf never having possessed her that last night in the Norsemen village. But she had not lied, he had not possessed her, and she didn’t understand how it was possible that she was now carrying his child.
Because it was his child, that much she knew. There was no other possibility. She had not so much as touched another man’s hand since she had left him.
She sat down, wrapping her arms around her stomach protectively.
“I am the mother so I have no choice but to see my body change and accept that this is really happening. But without this irrefutable evidence, I would not believe it myself. I told you we didn’t sleep together, in the normal sense of the word, and that is no lie. I still have no idea how this happened, and therefore cannot expect any man to believe my claim that my baby is his. Ulf never possessed me. How on earth is he going to accept my word that he made me with child that night? You had difficulty believing me at first, and you’re my friend. How do you thinkhewill feel? He will think that I found myself another lover, someone who doesn’t want me or this child, and now I’m putting the blame on him.”
