The Winter Love (6 page)

“Let me be,” mumbled Henry and Edward left. Eleanor stayed. When Henry was sick she held the bowl for him and cleaned him afterwards.
Then she had to go on deck for a moment to get the smell out of her nose and that was where Edward found her and gave her some food.

“Why is Henry
so ill?” she asked as she ate.

“He has never been a good sailor. We learnt as children and I always wanted to spend my life sailing from port to port. Henry
tried, but as the boats got bigger he got sicker.”

“Henry didn’t always want to be a sailor like you?”

“He never wanted to be a sailor. He wanted to be a monk, but he’s the second son and these are dangerous times. My parents thought that there was a chance that
our older brother might not survive to inherit.” Eleanor thought that Edward had been going to say something else, but whatever it was remained unsaid.

“But there
was you, you would inherit if Henry were in a monastery.”

“There might
have been some disagreement with the church about the inheritance.” Edward’s comment was dry, but Eleanor heard the barely concealed criticism.

The food was not as good as she had had these last two days, but the fish had been fresh
and cooked by someone who knew what he was doing. She finished it quickly.

“Are you going back to my brother?”

She nodded.

“I shall send you some wine.”

“Thank you.” Eleanor smiled at him. Although unused to wine, she appreciated the taste and thought it might do Henry some good.

Henry was asleep when she entered the small room. Eleanor put her hand on his forehead and he
woke up. “Are you still well?” he asked anxiously.

“Yes, very. I’m
quite enjoying myself. Sailing is very exciting.” Henry groaned. “Your brother is sending wine and I think you should have some.”

“
Very well. If you look after your horses as well as you look after me they must be very long-lived.”

Eleanor smiled. “They are.”

A sailor brought the jug of wine and Eleanor made Henry drink some first. Some colour appeared in his face and he fell asleep again. Eleanor drank a glass herself, then yawned. They had set out early this morning and she was tired. No one had told her where she should sleep and she didn’t want to leave Henry alone, so she fitted herself into the tiny space that was left on the bed next to him and fell quickly asleep.

Henry was not surprised to wake up to find that someone was sharing his bed; that was common enough for soldiers. What surprised him was that he seemed to be sharing his bed with a woman. Eleanor! He groaned quietly. Edward must have forgotten to show her where to sleep and she had chosen to sleep with him. In his sleep he had moved to accommodate her and his body was wrapped round hers. At least he had not pushed her off the bed, but she could not wake up to know that he held her.

He shifted his
attention from Eleanor to the ship and realised that they were not making way; they must be in a port. That meant he would be able to get up and move around without being ill. If he could do that without disturbing her, Eleanor need never know what he had done.

Gently
he pulled away the arm that supported Eleanor’s head and she raised her head. She was awake!

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to
wake you.”

“I’ve been awake for a
while. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Eleanor
seemed not to be the least bit worried that he held her.

“I hope yo
u don’t mind,” she continued, “that I got into your bed. I didn’t know what else to do and there wasn’t enough room on the floor.”

Henry supposed that practicality had won over modesty. “
Are you comfortable?” he asked her.

“Very,” she said, “
and warm.”

Acknowledging to himself that it would be a while before he could stand and move around, even though the ship was no longer moving, Henry moved his arm so that it supported her head once more.
“Then we shall stay as we are. Go back to sleep.”

Henry suited his actions to his words, but
Eleanor stayed awake for a while. She was comfortable and warm; she had not lied to Henry. When she had got into his bed with him she had realised that he was the only familiar thing on this ship, apart from Solomon, and she had not wanted to be separated from him. Edward had been welcoming, but she sensed that he was dangerous in a way that Henry was not. As for the other men on the ship, she supposed they must be trustworthy, but it was only Henry who had shown that he was willing and able to look after her, so she had relied on that.

S
till awake when he had stirred and wrapped himself around her, she had felt that the gesture was both protective and possessive. She had felt adrift since she had left the convent; now she felt an unexpected sense of belonging. It was a pleasant feeling, even though she had reminded herself that Henry was her abductor.

It was still dark when Eleanor awoke again, although she was sure that it was morning. The ship was under way, violently so and Henry was moaning. She got off the bed and straightened her clothes.  The motion of the ship made her feel slightly queasy, but she refused to let it worry her; she had to look after Henry and could not be ill herself.

“Sister Margaret?”
Someone was tapping the outside of the door. Eleanor was grateful that he had not come while she was in the bed with Henry, then realised that she could not know that he had not.

“Hello. Come in.”
A young boy she had not seen before came into the room and gave her a bowl and a clay beaker. Eleanor did not like the way the food smelt, but she ate it anyway. It tasted as bad as it smelt, but she expressed her gratitude to the boy and kept hold of the beaker. She felt more than queasy now, but she concentrated on ignoring it and examined the beaker. It contained more of the good wine that she had drunk last night. She glanced at Henry, but decided it was not worth waking him. Sleeping would do him more good than the wine.

After she had finished the
wine, she felt better and decided to go out on deck. At first she was unsteady and almost lost her footing. The motion of the ship was irregular. Yesterday she had been able to suit her movement to the rhythm of the ship. Now she was jerked up and down as she tried to get to the deck. For a moment she wished that she still wore Henry’s clothes, as her habit got in her way and threatened to trip her at every step. The noises were different as well. There was the irregular sound of wood grinding against wood. What did it mean?

