“My lady?” he said, an encouraging smile on his face. “If you please?”
Vesper couldn’t resist. She really did love playing music so she carefully sat, timidly pressing one of the keys to see if the old instrument even worked. A soft, slightly out of tune note echoed in the loft and also down into the hall, where it was heard above all of the noise and eating. Sensing that entertainment was about to come, the room quieted down and Val smiled at her when she seemed too hesitant to play another note.
“Go ahead,” he said softly. “Play something as beautiful as you are.”
Vesper looked at him, seeing purely by the man’s expression that he was sincere. It made her heart leap strangely, that same feeling he’d caused within her once before. It also fed her courage as she very much wanted to please him now, as her host. Or perhaps it was even more than the fact that he was simply a generous host; perhaps it was because he’d been so kind to her. I like the way he looks at me. Placing her hands on the keys, she played four or five chords before finally lifting her voice in song.
I dreamt that you loved me still
And loved me forever and a day.
From beyond the mellow sea
I felt your spirit calling to me
And I dreamt that you loved me still.
She had a pure, true voice, like the sound of angels singing. It was very sweet and high. Val couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as she continued to play the instrument but her singing had stopped for the moment. Now, she was simply continuing the song without words but her sweet voice lingered in his ears. He wanted to hear it again.
“Surely that is not all you are going to sing for us,” he said, moving up beside her as she played. “I have never heard anything so lovely in my life. Please sing something else.”
Vesper paused in her playing. “If you wish,” she said, clearly flattered at his praise. “I am sorry, but the instrument is slightly out of tune. I am afraid my singing might sound poorly because of it.”
He shook his head before the words were even out of her mouth. “You open your mouth and angels pour forth,” he said. “Nothing you could sing could sound poorly, my lady. Please sing another.”
Vesper was back to blushing again. Val was a charming man and not afraid to heap praise upon her, something she was very quickly coming to like. His words made her feel very special and honored in a way she could never remember feeling. Wondering if he truly meant what he said never crossed her mind; surely he meant it.
She wanted to believe him.
O lovely one… my lovely one…
The years will come… the years will go…
But still you’ll be… my own true love…
Until the day… we’ll meet again….
Seeing Val’s enthralled expression, she continued with the next verse.
O lovely one… my lovely one…
My love for you… will never die…
My heart is yours… ’til the end of time…
When you will be…my own true love…
The song was glorious and endearing, a love song that was typical of the songs in these times, written and sung by troubadours or young maidens like Vesper. Songs that spoke of lasting affection, undying love, or sad partings. All Val knew was that those words, words he’d heard before, had never really had any meaning to him until Vesper had sung them. As he watched her sing, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have the affection of a woman like Vesper.
My heart is yours… ’til the end of time….
Those thoughts had never occurred to him until that very moment. What a lovely thing that would be… with the right person.
Rather startled at his turn of thought, Val looked over the side of the balcony to see that the room below had come to a halt. Faces were turned upward, towards the minstrel’s gallery, all of them waiting eagerly for the next bit of music to come. Val looked over to see what his mother’s reaction was to Vesper playing Gavin’s old clavichordium and he could see his mother looking up at the gallery as well, a rather wistful expression on her face.
He hadn’t seen that expression from her in a very long time and Val had to admit that he was touched. His mother, for all of her gruffness and petulance, had a soft heart beneath that she liked to keep hidden. He was pleased that Vesper had given the woman a moment to find that soft part of her again. He was more impressed that she could bring a room full of people to a halt with her sweet singing voice. Returning his attention to Vesper, who was just playing a few chords now and not singing, he knelt down beside her.
“You have a captive audience below,” he said. “Play and sing to your heart’s content. Everyone is enjoying it very much.”
Vesper kept her eyes on the keys as she played. “To tell you the truth, I have never played for anyone other than Lady Eynsford. It is good that I cannot see the hall from where I sit for if I could, I would surely faint of fright.”
He laughed softly. “You seem brave enough to me,” he said. “Moreover, you sing and play so beautifully that it is a genuine tragedy for you not to be heard. McCloud must be very proud of your accomplishments.”
Vesper thought of her father and her good mood faded. Nay, her father wasn’t proud of her accomplishments or if he was, he’d not said so. He was as wrapped up in life at Durley as she was wrapped up in life at Eynsford and the two did not meet. They didn’t even come close.
Not wanting to get on to the subject of her relationship with her father, she sought to change the focus, realizing she had done a good deal of subject changing when in conversation with Val throughout the course of their association. She hoped he hadn’t noticed.
“As I am sure your mother is very proud of your accomplishments as well,” she said. “My father did not tell me much of how you and he met. Mayhap we should return to the table so I may hear some of those adventures in France that you spoke of.”
But Val did, indeed, notice that she always seemed to change the subject away from her and especially away from her father. He realized she didn’t know McCloud very well but he was coming to suspect it was more than unfamiliarity that made her shy away from discussing her father. There was some kind of sullenness there, as if she not only didn’t know her father but didn’t want to know him.
There was resistance.
