The Perfect Wife(31)
Author: Lynsay Sands

Avelyn straightenedslowly. Someone had pushedf the boulderdownon her. Not an accident. Like her fall through the room. Shehad beenhit and knocked through the hole. Only her skirt catching on theragged edge ofthe wood had saved her.

So she was lessaccident prone than someone would have her believe, and the fatescertainly hadn’t turned on her. Someone else had.

Avelyn stareddown intothebailey, considering the matter. Diamanda hadlooked so confused when she mentioned thefalling rock, she wassure she’d had nothingto do with it. But if not her,who?

Lord and LadyGervillecertainly had no reason towish her dead. Actually,no one did thatshe could think of. Diamandawas the only one whomightcomeclose tohaving an excuse to wish her dead. Still, shecouldn’t believe it was thegirl.

A scuffle to her rightmade her glanceto the side, and Avelyn straightenedas she peered at Diamanda’saunt.

Chapter Nineteen

Paen opened hiseyes and shifted inbed, thensucked in ahissing breath of air as painshot through his head. It wasonly then that he recalled slippingon the plumand hitting his head on the log. He was grimacingover his own clumsiness when a sniffling sound drew his gazeto the side to see Diamandaseated on thewindow ledge, weeping intoa bit of cloth.

His first thoughton seeing thegirl was irritation thatshe must have wokenhim withherweeping. Paenwas inenough pain that he’d rather sleep than stayawakeand suffer it. His nextthought was to wonderwhy the girl was crying. It could not be over him. He was injured but would heal. It wasn’t as if he were dying.

Butwhatof Avelyn? Paen thoughthis heart might stop ashe realized the girl might be crying because Avelynhad beenhurtagain…or evenkilled this time. Hiswife had sufferedan unfortunate number ofaccidents fromwhich she had man-agedto survive relativelyunscathed, but her luck wasbound to giveout eventually.

"Whereis Avelyn?"Colored withhis worry, the question came out sharperthan he’dintended.

Diamanda stopped weeping and turned astartled face his way, then slidoff the windowledgeandmovedtothe bed. "You are awake. "

"Where isAvelyn?" Paen repeated. "Was shehurt? Is that why you were crying?"

"Oh!"The blonde’seyes widened as sherealized what hercryinghad led himto believe. She quickly shookherhead. "Nay. She is fine,Paen. Truly. "

Paen relaxed backinto the bedof furs, realizingonly then thathe’d half sat up in his worry. Grimacing overthe pain allthe movement was causing him, he sighedand askedwearily, "Then why were you weeping?"

Diamanda satdownon the edge ofthebed with a sigh. "Because ofwhat I have totell you. "

Paen waited,andwhenshe merelysat there sniffling,askedimpatiently, "What?"

DiamandabitherUp, then stared at her hands and said, "You will hateme. "

She wantedto be coaxed into tellinghim, he realized witha sigh. Paen really was not in the mood for such games. "Just tell me, Diamanda. "

"I am the one whodestroyed the tunic and braes Avelyn was making for you,"

she admitted unhappily.

Paen frowned. "Whichones?"

"Bothsets," she admitted in a bare whisper. When Paen openedhis mouthto speak, Diamanda rushed on. "Avelyn had blown out the candle in the tent. I deliberately relit it and usedit to set the furs andclothing onfire. Then at Gerville, when she was nearly donewith the second pair,I snuck some meat from dinner awayfrom the table andrubbed it allover the tunic, then ripped itup and putholes initbefore Iused it toteasethe dogs. I left it with them, knowing they would be blamed. "

She wasnow shredding the linen inher hands. "Itold Avelyn all this a little while agoandapologized. I toldherI intended to tell you. Shesaid I need not tell you,that the mischief had been made against her and so long asshe forgave me – "

"She forgave you?"Paen asked.

"Aye. " Diamandanodded. "Shewas very understanding. "

Paenstaredather withbewilderment. He was glad his wife was understanding, but hedidn’t understand atall. "Why did you do it? Youhardlyknew her when you burnt the first outfit, andshewaskind to youwhen you unintentionally said those foolishthings aboutyour pregnantcousin afterthe wedding. "

Diamanda made a face and admitted, "Actually, that was intentional. I was deliberately insulting,though I did not thinkto tell Avelyn that when I told her the rest. "

"Why would you do allthattoher?"Paen asked sharply, his- confusionbeginning tofade beneath asurge of anger on his wife’s behalf.

