Aliena sat on the bed and put her arms around the girl. Elizabeth cried with deep, wrenching sobs, and tears flooded down her cheeks. In between sobs she gasped: “I—hate—him! I—wish—I—could—die!”
Her anguish was so pitiful, and she was so young, that Aliena was close to tears herself. She was painfully aware that Elizabeth’s fate could easily have been her own. She patted Elizabeth’s back as she would have done with Sally.
Eventually Elizabeth became calmer. She wiped her wet face with the sleeve of her nightshirt. “I’m so afraid of having a baby,” she said miserably. “I’m terrified because I know how he would mistreat the child.”
“I understand,” Aliena said. She had once been terrified by the thought that she might be pregnant with William’s child.
Elizabeth looked at her wide-eyed. “Is it true what they say, about ... what he did to you?”
“Yes, it’s true. I was your age when it happened.”
For a moment they looked into one another’s eyes, brought close by a shared loathing. Suddenly Elizabeth did not look like a child anymore.
Aliena said: “You could get free of him, if you want. Today.”
Elizabeth stared at her. “Is it true?” she said with pitiable eagerness. “Is it true?”
Aliena nodded. “That’s why I’m here.”
“I could go home?” Elizabeth said, her eyes filling with fresh tears. “I could go home to Weymouth, to my mother?Today?”
“Yes. But you’ll have to be brave.”
“I’ll do anything,” she said. “Anything! Just tell me.”
Aliena remembered explaining how she could acquire authority with her husband’s employees, and she wondered whether Elizabeth had been able to put the principles into practice. “Do the servants still push you around?” she asked candidly.
“They try.”
“But you don’t let them.”
She looked embarrassed. “Well, sometimes I do. But I’m sixteen now, and I’ve been countess for nearly two years ... and I’ve been trying to follow your advice, and it really works!”
“Let me explain,” Aliena began. “King Stephen has made a pact with Duke Henry. All lands are to be returned to the people who held them in the time of the old King Henry. That means my brother Richard will become earl of Shiring—sometime. But he wants it now.”
Elizabeth was wide-eyed. “Is Richard going to make war on William?”
“Richard is very close right now, with a small company of men. If he can take over the castle today, he will be recognized as earl, and William will be finished.”
“I can’t believe it,” Elizabeth said. “I can’t believe it’s really true.” Her sudden optimism was even more heartrending than her abject misery had been.
“All you have to do is let Richard in peacefully,” Aliena said. “Then, when it’s all over, we’ll take you home.”
Elizabeth looked fearful again. “I’m not sure the men will do what I say.”
That was Aliena’s worry. “Who is the captain of the guard?”
“Michael Armstrong. I don’t like him.”
“Send for him.”
“Right.” Elizabeth wiped her nose, stood up, and went to the door. “Madge!” she called out in a piercing voice. Aliena heard a distant reply. “Go and fetch Michael. Tell him to come here right away—I want to see him urgently. Hurry, please.”
She came back in and began to dress quickly, throwing a tunic over her nightdress and lacing up her boots. Aliena briefed her rapidly. “Tell Michael to ring the big bell to summon everyone to the courtyard. Say you’ve received a message from Earl William and you want to speak to the entire garrison, men-at-arms and servants and everyone. You want three or four men to stand guard while everyone else gathers in the lower courtyard. Also tell him you’re expecting a group of ten or twelve horsemen to arrive at any moment with a further message, and they must be brought to you as soon as they arrive.”
“I hope I can remember it all,” Elizabeth said nervously.
“Don’t worry—if you forget, I’ll prompt you.”
