World Without End Page 0,472

sent Lolla home with Arn and Em, then went across the green to the old hospital. On the upper floor were three rooms for important guests. He took the outside staircase.

In the corridor he came face to face with Caris.

She did not bother to ask what he was doing here. "The countess doesn't want you to see her, but you probably should," she said.

Merthin noted the odd turn of phrase: Not 'The countess doesn't want to see you,' but 'The countess doesn't want you to see her.' He looked at the bowl Caris was carrying. It contained a bloodstained rag. Fear struck his heart. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing too serious," Caris said. "The baby is unharmed."

"Thank God."

"You're the father, of course?"

"Please don't ever let anyone hear you say that."

She looked sad. "All the years you and I were together, and I only conceived that one time."

He looked away. "Which room is she in?"

"Sorry to talk about myself. I'm the last thing you're interested in. Lady Philippa is in the middle room."

He caught the poorly suppressed grief in her voice and paused, despite his anxiety for Philippa. He touched Caris's arm. "Please don't believe I'm not interested in you," he said. "I'll always care what happens to you, and whether you're happy."

She nodded, and tears came to her eyes. "I know," she said. "I'm being selfish. Go and see Philippa."

He left Caris and entered the middle room. Philippa was kneeling on the prie-dieu with her back to him. He interrupted her prayers. "Are you all right?"

She stood up and turned to him. Her face was a mess. Her lips were swollen to three times their normal size, and badly scabbed.

He guessed that Caris had been bathing the wound - hence the bloody rag. "What happened?" he said. "Can you speak?"

She nodded. "I sound queer, but I can talk." Her voice was a mumble, but comprehensible.

"How badly are you hurt?"

"My face looks awful, but it's not serious. Other than that, I'm fine."

He put his arms around her. She laid her head on his shoulder. He waited, holding her. After a while, she began to cry. He stroked her hair and her back while she shook with sobs. He said: "There, there," and kissed her forehead, but he did not try to silence her.

Slowly, her weeping subsided.

He said: "Can I kiss your lips?"

She nodded. "Gently."

He brushed them with his own. He tasted almonds: Caris had smeared the cuts with oil. "Tell me what happened," he said.

"It worked. He was fooled. He will be sure it's his baby."

He touched her mouth with his fingertip. "And he did this?"

"Don't be angry. I tried to provoke him, and succeeded. Be glad he hit me."

"Glad! Why?"

"Because he thinks he had to force me. He believes I would not have submitted without violence. He has no inkling that I intended to seduce him. He will never suspect the truth. Which means I'm safe - and so is our baby."

He put his hand on her belly. "But why didn't you come and see me?"

"Looking like this?"

"I want to be with you even more when you're hurt." He moved his hand to her breast. "Besides, I've missed you."

She took his hand away. "I can't go from one to the other like a whore."

"Oh." He had not thought of it that way.

"Do you understand?"

"I think so." He could see that a woman would feel cheap - although a man might be proud of doing exactly the same thing. "But how long...?"

She sighed, and moved away. "It's not how long."

"What do you mean?"

"We've agreed to tell the world that this is Ralph's baby, and I've made sure he'll believe that. Now he's going to want to raise it."

Merthin was dismayed. "I hadn't thought about the details, but I imagined you would continue to live in the priory."

"Ralph won't allow his child to be raised in a nunnery, especially if it's a boy."

"So what will you do, go back to Earlscastle?"

"Yes."

The child was nothing yet, of course; not a person, not even a baby, just a swelling in Philippa's belly. But all the same Merthin felt a stab of grief. Lolla had become the great joy of his life, and he had been looking forward eagerly to another child.

But at least he had Philippa for a little while longer. "When will you go?" he asked.

"Immediately," she said. She saw the look on his face, and tears came to her eyes. "I can't tell you how sorry I am