Candle in the Window Read Online Free PDF Page B

assemblage.
    “Aye, I knew you would be pleased.”
William could hear the grim determination in her voice.
“They’re full, and this practice of shovelling out the
top layer of dung is over as of today.”
    “I’ll do it not.” Hawisa made her
last stand. “I’m a sewin’ maid; me job’s
not carting shit, an’ ye can’t make me.”
    William heard the defiance in her tone, heard Alden
step forward and the rustle among the serfs as they waited to see
her fate for open defiance. He didn’t know what compelled
him, but with grinding patience he called, “Hawisa, come
here.”
    Instantaneous silence fell, caused by the
unprecedented intervention of their blind lord. William listened to
the shuffle of her feet as Hawisa approached him. It was a tribute
to his acute, new hearing that he knew where she came from and how
close she was, but he did not realize that the days of brooding had
gained him some ability.
    “Kneel down where I can touch you,” he
instructed, and she pressed her body against his leg as she sank to
her knees before his chair. Carefully, he lifted his hand to her
face, locating her features with a light touch. When he had run his
thumb across her broad cheek he pulled his hand back and slapped
her flat-handed. The sharp sound echoed up thestone arches and the girl whimpered and ducked.
Quickly, he caught her shoulders, raised her to face level and
shook her until her neck snapped. “If you are too good to
clean my house,” he said clearly, “you can step out
into the bailey and see if mucking out the stables would suit you
better.”
    Hawisa’s round face bobbed with earnest
terror and the craftiness of a vixen run to ground.

“I’ll clean! ’Tis loyalty t’ your dear wife
that makes Lady Saura stick in me craw. ’Tis the airs she
feigns t’ convince us that she’s th’ new mistress
of Burke. Aye, and she nothin’ but a blind case of charity
Lord Peter has taken on.”
    The scullions gasped, and Maud muttered,
“Here’s trouble,” but William heard only
Hawisa’s jibe about the blind and took it as a slur to
himself. His next slap knocked her away from his knee and made her
head ring. “Out!” he roared, raising himself to his
feet in one vital motion. “Out, you poison-fanged viper, and
don’t let me hear your voice again.”
    The scurrying of feet rewarded him as Hawisa fled
the great hall, and he turned to face Lady Saura and her assembly
of rebels. For the first time in months he stood erect, his broad
shoulders back and his head up. His blond beard bristled with
indignation and the dimples in his cheeks creased with the grimace
of command.
    “I have listened,” he began ominously,
“to the insolence and the complaining and the disobedience of
the serfs of this castle. I know those of you who are clever enough
to obey Lady Saura. I know those of you who are not. And to those
who have been sluggard and rude, I tell you now, the time of
retribution is at hand. Lady Saura is your better. Lady Saura has
taken my wife’s place in the management of the house. You
will obey Lady Saura as you obeyed Lady Anne. I don’t give a
damn how old and ugly Lady Saura is. I don’t give adamn whether her blood is vinegar and she sweats
buttermilk. This woman is the chatelaine, chosen by my father and
endorsed by me, and the next insolent serf will answer to me. I
have the leisure to monitor your behavior, and by our Lady of the
Fountain, my blindness has not destroyed my good right
arm.”
    He finished with a shout that jarred the wall
hangings and blasted the guilty back against the wall.
“Well?” he roared.
    The hustle of many feet answered him. Maud ordered
the men outside to clean the cesspit from beneath. She divided the
women into scrubbers and shovelers and set them to work above. One
boy went scurrying to prepare the gardeners for a sudden influx of
dung and another ran for the garbage carts. William sank back into
his chair, seeking with his ears the Lady Saura, wanting her