She ran through the gates, and kept running until she found herself in a meadow filled with ewe sheep and their lambs. Sitting down beneath a large oak tree, she clutched her knees to her chest and wept. Dickon was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it. All of her skills were useless, and worse, she wished Dickon had never sent for her. She wanted to be back at St. Frideswide's. It was almost the end of June. Midsummer’s Eve was upon them. Matti would probably take her vows alone while she was stuck here at Ashlin with a dying brother, his wife, and Saer de Bude. Dickon had visited her only that one time in all the years since he had placed her in the convent. Why now this need to have her by his side? He could have died, and she could have inherited Ashlin without all of this fuss. Her presence had made absolutely no difference at all.

Or did her brother, perhaps, feel guilty for sending her away to please his bride-to-be? He needn't have, Elf thought. After the first month she had grown used to her convent, and enjoyed the company of the other little girls. Or maybe Dickon had realized all along that he was dying, and felt a deep need to have his sister with him. There seemed little love between him and Isleen now. Had he given in to her every whim in the past to try to make her love him? If only Isleen had borne Dickon children… but she had not.

Elf started, terrified, as a body plunked itself down next to her. Then her eyes met Arthur's, and she sagged, visibly relieved. "It’s you, praise God!" she said, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"I saw you tear out of the hall like the devil himself was after you," Arthur said.

"He was," Elf answered her old playmate, "but he calls himself Saer de Bude. He followed me to the linen cupboard and tried to kiss me," Elf told Arthur. "He has spoken to me several times in a most unsuitable manner. It is almost as if he were trying to woo me."

"Maybe he is," Arthur suggested quietly. "I wouldn't put it past him, Elf." Then he flushed, realizing he had used her nickname as he had always done when they were children.

Elf put a hand on his arm. "It’s still Elf to you, Arthur," she told him. "Why would that awful man attempt to woo me? I am a nun. I have voiced no indication that I have changed my mind about taking my final vows. Indeed, I cannot wait to return to St. Frideswide's!"

"But shortly you will be an heiress with a fine, small manor in your possession. Saer de Bude is a younger son. He has nothing. I believe if the lord’s wife were to inherit Ashlin instead of you, Elf, he would wed her, but the lady Isleen is not the heiress. You are. What will you do with Ashlin, and what will become of us?"

"The manor will belong to my order," Elf said. "I do not know what the Reverend Mother will decide. Perhaps she will rent the manor to some knight seeking a place of his own. Perhaps she will sell it off, but it doesn't matter. You and the others belong to Ashlin. You will be secure, Arthur."

"But without our family," he said. "The de Montforts have been part of Ashlin forever."

"Not really," Elf told him. "Ashlin was a Saxon manor in the Conqueror’s time. Its daughter wed a de Montfort, and Ashlin was her dowry. My ancestress, Rowena, did what was expedient for Ashlin, and for herself. The story goes that her brothers were killed at Hastings, and her old father wounded seriously, but his bravery had attracted King William. He ordered one of his knights, the first Richard de Montfort, to bring Sir Edmund home to Ashlin. And when he did and met the lady Rowena, it was love at first sight. She had hair my color. It is said that at least one child in each generation since has had hair this color," Elf concluded, then she giggled, for two lambs, curious, had come over to investigate beneath the tree, and were nibbling on her soft shoes. Reaching out, she stroked them. "They are so pretty," she said. Then she sighed. "I suppose I have to go back now."

"What of the lady’s cousin, Elf?" Arthur asked her.

"I vomited on him when he attempted to kiss me," she said. "I hope he will now keep his distance for fear of a recurrence."

Arthur laughed heartily. "I know I should certainly steer clear of a girl who threw up on me." He chortled, then stood and, giving her a hand, pulled her up. "Elf, I know I am only a serf," Arthur told her, "but if that man approaches you again, I want you to tell me."

"Arthur, a serf who strikes out at a nobleman is accorded death without exception. I should not want your death on my conscience, heaven forfend!"

"There are ways other than open defiance or violence to right a wrong between serf and noble," Arthur told her with a wink. "We cannot have you harassed in your own home by that rude fellow, Elf. Don't worry. We shall not endanger ourselves by our actions."

"Thank you, Arthur," she told him, and then she walked back to the house, her heart a bit lighter.

"Where have you been?" Isleen demanded as she reentered the hall. "I have had to change Richard’s bedding myself as that wretched old woman disappeared just when I needed her. She said she was fetching water for my husband’s bath, but she has not yet returned."

"Do you want me to remain here with you, or find Ida?" Elf asked her. Isleen’s tone was whiny, and frankly annoying. It was about time she did something for her husband.

"Oh, go and find her! Richard is asleep again. Where is my cousin? If I must sit here, I want some company at least," Isleen complained.

"I will find Ida," Elf said.

"I am here," Ida said, coming into the hall with a large basin. "I am not as young as I once was, lady, and cannot be hurried."

Isleen jumped up. "I cannot bear to sit here and watch my husband die!" she said. Then she hastened from the hall.

"You are not that slow," Elf said. "What on earth kept you, or did you mean for her to be alone with Dickon?"

"Her cousin came upon me howling and covered in vomit," Ida said. "He insisted I take his tunic from him to wash, and then he demanded a bath be brought for him. Imagine, a man who cannot hold his wine this early in the day," Ida concluded. "Come, let us bathe the lord."

