Priceless

Eulalia was pregnant. She was not exactly thrilled with the prospect of motherhood. She did however get a great deal of pleasure in the marriage bed and was resigned to the inevitability that what she did there with Roderick was likely at some point to get her with child.
Now it had happened. She was in her 4th month when she told her husband who was utterly delighted by the news

2 days later Roderick announced he was taking his wife to Lincoln. ' I want to buy you a gift to say thank you for the gift you're giving me'. He stroked her hair and softly kissed her.

It was Market Day and Lincoln was full of people. Compared to Nottingham this town was much better run.

Roderick steered Eulalia towards a short man with a clever good natured face.

This was Benedict of Lancaster a very successful gold merchant. Well known for his ability to sell just about anything and even more so for his honesty and fairness he was a popular visitor.

He had been apprentice to a goldsmith as a boy, so knew the trade well. He had in his 20s developed an irresistible wanderlust and had become a merchant.

He understood that as craftsmen many goldsmiths did not always wait for a commission to create an item. They made a certain amount that they would sell to merchants such as Benedict, who would often sell them all over the world.

Benedict was travelling north across the east of England and was going via York to the west coast in his native Lancashire, from there he would sail to Ireland and from there to Europe. En route he would sell some of his purchases and buy others.

'Good day to you Somersby my boy!' The merchant's good natured tones rang out. ' Good day to you Benedict'. Roderick replied. 'May I introduce my wife Lady Eulalia'. Benedict greeted Eulalia charmingly and she flashed her dark eyes at him as she did with any man.

Roderick told Benedict their good news and asked him to show Eulalia his best pieces. 'Well, well ', the merchant smiled 'good news indeed dear lady. Let's see what we can find for you'. He looked through his collection and chuckled with delight.

' Ah ha ! I have the very thing. I can guarantee that some of the best gold smiths come from Wales. This comes from one of the best welsh goldsmiths I have ever met.
The lad can't be more than 21 years old, so what a future eh?'

He held up a brooch with a broad smile. 'Look at the craftsmanship. Isn't it magnificent?'

Eulalia looked at the brooch with desire. It was round, made up of Celtic knots surrounding a rose made from red and green enamel. An exquisitely beautiful thing and it gave her an odd feeling of recognition.

A smile of malice spread across her face as realisation dawned. She heard in her mind the whining tones of The Earl of Bonchurch describing this very item as the brooch he had made for her birthday.

She turned her sweetest smile on the merchant and her husband. 'This is so lovely Roderick I can't bear to part with it'.

As Roderick paid Benedict Eulalia asked ' Forgive my curiosity sir, but purely out of interest, where did you buy this?'

The merchant thought for only a moment. ' Leicester it was My Lady I remember the lad well. I'll be looking for him again next time I'm there'.

********************************************

The next day the couple went to Nottingham to tell Eulalia's father their news.
Roderick wanted to go to Bonchurch to tell his sister and anxiously suggested his wife stay with her father to avoid getting tired.

Now Eulalia showed the brooch and told where it had been bought by the merchant. Vasey was orgasmic. 'My little genius!' he crowed dancing around with his daughter.
I think it's time I got Gisborne thinking about where his loyalties lie.

TBC