"I was jealous,"sheadmitted unhappily, then raisedher face, revealing pleading eyes. "I ove you,Paen. Ihave always lovedyou. I came to Gervilleknowing I wasto marryAdam, but it was you I loved. You werealwaysstronger andsmarter and…"

She shookherheadhelplessly. "I loveyou. And I wasjealous that she got tomarry you and wouldbe your wife and…" She sighed. "I wantedto make her as miserable as Iwas, I guess. Or maybe make you see howuseless and clumsyshe was. "

"Avelyn is neither useless nor clumsy,"Paen saidgrimly.

"I know. " Diamanda nodded. "Her cousins toldme she was, andthat just made me angrier because I thought she didnot deserve you. But Ihave come to know Avelyn sincethen andI know she isneitherclumsynoruseless. Sheis smartand funny and kindandI hope that I am half as good awife someday asshe is to you. "

She shrugged unhappily. "I came tolike her. That is whyIdid nothing else to tryto makeherlook bad in youreyes afterarrivinghere. "

She grimaced. "Of course, with theplague of accidents shehas hadsincearriving here, Idid not feel theneedtobother, but even so, I do notthink I would have done anything else. Ido like her,Paen. And I am sorry. "

Paenlethisbreath outon a slow sigh. The girl sounded sincere, atleast about beingsorry. He didn’t believe foraminute that she really loved him. She had a child’s infatuation for him, was all, andwouldgetover it soon enough. Her behavior toward Avelynhad been appalling, however, and he wasn’t surewhat he should do about it.

"So Avelynknows all this and forgave you?"he asked.

"Aye. She is verykind. "

"Iam surprised that you confessed allthis to her,"Paen acknowledged.

Diamandagrimaced. "She mademe. "

"What?"

Diamandanodded, then frowned. "It was theoddest thing. Avelyn was angryand said she knew what Ihadbeendoingand had seen me. I thoughtshe meant shehad seen me either start the fire orruin thesecond tunicand I confessed all, but it just seemedto confuse her. And then she asked me about being up on the parapet earlier, as if itweremore important. "

"Earlier today?"Paen asked sharply. "You were up on the parapet today?"

"Aye. Iwantedto be alone to think about everything. Iwasfeeling bad for the unkindnesses I had dealt Avelyn, and I could see you hadcometo loveher, which only made me feeldoubly bad. " Sheshrugged unhappily.

Paenstaredatthe girl,hisheart pounding. Shecould seehe hadcome tolove Avelyn? Nay, he didnot love his wife. Hemighthave someaffection for her, but love?Paen swallowed and glanced toward the window, a myriad of memories running through his mind – Avelyn chattering before himon hishorse; covered in quail eggs he’d knockedher into;telling him angrily that Of course she’d thought he preferred thehard-packed earth to beddingher, else hewould have been in their tent; herdejectionover hisnot bedding her; her gleefullaughas she beat himat chess;her earnest expression as she told him Samson was very smart; herbraveface as she denied she was inpain aftertheboulderhit her;her passion-filledgazeas he made lovetoher; her clutching a bit of linen infront of her as if itwould hide her nudity… Aye, he acknowledged. He lovedher. He loved every last contrary bit ofher. The woman was too kindhearted, too shy, too giving. Shewasjust plain perfect… for him. He loved her. Damn,whenhadthathappened?

"I thought I could be alone up on the battlements. " Diamanda went on,drawing Paen’sthoughtsaway from his love forhis wifein timeto see her grimace. "Of course, I almost did not go up when I sawAuntHelen hurrying down, but Ihid underthestairs andwaited forher topass and then went up. " She sighed. "I was walking along the parapet and heard voices. Ilooked over and saw David helping Avelyn to her feet. She musthave tripped or something. "

She shook her head with amused affection. "Asmuch as I likeAvelyn, shetruly is clumsy. "Thenshe shook herhead. "That fall through the floornearly did me in. It scared me somuch, and still she will not admitshe is accident prone. "

Diamanda sighed and peeredathim. "Anyway,she must have seenme when I lookedover the parapet. Avelyn was very upset that I had been up there atfirst,then just looked mystifiedwhenI explained I had been up there to think. "

Diamandastoodnow, then hesitated. "If you wish me to leave, I will. Avelyn said there was no need to and it was onlysmall mischief, but – "

"No, no. " Paenshook his head. "There is no reason foryou to leave. "

She letherbreath outona sighof relief. "Thank you, Paen. "

Heblinkedin surprisewhen Diamanda suddenly bentforward to kiss him on the cheek. She then straightenedandmovedtothe door.

"Diamanda?"Paen asked as sheopenedthe door.

Pausing, thegirlglanced back.

"Where isAvelyn?"