“Where are you going?” asked Edward
angrily when she stepped out onto the deck.

“I was coming up to breathe some air that
doesn’t smell of a sick man.”

“You’ll come no further, it’s dangerous.”

“Why?”

“We’re sailing through a storm.”

“Why, if it’s so dangerous?”

“Because we wasted five days while Henry was in search of you.”

Eleanor was unbowed. “That’s hardly my fault.” Although she admitted to herself that she had delayed his return.

“We have to make up
the time, regardless of whose fault it is,” said Edward calmly. “And you can’t come up here, because Henry wouldn’t thank me if you went overboard.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Surely you can feel it!”

“I can feel that it’s worse than yesterday.”

“And you still aren’t sick?” Edward’s face showed that this was a miracle of some kind.

“No. I feel very well.”
Eleanor did not mention that her stomach still protested against the poor food she had eaten, but she knew that it was the food, rather than the motion of the ship.

“Perhaps you sailed as a child?”

“I never saw the sea before yesterday.”

“You won’t see much of it today.” Edward helped her through the narrow doorway and held onto her while she looked out across the deck.  The
sky was almost as black as night and heavy rain was falling onto the deck. Edward was right; she could barely see beyond the end of the deck. How did the helmsman know where they were going? For the first time she felt a small shiver of fear.

“Feel sick now?”

“No.” There was a flash of lightening, which seemed to burn the entire sky, then thunder crashed so hard that she thought she would be deafened. Even in her shock at the noise, she smiled broadly. “It’s magnificent.”

Edward laughed. “If you were my wife
, I would always bring you to sea.”

“If I were your wife I would make you stay at home and I would take your ship to sea.”

Edward swung her round into his arms and kissed her hard on her lips. Eleanor pushed him away, angrily.

“Fear
not, Sister Margaret, I promised my brother I would not tempt you. I just wanted to know what a nun tastes like.”

Eleanor
wanted to smack the smile from his face, but sensed that it would have an effect opposite to the one she desired. Instead she turned and went back down to Henry, thereby achieving Edward’s second aim.

Eleanor passed her day in prayer and meditation. She thought about Edward’s kiss and what it might mean. Henry had warned her to take care with Edward and her own sense told her that she was not comfortable with him for a reason. It was becoming clearer to her why Henry had warned her.

Apart from discussions with Mother Abbess and nuns who had joined the convent later in life, she knew nothing about men and had certainly never been kissed by one. It had not been unpleasant
. On the contrary, Eleanor felt that, given time and practice she might find it a very pleasant experience indeed, which was probably why nuns were kept apart. That must be why Henry had warned her about his brother. It was only when she found herself wondering what it would be like to be kissed by Henry that she knew that her thoughts had wandered too far. Too wise to pray to be spared the distraction, she set herself to meditation on a Psalm that declared God to be the master of the raging winds.

By the time she
had brought her imagination under control the storm had died down and she went to check on Solomon, which calmed him immensely, although he seemed to be enduring the voyage much better than his master.

Henry again refused to eat while they were laid up in port that night, but he did drink some of Eleanor’s wine. This time he
made room for her before she got into bed, but he still had to hold her or one of them would have fallen out. Between the gentle swaying of the ship and the comfort of Henry’s arms, Eleanor quickly fell asleep.

When
she woke up she was aware of a wonderful sensation around her breast. Henry was holding it in his hand and moving his thumb gently over it. She gasped at the pleasure of it, waking Henry, who pulled his hand away so violently that he fell out of the bed.

Eleanor
lit the candle as quickly as she could and turned to look down at Henry. He was wedged uncomfortably in a space that was smaller than he was between the bed and the wooden partition. “Are you alright?”

“I don’t deserve to be, but I am. I’m sorry
Eleanor. I have no excuse for what I was doing.”

“You didn’t hurt me.” She didn’t add that she quite enjoyed it; Henry seemed upset enough already
and she felt that it would not make him feel better.

“That’s not the point. I was taking advantage of you.”

Now Eleanor had to smile. “Henry, as you have already pointed out to me, if you had wanted to take advantage of me you have had more than enough opportunity. And I think that if you were taking advantage of me you would have done it more thoroughly.” She thought he blushed. “You think I don’t know about these things, don’t you? I know enough to trust you and not Edward.” She hoped he could not see that she lied. It was only after Edward had kissed her that she had realised why Henry had warned her. She thought he could have spoken more plainly, although she didn’t know what she could have done to protect herself against Edward.

Henry sat up carefully. “I am sorry Eleanor. I meant for no harm
to come to you when I took you from the convent and I certainly did not intend to be the one to do you harm.”

“You have no
t harmed me. I think you will have to try much harder to hurt me or to take advantage of me.” She smiled at him, but he refused to be cheered. “Henry, you have done yourself more harm than me. Now close your eyes, I’m going to become Tom so that I can take Solomon for some exercise before we leave port. I think my habit scares him.” Without waiting to see whether Henry obeyed, Eleanor began to remove her clothes and replace them with the clothes she had worn as Tom. Then she left the room and went on deck.

It was still raining, but the sea was still. She found Edward quickly enough.
He looked surprised at her attire. “Do I have enough time to take Solomon ashore for some exercise?”

Edward brushed his wet
hair out of his face. “If you think it worth it.”