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"I thought Charles already had sons," Gina said.
"He has four, all of them by Hildegarde." Lady Adalhaid added in a whisper, "There was a true
queen. Did you know Hildegarde?"
"Unfortunately, no. I only recently arrived in
Francia."
"Ah, yes. Your journey was interrupted by robbers who seized all your belongings. How sad for
you." Lady Adalhaid sounded as if she didn't believe the robbery story. "Where were you before
you came to Francia?"
"Northumbria," Gina replied. "I was raised in a convent there." She thought that little detail was an
inspiration. If she had spent years inside a convent, she couldn't be expected to know much about
Northumbrian life outside the cloister. She reckoned without Lady Adalhaid's determination to
learn all about her.
"Which convent?" asked Lady Adalhaid. "Where
was it located?"
"I beg your pardon?" How many convents were there in Northumbria? Did Lady Adalhaid have
actual knowledge of any of them? Where was Dominick? Gina looked around frantically, wishing
he would suddenly appear to rescue her. She couldn't see him, which meant she was going to
have to rescue herself. On the spur of the moment she decided to adopt Fastrada's method.
"Oh, dear." Gina clapped a hand to her forehead. "Would you mind if I sit down? It's this awful
dizziness. It comes and goes, ever since the robbers hit me over the head."
"Certainly." Lady Adalhaid led the way to a bench at one side of the hall. There she sat and patted
the wood beside her. "Sit here, my dear. I do hope you were properly cared for at Feldbruck.
Perhaps you ought to ask Charles's physician to examine you. A bit of bloodletting can do
wonders for almost any illness."
"Hedwiga is a very competent nurse, and she says I will recover completely without any further
treatment," Gina stated firmly. "It will just take a little while, that's all. Hedwiga says I'll need to be
patient."
"Ah, yes, I remember Hedwiga. An overbearing woman."
"Have you been to Feldbruck?" Gina asked, surprised.
"Once," said Lady Adalhaid. "Briefly. Dominick and I are old acquaintances."
"Did you know his parents?" Gina couldn't resist the chance to learn more about Dominick and his
family.
"My dear, in Francia everyone knows everyone," Lady Adalhaid said with a superior smile that
suggested Gina wasn't anyone. "Dominick's mother and I were friends as girls. After she died,
Dominick's father and I were lovers for a time. You look shocked."
"Just surprised that anyone would admit a love affair to a complete stranger."
"Really? You are an innocent. I suppose that means you won't admit to me that you and Dominick
are lovers."
Gina could feel the blood rushing into her face. She turned away from Lady Adalhaid, too
embarrassed to meet her eyes any longer. Lady Adalhaid
uttered a soft, knowing laugh and patted Gina's hand.
"Let us speak of something else," Lady Adalhaid
suggested.
"Yes, let's." Gina's thoughts floundered about for a minute or two while her companion regarded
her expectantly. The conversation wasn't going at all the way Gina wanted. She was supposed to
be ferreting out information about the plot against Charles. Instead, all she had done was
embarrass herself. She didn't think Lady Adalhaid was capable of embarrassment, which was a
good thing, because it was time to get down to serious information-seeking.
"You mentioned that all Charles's sons are the sons of Queen Hildegarde," Gina said. "I thought
he had another boy, from his first marriage." Did she only imagine it, or did Lady Adalhaid's spine
stiffen a little at that remark? Certainly, the lady's smile was gone.
"You must be thinking of the hunchback," said Lady Adalhaid. "A pitiful fool, a creature of no
importance."
"Pepin is still a king's son." Gina repressed the urge to snap out a few well-chosen words at the
cold-hearted woman. If everyone at court reacted to him the way Lady Adalhaid did, it was no
wonder Pepin was ready for all-out rebellion.
"Since you are new to court," Lady Adalhaid remarked, unperturbed by Gina's irritation, "I will
pretend you did not say what you just said, and I will offer you a piece of valuable advice. Never
repeat those words, or anything similar to them, within Fastrada's hearing. She cannot bear the
sight of Pepin or even to hear his name spoken. In
fact, if you are wise, you will never say anything that might upset Fastrada."
"Not even if what I want to say is the truth?"
"I can see you have much to learn. There are many subjects that displease Fastrada. Those who
incur her displeasure suffer dreadful punishments."
"Yet Charles seems like a good man."
"He is." Lady Adalhaid's voice took on genuine warmth. "A wise and generous king."
"But he can't control his wife?"
"When Hildegarde died and Charles married Fastrada, he exchanged an angel for a devil. I am not
the only person who thinks so. Fastrada exerts an evil influence on him."
"Because she is young and beautiful, and he's going through some kind of mid-life crisis," Gina
mused aloud. "Relations between men and women never seem to change, do they? I suspect
that Charles needs Fastrada to prove to himself and his friends that he's still the virile man he
used to be. Meanwhile, Fastrada makes a habit of pawing him in public and then dragging him off
to bed to keep his attention focused on her."
"Perhaps you are not as innocent as I first thought." Lady Adalhaid's serious expression gave way
to a faint smile. "Walk carefully here at court, Gina, for your own sake and for Dominick's. Always [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]