However, the lady spoke so fondly of Eynsford Castle that Val was coming to think she hadn’t wanted to leave it, that perhaps McCloud might have forced her to. But for what purpose? His curiosity about the lady, and about McCloud, was growing. There was something odd afoot that he couldn’t quite put his finger on as if to say “Aye! That’s it!” Nay; it wasn’t anything definitive.
But it was there.
“There is all evening to speak of France,” he said after a moment. “I do believe everyone would rather listen to you play. It has been so long since we’ve had good music in this hall. Won’t you please indulge us?”
Not strangely, Vesper didn’t feel much like singing anymore. Her thoughts were leaning heavily on her father and on leaving this wonderful place and wishing she didn’t have to.
“I… I am a bit tired after traveling today,” she said. “I hope you will forgive me that I am too tired to continue. But I would be happy to play something for you to sing.”
Val lifted his eyebrows at the irony of that request. “I do not know any fine songs. Moreover, I am a terrible singer. How can you punish everyone in this hall with such a request?”
Vesper burst into soft laughter. “I do not believe you,” she said. “All knights are trained in courtly accomplishments. Did you not learn to sing when you were younger?”
He made a face that suggested she was asking him something most distasteful. “Aye, I did, but I do not want to speak of it. I was teased mercilessly. My master told me that a goose sounded better than I did when I sang.”
Vesper bit her lip, trying to keep from laughing at him but it was to no avail. “I am sure that is not true,” she said. “P
lease sing something. I insist. What can I play for you?”
Val didn’t want to deny her but he truly didn’t want to sing. Therefore, he sought to teach her a lesson. Perhaps if he sang a terrible and shocking song, she would never ask again. He eyed her thoughtfully.
“Do you know Tilly Nodden?” he asked.
Vesper’s brow furrowed in thought. “I do not. How does it go?”
With a mischievous gleam to his eye, Val went to the balcony and called down to the men eating there. “The lady has never heard Tilly Nodden,” he boomed. “Who here is brave enough to sing it?”
Suddenly, most of the men eating below had the same mischievous gleam in their eye that Val did. An older soldier stood up, grinning, and lifted his cup to the chamber as he belted out a tune that was better suited for the walls of a tavern.
“A young man came to Tilly Nodden,
His heart so full and pure.
Upon the step of Tilly Nodden,
His wants would find no cure.
Aye! Tilly, Tilly, my goddess near,
Can ye spare me a glance from those eyes?
My Tilly, sweet Tilly, be my lover so dear,
I’m a-wantin’ a slap of those thighs!”
Almost every man in the hall had joined in by the second line, so by the time the song was finished, it was being sung by everyone. When it was over, the hall burst out in bawdy laughter as some of the men began the next chorus. Up on the balcony, Val turned to Vesper, who was looking at him with very wide eyes.
“That is an example of the songs I know,” Val told her. “I pray you do not think me too crass.”
Vesper stared at him a moment longer before slapping a hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles. “I have heard the soldiers at Eynsford sing that tune,” she admitted. “I simply did not know the name of the song. Tilly Nodden, is it? That is a naughty song.”
Val snorted. “More than you know,” he said. “There are more verses that are even worse. Now, will you sing something lovely or do I have my men sing that terrible song all night long?”
Vesper grinned at him, knowing he had her cornered. She couldn’t refuse. “Can I at least finish my meal before you make me sing?” she asked. “I am rather famished and I’ve not yet eaten my fill.”
Val was appalled at his behavior. “Of course,” he said, reaching out to snatch her hand again and pulling her away from the instrument. “Forgive me, my lady. I was only thinking of myself. And my ears.”
Vesper easily forgave him. “It is no trouble,” she said. “And… and you may call me Vesper when we are not in front of my father. I would be honored if you would.”
Val’s featured softened into something quite warm. “’Tis I who am honored, my lady,” he said with soft sincerity. “Permit me to escort you back to the feast where you can eat as much as you wish. I will make no more demands upon you.”
Vesper shook her head as they began to take the steps down to the main level. “I do not mind singing for you, truly, but I would like to eat first. When I am satisfied, I shall sing as long as you wish.”
“That could be a very long time.”
“It cannot be too long because I must return home on the morrow.”
Val knew that but to hear it from her lips… well, he didn’t like that one bit. He found that he wanted to spend more time with this enchanting woman. “Then mayhap you and your father will come back again, very soon, to visit. I enjoy his company very much.”
“But you have hardly spoken to him.”
He cast her a rather coy glance. “If I said I enjoy your company very much, it might be too forward. I do not wish to chance that. So let me say that I enjoy your father’s company tremendously and I wish for him to return as soon as possible.”
Vesper knew he was speaking of her even as he used her father as the example. She gave him a coy glance of her own.
“I am sure he would like that very much.”
“Would he truly?”
“Indeed.”
They had come to the bottom of the stairs. With a broad smile, meant only for Vesper, Val escorted her back over to the table where she could finish the remains of her meal.
It was one of the more memorable evenings he’d ever had.
