Page 35 of Castle of Refuge

“She has scars now on her ear and a bit of her face from falling into the fire. But you can’t see them when she pulls her hair down, and her father vows that she is a sweet girl.”

Why did it make him imagine hitting Sir Clement for talking this way about Audrey? Sir Clement was not a bad man. He would not be a cruel husband. Inattentive perhaps, but not cruel. But it seemed wrong to speak of her so disrespectfully, as if her scars were a thing to hide and be ashamed of.

“But she must not have wanted to marry me, since she ran away from home.” He hung his head. “So I will not press her to do so. I have told her father I am letting him out of the arrangement. I do not wish to marry a woman who is so opposed to the union that she would run away from kith and kin and everything safe.”

Audrey had said her sister tripped her so she would get burned, but...

“Could it be that she feared for her life? That her sister wished to harm her and she was afraid to stay in her home?”

Sir Clement frowned. “Her father said he sent the sister away to a nunnery after Audrey’s face got burned, but the sister came back home. I think he may have been marrying her off to me to keep her away from the sister. But if you think the father may have been allowing the sister to harm her... that would be unlikely. He’d have nothing to gain and everything to lose from making her too ugly to marry a duke or an earl.”

Ugly?Audrey was not ugly. Not in any way. But if her father had protected her from the sister, why had she been so afraid of being sent back there? He and Mistress Wattlesbrook had believed she had been abused and was fleeing something frightening. Had she fled her home only because she did not wish to marry Sir Clement? That would seem rather unlike a girl who would be willing to serve as a house cleaner and kitchen worker. Also, she had said, “Please don’t tell him.” To whom was she referring?

“I don’t suppose you have heard of such a girl, with a scar on her ear and face? She is a pretty little thing, regardless of her scars, blonde hair. Her father fears some harm has come to her.”

Her father must be very worried about her. Edwin should tell Sir Clement that Audrey was here now, that she was safe and unharmed. But something stopped him. If she was so desperate to remain hidden, perhaps she had a good reason.

“Surely you will be able to find her,” Edwin said. “Or perhaps she will go back home on her own.”

“I am only helping to look for her as a favor to her father,and because I feel partially responsible.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I will not be marrying her, and I should have known better. I never should have agreed. A widow more my age would be more suited to me. Perhaps even a rich widow, eh?” He laughed, but he didn’t look or sound very mirthful. This business with Audrey running away had shaken him.

He should tell Sir Clement she was safe. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Will you be staying a few days?” Edwin asked.

“I will stay one night, but then I need to keep looking, at least make a good faith effort. Though I suppose she may have run off with a lover, some young buck with a ruddy, handsome face. Not like mine.” Again he laughed his mirthless laugh and rubbed his chin, which was covered in short white whiskers.

“Do not worry. I believe she will be found. She may be closer than you think.”

Sir Clement looked doubtful but said nothing.

Perhaps it was time to have a talk with Audrey and ask some very pointed questions.

Nine

Audrey was fetching two buckets of water from the outdoor well to carry to the laundry maid, though they were only half full. It irked her that the other women could carry full buckets. But she was determined to get stronger so that she could carry full buckets too.

Audrey had felt lighter and more peaceful since coming to Dericott Castle. However, when she was working hard, and at night when her body was tired, she missed Sybil and Helena. Would she ever see them again? Though Sybil was sometimes cross and dismissive, how Audrey longed for an embrace from Sybil’s motherly arms and a smile from Helena when she walked into her shop. And though she knew she might never see them again, she was saving up things to tell them, keeping a list in her head, just in case.

She saw Lord Dericott walking across the bailey with another man. Lord Dericott indeed caught one’s eye with the wayhis torso looked with one arm missing, but he was still tall and muscular, his stride confident.

The man beside him also captured her attention. He was familiar, with his graying hair and the way he looked next to Lord Dericott. When he turned and showed a full view of his face, she gasped and dropped her buckets.

Sir Clement.He was here. He would take her back to her father and to Maris.

She snatched up the buckets, which miraculously had not spilled, and turned her back on the two men.

Her heart pounded and she had to gasp for breath. Had they seen her?

She walked as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself. She passed the stable and made it to the large oak tree under which the laundry maidens toiled over the linens.

“What is the matter?” one of the servants asked. “Have you seen a ghost?”

“No, no, I am well.” Audrey smiled, but her thoughts were racing.

“Go on and strip the beds, then,” the laundry maid said, shooing Audrey away with her hand.

Audrey hurried toward the servants’ entrance. Just before she entered the castle, she glanced over her shoulder. Lord Dericott and Sir Clement were standing still now and seemed to be deep in conversation. Audrey went inside.