Reaching out, Elf gently shook her brother. "Dickon, dearest, wake up. Ida and I would wash you."

Richard de Montfort’s eyes opened slowly. "Elf," he said, "I am sorry I sent you away. I should not have. I should not have." Then his body gave a long shudder, and his head fell to one side.

"Lord God and his blessed Mother have mercy on his soul!" Ida cried out, crossing herself as she began to weep.

Shocked, Eleanore de Montfort stared at her brother’s limp body, his sightless eyes. "He is dead," she said, stating the obvious and crossing herself. Then she fell to her knees. "Dear God, forgive me that I could not save him, for I truly tried to do so, but I had not the skills despite all I have learned." Then she began to cry.

"She poisoned him!" Ida said in venomous tones. "She has killed my baby, and I curse her for it! He called for you to come months ago, but she would not do it until she was certain nothing could save him, the wicked bitch! God curse her! God curse her!"

Hearing her old nurse’s lament, Elf stifled her own grief. Putting her arms about Ida, she said, "You cannot say such things, for you have no proof of it. Like you, I have become suspicious, but there is no real evidence. You can be killed for slandering Isleen. We must keep such doubts to ourselves, Ida. We must! Do you understand me, old woman? You cannot voice your concerns in this matter."

"Is she then to be allowed to escape judgment for the lord’s murder, my sweet lady?" Ida demanded angrily.

"Unless we can show the sheriff proof positive, we cannot accuse Isleen," Elf said quietly. "God knows the truth of this matter, and God will render his judgment and his punishment in his own time, Ida. We must trust in God." She hugged her nursemaid hard.

"For you," Ida said, "and for you alone will I be silent. You are now the lady of Ashlin, and I will obey you. Now, release me, child. We must bathe the lord’s body, and lay him out for his burial."

"Should we tell Isleen?" Elf wondered aloud.

"Not until he is ready and looking his best," Ida said. "I will go and fetch his shroud."

Elf sat by her brother’s side praying. Anyone entering the hall would assume that Richard de Montfort was sleeping. When the old woman returned, they stripped Richard’s body and tenderly bathed it. Elf was horrified at his skeletal look. She carefully kept her eyes averted from his private parts and let Ida attend to them. As he was washed, they wrapped him in his shroud, leaving his head uncovered so his mourners might gaze upon his face a final time. When he was buried it would then be covered over.

Elf looked at her brother’s once handsome face, now peaceful. She touched his cheek, and felt it was cool and waxlike. Tears rolled down her cheeks. What had brought her poor brother to this fate? Was it indeed poison as Ida insisted? It was odd that Dickon had sickened so suddenly when he had been robust all of his life. Bending, she kissed his forehead, then said to Ida, "Send Arthur for a priest. Dickon must be shrived before he is buried. And tell the carpenters to make the lord a fine coffin. My brother will lie in the hall for all his serfs to see and pay their respects."

"The coffin is already made, lady," Ida said. "I shall call for it to be brought in, and the lord laid in it. Arthur will go for the priest. He will have to bring him from the convent, I fear. There is none nearer."

"Very well," Elf said. "I shall tell Isleen now." She turned and made her way to the solar, which was behind the hall. Opening the door, she spied Isleen and Saer by the fireplace in a heated discussion.

Hearing the door creak, Isleen spun about. "What do you want?" she demanded angrily of Elf. Her face was flushed with her ire.

"Your husband is dead," Elf said.

"Oh, my God!" Her eyes went to Saer de Bude. "It is too soon!" she said. "He cannot be dead yet! He cannot!" Now her glance took in her sister-in-law. "Could you not have done something, Eleanore?"

"I am only human, Isleen. I cannot hold back death," Elf said tartly. "You knew Dickon was near his end."

"But now?" Isleen wailed.

"It is God’s will," Elf answered her.

"Oh, cease your pious mouthings at me," Isleen cried, and she stamped her foot. "Now you have what you wanted all along, Ashlin! I hate you! I hate you!" And she burst into tears.

Saer de Bude gathered his cousin into the shelter of his arms. "She does not mean it, Eleanore," he said. "I am certain she doesn't mean it. She is just distraught with Richard’s death."

"I was sent from Ashlin at your behest when I was only five years old," Elf said, unable to control the sudden anger she felt welling up. "Great ladies raise their husband’s siblings, children from earlier marriages, and their bastards, Isleen, but you could not be bothered by one small girl. I was fortunate, however, for I found a real home at St. Frideswide's, and I found a wonderful life. I never aspired to possess Ashlin. If you had given my brother children, we should not have come to this point. I should have probably never seen this place again. Your children would have inherited, and if I were lucky, you might have taken a moment to send me word of my brother’s passing. But you did not do your duty by Dickon. You had no children, so under the law Ashlin is mine, but I never wanted it!"

Isleen looked up from Saer’s shoulders. "I wanted children," she sobbed, "but your brother was not man enough to give them to me."

"Nay, lady, you were not a fertile field. My brother has fathered three children among the serfs since he wed you." Elf heard the words spill unchecked from her mouth, and was unable to stop them.

"What?" Isleen’s tears were suddenly gone.

"My brother has fathered children on other women," Elf said fiercely. She would not allow this woman to slander Dickon’s name, and if that was a sin she would confess it to Father Anselm when she returned to her convent. For now, however, she would defend her brother.

"Liar! Liar!" Isleen screamed. Her face was blotched with her fury. "You are a nasty little liar, and I hate you!"