The Cross Legged Knight by Candace Robb Page A

closer to his work. Lucie was curious about him after Emma’s complaints regarding his relationship with Lady Pagnell. She had met him only once before.
    ‘Mother has frightened the boys, talking of the rumours about our family with such anger, telling them they will be shunned by all.’
    Since the tutor had paused in his lesson, Lucie felt free to offer a greeting to the boys. She remembered how painful it had been to be ostracized as a child. After the death of her mother, Lucie had been sent off to St Clement Nunnery where the sisters had watched her for signs of the weak morals they had ascribed to her mother, who had had a lover. The memory of that brought Lucie back to Cisotta and the reputation that was blinding people to the tragedy of her death.
    The tow-headed boys greeted her with solemn courtesy. She had expected them to burst with questions about the fire, the rumours – they were intelligent and energetic. But after a brief acknowledgement of her presence, they both returned to their work.
    While Emma drew up a bench so that they might sit away from the others and near the fire, Lucie took thejar from her scrip and set it on a small table. ‘This should help you sleep.’
    Emma glanced towards her mother, then shook her head slightly. ‘She does not approve,’ she whispered.
    But it was too late. ‘What is that, Emma? Are you in need of a physick? You might have said something to me. Is it for digestion?’
    ‘If you must take part in our conversation, I pray you, join us, so you do not disturb the boys at their lessons.’ Emma had flushed scarlet. ‘Sometimes I think Mother has no sense,’ she whispered to Lucie.
    ‘I am busy with my embroidery,’ said Lady Pagnell. ‘Come, sit by me. I so seldom have a chance to see you, Lucie. There was no time to talk at the minster the other day. At least let me thank you for attending Sir Ranulf’s mass.’
    ‘My father counted Sir Ranulf a good friend, Lady Pagnell, and I remember his kindnesses.’
    An opportunity to speak with both Lady Pagnell and Emma was more to Lucie’s purpose than sequestering herself with her friend, though she prayed for patience in dealing with the two of them. She did not understand their conflict, but she understood that her impatience stemmed from envy. Neither Lady Pagnell nor Emma appreciated what they had in each other. Lucie did not even have a mother-in-law with whom to contend.
    ‘We cannot very well deny your mother’s request,’ she said to Emma in a voice that even Lady Pagnell could not hear.
    The boys’ tutor directed Ivo and John to move the bench closer to Lady Pagnell. Again, they seemed reluctant to meet Lucie’s gaze. Perhaps Emma had not exaggerated Lady Pagnell’s negative effect on the household. As Lucie passed the long table, she noticedthe steward watching her. He quickly glanced away, but not before she caught his irritated expression. She could not blame him, being interrupted in his work by all the bother her visit was causing.
    ‘Come, Lucie, let me look at you.’ Lady Pagnell held out her arms, then gestured for Lucie to pivot. ‘A lovely gown. Blue is a good colour for you. But my child, how thin you are, and how pale.’
    ‘Mother,’ Emma warned.
    Ignoring her daughter, Lady Pagnell continued, ‘I was sorry to hear of your loss.’
    This was nothing of which Lucie wished to speak to Lady Pagnell. But it was to be expected. And noting shadows beneath the widow’s eyes, new lines etched on her face and her complexion less robust than usual, Lucie was reminded that Lady Pagnell, too, had recently suffered a painful loss. ‘I was confined to my bedchamber so long it is no wonder I seem pale, Lady Pagnell. But I am much recovered.’
    The widow shook her head. ‘You are still young, do not waste your days grieving for a lost child. It was God’s will. He will bless you with another if it is meant to be.’
    Unable to respond, Lucie stepped closer to examine the embroidery. ‘Is this