The Wife Test Read Online Free PDF Page A

outstretched arms.
    “What’s this about, child?” Archibald peeled Chloe from her shoulders and thrust her back to look into her anxious eyes. “What’s wrong? I’m due to leave any moment—”
    “I know, Sister Archie.” She seized the nun’s hands and pulled her toward the chair. “I must beg your forgiveness for what I am about to do. I know the abbess thinks me unworthy to be a bride, but I know in my bones that she is wrong.”
    “Oh?” Archibald’s eyes flew wide. “Oh,
no,
child.”
    “I have to go to London with the others.”
    “No, no,
no,
child!”
    “I promise I’ll do my best—I’ll make the convent proud. I’ve explained it all in this letter.” She stuffed a folded parchment into Archibald’s hands and pushed her gently but firmly back toward the chair. “I’m taking your place.”
    “But ye cannot!” Archie tried to resist. “I have to go myself—to see our girls matched and mated proper—”
    “I know, I know—I’ll take care of them for you, I promise.” Chloe was near tears as she gently pushed the elderly nun onto the chair. “I give you my sacred vow that I will see each of them well-wedded before I finish my quest.”
    “Quest?” Archibald was now both alarmed and confused. “What nonsense is this, child?” She tried to rise. “Ye must let me go.”
    But Chloe refused to move or to allow Archibald to leave the chair.
    “I heard the abbess tell you I am came from the English
Gilberts,
not the town of Guibray.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “Don’t you see? I have to go to London and discover my real parents. Unless I do, I can never have a family of my own. And as much as I feel a duty to the convent, I cannot help believing I have a duty to learn the truth about my birth. Please. Sister Archie”—her voice cracked—“please understand and don’t hate me.”
    Her tear-filled eyes met Archibald’s, and in that moment the depths and longing of her heart lay open and exposed, vulnerable. It was a plea for help as much as for forgiveness.
    Compassion rose in the elder nun’s heart. The tension in her rotund form melted, and she reached up to cradle Chloe’s damp cheek in her hand.
    “I could never hate you, child.” Her age-faded eyes filled with tears. “Go. And may all Heaven be with ye.”
    Chloe gave a small sob and pressed her forehead against Archibald’s. A moment later she backed away and swiped at her tears with her palms.
    “I promise you, I’ll take good care of your girls. They’ll have the best husbands England can offer.” She backed toward the heavy ironbound door. “I’ve brought you some things to eat and there are blankets and some extra oil for the lamp. The kitchen sisters come often to get things from the cellars, and if you call out after a while, someone will find you.” She paused, said, “Goodbye, Sister Archie,” then darted out and slammed the heavy door.
    Archibald heard the bolt being thrown, crossed herself, and bowed her head. When her fervent prayers were finished, she issued a great sigh, reassured to leave it in the Almighty’s hands. Then she leaned forward to inspect the repast Chloe had provided.
    There were the special sweet grapes they got from the Champagne region. That pungent cheese with the blue veins and yellow rind … her very favorite. She felt the crusty loaf of bread and realized it was still slightly warm. Creamy butter, too. Then her gaze caught on a footstool to the side, beneath the stack of blankets and furs, and she smiled ruefully. That Chloe. She had thought of everything.
    The remaining conflict in her heart began to still.
    Their lambs were in good hands.
    She broke off a piece of bread and lay a slab of the cheese on it, sniffing the pungent aroma. Then she poured a cup of wine and sat down to savor the tastes. After a few moments she dragged the footstool over, propped her feet on it, and pulled two blankets from the pile to tuck around her.
    The Reverend Mother was going to be