CHAPTER FIVE
It was very late and McCloud was so full of pork and beans and bread that he was close to bursting. It was well after midnight when he returned to his borrowed chamber, where the fire was low and the tiny room was warm and cozy. He’d taken his shoes off and fallen into bed, lacking the strength to remove anything else. He’d had such a perfectly wonderful evening of food and conversation that all he wanted to do was sleep. He was nearly there when a soft knock on the chamber door roused him.
“What?” he growled, exhausted.
“Papa! Open the door!”
Hearing Vesper’s voice, McCloud struggled up from his bed in the darkness and staggered across the chamber, throwing the bolt. He yanked the door open just as Vesper burst in, hitting him with the panel and nearly sending him into the hearth. He caught himself on the wall and, scowling at his child, stumbled back to bed and threw himself on the mattress.
“What do you want?” he demanded, grumpy. “Be quick. I must sleep.”
Vesper was tired, too, but she also had something of vital importance to speak to her father about. Much like her father, she’d just returned from the feasting hall but instead of going to bed, her father’s behavior was weighing heavily on her mind. She could not sleep until she spoke to him about it.
“I will be swift,” she hissed, keeping her voice down lest they be overheard by nosy servants. “I want to know why you were so solicitous to Lady de Nerra this evening.”
McCloud peeped an eye open. “What do you mean?”
Vesper cast her father a long look. “I mean that I watched you flatter that woman all night, sickeningly so,” she said. “Why did you do that? Everyone at the table was thinking you were foolish for it.”
He closed his eye, sighing heavily because he very much wished to sleep. “I was not being foolish.”
Vesper eyed him as he lay there and tried to ignore her. “What are you up to, Papa? Why did you pay so much attention to Lady de Nerra?”
“Because she is our hostess.”
Vesper was fairly certain that wasn’t the truth. If she’d come to know one thing about her father over the past week, it was that he had a scheming mind and didn’t seem to have any conscience about it.
“So you peppered her with sickly sweet flattery all night?” she asked. “I do not believe that you had no motive.”
He grunted and rolled onto his side. “I do not care if you believe me or not,” he said. “She is a handsome widow. I am also a widow. There is no harm in flattering the woman.”
It struck Vesper what he was driving at, the reason behind the spray of compliments he’d aimed at Lady de Nerra all evening. “I knew it!” she hissed. “You mean to endear yourself to her to… Sweet Jesù, Papa, are you trying to woo the woman because she is rich?”
Both of his eyes flew open at her. “No more than you were trying to woo Val,” he shot back. “Do not deny it. I saw the smiles and laughter that passed between you two this night.”
Vesper was taken aback at the accusation. “I was not attempting to woo him,” she said. “He is a kind man. I was simply enjoying the conversation.”
McCloud sat up, his eyes blazing at her. “You foolish wench,” he growled. “Can you not see a perfect opportunity before your eyes? Val is interested in you; that is clear. Do you even understand what I am telling you? He is trying to woo you also, Vesper. You need a husband he needs a wife – what could be more perfect?”
Vesper stared at him. “Husband?” she repeated, astonished. She would have condemned the entire shocking idea had it not been for one thing – she liked Val. She was very attracted to him. Was it true that he was actually interested in her? She struggled not to fall victim to the excitement racing through her mind. “Papa, sure
ly you cannot be serious. Why would he be attracted to me?”
McCloud was in no mood for her guileless question. “He considers you beautiful and accomplished,” he said. “God’s Bones, Vesper – the man spent the entire evening hanging on every word out of your mouth. Do you honestly mean to tell me that you did not realize that?”
Vesper’s suspicion towards her father was fading fast as a new subject was brought to light – Val is trying to woo you. Now, the focus was on her and the giddiness she was trying so hard to suppress was fighting to let loose.
“I simply thought we were having a conversation,” she said. “It did not seem to me that he was being more polite to me than anyone else.”
McCloud shook his head. “Listen to me, girl,” he said, his voice low. “There is a grand opportunity here for you to marry a rich and prestigious man. I had hoped that Val would find attraction to you and, without you even trying, you have endeared yourself to him. I can tell that he is very interested in you. If we plan this correctly, not only will you be married to the Itinerant Justice of Hampshire, but I will be married to his mother. We shall never have to worry about anything ever again!”
Vesper listened to him with mounting horror. “So… you see this as an opportunity to gain wealth? To put food on the table and coins in your purse?”
“What else is of matter in this world, Vesper? Do not be so naïve.”
Vesper wasn’t surprised at what she was hearing, to be truthful, but somehow her father’s words were hurtful. She was a woman of deep feeling with, perhaps, a rather foolish view of marriage – she wanted to at least like the man she was married to. With Val, there was a very strong like there already, even after knowing the man so short a time. But her father held no such view – he simply viewed it as a business transaction.
“I see,” she said, her manner hardening now that she realized what her father was after. “You have a son who murders and steals, but that is not your problem. You want to hide that fact by marrying a rich widow so Mat’s deeds will be buried by a wealthy marriage. Is that it?”
McCloud looked at her as if he had little more than contempt for her. She may be his daughter, but he was coming not to like her very much because of her rather righteous and inexperienced view of the world.