The Perfect Wife
Page 32

Diamanda made a face and admitted, "Actually, that was intentional. I was deliberately insulting,though I did not thinkto tell Avelyn that when I told her the rest. "
"Why would you do allthattoher?"Paen asked sharply, his- confusionbeginning tofade beneath asurge of anger on his wife's behalf.
"I was jealous,"sheadmitted unhappily, then raisedher face, revealing pleading eyes. "I ove you,Paen. Ihave always lovedyou. I came to Gervilleknowing I wasto marryAdam, but it was you I loved. You werealwaysstronger andsmarter and..."
She shookherheadhelplessly. "I loveyou. And I wasjealous that she got tomarry you and wouldbe your wife and..." She sighed. "I wantedto make her as miserable as Iwas, I guess. Or maybe make you see howuseless and clumsyshe was. "
"Avelyn is neither useless nor clumsy,"Paen saidgrimly.
"I know. " Diamanda nodded. "Her cousins toldme she was, andthat just made me angrier because I thought she didnot deserve you. But Ihave come to know Avelyn sincethen andI know she isneitherclumsynoruseless. Sheis smartand funny and kindandI hope that I am half as good awife someday asshe is to you. "
She shrugged unhappily. "I came tolike her. That is whyIdid nothing else to tryto makeherlook bad in youreyes afterarrivinghere. "
She grimaced. "Of course, with theplague of accidents shehas hadsincearriving here, Idid not feel theneedtobother, but even so, I do notthink I would have done anything else. Ido like her,Paen. And I am sorry. "
Paenlethisbreath outon a slow sigh. The girl sounded sincere, atleast about beingsorry. He didn't believe foraminute that she really loved him. She had a child's infatuation for him, was all, andwouldgetover it soon enough. Her behavior toward Avelynhad been appalling, however, and he wasn't surewhat he should do about it.
"So Avelynknows all this and forgave you?"he asked.
"Aye. She is verykind. "
"Iam surprised that you confessed allthis to her,"Paen acknowledged.
Diamandagrimaced. "She mademe. "
"What?"
Diamandanodded, then frowned. "It was theoddest thing. Avelyn was angryand said she knew what Ihadbeendoingand had seen me. I thoughtshe meant shehad seen me either start the fire orruin thesecond tunicand I confessed all, but it just seemedto confuse her. And then she asked me about being up on the parapet earlier, as if itweremore important. "
"Earlier today?"Paen asked sharply. "You were up on the parapet today?"
"Aye. Iwantedto be alone to think about everything. Iwasfeeling bad for the unkindnesses I had dealt Avelyn, and I could see you hadcometo loveher, which only made me feeldoubly bad. " Sheshrugged unhappily.
Paenstaredatthe girl,hisheart pounding. Shecould seehe hadcome tolove Avelyn? Nay, he didnot love his wife. Hemighthave someaffection for her, but love?Paen swallowed and glanced toward the window, a myriad of memories running through his mind - Avelyn chattering before himon hishorse; covered in quail eggs he'd knockedher into;telling him angrily that Of course she'd thought he preferred thehard-packed earth to beddingher, else hewould have been in their tent; herdejectionover hisnot bedding her; her gleefullaughas she beat himat chess;her earnest expression as she told him Samson was very smart; herbraveface as she denied she was inpain aftertheboulderhit her;her passion-filledgazeas he made lovetoher; her clutching a bit of linen infront of her as if itwould hide her nudity... Aye, he acknowledged. He lovedher. He loved every last contrary bit ofher. The woman was too kindhearted, too shy, too giving. Shewasjust plain perfect... for him. He loved her. Damn,whenhadthathappened?
"I thought I could be alone up on the battlements. " Diamanda went on,drawing Paen'sthoughtsaway from his love forhis wifein timeto see her grimace. "Of course, I almost did not go up when I sawAuntHelen hurrying down, but Ihid underthestairs andwaited forher topass and then went up. " She sighed. "I was walking along the parapet and heard voices. Ilooked over and saw David helping Avelyn to her feet. She musthave tripped or something. "
She shook her head with amused affection. "Asmuch as I likeAvelyn, shetruly is clumsy. "Thenshe shook herhead. "That fall through the floornearly did me in. It scared me somuch, and still she will not admitshe is accident prone. "
Diamanda sighed and peeredathim. "Anyway,she must have seenme when I lookedover the parapet. Avelyn was very upset that I had been up there atfirst,then just looked mystifiedwhenI explained I had been up there to think. "
Diamandastoodnow, then hesitated. "If you wish me to leave, I will. Avelyn said there was no need to and it was onlysmall mischief, but - "
"No, no. " Paenshook his head. "There is no reason foryou to leave. "
She letherbreath outona sighof relief. "Thank you, Paen. "
Heblinkedin surprisewhen Diamanda suddenly bentforward to kiss him on the cheek. She then straightenedandmovedtothe door.
