Dating Hamlet by Lisa Fiedler

Author:Lisa Fiedler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Published: 2012-01-31T05:00:00+00:00

“A feminine mind hath kept thy male body from its most ignoble goal.

Would that with your supper there, you’d spew forth your tainted soul!”

CHAPTER SEVEN

MY FATHER’S HOUSE AWAITS ME, WARMLY. I HAVE run all the way from Elsinore.

“Ophelia, child! What is the matter?”

I stumble inside to be caught in his embrace.

“Father … the play. Oh, Father, the play …”

“There, now,” he whispers, leading me to a seat beside the hearth. “Catch your breath, and tell me what has happened.”

Around us wafts the liquid scent of herbs well steeped. I brush the snow from my skirts, kick off my damp shoes. “Hamlet hath proven Claudius guilty of the murder of the King.”

“At the play?”

“Through the play,” I clarify. “With the play. In the play. Hamlet adjusted the plot so that it was, in fact, a re-enactment of Claudius’s crime.”

“Clever lad.”

“Yes, for, at the sight of it, Claudius did fly into a most turbid fit! Evidence of his culpability, surely! I would have gone after him, as Hamlet did, but Horatio did worry for my safety. He ordered, in good faith, a guard, Barnardo, to attend me to mine chamber! By the blood of Saint Ermengild, I have never before feared the presence of a man, but tonight …”

His eyes go dark with worry. “Did the brute harm thee, daughter?”

“Nearly, but I sallied his scheme!” The memory sets a queer feeling of pride and repulsion tumbling in my belly. “I sensed his aim was not to seduce but to overpower me.”

“Aye, men of that ilk are often so inclined. What did you do?”

“I made to enjoy it, Father, pretending that his attentions did excite me. It confounded him, the witless dolt, to be removed of his might. Frightened him as well, I do believe.”

My father approves. “When a woman is without a dirk, she is fortunate to have intellect as a weapon.” He strokes my rumpled hair. “What then?”

“I fed him dogbane, sir.”

“Dogbane!” At this, a most appreciative laugh! “Zounds, child, you’ll return to find fouled rushes for certain.”

“A small price, Father.” I clear my throat and go on with my confession. “And then I slugged him. In the jaw, to begin, and followed with a knee to his …”

“So you pummeled the cur, besides! Ho! I have here a quite resourceful girl.”

The laughter rings louder as mine mingles with his. “It is most satisfying for a daughter to so please her rather.”

His laughter trails off. We are silent a moment; he reaches for a horn cup, pours some herb-scented liquid, and hands the drink to me. I sip gratefully. The concoction is warm, with a leafy-sweet sting. He waits till I have finished the cup.

“Pray thee, child,” he asks in a solemn voice, “what now?”

“I must speak to Hamlet. We shall confer, to determine a course. He will surely kill the King, and quickly, now that his guilt has been availed!”

“Lia!”

We whirl, my father and I, to find Anne in the doorway, shivering.

My father is up and bundling her inside. He pours some of the hot liquid into a second vessel and gives it to Anne.

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