by Speer, Flora
One of the wall hangings was drawn aside to reveal a doorway, through which Charles entered. Gina thought she caught the sound of urgent whispers from behind him, but they were cut off when the heavy tapestry fell back into place. She gave her full attention to the king of the Franks, who appeared remarkably solemn and imposing. She feared that was not a good sign. Charles was usually smiling, ready with a handclasp and a pleasant word. The man who took his seat upon the only chair in the room was a stern ruler with an unwelcome task to perform.
“Seat yourselves,” Charles said, indicating the stools.
Gina didn’t like stools. They made her feel uneasy, unbalanced, and they were almost always built too low to offer any comfort. She preferred a chair with a back she could lean against if she required support, and arms to grasp if she needed to hang on to something solid. She had the feeling she was going to want to hang on tight during the next hour or so. Nevertheless, she couldn’t refuse the kings command. She crouched down on the nearest stool.
“Some time ago, when we spoke in private,” Charles said, looking from Gina to Lady Adalhaid, “I was told a story I found so difficult to believe that I decided to investigate it more thoroughly. Until that day I had no inkling of any devious intentions directed toward Count Dominick. But if the story was true, then Dominick did have a motive for despising me and for promoting my removal and death.”
“I have never conspired against you,” Dominick declared firmly.
“I have called you here in order to prove your loyalty,” Charles said. Raising his voice, he called out, “Gisela, please join us.”
Once again the wall hanging was pulled aside.
“My dear lady.” Dominick went to his knees before the woman who entered. He took both her hands in his and kissed them. “I rejoice to see you once more.”
“On your feet, Dominick,” Gisela said, pulling one hand free so she could brush it across his fair hair. “You have much to explain.”
In her gown of deep red silk, wearing gold bracelets on either arm and several rings, Gisela did not look at all like a nun. Only the cross set with garnets that hung on a heavy gold chain around her neck suggested a religious vocation. She was almost as tall as her brother and close to Charles in age. Their features were remarkably similar, though Gisela’s hair was a shade or two darker, braided and swept to the top of her head in the current style and held in place with several jeweled combs.
“My lady!” cried Lady Adalhaid, rising from her stool to curtsy to Gisela. “I beg you to tell me if my daughter is well.”
“See for yourself,” said Gisela, laughing. “Come out, Hiltrude, and embrace your mother.” At her command the hanging was drawn back a third time.
“Oh!” Lady Adalhaid gasped, her hands fluttering to her breast. Then she stretched out her arms to the young woman who rushed forward to embrace her. “Hiltrude, my dearest! My heart! I thought never to see you again in this world. Oh, let me look at you. Are you well? Are you safe? Why are you here? What is the meaning of this unexpected visit?” That last question was addressed to Charles, who sat regarding with a sharp eye the scene being played out before him.
Gina took advantage of the opportunity to get off her uncomfortable stool and stand as the others were doing. She gazed in fascination at Dominick’s former wife, though all she could see at the moment was the back of a gray wool dress, for Hiltrude was completely surrounded by her mother’s arms.
“Within an hour after you and Lady Gina revealed Hiltrude’s spying to me,” Charles said to Lady Adalhaid, “I sent a rider to Chelles at top speed. He carried a letter to my sister, in which I asked Gisela to come to Regensburg at once, bringing Hiltrude with her. As you can see by their presence here today, they wasted no time in answering my request.
“Dominick, this is why I postponed your sentencing,” Charles continued. “There were many souls proclaiming your honesty, including Alcuin, Deacon Fardulf, and these ladies here, among others. Only one loud voice constantly repeated that you were guilty. I harbored no doubts about the other men who stood trial for treason. They received their just sentences. But I found it difficult to believe that you were involved.”
“I never was,” Dominick stated. “Sir, I love and honor you. There is but one person in this affair whom I despise.” The two men locked glances for a long moment, and it was Charles who looked away first.
“Lady Hiltrude,” Charles said, “I want to know the entire truth of your marriage to Count Dominick.”
“Sir, what do you mean?” Visibly trembling, Hiltrude detached herself from her mother’s embrace.
