They had to take his mother’s bed, not meant for more than one, so that
for the first time they lay close wrapped in each other’s arms with a
night before them; and this, with the sharp memory of the peril shared
on the rooftops hand in hand, was a little more than either could quite
bear unmoved, even though the boy was in a corner of the room. They
began kissing and holding each other very tight; presently deep breaths
said Laduis was asleep. She did not resist (nor desire to). Afterward,
Rodvard lay for a long time wakeful (thinking that this had been the
sobbing, true union, not an arranged accident like that under the tree;
they had pledged each other and were somehow one forever. Now he was
committed, and there was a deep harsh sweetness in the thought of
devotion and change, live and love, forgetting all ambition, high
destiny and even the Sons of the New Day that had brought him to this.)
Of course lark and Laduis rose before them in the morn; the first the
pair heard was a double rap at the outer door and the boy’s voice
saying; “Mother, we have guests.”
Rodvard rolled out to make the best bow he could with half his laces
still undone, and saw a small woman of careworn aspect and maybe
thirty-five years, who had just set a heavy basket on the floor. “Madame
Domijaiek, I am your humble servant, Rodvard Bergelin. Your son took
my—sweetheart and myself in last night to save us from distress.”
“Mother, I listened to the voice of the heart, as you said,” piped the
boy. “They are good. Besides a provost came and broke Baron Mondaifer.”
“It is well done, son.” She placed a hand protectingly on his shoulder.
“Ser, I am glad that Laduis could help you. Have you breakfasted?”
“I left some of my bread and cheese for them, mother. The lady is a
witch.”
Rodvard saw the woman’s face alter, and her eyes, which had held only a
mild questioning, were taken away from him. She fumbled in her
belt-purse. “Laduis,” she said, “will you get another piotr-weight of
millet from the shop at the market-square?”
Lalette came from the bedroom, looking only by the half as delightful as
Rodvard’s night memory painted her; curtsied and said straightly;
“Madame, I am in your benevolence and honor, so now no concealments. I
am Lalette Asterhax, the veritable witch on whom the provosts have set a
price, and if my being here will trouble you, I’ll leave on the instant.
But I swear I have done nothing for which I might truly fear from a just
God.”
Doubt melted from Dame Domijaiek’s face; she reached out both hands to
take the two of the girl’s, saying; “My dear, I could not let you go
from here into danger, for that would not be love. But as for your
witchery, we are also told that if one live in the true world, the outer
appearance of evil on all of us, shall have no force. Each must find his
own way to love. Now you shall tell me the whole story, while I set
forth something to eat.”
The girl gave it all fairly, hiding nothing, as they munched on bread
and cheese and pickled onions. When she had finished on the note of Mme.
Kaja’s treachery, Dame Domijaiek said; “Ill done, but the poor woman’s
fault is partly your own.”
Said Rodvard, surprised; “How can that be, Madame?”
“It takes more than one to make a murder. If you had been wholly ruled
by the God of love, the good will you bore her could not but have been
reflected back toward you. Was there not something, perhaps seeming of
slight importance, on which you felt almost in fury with her?”
Rodvard flushed (recalling the moment when Mme. Kaja had burst in to
find them on the bed), but Lalette said simply; “Yes, and on a question
that most sharply brings angers; to wit, money. Speaking of which, have
you the spadas, Rodvard?”
“Why, no. I reached for them where they were on the table as we went
through the window, but they were not there, and I thought you had taken
them.”
Lalette’s nostrils moved. “A victory for Mme. Kaja. She has left us
penniless.”
“Believe me, an evident result of the fact that you quarrelled with her
on pennies,” said Dame Domijaiek.
Rodvard; “I will not say I disbelieve you, madame; yet I cannot see how
this is valuable in our present necessity. The thing’s done. Now we have
to ask how matters can be bettered, and how to carry word to my good
friend, Dr. Remigorius, so that we can elude the body of this pursuit.”
The widow looked at him steadily and though he was new to this Blue
Star, he felt surprise that he could make out nothing at all behind her
eyes, no thought whatever. “Ser Bergelin,” she said, “you will one day
learn that before you can escape the world’s despairs, you must first
escape the world’s self. But now you have been sent to me for help, and
helped you shall be. With what I know of mask-making, I can so alter
your appearance that it will not be hard to pass a relaxed watch. But
will your doctor provide security?”
“Assuredly,” said Rodvard, (too quickly, Lalette thought), (and it was
so, for he remembered the moment when he surprised the doctor’s mind,
his carelessness of what happened to Lalette.)
Dame Domijaiek gave a trifling sigh. “You will be safe here for the
time. But there is a condition to my aid. I believe in a rule more
certain than yours of witchcraft, demoiselle; and will ask that while
you are under my roof, you will banish from your mind every thought of
evil and horror and revenge, even toward those who have wronged you. It
is a protection I ask for me and my son, though you will not believe
it.”