“I call it justice.” Philipa shook with her rage. She recovered and raised an eyebrow. “It is a simple thing to avoid. Mary is gently bred and has no stomach for a man’s touch. You, on the other hand, are the spawn of a light skirt so enduring a few nights with a man using your flesh should not be too difficult for you.”
“My mother is a leman. She has no other lovers.”
Philipa waved her hand, dismissing her words. “If she’s a woman of some character, all the better. I expect that you might have been raised with some sense of responsibility if your mother is as honorable as you say.”
Philipa reached for the strap holding Anne’s linen cap in place. She popped the button open and pulled it off her head. “You will bathe and dress as I direct you.”
“I cannot.” Anne’s voice did not shake only because of a lifetime of not arguing with the lady of the house.
Philipa snorted at her. “You shall. And mind me well, miss, you will play the part to perfection if you do not wish for your siblings to suffer unkind fates.”
Anne felt her eyes widen. Philipa snickered as she noticed the horror on Anne’s face.
“Now I have your attention. You will take Mary’s place, or I shall see your two sisters wed before dark to the meanest men I can find! As for your brothers, I know a few prostitutes who need husbands. We need to think of their Christian souls. Marriage might be just what they need to make them repent their whoring ways.”
“You are despicable.” Anne refused to hold her tongue. Even God wouldn’t condemn her for stating something so true.
“I am the lady of this house and my word is law.”
Philipa waited, her eyes glittering with triumph. She pointed at the bathtub, her face set like stone.
“I am not a liar. I wouldn’t know how to deceive a man.”
Philipa waved her hand again. “There will be no need for lies. You are the earl’s daughter. You are being sent to the Scot’s bed. Simply keep your mouth shut and all will be well. When you find yourself with child, you will beg to come home to have your mother at your side when the birthing time comes. You see? Simple.”
“Surely you do not believe this earl to be so slow witted as to not notice you have changed his wife for another.”
Philipa waved her hand again. “The man is a Scot. I wouldn’t expect a servant to understand but they are war-loving people. He’ll likely plow you a few times, make sure you’re breeding, and take off for more war among their clans. No man has any interest in a pregnant wife and Scots prefer their women uncivilized. He’s got a mistress for sure, and your bed won’t hold any interest to him once he knows his child is planted in your womb. By the time the babe is born and he comes to see his son, it will be more than a year. Changing places will be easy. The man will not even remember what color eyes you have. Besides, you and Mary look very similar. Mark my words, girl, you’d better set your mind to producing a son.”
“I can’t be a part of such a foul scheme. My father has bound Mary to this man.”
“And I am giving him a daughter, a different daughter, yet still his child. As lady of this house, I can do that.”
“You aren’t given the power to lie about it. Dishonesty is a mortal sin.”
Philipa frowned. “Make your choice, madam. Shuck your dress and bathe or prepare to watch your mother walking out of the gate while your siblings are bound to remain in the castle. The charge of theft should be enough to convince the guards to throw her into the road. With your father at court, whom do you think the captain will believe? The lady of the house, or you?”
Chapter Three
Evil
Anne stared at Philipa and knew that what was shining in the lady’s eyes was pure evil. Not once in her life had she ever believed that any person might be so horrible. A glance over at Mary showed her another woman who placed her own comforts above the very life of the servants who brought them those comforts. There was no hint of mercy on the younger lady’s face, either; only a slight fear that Anne wouldn’t bend to the whim of her mother.
But to take her place in the wedding bed…Anne shivered, unable to grasp such an idea. To agree to such a bargain made her no better than a whore. A woman reduced to using her body to buy what she needed.
But there really was no choice to make. She would choose her love for her family above herself. Reaching for the button on the top of her doublet, she pushed it open.
“There. I am glad to see you behaving so reasonably.” Philipa looked pleased. “Help her, Mary. We have to see this finished before any of the maids become wise.”