Priceless

For the following 4 nights and 3 days, the Earl of Bonchurch left his poor wife in no doubt of his displeasure. her beautiful face was one of his main reasons for marrying her so he would never mark her anywhere above the shoulders.

Below her dress however were several large vivid bruises and in the morning she would have great discomfort in sitting down.

Pain deprived her of sleep which increased her feeling of melancholy. When Edmund lay snoring after taking his pleasure, she would climb out of bed and stand on the wooden balcony outside of their bedroom gazing at the moon.

On the 4th night she had a small comfort for the the next day. Edmund was to visit some friends of his. The lady of the house being one of his harem of mistresses. Rosamond sighed at her husband's sickening hypocrisy. He had other women all over 3 counties and he punished her for being friends with one man.

As her tears flowed, her mind turned to Guy. She badly wanted to see him, to talk to him and to lose herself in his deep intense blue eyes. Small hope however. She would no doubt have a thinly disguised armed guard set to watch her every move.

At Locksley Manor, Guy's mind was also on Rosamond. Of course he desired her but he also felt an equal yearning to protect her. The resignation on her face as she entered the Lodge at Bonchurch was printed onto his brain.
No woman should have to live with such fear in her marriage.

Even though there was little to be done whilst the law allowed a man to treat his wife how he pleased. Guy had made a promise to the lady to be her friend and he intended to keep it.

He knew the Earl would be away tomorrow and wanted to find a way to meet Rosamond. Half way between sleeping and waking it came to him. Getting out of bed, he found a scrap of parchment and laboriously (his writing skills got little practice) wrote a note
Dear R
I am feeling in need of some
spiritual comfort. Tomorrow
after High Mass, I will go to
your Parish church to contemplate
the error of my ways.
GG

In the morning he had it delivered by one of his men, who had a passing acquaintance with Rosamond's maid Eirian.

Rosamond read it with a smile and knew what she must do.

As Edmund got ready to leave. His wife came in dressed as if for church. A very solemn and penitent figure. She knelt at his feet, her voice quiet and sad.
'My Lord. I have behaved very badly and feel I must make confession of my sins. Will you allow me to go to church in your absence?'

Edmund was disarmed and smugly gratified by this humility. ' I can think of no more appropriate place for you to be. I will need to send a guard with you and I will be asking Father Augustine if he heard your confession today'.

Rosamond knew this would happen and merely nodded her head meekly. 'Yes my Lord'.

Shortly after the departure of her husband Rosamond rode out under guard to the Bonchurch parish Church. The guards would have followed her in, but she gave them an innocently reproachful look. 'Surely my husband will trust me with a priest'.

Inside the church she saw one other figure. A man kneeling with head bowed and hands joined as if in prayer. He was tall, dark haired and dressed in black leather. She walked towards him, passing close so that her dress brushed his arm and she could speak very low. 'I must go to confession first. He will be checking'.

Father Augustine was fond of the young Countess. He was inclined to give her lenient penances. Today though she pleaded with him. 'Father, you are being
too kind. I could not feel I had made amends with so short a time in prayer'. She felt bad in including the innocent priest in her duplicity so she added. 'I also have money here for the aid of the poor'. She gave him a bag heavy with coins.
The priest gave her a more robust penance and she knelt to kiss the hem of his habit.

In the church, she knelt beside Guy. 'Are you clean as the driven snow now My Lady?' He asked drily. Rosamond smiled. 'Yes thank you'.

She continued, rather more seriously. 'Guy, before anything else, I must talk about Meinir (the runaway). I know you have your duty to do and that is to find him, well, I too have a duty. I promised him my protection, and Eirian too. It is best we do not discuss the matter, then neither of us can be accused of betrayal'.

Guy was not best pleased with the idea. His failure so far to capture and retain Robin Hood, meant that he was in need of something to give him kudos with Vasey. However, he wasn't hoping to bed Vasey and using Rosamond to help the capture of the runaway was hardly the action of a friend, so he agreed.

They remained together on their knees for nearly an hour. They found each other easy to talk to and there were enough other topics for them to be able to avoid any difficult ones.

They were both reluctant to end their tryst, but it had to be done. Rosamond rose with difficulty, her bruises stiffening. Guy noted this and questioned her.
'Does he hurt you?' When Rosamond nodded, tears flowing, he fought to curb his anger at Edmund.

They were both reluctant to end their tryst, but it had to be done. Rosamond found her bruised body becoming stiff whilst on her knees. Guy noted her wincing and helped her to rise.

'Has he beaten you?' He asked sternly. Rosamond nodded nervously. Guy questioned again. 'He forces himself on you too doesn't he?' Rosamond nodded again, tears flowing, scared of what Guy might do.

He noted her fear and gently touched her cheek. 'I want to flog that bastard Edmund to within an inch of his life, but I won't do it, for your sake
and I don't want you to be afraid that I'll hurt you.

I may be many unsavoury things but I can say I have never raised my hand to a woman, nor am I a rapist'.

Rosamond put a hand onto Guy's cheek, feeling the rough stubble and inhaling his scent. She reached up and kissed him softly. When Guy kissed her back, pulling her against his body, she felt giddy. This was the first time she had ever been kissed properly and what a first experience it was.

Finally they had to part. Promising each other to meet at the birthday feast for Eulalia Vasey. Rosamond left first, trying to retain her solemnity in front of the guards. Guy left shortly after. He went to collect his horse from Nettlestone village.

He had been there before his tryst. He had been dealing with a man caught poaching deer. The luckless man was now minus one hand and was warned that next time he would hang.

In the early hours of the morning of Eulalia's birthday, Rosamond gently awakened Eirian. The girl dressed quickly and ate the breakfast her mistress provided. This was the day she was to travel to Leicester to be with Meinir.

Rosamond gave her a cloak and handed her a small leather pouch. 'This belongs to Meinir and to you'. Eirian looked inside and threw her arms around Rosamond's neck.

'I'll miss you so much My lady', she said tearfully. 'Rosamond dried the girl's eyes. 'We can meet again when the 2 of you are free at last'. She went to the window and waved her white veil towards the forest.
An answering white flag waved from the trees. 'Time to be off,' she told Eirian.

She took the girl outside and a figure on horse back rode up. It was Robin Hood. The women hugged each other, before Robin lifted Eirian into the saddle and they were gone

TBC