"She went up on the parapet for something. Though she may be backnow. Aunt Helen stopped in here looking for her for some reason, and Itold her where she was, so she may havefound Avelyn and brought her back down forwhatever she wanted.

I shall tell her youare awake if she isback in the keep when I gobelow. Avelyn will be glad. She was veryworried. Shelovesyou as muchas you love her, youknow. "

Diamandaclosed the door softly behindherself as she left.

Paen stared after her, his heartin his throat for severalreasons. First, hehad just come torealize that he loved his wife. Secondly,Diamanda thoughthiswife loved him too, and third, he verymuch fearedhiswife was in terribledanger at that very moment.

Paen’smindwasworking fast, putting all the pieces together. He’d thought his wifeclumsy because ofall her little accidents, butit seemed that someof themwere not accidents at all. The fire inthetent hadnot been, the drowninghad not been a drowning… what else might not be whatit seemed? Hehad wondered about the fall through the hole inthefloor, findingit hard to believeshe could have missed seeing the hole. He stilldid, but he had never got to question her on it.

The chamber door opened, distracting him, and Paen glanced toward it as Runilda pausedin the entrance. Abright smile lither face asshe saw he wasawake.

"Lady Avelynwill be happyyou areawake. She has been worried. "

"Wait," Paen said as she started toback out of the room, apparently togo find Avelyn.

Runilda paused, her eyebrows risingin question.

"Come here,"he ordered, not wanting anyone passingin the hall to hear him.

Runilda stepped back into the room, closed the door andapproachedthe bed.

"Aye,mylord?"

"Did Avelyn ever talk to youaboutthefallshe took the first day here?When she fell through thehole?"

Runilda hesitated. "Not really,mylord. "

Paen was frowning overthiswhen sheadded, "Though, when she first woke up, she did say something about being hit and falling through. "

"Beinghit?" Paenstiffened. "What exactlydid she say?"

Themaid thoughtfora minute, then said,"I thinkit was’Someone hit me,I fell through the hole. ‘"

"Someone hit her?" Paenasked with disbelief. "Why did no one mention thisto me?"

"Well, she was alone upstairs; who could have hit her?Lady Helenseemedto think it had just been something Lady Avelyn had dreamed while she was unconscious,"Runilda added apologetically.

"Lady Helen did,did she?" Paen asked,recallingDiamanda saying she’d hidden beneath the stairsas Lady Helenhad hurried off the battlements before she’d gone up onto thewall – which would put Lady Helen onthe wall rightabout when the boulder had fallen from the battlement and nearlycrushedhis wife. Was Helen trying tokill hiswife?Butwhy? And whynow? These more serious, deadlyattacks hadn’t started until they’d arrived here at Rumsfeld. Or had they?

Paenran quickly through thelistof events at Straughton andon the journeyto Gerville.

Paen’s thoughts pausedabruptly as herecalledone odd event on thejourney he hadn’t put any significance to: the dead fox, the rabbit meat and the signs that someonehadbeensick in thewoodsbehind his wife’s tent. He hadn’t connected the two thingsat the time, but whatifthey were connected? Whatifthemeat hadbeen poisoned and the fox had diedafter eating some ofit?

"Did Avelyn throwa roasted rabbit leg behindthe tent on the first night of our journey?"Paen asked, making Runildastartle at the sharpquestion aftersuch a long silence.

"Ido not know," she said, then frowned inthought and admitted, "She mayhave.

Iknow Lady Helen gave a roastrabbit legto Diamanda to give to Lady Avelyn for sup. " She shrugged. "I have no idea whether she ateit or not,but her stomachmay have been bothering her after beingridden around camp across your horselike that, so she may havethrown it away rather than risk eating it and tossing it backup. "

Or the ride around camp might have made her throw up the meatand savedher from being poisoned, Paen realized and sat up suddenly.

"My lord, what are you doing? You should not be gettingup!" Runildacried "I have to getto the wall. Avelyn needs me," Paen growled, ignoring thepain ripping through his head as hegained his feet.

"Good afternoon, Lady Helen," Avelynmurmured. The woman had frozenwhen Avelyn turned, and for a moment her expression had been of such hatred that Avelyn was startled. Then – as if it had never been there – the expression was replacedwitha smile, and she movedslowly forward. ButAvelyn had seen the look and could not pretend she hadn’t. "Hello, dear. I thought it was you uphere so I came tocaution you. It is not safe tobe hanging over the side of the wall as you werea moment ago. Accidents happen. "

"Aye,"Avelynagreed, taking a step back along the wall. "And they seem to happen to me a lot. "

"You do seem accident prone," Lady Helenmurmured, continuingforward.