Chapter 26

Penelope knew her forest warden was confounded. I have described her actions as if she had not a care in the world, but that was not so. She merely knew she needed to keep him off balance until she could calm his mind. That she was sure she could calm his mind is astonishing enough.

So as soon as he was down, she seated herself on a fallen log nearby and pointed to a spot down the log from her.

"His Lordship demands I provide him an heir," she said, without preamble. "His age, and perhaps more importantly his fondness for drink, prevent him from producing that heir. I am sure you can see the problem immediately. And so, I am required to find another way to give My Lord what he demands."

She left it simply at that.

Harry frowned. He knew his job well, but he had never dreamed something like this might end up happening in his purview.

"Do you sleep with him?" he asked.

"Lord Malcom?" asked Lady Penny.

He nodded.

"Of course," she said. "He is my husband. I would never think of denying him. It is just that it is rare, almost to extinction, that he is capable of, shall we say, actually contributing to progress?"

He looked at Jack.

"Why'd you pick him?"

"That is complicated," said Penny. "I would much rather discuss the reason we came searching for you. Later, perhaps, we can discuss Jack."

He ruminated on that for a moment. This was an unusual situation, there was no doubt about that, and there was no precedent upon which to base his behavior.

"Didn't seem to be searchin' all that hard, M'lady," he ventured.

Penelope smiled widely, displaying white teeth. "One must rest, occasionally," she said without a blush.

"Ye're not actin' much like a lady," he commented.

Had I been there, I'm quite sure I would have expected her to cashier him for such impertinence. That humility I spoke of, however, caused a different reaction.

"I am doing the best I can, Mister Bickerstaff. I did not ask to be given to His Lordship. That, of course, is of no consequence. Here I am, and I must do what I feel is best for the estate."

"And you think begettin' a bastard with him, will be best fer the estate?" The warden inclined his head toward Jack, who stood silently, watching.

"I think that begetting an heir of any kind before His Lordship drinks himself to death would be best for the estate," she said. "If there is no heir when he dies, the land will be taken and given to others. I am vain enough to think that we who are already here would take better care of the land than any who might come from afar."

Harry grumbled something unintelligible, but then said, "What, then, about me? I know yer secret."

"I am not concerned that you know my plans," said Penny. "I intend you to be part of my plans."

That rocked him back a bit. He licked his lips. "'Tis a compliment," he said. "It surely is one. But I think not. I'd jest as soon keep m'head on me neck, and keep me neck short like it is now."

"I didn't mean I intended you to compete with Jack," said Penny, smiling. She looked him up and down. "Though you do appear to be good stock. I'm sure you'd make fine sons."

He relaxed. "I had me chance at that, Lady, and havin' a daughter killed me wife. There'll be no sons fer me."

"That is not necessarily true, my good man," said Penny. She looked at Jack. "Jack? Would you see to the horses. This next bit requires some privacy for Mister Bickerstaff and myself."

Jack gathered the reins of the horses and walked them fifty yards through the forest. He removed the bits and let them nibble at whatever they felt was fit to eat. Penny looked at the roughly handsome man on the log in front of her. Both sat astride the wood, she because she intended to keep him off center by not acting like a lady, and he, because it was just natural to mirror her stance.

"I'll be blunt," she said.

"That surprises me not," he replied.

"I'm going to tell you more than most others are aware of," she said, ignoring his jibe. "That is because what I am going to ask of you is more than I'm asking of anyone else."

He sat, and stared, waiting.

"When I came here, I was angry. I did not wish to marry some old man whom I had never seen, and after that happened despite my wishes, I did not want to come here and live in the countryside, far from cities and interesting things. His Lordship informed me that my first duty was to provide him an heir, two if possible. I didn't want to do that either.

"And so I decided that, when my belly grew grotesque with child, and I was required to waddle to move from place to place, I would not do so alone. The manor was full of young women, of child bearing age. I plotted to expose them to the pleasures of the flesh, if they weren't already, and to attempt to have at least one or two of them accompany me on my dismal journey to the delivery bed.

"Something happened, however, that changed the way I thought. I shall not go into detail, but will just say that I grew fond of the staff. You are all good people, who have carried on with great courage, while your Lord slipped into a lifestyle of decay and neglect. The grounds have been well maintained. His horses are healthy and well cared for. You never let your own duties slip, when it would have been simple to do so. No one checks on you. You could have spent your days in the tavern. But you did not. Nor did any of the others.