"Diamanda?"Paen asked as sheopenedthe door.
Pausing, thegirlglanced back.
"Where isAvelyn?"
"She went up on the parapet for something. Though she may be backnow. Aunt Helen stopped in here looking for her for some reason, and Itold her where she was, so she may havefound Avelyn and brought her back down forwhatever she wanted.
I shall tell her youare awake if she isback in the keep when I gobelow. Avelyn will be glad. She was veryworried. Shelovesyou as muchas you love her, youknow. "
Diamandaclosed the door softly behindherself as she left.
Paen stared after her, his heartin his throat for severalreasons. First, hehad just come torealize that he loved his wife. Secondly,Diamanda thoughthiswife loved him too, and third, he verymuch fearedhiswife was in terribledanger at that very moment.
Paen'smindwasworking fast, putting all the pieces together. He'd thought his wifeclumsy because ofall her little accidents, butit seemed that someof themwere not accidents at all. The fire inthetent hadnot been, the drowninghad not been a drowning... what else might not be whatit seemed? Hehad wondered about the fall through the hole inthefloor, findingit hard to believeshe could have missed seeing the hole. He stilldid, but he had never got to question her on it.
The chamber door opened, distracting him, and Paen glanced toward it as Runilda pausedin the entrance. Abright smile lither face asshe saw he wasawake.
"Lady Avelynwill be happyyou areawake. She has been worried. "
"Wait," Paen said as she started toback out of the room, apparently togo find Avelyn.
Runilda paused, her eyebrows risingin question.
"Come here,"he ordered, not wanting anyone passingin the hall to hear him.
Runilda stepped back into the room, closed the door andapproachedthe bed.
"Aye,mylord?"
"Did Avelyn ever talk to youaboutthefallshe took the first day here?When she fell through thehole?"
Runilda hesitated. "Not really,mylord. "
Paen was frowning overthiswhen sheadded, "Though, when she first woke up, she did say something about being hit and falling through. "
"Beinghit?" Paenstiffened. "What exactlydid she say?"
Themaid thoughtfora minute, then said,"I thinkit was'Someone hit me,I fell through the hole. '"
"Someone hit her?" Paenasked with disbelief. "Why did no one mention thisto me?"
"Well, she was alone upstairs; who could have hit her?Lady Helenseemedto think it had just been something Lady Avelyn had dreamed while she was unconscious,"Runilda added apologetically.
"Lady Helen did,did she?" Paen asked,recallingDiamanda saying she'd hidden beneath the stairsas Lady Helenhad hurried off the battlements before she'd gone up onto thewall - which would put Lady Helen onthe wall rightabout when the boulder had fallen from the battlement and nearlycrushedhis wife. Was Helen trying tokill hiswife?Butwhy? And whynow? These more serious, deadlyattacks hadn't started until they'd arrived here at Rumsfeld. Or had they?
Paenran quickly through thelistof events at Straughton andon the journeyto Gerville.
Paen's thoughts pausedabruptly as herecalledone odd event on thejourney he hadn't put any significance to: the dead fox, the rabbit meat and the signs that someonehadbeensick in thewoodsbehind his wife's tent. He hadn't connected the two thingsat the time, but whatifthey were connected? Whatifthemeat hadbeen poisoned and the fox had diedafter eating some ofit?
"Did Avelyn throwa roasted rabbit leg behindthe tent on the first night of our journey?"Paen asked, making Runildastartle at the sharpquestion aftersuch a long silence.
"Ido not know," she said, then frowned inthought and admitted, "She mayhave.
Iknow Lady Helen gave a roastrabbit legto Diamanda to give to Lady Avelyn for sup. " She shrugged. "I have no idea whether she ateit or not,but her stomachmay have been bothering her after beingridden around camp across your horselike that, so she may havethrown it away rather than risk eating it and tossing it backup. "
Or the ride around camp might have made her throw up the meatand savedher from being poisoned, Paen realized and sat up suddenly.
