A Flower for Guy #Wattys2021

Chapter XIX

Chapter XIX

Nottingham, July 28th, 1194

Both the previous night and the one before, Guy had come to Violet's bedchamber. Both times, they had been sitting together, drinking beer or cider, talking about the daily events, or anecdotes of their lives, or memories of their shared childhood. Then, after a suitable amount of time, Guy had taken his leave to go and sleep in his own bedchamber, as it was common practice, for nobility, that husband and wife would sleep in different rooms.

"Do you miss Isabella?" Violet asked him tonight, after he had been recalling a very sweet moment with his sister and their mother Ghislaine.

"Yes, very much", Guy admitted with a sigh.

"Why don't you make someone looking for her?" Violet suggested.

"I wouldn't know where to begin", he complained, pressing his lips together.

"Where did her husband come from?"

"Stafford, from the namesake county."

"Begin from there, then. Send someone you trust to investigate if there's recent news about Thornton. Mayhap he still lives there, who knows?"

Guy reflected.

"I could send Gilbert", he said. He was inclined to trust his captain of the guards, who had always shown the right measure between obedience and initiative. It was not by chance that he had come to the position he was holding now for some years.

Violet nodded. "Based on what he learns, you can decide how to proceed: send Isabella a missive, or go visiting her..."

Guy sighed again. "I don't know what's best, between the two things. She might have not forgiven me for practically selling her to Thornton. Perhaps she doesn't want to have anything to do with me."

"Mayhap", Violet conceded. "Everything depends on the type of marriage she has. If Thornton has been kind to her, even if she doesn't love him she could still have an agreeable life and therefore she could not be mad at you. The only thing you can do is asking her."

Guy pondered it, then he slowly nodded. "Let's see what we'll learn, then we'll decide what to do."

Violet was struck about him using the plural we.

"I'll be honoured if you ask my opinion", she murmured. Her husband looked at her, surprised by her hesitant tone, and then he was surprised again, considering how it had felt natural to him asking for her advice.

"We're married", he stated, both for her and for himself. "I think 'tis normal looking for my wife's counsel."

"Not all husbands care about their wives' opinion", she objected in a low voice. She had no need to tell him she was referring to Charles.

"But I do", Guy assured her, feeling a tenderness to his heart. Although she was strong and resolute, Violet possessed a sensitive soul and she had suffered badly because of her first husband. He hated him for this, and he hoped he was burning in Hell.

OOO

The following day, Guy summoned Gilbert and instructed him to seek information about Isabella. Should he trace her, he mustn't tell her anything, but he should return to report him what he had discovered. By mutual agreement, they decided that the captain of the guards would leave the next day, taking with him two men, as it was never advisable travelling alone, with outlaws and highwaymen lurking on the roads.

Meanwhile, Violet had dropped by to see how the works she had commissioned were progressing. The carpenters had cleared the chapel from the pews, most of them being beyond any possible hope of restoration and would therefore end up as firewood while new would be assembled. The masons had begun scraping off the plaster where it was too damaged to be recovered. The glazier would come by in the afternoon to verify the state of the two stained-glass windows, as one of them had been crashed and the hole roughly patched up with a parchment of poor quality. The gardeners had already taken off most of the weed and even begun trimming the trees and shrubs. Tidying up the flowerbeds would require some time, but soon they would be able to plant late sword lilies, anemones, cornflowers, purple violets, and perform cuttings of roses and geraniums. As for the strictly medicinal herbs, Violet planned to transplant them from her garden at Chetwood.