At sixteen, he had been betrothed to eleven-year-old Judith Knowles. The marriage was postponed for two years until the girl was judged to be of suitable age and Harald had finished his studies at Oxford. Another two passed before she became pregnant with William. Some said they had waited so long for a son and heir because twenty-year-old Harald had been slow in taking up his conjugal rights. Others went so far as to claim that his fourteen-year-old brother, Guy, had been called upon to perform the service.

Judith died in childbirth and Harald still felt pangs of guilt over her death. He'd confessed to a feeling of relief when he received news of her passing and had done penance for it. He'd never liked the girl. It wasn't just her silly, childish ways. She was vain and headstrong. He'd tried to teach her to read but Judith had no time for learning. She did, however, have time for Guy. In his darkest moments Harald wondered if William was Guy's son.

His thoughts returned to Alice. She had nothing in common with the female members of his family. His mother and his aunts could scarcely read and their knowledge of the world was confined to the petty jealousies of the shire. Alice was gentle and caring. She spoke Latin and French and was conversant with the writings of the saints and the authors of antiquity. They had talked together for a long time while they were keeping watch over William. Harald said he would call on her services again when William's stitches needed to be removed. He wondered what other excuses he could find.

***

Alice changed into her matron's gown and took her place at the head of the table. She said grace, broke bread and tried to concentrate on what she was doing. Her mind was on other things. At twenty-eight years of age, a man had entered her life. She had blushed when he'd called her an angel and turned away lest he see her confusion.

The Gascoignes lived in a place called Wolf Wood. Sir William and his son, Guy, were fierce campaigners in the war with France and had a reputation for brutality. Alice had assumed that the entire family was like them. Now she knew she was wrong. It was like picking up a coin and finding a demon on one side and a saint on the other. Harald was a cultured, sensitive man. She thought how different life might have been if their families had been better acquainted.

Her aristocratic parents borrowed large sums of money to buy land. It was an unwise move and her father had to find a way out. His solution was to promise his baby son to the daughter of a rich merchant. The boy was twelve years younger than the girl. Conjugal bliss didn't come into it. One family needed to stave off bankruptcy and the other wanted to join the land-owning aristocracy.




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