"My lord, what are you doing? You should not be gettingup!" Runildacried "I have to getto the wall. Avelyn needs me," Paen growled, ignoring thepain ripping through his head as hegained his feet.
"Good afternoon, Lady Helen," Avelynmurmured. The woman had frozenwhen Avelyn turned, and for a moment her expression had been of such hatred that Avelyn was startled. Then - as if it had never been there - the expression was replacedwitha smile, and she movedslowly forward. ButAvelyn had seen the look and could not pretend she hadn't. "Hello, dear. I thought it was you uphere so I came tocaution you. It is not safe tobe hanging over the side of the wall as you werea moment ago. Accidents happen. "
"Aye,"Avelynagreed, taking a step back along the wall. "And they seem to happen to me a lot. "
"You do seem accident prone," Lady Helenmurmured, continuingforward.
"Why?"Avelyn asked, refusingto play ignorance. Themomentshe'd seenher expression, she'd known Lady Helen was behind the attacks. She just didn't understand why. Surelynot because Diamanda had an infatuation with Paen.
Lady Helen paused, her head tilting, and Avelyn knew she was debating whether to acknowledge what she'dbeen doing. Finally shesighedand took anotherstep forward. "Ibear you no malice, Avelyn. "
"Judging by your expression amoment ago, I find that hard to believe. "
Lady Helen grimaced. "It gave me away, Of course. I amsorry. Ifearit is just frustration that causesmyirritation with you. Why will younot die?"
Avelyn had no idea how shewas supposed to answerthat politequestion, so she simply took another step back.
Lady Helenmirroredher action. "Four timesyoushould havebeen dead,and fourtimesyou haveescaped harm. I - "
"Four times?" Avelyn interruptedwithamazement. She only knew of two.
"You survived the poisoning twice, then the fall through the floor, and the boulder. "
"Poisoning?"Avelyn gaped at her. "When?"
Lady Helen shifted with irritation. "On the journeyfrom Straughton toGerville. I powdered poison on the bitof rabbit meatIhad Diamanda bringto you. Itis very potent poison and should have killedyouquickly, but instead of awaking to the shout thatyou were dead, I awokethenext morning tosee you wandering backto camp afterbathing. "
Avelyn blinked as sherecalled the meat thefirst night. Hertongue had tingled after her first bite, but she'd bitten her tongue at the same timeand thought that the source. As sherecalled, she'd also felt as if ants were crawlingover her skin, buthad beendistracted by her stomach's revolt when she'd vomited the meat up. Avelynhad thought theroughtreatment of her stomach when Paen had riddenher around onher belly had causedher stomach's refusal to keepanything in it. And it probably had, she realized. Ithadalso saved her fromdying that night.
"When thatdid notwork," Lady Helencontinued, takinganother stepcloser. "I made stewthe next nightusingPaen's inability toeat withhis bandaged hands as the excuse. In truth, Iwanted to double the dosage ofthe poison,but feared it would be too obvious on roasted meat. I hoped the stew would hide it. " She shook herhead with bewilderment. "But even with double the dose,yousurvived. All it did was makeyou tired. "
It hadn'tmadeher tired. Avelyn hadmadeherself tired by sewingthrough the night. The poison hadn't worked because Avelyn hadn't eaten the stew either. She'd beenfullfrom thecheese,bread and appleRunilda had brought her. Once again,fate had saved her. She didn't botherto tellLadyHelenthat, however. Insteadshesaid, "And you did hit me with a plank,knocking methrough the hole?"
"Aye. I had gone out to check the gardens, but came back when you told Diamanda youwere tolookfor the servants above stairs. I stepped back into the kitchen andwaited for Diamanda to golookinto thematter ofthe well. Then once you were upstairs, Ifollowed. Those stairs were tricky," she said dryly. "However, I managed themquickly and without scraping my leg as you did. "
Avelyn didn't respond to the taunt,but simply waitedfor her to continue.
"Ifound theplank in one ofthe roomsand carried it with me. When I discovered you,you were leaning over,peering down the hole. Before I could hurryforward and push you, youstarted to back away from the hole, so Iused the plank. "Her mouth tightened. "Butagain you escaped death. Your skirt caught on one of the broken floorboards. I would have moved forward tofree youto fall to your death, but Runilda wasscreaming to high heaven. I knew help would come quickly and I wasafraid she might seeme through the hole, so I hid in one of theroomsuntil Diamanda sent Runildatofetch Paen and hurriedupstairsto the room. ThenIcame in behind her as if Ihadjust come from outside. "