Page 5 of Castle of Refuge

When she glanced up, Edwin was gazing at her with a questioning look on his face. No doubt he was wondering if she was lunatic. Or did he realize Maris was the mad one and he was sorry she had been forced to live with such a sister?

Again, she was probably giving him more credit than he deserved.

And once again, her father did not even seem to notice anything was amiss. He was still talking with Sir Clement. Neither of them even glanced their way.

Maris tried a few more times to engage Edwin in conversation, but he only responded minimally. And he seemed to address Audrey more than Maris. Audrey could almost feel the fury building in Maris.

Finally, the meal was over and her father dismissed Audrey and Maris. He and the two guests would stay and talk and drink some more before retiring.

Audrey stood and looked Sir Clement in the eye and then Edwin, as her mother’s longtime house servant, Sybil, had taught her. “It was my pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Edwin met her gaze for a moment. “The pleasure was mine.”

Audrey was well aware of Maris’s cold stare, and she hurried from the Great Hall, praying her sister wouldn’t catch up to her and hit her from behind, as she was wont to do.

Audrey made it to the stairs. Glancing over her shoulder, she did not see Maris following. Was she lingering behind to try to impress Edwin? Audrey didn’t care. She lifted her skirts andran all the way up to her room, closing the door and locking it. There. She had escaped from her sister and been spared any more embarrassment in front of the handsome Edwin.

Would he be her husband one day? He was destined to be knighted and to become the Earl of Dericott. She might do many good things as his wife. God would be able to use her life for many bright and remarkable purposes if she were the wife of a good and kind earl. She only hoped she would not be married off for a few more years. She wanted to pick wildflowers, visit the seaside, and rereadThe Song of Rolandand her other most treasured books before succumbing to adulthood.

***

The next day as Audrey was making her way down the stairs, she heard her father talking in the Great Hall. Walking by the door, she peered in and saw him with his steward. Father dismissed him and called out to Audrey.

“Come in, my child. I wish to speak with you.”

“Yes, Father?” Audrey approached him where he sat breaking his fast with some pasties and stewed fruit.

“Sit. I have something to tell you.”

Audrey sat and chose a plum pasty, taking a bite and letting the sweet flavor spread across her tongue. Plums were her favorite fruit. She often picked them from the trees and ate them right there in the orchard. If any of the servants caught her, they would scold her. Only cooked fruit was safe to eat, they told her, but she had never sickened from eating them.

Audrey was reaching for her second pasty when her father finally spoke.

“I hope you made a good impression on that young squire, the future Earl of Dericott. I shall write to his father and make him an offer so that he will choose you as a wife for his son.”

Audrey choked as some filling went down the wrong way. She coughed and took a swallow of her father’s boiled fruit drink. “But we will not be married very soon, will we, Father? I am only fifteen.”

Her father talked over her as if he had not heard her. “I can offer him a nice dowry, your mother’s jewels, and even that property in Hertfordshire that belonged to your mother’s family.”

“Father, I am too young.” Audrey’s stomach flipped at the thought of the handsome Edwin discovering that her father had offered her to him in marriage. Of course she knew she wasn’t actually too young. Many young women were married off even younger than she.

“Well, I daresay it will be at least a year before he marries. I want to ensure his father keeps you in mind, at least. I might even pay him a visit. An earl is a great match for you, and he was young and handsome to boot. You should be thanking me.”

Truly, Audrey had always known she would be married off to someone. And Father was right. Edwin seemed much better than any other man she’d ever been introduced to.

“He did have kind eyes,” she said, feeling herself blushing.

Her father did not reply, only stuffed half a pasty in his mouth.

“You don’t think your sister frightened him off, do you?” Herfather spoke with his mouth still full of food. “She’s forward and aggressive. Men don’t like that. They like women like you—quiet and docile.”

Audrey did not like being called “docile,” as if she were a horse. But Edwin did not seem anything like Father. All the better.

“Did he seem taken with you? Did he look at you very much?”

“I don’t know.” Audrey shrugged.

“You are very fair of face. I don’t see why he would not have noticed. You will make a fine wife. I shall write to him today.”