Chapter 8

He made his way to the merchant’s quarter. He found what he was looking for, a small jeweller’s shop in a back street.

“Good day, sir. How may I help you?” the old man asked, coming out of the back of his shop.

“Good day to you, Sir. My name is Sir Donald and I’m looking for a ring. A very special ring. I was wondering if you could make it?”

The old man looked at Donald. He could guess it’s purpose.

“Well, Sir Donald, that would depend on what you required, and if I had a suitable stone.”

“You may have a look at these, and see if any are suitable,” Donald told him, bringing out a pouch. He tipped the pouch out onto the counter. There were several stones there, each worth a king’s ransom in their own right. There was, however, one that stood out. A diamond. It was large, but it’s true beauty was in it’s clarity. It caught every speck of light, and just seemed to sparkle, as if it had a life of it’s own.

“I think we have the stone right here, sir,” the jeweller told him, holding the stone to the light, marvelling at it’s beauty. “It will be a very lucky lady indeed who receives this. Now then, do you know her ring size?”

“Ring size? Well is sort of finger sized, small dainty, beautiful sort of size,” said a completely flummoxed Donald

The old man smiled. He had seen this many times before. “Could you persuade the lady in question to drop by for a fitting? That way we will know it fits. Now then, what sort of design would you like on the ring?”

Now Donald was completely stumped. His idea was that he would come down town, find a jeweller, have the ring made and then propose. Now, suddenly, it got complicated.

“I’ll go and get her. If you can get some designs together, I’ll bring her down and we’ll sort it out.”

He returned to the house. When he got there he saw a very embarrassed young man along with his father. It was the young man from the wedding.

“I-I wish to apologise for my behaviour last night,” the young man stammered.

“It is not me you need to be apologising to. I’ll go and fetch Lady Isabella, and you can apologise to her. You can also apologise to Michael and Brianna for making a scene at their wedding. You need to control your drinking. If you don’t then someone will do it for you ... permanently.”

Donald went inside.

“Ah, there you are,” Isabella said when she saw him. “Where have you been?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute. You remember that young man who made a scene, last night? Well, he’s outside just now, shitting bricks. I’ve told him he needs to apologise to you, as well as to Michael and Brianna. Where are they by the way?”

She smiled as she said, “They’re out the back. I’ll get them for you.”

She went and fetched the happy couple. They all went outside to see the shame-faced young man.

“I’m, I’m really sorry about last night. I can only hope my actions did not spoil your day. I have no excuse. I was drunk. I do stupid things when I am drunk.”

Isabella looked at him, fixing him with an icy glare and said, “Do you always try and force your unwanted attentions on young women when you are drunk?”

He remained silent, looking down at his feet.

“Do you have any idea of who I am? Have you any idea of just how close you were to losing your life, last night? I am the Lady Isabella Blackmore. This man is my intended, Sir Donald of Holmvale. He is also known as Sir Donald of Gilbert’s Honourable Mercenary Company. There is no man in this kingdom who can stand against him. He is the best, the very best, at what he does. Yet you come along and accost his woman? You are a very lucky young man.”

She turned to his father, who by now was completely ashen, they both were.

“I would suggest you take this boy home, and teach him some restraint. If we hear of him molesting or forcing himself upon anyone else, we will not be happy. Do I make myself clear?”

Brianna was next as she said, “You nearly ruined my special day by your actions. What if it hadn’t been Lady Isabella, what if it had been a young serving girl that had caught your attentions? What recourse would she have had? She would have been shamed, and her honour stolen. What if she had become pregnant? Would you have married her? I doubt it. Would you even acknowledged her? Or just left her to fend for herself? How many have there been in the past? How many have come knocking on your door with their tale of woe, only to be turned away?”

Both father and son could not look her in the eye. They both stared at the ground, shame-faced.

“There have been a few, haven’t there? If you wish me, us, to accept your apology then this is what you must do. You must find these girls, acknowledge the children as yours, and ensure their upkeep, both mothers and children. Either take them in as servants, or find them good husbands and pay their dowries. You have ruined these girls for your fun, and left them to face the consequences. Now it’s up to you to do the honourable thing.”

“But that would ruin us, socially,” said the young man.

“You should have thought of that before you seduced those young girls. This is what you must do, or forever be known as a house without honour.”

It was Michael’s turn to speak, and he said, “You need to get him married. If he has a wife at home, then perhaps he wont find the need to force himself on those who cannot defend themselves. Let me tell you something, had you picked on Brianna last night, you would now be dead. I would not have shown the restraint that Sir Donald did. I would have killed you.” He turned to the boy’s father and added, “Get him married before someone kills him.”

The two men looked at this stern faced young man. They could see that he meant what he said. The young man would have been dead.

Now it was Donald’s turn as he said, “You have heard the judgement of your action by my friends. I suggest you look to your laurels and abide by them. Find those young girls you have wronged, and do what is honourable. You cannot undo what is done, but you can atone for your actions. It will not be easy! In fact, I think it will be the hardest thing you have ever done. We will be back this way in about a year. Only then will we know if your house retains it’s honour.”