At last Gina could take a good look at her. Hiltrude was not an especially pretty girl, having light brown hair worn in two tight braids and unremarkable gray eyes. Nor did her simple gray dress enhance her sturdy figure. Yet there was something of Lady Adalhaid’s elegance in Hiltrude’s posture and movements and, like her mother, she apparently had a tendency to turn pale at moments of stress. Her cheeks were colorless now.
“Speak honestly,” Charles ordered her. “Tell me everything.”
“I – I – oh, sir!” Hiltrude bit her lip and glanced nervously around the room. “Is the queen ill? I’ve not seen her since coming to Regensburg.”
“Nor will you see her until after you have told me what I want to know,” said Charles. “Fastrada is not here. She will not interrupt us, nor will she influence what you say.”
Gina couldn’t stand the tension any longer. Lady Adalhaid was so white and was shaking so hard that Gina was afraid she’d have a heart attack. Gisela had withdrawn from the group before Charles to stand at her brother’s side. Dominick was frowning and looking like a thundercloud about to burst into a violent storm. Gina couldn’t tell what his feelings about Hiltrude were, but she could see that the poor young woman was scared half to death. Very deliberately, she moved to stand next to Hiltrude, and put a supporting arm across her shoulders.
“Tell him what he wants to know,” Gina instructed in a fierce tone. “Your mother was afraid to speak out until I maneuvered her into a position where she had no choice, and now I think she’s glad she spoke. Charles needs to know what happened.”
“Who are you?” Hiltrude’s gray eyes met Gina’s steady gaze.
“She is a friend,” said Lady Adalhaid. “Moreover, Gina is right. Hiltrude, you must stop being afraid. Your life – all our lives – depend upon your honesty now.”
There followed a brief silence, during which Hiltrude took several deep breaths, and Gina could feel her trembling. Then Hiltrude lifted her chin and looked directly at Charles.
“Shortly after I first came to court, I was appointed as one of the queen’s ladies,” Hiltrude said. “Queen Fastrada was more friendly to me than I expected. I was, after all, only an ignorant young girl, and I was very flattered by her attentions. One day she told me that she wanted me to marry Count Dominick. I asked why, because I knew she did not like him. Dominick had criticized her before others, and Fastrada took great offense at that. She told me I was to marry Dominick and then spy on him, to discover any facts that could be used against him and report them to her. She was determined to ruin him for what he’d said about her. At first, I refused.”
“Go on,” Charles urged when Hiltrude paused to wipe her eyes.
“Queen Fastrada said if I didn’t do what she wanted, she would have my mother killed under circumstances that would make her appear to be an evil woman.”
“What circumstances?” asked Charles.
“She was going to arrange for my mother and Count Audulf to die together as if in a lovers’ suicide pact.” Hiltrude s voice sank so low as she pronounced those last words that Charles leaned forward in his chair to hear better.
“Are you speaking of Audulf of Birnau?” Charles asked. “The same young man to whom you were originally betrothed?”
“Yes,” Hiltrude whispered. “The idea was that my mother would appear to be the lover of my betrothed. Thus, the two people I love most in the w
orld would be seen to have betrayed me in the most disgraceful fashion. Furthermore, as suicides, neither of them could be buried in consecrated ground, nor could they receive the prayers or blessings of the Church. They would be condemned to the fires of Hell forever. I could not let that happen. I had to obey the queen.”
Charles sat back, looking as if someone had struck him. Gisela put a hand on his shoulder.
“Merciful heaven!” exclaimed Lady Adalhaid. “Hiltrude, child, why didn’t you tell me all of this?”
“I was so afraid,” Hiltrude said. “I know you, Mother. You would have confronted the queen and made a great commotion. But I knew they weren’t idle threats. Your life was in danger. So was Audulf’s. I had to do what Fastrada wanted.”
“And so you married Dominick,” said Charles.
