03 The White Rose by Joyce Lionarons

Author:Joyce Lionarons
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery
Published: 2018-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Blanche

Talbot Manor, February 1268

As the days went by, Blanche’s bruises faded and her broken jaw began to heal in a crooked line. Sir John had taken Lady Claire and Marie north to the manor of Sir Humphrey Forsythe, whom Marie was to wed once the dowry was agreed on, so she need have no fear for the present. Yet it was more than a fortnight before she could summon the courage to venture down the steep steps and out to the cookhouse, and only then because Julian forbade Lizzie to bring her broth and porridge above stairs. The lethargy that had overwhelmed her in the minutes after the rape continued, and she moved in a grey mist that dulled the world around her. The sharp pains in her abdomen slowly diminished.

The only thing that could rouse her from her stupor was the child Lily. Together they sat amid the rushes in the great hall, playing with Lily’s wooden doll. As Lily sang her wordless songs, Blanche could sometimes almost forget her shame and her rage in the child’s simple innocence. When after a month Sir John returned to the manor with his wife and elder daughter, Lizzie served the wine and food while Blanche stayed in the cookhouse with Julian or sat upstairs in Lily’s small chamber.

At night she lay awake in her room under the sloped rafters, tense with waiting. When Sir John’s heavy tread sounded on the staircase, she whimpered to herself, but did not move. She remained motionless throughout, hardly flinching when he slapped her and commanded her to respond. Only when he had finished and gone down the stairs again did she allow herself to cry, to rise from her bed and wash in the darkness, to curl herself into a ball beneath her blanket and sleep.

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