The two men nodded. This was not what they expected. A quick apology, control his drinking, don’t pick on you betters, but not this! The old man was furious. A Lady! That bloody fool had to try and force himself on a Lady! There had been girls before, yes ... serving girls, the odd merchants daughter ... but a Lady! Yes they had ignored them and just sent them on their way. Closed the door in their faces. Now they would have to find these girls and try to put things right. This was going to cost. But not doing it? Well, if they were declared to be ‘a house without honour,’ then they would be ruined, no doubt about it. No one would do business with a house without honour.

The young man thought about his actions. It was a game, a competition between his friends. How many women could they bed? How many could they seduce? It didn’t matter who they were, it didn’t matter if they were particularly willing or not. The threat of dismissal soon loosened the draws of many a wench. Now to have to own up to his actions? He would be a laughing stock. He had never considered the fact that one day he may have to face the consequences of his actions. The shame of it was appalling. He never for one moment considered the shame he had brought down on those he had abused. Never once did he give a thought to the girls he had wronged. There were a few who were willing partners, yes, but there were many who were not. These were the girls they would now have to find, and somehow work out some form of restitution. It was two very unhappy men who made their way home.

It was Brianna who was the first to speak.

“I think that went very well, but I think you two have something to tell us. What was that about Sir Donald being your intended? When did this happen? Why weren’t we told? When exactly did you intend to tell us?”

“Yes, when exactly did this occur?” asked Michael

“Well, it was last night. When Donald had that fool on the floor, he told him that if he ever touched ‘his woman’ again he’d kill him. I asked him if I was his woman, he said I was if I’d have him. One of the other guests overheard and told him to propose. He said that it was your day, and he wouldn’t do anything to overshadow it. He’d ask me on the morrow. I said when he asked me I’d say ‘yes.’ I’m just waiting for him to ask,” she said, and looked at him pointedly.

“Ah, yes, about that.”

“What! You’ve changed your mind?” Isabella’s face dropped, tears springing from her eyes.

Donald, realising what he had just said grabbed hold of her. “No, no. Not that. It’s the ring.”

She looked at him puzzled “Ring? What ring?”

“That’s what I was trying to say. I went to the jeweller’s, this morning, to get a ring made so I could ask you. It seems I need your ring size, and I also need to know what design you would like. I asked him to get some drawings done, so I could bring you back and you could choose.”

“You did this? This morning?”

“Yes. I wanted the ring ready so I’d have it when I asked you to marry me. I wanted everyone there and I wanted the ring to be a surprise. It hasn’t worked out as I’d planned, has it?”

She looked up into his eyes, grabbed hold of his face and kissed him.

“Get the others, and we’ll all go. But first, isn’t there something you wanted to ask me?”

All the others had gathered to see what was going on. They arrived just in time to see Donald get down on one knee and say, “My darling Isabella, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

“Yes, yes I would. I love you, Donald, I really do. Now, let’s go and have a look at this ring!”

Everyone cheered. They all congratulated the happy couple. Alan turned to the Bishop

“Well that has well and truly put the cat among the pigeons. All hell will break loose when his Lordship hears about this.”

“You’re not wrong, there. I don’t know about his Lordship, but her Ladyship will have a fit. I think our bridges are well and truly burnt now. Either we follow this couple into who knows where, or we return home to a pretty bleak future. Right now, I’m for following Sir Donald and Lady Isabella.”

“I think you are right. I have nothing to return to, neither have my men. We were tasked with protecting Lady Isabella. So, as long as we keep her safe, we are still continuing as we were tasked.”

“You should have been a lawyer. I don’t know as his Lordship will see it that way, but then it’s going to be a long time ‘till we see him again, I’m thinking,” the Bishop said as he laughed.

They made their way to the jeweller’s shop. The man was surprised to see so many people arrive. In fact they could not all fit in. Paul, Miriam, Peter and Simon went to see what else was down the street.

Back in the shop, Isabella was looking at what the jeweller had drawn. She looked through them and finally found one she liked.

“I’ll have it finished by sunset. I’ll not keep such a beautiful bride-to-be waiting.”

As Donald was looking around he saw two matching rings.

“Can I have a look at those rings please?”

“Certainly, Sir Donald.”

He handed Donald the rings. They were quite small and simple. He went over to the Bishop and Carlos.

“These are for you. Put them on your little fingers. No one will know what they mean except you. Call them friendship rings if you must.”

The Bishop was lost for words. His eyes filled, and tears ran down his face. Carlos was weeping, too. He came over and kissed Donald on the cheek.

“Thank you, thank you. Your acceptance of us means more than you will ever know.”

Carlos moved over to the Bishop and kissed him full on the lips in front of everyone.

“I love you,” he told the Bishop

“I love you, too,” the Bishop replied.

Donald turned to the jeweller and said, “Not a word, ever. Understand? Not a word!”

“No, Sir Donald. I would never breath a word of it. It was a wonderful thing to see.”

“Good. I’ll be back at sunset. I’ll settle up, then. Is that satisfactory?”

“Yes, Sir. Yes it is.”

Isabella snuggled up to him as they left the shop.

“That was a wonderful thing to do. Why did you do it, though?”

“I just saw those rings, and thought they would go well on them. Small, discrete, but with meaning. It just seemed the right thing to do.”

“Thank you, young man. You will have our devotion, always. When you are ready, I will be honoured to conduct your wedding.”

“Thank you, Bishop. I don’t know when that will be yet. I have to find some way of earning an income. I do not wish to return to my old trade, and I’m now not so sure farming is what I’m cut out for.”