“Yes. Dominick was always kind to me. He never—” Hiltrude gulped back tears. She still had not looked directly at Dominick. “He never hurt me, and he seemed to understand that my heart lay elsewhere. He was even kind when he discovered my attempts to spy on him. I am a very poor spy, my lord.”
“Dominick,” Charles said, “you ought to have told me when you learned what Hiltrude was doing.”
“I begged him not to!” Hiltrude cried. “Everyone in Francia knows how much you love Fastrada. I didn’t think you’d believe anything against her. I had obeyed her and married Dominick, but I hadn’t been able to learn anything that would be helpful to Fastrada, so I still feared for my mother’s life, and for Audulf’s, and for Dominick’s, too. I am ashamed of what I did to Dominick, and I was glad when he found me out and said he would not remain married to a woman he could not trust.”
“But you divorced him,” said Charles. Then he nodded. “I understand. He thought you would be safe at Chelles.”
“And so I have been,” Hiltrude said.
“Yet I have been told on good authority that you have no taste for conventual life.” Charles gave Hiltrude a sharp look.
“No,” Hiltrude responded. She sent a quick little smile in the direction of Charles’s sister. “Lady Gisela knows me well. I wish I could have married Count Audulf.”
“Would Audulf have you now, do you think?” Charles asked.
“I don’t know,” Hiltrude said with a sigh. “I haven’t seen or spoken to Audulf since the day my forthcoming marriage to Dominick was announced.
“No doubt the young man’s heart was broken,” Charles said in a dry tone.
“Perhaps,” Hiltrude responded sadly. “I know mine was.”
Charles sat for a few moments as if meditating. Hiltrude leaned against Gina. Lady Adalhaid put an arm around her daughter so the three of them stood together, facing Charles. As he watched them his eyes began to sparkle. He motioned to Gisela, who bent to hear his whispered words. Gisela nodded and retreated behind the wall hanging.
“It is possible, Lady Hiltrude,” Charles said after a few more minutes of silence, “that I can provide a remedy for your unhappiness.”
Gisela returned just then, and Gina began to wonder how many people were hidden on the other side of the doorway behind the tapestry, for with the king’s sister came a short, wiry man with a cap of unruly black curls. To Gina’s eyes he possessed at least some Italian blood, for his most outstanding features were a fine Roman nose and dark, flashing eyes.
The newcomer stopped short when he beheld Hiltrude, and at the sight of him, Hiltrude went limp between her mother and Gina.
“What have you done to her?” cried the young man, and he snatched Hiltrude from her companions to hold her against his bosom as if she were a delicate treasure. He appeared oblivious to the fact that Hiltrude was several inches taller than he and, by the look of them, ten pounds or so heavier.
“I do believe the unexpected sight of you has made her lightheaded,” Charles said, regarding the couple. “Count Audulf, I suggest that you take Hiltrude for a long, reviving horseback ride, during which I expect you to come to an agreement with her.”
“My lord,” the young man began to protest, but he ceased when Hiltrude stirred in his arms.
“Audulf?” Hiltrude’s rather large, square hand stroked his tanned cheek. “Is it really you?”
“I can see I was not wrong about you two,” Charles said, forestalling Audulf’s response to his lady’s question. “I trust Alcuin will be able to locate a copy of your original betrothal contract somewhere among the palace archives, so there will be no difficulty there, and no reason for delay.
“Count Audulf, this is my command: Heed it well. You and Lady Hiltrude will marry in the great hall tomorrow morning, after which we will all proceed to the church of St. Peter, where your vows will be properly blessed by a priest. I want no doubts raised later about the legality of your marriage or the legitimacy of your future children, of whom, I suspect, there will be many. Your marriage feast will be celebrated at midday tomorrow, in the great hall. After the last two weeks, it is a pleasure to have a joyful occasion to contemplate.” He sat gazing upon the young couple with a pleased expression.
“My lord,” said Dominick, “with your permission, Lady Hiltrude is welcome to join her mother at my house for this last night before her marriage. I believe Lady Gina has several available gowns from which Hiltrude may choose her wedding dress.”
