Page 41 of Promises Made at Midnight
“Sir Ulrick! Lady Bridgette! ’Tis good tae see ye,” he said happily, before his enthusiasm lessened. “Lady Bridgette… are ye unwell?”
Ulrick looked down upon his lady who was scowling in anger. Only God above knew what was going through her mind but he knew he was about to find out.
“What is the meaning of this, Ulrick?”
“I do not understand your concern,” he replied not liking that she chastised him in front of the boy.
She went to Eustace, taking him by the arms inspecting him as she turned him around. Her eyes narrowed. She gave Ulrick a sideways look of disgust. “The boy looks as though he’s gone from his burned village straight into the fields with no thought to his wellbeing.”
“I do not see the prob”
She cut off Ulrick’s words, turning her attention back to the boy. “Have you even had a proper bath since you have been brought here?” she inquired firmly with a raised brow.
“I dinnae care for bathin’, milady. ’Tis not good fer ye,” Eustace answered, before turning his gaze to Ulrick. “Have I offended ye, Sir Ulrick, or the liedy?”
Ulrick shook his head. “Nay, you have done nothing wrong, Eustace.”
Bridgette grabbed Ulrick’s hand and took him a few steps away from the lad who shuffled his feet in the dirt. “This will not do. This is not how I expected the children to be taken care of.”
“He is fed and is working hard for the food that he eats each day. What more do you expect of him?” Ulrick asked, wondering what this woman would now come up with as a solution to the children’s plight.
“They’re coming back to Berwyck with us.”
“’Tis not how things are done, Bridgette,” Ulrick declared attempting to calm his lady’s tirade before it erupted.
“Mayhap not,” she said keeping her language correct, now that they now had a growing audience intrigued at what was transpiring, “but I gave my word these two children would be taken care of and this is not what I foresaw for their future.”
“’Tis more than adequate…”
“I think we have had this conversation before, Ulrick. Adequate isnotenough! Eustace… come with us,” she ordered, before she began making her way back to collect Eva.
“We best listen to her, lad. Come along now,” Ulrick said, placing a comforting hand on the lad’s shoulder.
By the time they caught up with Bridgette, she was in the middle of a heated argument with the woman, who was complaining loudly about the loss of monies after she planned to sell Eva to another couple in a nearby village.
Furious, Bridgette turned to Ulrick. “Compensate her whatever you think will keep this woman from ever thinking of selling the services of another child that may come into her care.”
Bridgette pushed her way inside the hut while the woman continued to haggle for every bit of coin she felt was due her.
Ulrick reached into the pouch on his belt and handed the woman several coins. “You best heed my lady’s words and never think of selling another child. I do not believe Lord Dristan would be pleased with such an outcome for a lad or lass he placed with you.”
The woman’s eyes momentarily widened in panic before she bit into each coin and nodded her agreement. Bridgette soon came out of the hut cooing to Eva who looked very happy to be reunited with his lady.
“Shall we go home, Ulrick?” Bridgette said calmly, as though she had not just been in an argument over the children.
“I suppose we now have a family to take care of?” he asked, with a slight smile. Bridgette had been like a lioness defending her cubs. He would not dare try to part them from her.
“Is this a problem?” she asked, her brow arching again.
“Nay, ’tis not an issue. I only make mention of it since we are not as yet wed and you plan these children’s future as if they are your own.
She came over to him and with a crook of her finger, he bent down. “It’s called adoption in my time,” she whispered in his ear, before kissing his cheek. “Thank you for agreeing for us to become their guardians.”
She began walking back through the village with Eustace at her side chatting away about how their lives were about to change. Ulrick laughed, realizing he had never agreed to anything, but if this made his lady happy, then so be it. He would move heaven and earth to see her content.
CHAPTER28
Bridgette made her way through the kitchen and out the rear door into the garden. A servant had come to her bedchamber stating a knight had requested her presence and she assumed it was either Lord Dristan or Ulrick. She was surprised to see Godfrey rising from a stone bench situated beneath an apple tree.
