Child of the Phoenix. Barbara Erskine

boards of the floor. In the opposite wall a low arched doorway led through to a small oratory in the thickness of the stone. The altar was still there; on it were half-burned candles and a carved alabaster crucifix. It was then that she smelt the incense. She frowned, puzzled. The smell was rich and exotic, pungent against the stale coldness of stone.

      The woman was standing behind her in the shaft of sunlight, her black skirts rich and heavy, her veil silk, her pale, tired face strained as she stared towards the altar with an expression of resignation and sadness almost too great to bear. Eleyne stared back at her in shock, then a cloud crossed the sun. As the sunbeam faded the woman disappeared.

      Terrified, Eleyne rubbed her eyes. She didn’t dare move. Her husband had forbidden her to have visions. They were evil. It was because of her visions he had sent Rhonwen away. And this woman, whoever she was, had not been flesh and blood. She backed away from the spot where the woman had stood, her eyes fixed on the empty space. Who was she? Why had she come? And why had she shown herself now? Eleyne went back into the chapel and reached a hand out to the altar. But the rich scent of incense had gone. The great echoing bedchamber once more smelt of stone and dust and disuse. She was alone.

      Trying to control her fear, Eleyne fled to the spiral staircase and began to run down it. All she wanted was to go back to her own bright rooms and find Luned, who would be as miserable as she was without Rhonwen. She put the thought of the lady in black, whoever she was, as far out of her mind as possible. John must never find out that she was still seeing things. Never.

      Gasping for breath, she paused at the top of the steps outside the keep and stared down into the courtyard. While she had been in the upper chamber a line of wagons and horses had ridden into the castle. She moved back slightly, out of sight, wondering who they belonged to. Then she noticed that John was already out there ready to greet his guests; she could see his fair hair blowing in the sunlight. She frowned, the lady in black forgotten. She had never seen her husband look so happy, and even as she watched he stepped forward and helped a woman down from one of the horses. She saw him take her in his arms and kiss her on the mouth. Eleyne was stunned. A shock of something very like jealousy shot through her. She had never seen John take a woman in his arms before, never seen him kiss one or look so animated. She stood on the steps, staring down at her husband, feeling the wind cold on her face, and became aware that it was blotchy and swollen with crying. She looked like a stupid, ugly child while this tall elegant fair-haired woman was beautiful.

      She realised they were looking up at her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she began to walk down towards them, summoning as much dignity as she could: she was John’s wife. Whoever this woman was, she did not have that distinction.

      They were smiling.

      ‘Eleyne, come here, my love,’ John called. He had time only to whisper to his companion that she had arrived in the nick of time and to ask what in the name of all the saints had kept her. ‘I want you to meet my most favourite person in the whole world,’ he went on, oblivious of the desolation in Eleyne’s face at his words – ‘my sister, Isabel.’

      Isabel, married to the irascible Scots nobleman, Robert Bruce, Lord of Annandale, had received her brother’s letter at her manor of Writtle in Essex. It had begged her to come to Fotheringhay on her way back to Scotland and advise him on what to do about his wife. His brief summary of his problems had left her intrigued, amused and exasperated at the general helplessness of men when it came to matters of the emotions. Looking at Eleyne now, she saw a lonely and unhappy child. She had sensed as much as seen the moment of jealousy in the girl’s eyes as she had watched John kissing her – so the child felt something for him then – and now she saw the wistful longing which replaced it, almost as if Eleyne had sent her an unconscious appeal.

      Isabel removed her gloves, then she held out her arms. As she kissed Eleyne on both cheeks, she glanced over the girl’s head towards her secret weapon, her son Robert. If Eleyne of Huntingdon were really a witch, a tomboy, a brilliant breakneck rider and an uncontrollable wanderer, twelve-year-old Robert could match her, fault for fault.

      ‘You’re crazy,’ John exploded later as his sister unfolded her plan. ‘I brought you here to try to inculcate some sense into her and to cheer her up, not bring her a playmate who will make her worse!’

      Unabashed, Isabel reached for the glass of wine her brother had given her. For her he served nothing but the best in his richly enamelled, priceless Venetian glasses.

      ‘You told me you wanted to get rid of that awful hunted look,’ Isabel said firmly. ‘And you want to hear her laugh. Rob will make her laugh. I guarantee it.’

      XV

      Three days later young Robert Bruce was lying in wait for Eleyne in the stables.

      ‘I’m going riding with you,’ he said as soon as he spotted her. ‘Mama says you ride a great stallion.’

      Eleyne felt her heart sink. She did not want this boy to ride Invictus. She did not even want him to see the horse. Dragging her feet, she walked towards Robert and gave him a determined brittle smile.

      ‘He’s cast a shoe,’ she lied. ‘If we ride we’ll ride Sable and Silver.’ The two mares were matched for height and speed, both well mannered and willing. She eyed her companion cautiously. She was two inches taller, but he was sturdier by far. They would probably be well matched in the saddle; but he would be heavier which would give her the advantage.

      He caught her sizing him up and grinned. ‘Do you know why we’ve come here?’ he asked, his tone deceptively friendly.

      Instinctively she knew she shouldn’t rise to the question, but, as instinctively, she knew she would have to ask it.

      ‘Why?’

      He moved closer and lowered his voice confidentially. ‘I saw the letter Uncle John sent mama. It said the most terrible things about you!’

      ‘What things?’ Stung, Eleyne felt her face growing hot.

      ‘Dreadful things!’ Robert crowed. He stepped back, ready to run if necessary.

      ‘I don’t believe you. Anyway your mother wouldn’t have shown you John’s letter.’

      ‘She didn’t! I sneaked it out of her writing box!’

      ‘That’s dishonest –’ Eleyne’s temper was beginning to flare. She stared at the boy in disbelief. Apart from Luned and Isabella, she had never had a friend her own age, and certainly not one who had taunted her like this. She didn’t know what to do, and hesitated, torn between wanting to run away and wanting to know what the letter said.

      ‘I don’t suppose you can even read properly,’ she said scornfully.

      The barb went home. ‘Of course I can,’ he retorted at once. ‘It said you were a strange, haunted child!’ He stuck out his tongue at her. ‘It said you saw ghosts in every shadow and that your nurse was a witch.’ He danced away a few steps, tempting her to chase him. ‘It said you were weird!’

      ‘I’m not!’ She was furious.

      ‘You are. You see ghosts.’

      ‘So what? Can’t you?’ She went on to the attack.

      Her change of mood took him aback. He frowned, then reluctantly shook his head.

      She sensed triumph: ‘You would be scared out of your mind if you saw one.’

      ‘I wouldn’t.’ It was his turn to be on the defensive.

      ‘You would.’

      ‘Wouldn’t!’

      ‘All right then. Prove it.’ Caution was thrown to the winds. ‘I’ll take you to a room where I saw a ghost.’

      Robert hesitated for a fraction of a second, then he nodded. ‘Go on then.’

      ‘What about riding?’ Eleyne smiled, daring him to take the escape route.