"It is the fact that you and the others deserve better than to have to serve a weak lord. I mean him no disrespect. I am sure that, in his younger days, he was a man of integrity and courage. But we must deal with what he has let himself become."

Harry moved in such a way that she stopped, knowing he wanted to say something.

"If the drink were taken away from him, he'd get better again," he said, hopefully.

"I have spoken to the doctor about that," she said. "In his experience, when a man is as deep in his cups as His Lordship, removing his drink will cause him to tremble and flail, and become unable to function at all. In some cases it kills the man."

"'Tis sad. He was a good lord, some years ago."

"It is sad," she agreed. "But it is a burden we must live with. And I must live with the results of my selfish behavior. I exposed the girls to boys, and let nature take its course. In fact, I must confess that I aided nature quite a bit. I knew the girls would get with child. That was the whole point, so I would not be the only fat and ugly woman in the manor. But, having opened Pandora's Box, I could not then shut it. So I resolved to get husbands for all the girls, so that when their courses failed to appear on schedule, there would be no scandal. I am afraid I failed in that. Actually, that's complicated too. It would have worked out, save our Vicar retired and left, and no new one came to perform the weddings in time."

He looked tense. Finally he said "You said all the girls." His voice was heavy.

"Save Cynthia," she said quickly, seeing where his thoughts were going. "When I talked with Cynthia about procuring a husband for her, she balked. She was one of the last on the list scheduled for despoilment in my scheme, and by then my conscience pricked me, so I did not have her seduced, like the others."

His relief was palpable.

"Ye're still an evil woman, Mistress," he said.

"So thought the blacksmith, the miller and the farrier," she admitted. "They were incensed at what I had done, for I married off their children without their consent or involvement. I could argue that their offspring were old enough to make their own decisions, but that is not the point. They came to the manor in secret, late in the night, to exact their revenge by whipping and raping me."

His eyes widened. "Ye look not to have been beaten. As to the other, methinks ye'd not sport with the groom, had they been successful in that aim either."

"I was better able to defend myself than they expected," she said.

"I am unsurprised at that," he said, gravely. "But if ye did not involve Cynthia in this sordid affair, nor marry her off, then what has this to do with me?"

"My plans are now to return the estate to its former state of health. For that to happen, there must be an heir, and other sons and daughters to carry on His Lordship's line. I anticipate keeping a flock, and weaving woolen cloth, here on the grounds. Rooms will be reopened. The staff will be expanded. I would prefer that future staff come from the children of present staff. To that end, the state of the girls I toyed with is not longer a problem. They are decently wed, though somewhat late, but that fact will fade with time. People in the village will want our fortune to be shared with them, in terms of business, and I intend to do that. Your daughter should be part of that. She is intelligent, and sincere, and can rise in responsibility as the estate flourishes. But she needs a husband, and it should be soon, for she has languished too long without one."

Harry sat, and frowned.

"You don't like the idea," said Penny. "Do not feel bad. She didn't like the idea either. She has come around to my way of thinking, however. Except she has placed ... conditions ... on marrying the boy I found for her."

"You found her a mate?" He leaned forward. "Who?"

"Let us speak of him momentarily," she said. "First, we should discuss her conditions."

"Mistress, I see clearly ye are not the usual type of woman to hold the title of Lady. Ye have behaved badly. And no lady I ever heard of would brook the way I have spoken to ye in the time since I saw ye fornicating on the ground, like an animal. But I must ask how it can be that a servant girl can set conditions on what her mistress demands of her."

"To answer that, I must tell you a story," said Penelope.

She told him the same story she'd told Cynthia. Then she repeated the story Cynthia had told.

His eyes widened during the telling, and his muscles tensed.

Finally she fell silent. He opened his mouth, but she held up a hand, demanding whatever words he had remain unspoken, at least for the present.

"You are right," she said. "I am no lady ... not as you have ever known one. I will say again that I didn't ask to come here, and didn't want the task that has been set for me. I will also repeat that I am doing the best I can to make a life for myself ... and my servants ... that will be one we look back on with fondness in our dotage."

She leaned far forward and pinned him with her gaze.

"I care not who Cynthia loves, as long as she has a chance to have a family, and contribute to the success of my husband's holdings. I care not who you love, Harry, as long as that love is deep and abiding. And the boy I think would suit her situation is one who is capable of loving a woman without jealousy for the fact that she might love both him and another man as well."

She went silent. He sat for a spell.

"Ye've been tipplin' ... haven't ye?" His accusation was mildly delivered.

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Penelope, Mistress of the Manor

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