Lady of the English - By Elizabeth Chadwick Page 0,104
from Rome aside. She had always known the road would be strewn with obstacles, and each time she came across another one, she set herself to clear it because right was right and she had a son to fight for. Stephen’s use of underhand tactics and false oaths merely put iron in her soul and made her even more determined to bring him down.
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At Arundel, Adeliza sat on the window seat in her sun-filled confinement chamber and stroked the wonderful curve of her belly, round as a full moon. Even now, in the middle of her ninth month, she still had to reassure herself that she was not dreaming, that there really was new life growing inside her. She had conceived within the first weeks of her marriage during the 257
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honey month. God indeed must be shining His light on them, she thought. After fifteen barren years with Henry, Will had got her with child at a glance. Her fluxes had ceased straight away. And the strange thing was that Will had no bastards to his name, and Henry had had more than a score.
Will was due home from court any day, having attended a gathering at Oxford to discuss matters of government with the king.
Adeliza’s belly hardened under her palm and a small pain lodged in the small of her back. She shifted her position in the window seat to make herself more comfortable, easing her spine with a large pillow. A pile of sketches lay on the cushion beside her and she picked them up to study again. Now that Will had a substantial income through their marriage, he had embarked on various building projects. Arundel had received a new round keep of stone that had reached completion a fortnight ago, its foundation having been laid in the first month of their marriage, and work had begun to build an ornate castle on his manor of Rising in Norfolk. The latter was mainly sheep pasture and park land because the agricultural soil was poor, but Will thought it an ideal place for a hunting preserve and retreat that would also be fit for a queen. They had visited Rising on a freezing January day to study the ground and discuss plans. The first stones had been laid in late February as the evenings started to lengthen, and work, so she heard from regular reports, was continuing apace.
She shifted again as the pain returned, meandered vaguely around her hips and loins and vanished again. Turning her head, she looked out of the open window and saw two of Will’s outriders cantering through the gate. That meant he would not be far behind. She stood up, intending to send one of her ladies with a message to the steward, but as she turned in the window seat, she felt a strange sensation deep inside her body, followed by a gush of biblical proportions between her thighs, drenching 258
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her chemise and gown and puddling the rushes. The pain strengthened and her belly grew as hard as a drum.
She cried out to Juliana who dropped her sewing and hastened to her, while Melisande ran to fetch the midwife.
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“You will wear out the floor,” said Joscelin of Louvain. He was Adeliza’s younger half-brother, born out of wedlock, and had joined Will’s household at Christmas, arriving from Brabant to take up the post of castellan. He was lithe and slender like Adeliza, with laughing grey eyes.
Will swung round and paced back the way he had come. “It has been a full day and night,” he said. “Why does birthing a babe take so long?”
Joscelin shrugged his shoulders. “You would need to ask a woman that,” he said with a rueful grin. “They always take their time whatever they decide, and then they’re apt to change their minds on a whim.”
“I always thought I was a patient man until now. It’s almost as bad as being at court,” Will said. The waiting, the pacing, the not knowing what was happening behind closed doors. There were many similarities. He began to pace again, then stopped himself and unclenched his fists.
Joscelin eyed him thoughtfully. “What will happen now that the bishop of Salisbury has been attacked by Waleran de Meulan’s men?”
Will grimaced. “Your guess is as good as mine. It’s an enormous mess and no mistake. I am glad to be here and out of it.”