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    Two Turtledoves
    Two Turtledoves
    Two Turtledoves
    Ebook90 pages1 hour

    Two Turtledoves

    By Flora Speer

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    England, A.D. 1155

    Elisa has always loved her husband, Lord Robert, who leaves her at Menton Castle during his frequent visits at the royal court. Now Rob has sent word he’ll be home in two days, bringing close to a hundred people for the Twelve Days of Christmas – noble guests, squires, servants. Of course, he expects Elisa to see to everyone’s comfort, plan delicious menus, and arrange entertainment. Then Elisa learns one of the guests is the woman she has long suspected is Rob’s mistress. Furious, she decides the time has come to teach her neglectful husband a lesson.

    Enlisting her sullen teen-aged daughter as an unwilling assistant, the lady of the castle goes to work – and leads Rob on a merry romp until they finally resolve their differences and find their long- delayed happy ending.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFlora Speer
    Release dateNov 4, 2012
    ISBN9781301152445
    Two Turtledoves
    Author

    Flora Speer

    Flora Speer is the author of twenty-two book-length romances and two novellas, all traditionally published. The stories range from historical romances to time-travel, to futuristic. Born in southern New Jersey, she now lives in Connecticut. Her favorite activities include gardening (especially flowers and herbs used in medieval gardens,) amateur astronomy, and following the U.S. space program, which has occasionally been a source of ideas for her futuristic romances.

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      Book preview

      Two Turtledoves - Flora Speer

      Two Turtledoves

      A Christmas Romance

      By Flora Speer

      Smashwords Edition

      Published by Flora Speer At Smashwords

      Copyright, 1999, by Flora Speer

      Cover Design, Copyright 2012 By http//:DigitalDonna .com

      Dear Readers,

      This story was originally published in1999, as part of the Christmas anthology, FIVE GOLD RINGS. The title of each romance in the book is taken from the old Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Thus, the rather odd title for my story, which refers to the battling husband and wife, Rob and Elisa. It occurred to me that in the Middle Ages, husbands and wives probably quarreled about many of the same things that annoy couples today, especially each expecting the other to read the spouse’s mind.

      I hope you enjoy reading Two Turtledoves as much as I enjoyed writing it – and rereading it twelve years later, as I prepared it for Smashwords. Even long-married couples can have a new romance with each other, and have a somewhat belated happily ever after.

      Have a very happy holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate.

      All the best to you,

      Flora Speer

      Chapter 1

      Menton Castle

      North of Chester, England

      December 23, A.D. 1155

      What did you say? Lady Elisa stared at the man-at-arms, not quite believing what he had just told her. He could have no reason to lie, she reflected, and the message he’d brought was so typical of her husband that it must be true. Still, she repeated the most vital details, in case her ears were deceiving her. A large party of guests, including ten noblemen and nine ladies, all arriving tomorrow and staying until Twelfth Night or the day after that?

      Aye, my lady. Lord Robert said for you to expect them at midday or in the early afternoon.

      Elisa glanced quickly around the great hall. It was clean, and so was the rest of the huge castle, for she was an excellent chatelaine. In expectation of a quiet Christmas season, with the lord of the castle absent at the royal court as usual, the hall was nicely, if sparsely, decorated with pine boughs and holly. Out of consideration for the common folk who lived in the castle, the decorations also included small bunches of mistletoe dangling above the entry arch to the great hall and the passageway to the kitchen. The Yule log waited, trimmed and ready in the inner bailey, from where it would be ceremonially dragged up the steps and into one of the fireplaces in the great hall on Christmas day.

      Those simple preparations would have to suffice, for there was no time to think of anything more elaborate. The band of itinerant acrobats and jugglers who had appeared at the castle gate on the previous day would have to serve for entertainment, too. If Robert, the noble baron of Menton, did not approve, let him provide his own entertainment!

      Elisa dismissed all thought of decorations and entertainment in favor of a rapid consideration of clean linens, altered menus, and a mental count of the barrels of wine and casks of ale piled in the basement storerooms. Nor did she neglect her immediate duty as lady of the castle. Gritting her teeth against the resentment that filled her heart at the unanticipated demands being made upon her, steeling herself against the tumultuous emotions generated by the impending arrival of the husband, who, by his very presence would shatter her lonely holiday peace, Elisa addressed the waiting man-at-arms who was her husband’s messenger.

      You will be cold and weary after your long ride, she said to him. The midday meal is not quite finished. As you can see, we are fasting before the holy day, but there is enough food. Find a place and eat your fill, she finished with a graceful wave of her hand toward the lower tables.

      Thank you, my lady. The man-at-arms bowed and turned away, to be greeted by Sir James, the young Scottish knight who had lived at Menton for years as a hostage for his father’s good behavior. Sir James and the man-at-arms were old friends from the practice yard, so when the man-at-arms was offered a pallet for sleeping, he readily accepted.

      Well, at least there is one person for whom I won’t have to find a bed, Elisa muttered, watching the two.

      Just then Elisa’s daughter glanced up from her place at the high table. Christina possessed her father’s dark hair and deep blue eyes, though where Robert’s eyes were always sharp and piercing, Christina’s were soft and dreamy. She was a beauty, with her father’s firm jaw and straight, elegant nose. Elisa sighed, looking at her. In appearance the girl was completely unlike her golden-haired, brown-eyed, plump, and rather plain mother. In character, too, they differed, as Christina’s first comment revealed.

      How lovely it will be to have Father home for a while, Christina said, smiling.

      You think so, Elisa responded, because you pay no heed at all to domestic matters. I warned Robert about sending you to that convent school, but as usual, he refused to listen to me. You should have been kept at home or, better yet, been fostered with another noble family, so you’d have the opportunity to learn the duties of a wife and chatelaine. Instead, you spent your years away from Menton learning embroidery and reading and writing.

      There’s nothing wrong with reading and writing, Christina said, rising from the high table and heading toward the edge of the dais on which the table rested.

      Certainly, there isn’t, Elisa responded with some heat. She wasn’t sure whether it was Christina’s physical similarity to Robert or her constant, quiet rebellion bordering on surliness that rankled so deeply. Possibly, it was a bit of each. Feeling the need to defend herself, she added, I know how to read and write.

      Barely, said Christina as she passed her mother. And you’ve minimal counting skills, too.

      Stop right there. Elisa kept her voice low so none of the servants or men-at-arms would overhear the dispute, but she knew how to issue a command.

      Christina obeyed, standing with shoulders hunched, head bowed, and hands folded before her as if she were a humble postulant. Which, Elisa well knew, her daughter was not. It was Elisa’s fervent wish that the Church would one day declare a saint to whom the mothers of marriageable girls could pray for help when their self-control was sorely taxed. At the moment there was no such saint, so Elisa would have to help herself. And after dealing with her daughter, Elisa was going to have to deal with her husband, a much more formidable task. She thrust that unwelcome thought aside while she proceeded to settle the problem at hand.

      Since you are so expert with numbers, she said to Christina, "tell me the sum of all the guests we are to expect on less than one day’s notice. Ten lords, according to your father’s messenger, and each lord surely with a dozen squires and men-at-arms in his train. In addition, nine ladies, with their own servants. Your father, his squires, and all the men-at-arms from Menton who have been attending him at court these past months. What is the total number of extra

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