the grubby baby in Galeran's arms, and went to kneel in the dirt. "Go on, then, Edric. Lay it on. You'll not get another chance."
"Right, then!" said Edric, a light in his eyes. "Someone get me a stick!"
As the old man rolled up his sleeves, a grinning woman came forward to relieve Galeran of his burden, but he shook his head. He'd never held his own child, or the new one - Donata. It seemed right to hold this black- thatched mite.
He didn't like this business at all, though, for it cut too close to his own case. Everyone was grinning as if at a festival, happy that justice would be done; relieved, perhaps, to have a problem wiped away.
Within moments a whippy green branch was put into Edric's hands.
Accompanied by laughter and cheers, he laid about his erring wife's back with great ferocity. Galeran noted that the black-haired lover cheered along with the rest and marked him in his memory. If the lout ever crossed the law, he'd get an extra dose of punishment.
Not that Agnes was suffering much. She was shouting mightily, but Galeran reckoned that with at least three layers of clothing on her back, the flexible stick, and the old man's weak arm, she wasn't coming to much harm. It would sting, but nothing more than that.
It was all for show, to salve Edric's pride and put matters right again in the eyes of the village. A wrong must be redressed.
He looked down at the cause of the trouble, and the boy looked up with huge dark eyes, his mouth working slightly in hope of food.
"Mother will be back soon," Galeran said, hearing Agnes's wails reach a crescendo, begging for mercy.
Sure enough, the noise stopped except for the merry cheering and laughter.
Agnes was immediately surrounded by women and helped to her feet as if grievously hurt.
Edric, rosy from exertion and with a spring in his step, came over to Galeran. "You had some suggestions, Lord?" he asked hopefully.
Galeran gave him some advice about pleasing his wife despite his impotency, including a few ideas he'd picked up in the Holy Land and not been able to test yet. When Agnes came over to take her child back, he suggested a few things she could do that might help her husband's problem.
Since it all seemed to be news to both of them, it might even do some good.
Or perhaps the next time Agnes took her itch elsewhere and conceived, Edric would pretend it had. It could be so, for the old man had taken the babe from his mother and was holding the lad proudly, as if it were in truth his own son.
And perhaps, after the little scene, the child was legitimate as far as their neighbors cared. Certainly the villagers had gathered around the small family and were driving them toward the inn to celebrate the healing of the wounds. Galeran declined an invitation to join the celebration. After a brief word with the headman, he mounted and led his party onward.
Raoul's eyes were sharp with interest, but he was wise enough to keep silent.
Chapter 8
Though he was plagued by disquieting thoughts, Galeran found the journey gave him a chance to settle into his new reality. The loss of his son was a wound, but one that had begun to heal. The situation with Jehanne, however, still festered and would do so until it was handled. It ate away at him, and he knew it was a raw wound in the community.
No man liked the thought of adultery. Even less would he tolerate the idea of another man's child in his wife's arms, stealing a share of his property.
So every man expected adultery to be sternly dealt with. Galeran didn't fear the opinion of other men, for if they made an issue of it, he'd kill them, but he feared official action against Jehanne. He couldn't kill Church or Crown.
He knew the way to avoid official interference was to take firm action himself. Yet he couldn't do it. He couldn't send Jehanne to live a penitent's life behind walls. He couldn't send the child away. He couldn't even give her a simple beating to clear the air. That one blow had shown him that.
Wending his way back to Heywood, he went over and over the problem in his mind. As Lowick had found, Church and Crown were unlikely to concern themselves in such a domestic matter unless they saw advantage in it. Unfortunately, there