There and back again - The continuing journey

CHAPTER 7 - A SMALL RECOVERY.

Over the following weeks Auriel grew in strength under the ministrations of her aunt and the bloom in her cheeks returned, though she hated the taste of the potion she was required to imbibe every day. They fed her butter, cream, cheese, chicken and fish, almost every day, until she laughed and declared that she would soon be as fat as a gable end!

She started to come down to the kitchen for a short time every day and sit at the table so she could play with the children, but she tired easily and was always in bed again by the time Guy returned from the fields, generally with young Mordred following close behind, for the two of them now appeared to be quite inseparable, the boy being so willing to learn, and wanting to please the head of the family with whom he now resided.

But the day came when the invalid declared herself heartily sick of her bed and saying that she would get dressed and prepare the evening meal, though her aunt warned against what she saw as the great exertion.

"I will cook my husband's favourite supper and meet him at the end of the lane." Auriel said.

"And what might that favoured dish be, my child?" her Aunt asked."Tis Finty,"she replied, "a Nottingham dish, chicken soup with dumplings, vegetables, barley, herbs and spices, with a wine gravy, he has always loved it and I will steam a honey pudding, for he so loves a pudding and he shall have cream on it."

"Well my girl, in truth I am in need of rest after these last weeks. I will be off to my bed for a few hours. Do not overtax yourself and call me if there is aught you require, or if you should falter in your efforts."

Auriel sets to with a will, slicing onions, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms, to add to the chicken already in the pot. Then she added the seasoning and lastly the wine. It gave her great joy to prepare the food which her husband loved, though she perspired and felt the need to sit now and then, her hair falling into her eyes when she finished.

The pudding was in the basin with a cloth tied round it just waiting to steam, when she noticed that the shadows were lengthening and knowing that she was not fit to be seen by anyone, least of all her husband, she washed her face, put on one of his favourite dresses and when she had brushed her hair she tied it up with a ribbon of the same colour.

She asked Mordred to watch his cousins, promising them all honey pudding with cream if they kept out of mischief and instructing them not to disturb aunt Gwynnie, as she was resting. Then she set off to surprise her beloved.

She stood at the end of the lane in the evening sun, listening to the birdsong, waiting for her man. Then suddenly, there he was, walking quickly towards her with Ivor. They were looking to the ground, kicking a stone between them, laughing on something or another. When they were a little way off, Ivor spied her there and she saw him touch his Master on the arm. Guy stopped in great surprise when he saw her, but with such a smile on his face as she had not seen in a long while.

Ivor came quickly past touching his cap, "By, 'tis good to see you Mistress, and looking so well," he said. "I'll leave the Master to walk with you, shall I?"

Auriel smiled and thanked him, then looked at her husband, who was still a little distance away, standing quite still there, but with the slightly sideways grin and dimples that she loved so very much, then he walked quickly towards her.

When he reached her she could see that he was trembling and his eyes were bright with unshed tears. Then he reached out and placed his hands in her hair, loosening it from its ribbon, allowing it to fall about her shoulders.

"So, here you are my beautiful girl," he said softly, "heaven is surely
missing an angel this day,"

She raised her hand to his face, leaving it there for a while as she looked up at him, the light of her love shining in her eyes.

He placed his arms tenderly about her, as if he feared she would break, pulling her close to his chest. "Tell me again that you love me," he begged, "tell me, so that I can still believe it." So she kissed him until he did, feeling the warmth of his tears.

"Are you strong enough that you should be out of bed my love?" He asked, "At every day's end I have looked, and longed to see you here, yet never dreaming that the day would ever come. My heart is bursting at the sight of you, the sun in your hair and your dear sweet face so full of love."

Then he kissed her again, deep and long, whispering the words against her lips, that are secret between a man and a woman, leaving her smiling when she heard them. Telling him as they walked on together that if she was strong enough to cook her man's favourite supper, she was certainly well able to provide anything else he might desire.

She asked if he had yet used the "gifting" bestowed upon him by her aunt Gwyneth and he admitted to his shame that he had, though inadvertently. When he told her the circumstance of it, she laughed and said, "Aunt Gwyneth will now have to teach you to use it in a more appropriate manner lest you embarrass her again, but I have to tell you that we have been women of great passions for many generations, my love."

Then she looked questioningly into his eyes, not speaking, as if to challenge him, and he grinned, and raised his eyebrows, saying, "Yes, it has been too long, and I will do my best to exceed those expectations, my love."

Then he picked her up and carried her home.

As he carried her past the cottage, they both raised a hand, smiling when they spied Richildis and Ivor sitting on a blanket in their small garden, with "little" Gwyllem lying between them.When they reached the farmhouse, Guy lowered his wife to the ground as their children ran out and into their arms to greet them, their new cousin following close behind.

Then Guy, perhaps remembering his own motherless youth, reached out and beckoned the boy into the familial embrace and as he felt the boy hold him tight. He looked over his head, seeing aunt Gwyneth standing in the doorway of the farm kitchen watching him, smiling and nodding her approval. For a while, their small world was right again and all was as it should be.

Later, when all had been fed and the children were in bed, the three of them sat companionably together around the table, though the lovers were entwining their hands under the table, looking at each other in silent longing. Guy no doubt reading his wife's thoughts with his newly acquired abilities, exchanging glances with her that were quite shameful, and better placed in the bedroom!

Then, when she could stand the heat between them no longer, Gwyneth stood up, coughed loudly in her embarrassment and told them she was off to her bed, but when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned to them, striving mightily not to laugh and said, "The depth of your love for one other warms my heart, but for heaven's sake get to bed the pair of you, before your lust sets fire to the chairs!"

She had been gone for only a moment before Guy stood up and silently placed his wife against the pantry door, almost ripping her bodice to free her breasts, which he fell upon with his lips, like a drowning man.

"By my life, my girl, you inflame my passions, for your thoughts are the devil's own instructions. For God's sake lift your skirts or I shall tear them off!" Then after unfastening his breeches, he slid inside her, loving her until she could almost not bear the pleasure of it and he had to place his hand over her mouth to still her cries, whilst biting his lips to stifle his own, lest they wake the whole house.

As they slid to the floor panting and in some disarray, he whispered to her that he considered himself the most fortunate of men, in that his wife could be both Lady, and Strumpet, as necessity dictated, and that he hoped it was a skill she would never lose.

At this, she started to laugh in a way he had thought never to hear again and it strengthened his resolve to free her from the sickness within her.