“Oh, yes, gladly,” said Gina, barely repressing a giggle at the arrangement Dominick was suggesting. “I am sure Ella and Imma will be happy to alter something that is appropriate for a bride to wear.”
“Go on, children.” Charles waved Hiltrude and Audulf away. “Enjoy yourselves today. Soon enough your lives will turn serious again.”
They required no more urging. With Audulf’s arm around Hiltrude’s waist they left by the tapestry-covered doorway
“Charles,” said Gisela, “it’s cruel of you to keep Dominick in suspense any longer.”
“As always, your advice is good.” Charles nodded his agreement. “Dominick, I assure you, I have never suspected you of involvement in that detestable plot, though I deliberately waited to tell you so until after I had heard Hiltrude’s testimony. For reasons I am not ready to divulge as yet, I still do not want anyone else to suspect that I am aware of your innocence. Therefore, I ask all three of you to swear that you won’t reveal what I have just said. Tomorrow will be taken up with Hiltrude’s very happy wedding. On the following day, I will meet with you again. Have I your word that you will maintain a scrupulous silence on the subject until then?”
“I swear it,” Dominick said at once.
“So do I,” said Gina.
“And I,” Lady Adalhaid said. “Sir, I thank you with all my heart for the way you have made my beloved girl so happy.”
“Well,” Gina said when the three of them had been dismissed and were outside the palace gate, “what do you make of all that?”
“You have just seen why Charles is a great king,” Lady Adalhaid declared. “He has given me back my daughter and has assured her safety.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Gina said, aware that Lady Adalhaid wasn’t paying attention to much of anything but her daughter’s wedding.
But Dominick was listening. He put his mouth close to Gina’s ear and spoke softly, so only she could hear.
“What I make of it,” Dominick said, “is that Charles is setting a trap for Fastrada. And we are the bait.”
“I can’t believe it,” Ella whispered to Gina. “You invited Dominick’s former wife to stay here, and you are going to provide her wedding gown? Have you gone mad?”
“Hush,” Gina cautioned with a quick look in the direction of Lady Adalhaid, who was at the other side of the hall telling Imma what had happened at the palace. “I don’t want her to hear you and feel uncomfortable.”
“What about your feelings?” Ella cried. “I can’t imagine what Hedwiga would say about this!”
“With Lady Adalhaid already staying here, Dominick thought it only right to give her some time alone with her daughter. Hiltrude has been through a lot.
”
Ella made a rude sound, then said, “I know how she treated Dominick when they were married, how cold she was to him. You are much too generous.”
“You don’t know everything,” Gina said, “and I can’t tell you all the details. I will just say that Fastrada was behind much of Hiltrude’s unhappiness.” It was a statement calculated to arouse Ella’s sympathy toward Hiltrude. Gina was by now familiar enough with the way Dominick’s household operated to know that Ella would quickly tell the cook, and within an hour all the servants and men-at-arms would be united in favor of Hiltrude against Fastrada. The one unalterable certainty among Dominick’s people was that every one of them hated the queen. It wasn’t going to take a special order from Dominick to keep Hiltrude’s presence in his house a secret.
Gina also trusted the universal feminine fascination with weddings to keep the household occupied and less apt to gossip.
“There is one of Hiltrude’s gowns that I haven’t worn yet,” Gina said. “It’s the pale blue silk. I think it will be easy to open and then re-sew the side seams. Let’s ask Lady Adalhaid what she thinks.”
Gina’s assumption about the power of nuptials to preoccupy women was soon proven correct. She and Lady Adalhaid, along with Ella and Imma, spent several pleasant hours talking about brides they had known while they carefully pulled out Hedwiga’s stitches – and saved the thread, something Gina hadn’t thought of – so that when Hiltrude returned from her ride with Audulf, the gown was ready to be refitted on its original owner and re-sewn.
Since Gina still couldn’t sew a decent seam, she left the other women at that point and went in search of Dominick. She found him in his bedchamber in private conversation with Count Audulf, and what she heard when she pushed open the unlatched door left her speechless.
“What are you saying?” exclaimed Audulf. “Are you telling me you never consummated the marriage?”
