Madlen remained silent. Blood rushed loudly in her ears; only the sheriff’s deep voice dampened the noise. Her breathing was fast and shallow. She put her hand on her bosom; she couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen into her lungs.
“Don’t pretend to be an innocent little weakling,” the sheriff roared. “We both know that you’re not.”
Madlen gasped, swallowed, tried to breathe, her pulse racing.
“Stop with this play acting!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. Madlen stared at him, aghast, unable to free herself from his grip. “Now, come on, just admit it.” He shook her again and stared into her eyes angrily. Then he let go and pushed her back into the chair. It was a moment before Madlen could gather her thoughts. His chilling accusation echoed through her head. She was being charged for the death of the Trauensteins’ child. She shut her eyes and took several deep breaths to gather strength, just as Clara had shown her.
“I did not trigger her bleeding,” she whispered, raising her head. The sheriff sat down again, now calm and collected. Had he pretended to be enraged simply to elicit a confession from her?
“Why are the Trauensteins accusing you of this?” He sneered.
“So that there’s no need to confess what really happened.”
“And what would that be, girl?”
It occurred to Madlen that he was now addressing her like the commoner she was, abandoning any pretense of respect.
“I came to the Trauensteins’ home,” Madlen continued, determined to make her statement. “Adelhaid Trauenstein was in her bedchamber. She had a high fever and was bleeding profusely, which had started the night before. I asked the maid for some herbs, to make it easier for her to bear the pain of her contractions.”
“So you admit, you did use herbs?”
“Medicinal herbs, found in any household.”
“And which ones did you use, if I may ask?”
“Arnica, sage, chamomile, oil, and honey.”
The sheriff rubbed his chin. “Isn’t sage used to expel the baby from the womb?”
“No,” Madlen declared, though sage often created this exact effect. But if she’d omitted it from her list, it would have seemed more suspicious. “Sage has a calming effect when applied externally and mixed with oil. I rubbed her body with it to relax her muscles.”
“I understand.” It was clear such details made the sheriff uncomfortable. “What happened next?”
Madlen regained her confidence. At least she now had his ear. Her challenge now was to convince him of her innocence.
“As I already told you, the maid came to me because Adelhaid had started bleeding the night before. It was a stroke of luck that the poor woman hadn’t already bled to death when I arrived.”
The sheriff was silent, waiting for her to continue. His eyes seemed cloudy. She wondered whether he was even listening or just impatient to guzzle down his next bottle of wine.
“I tried to listen for the baby’s heartbeat, but the child was already dead—hence the bleeding. Her womb was trying to expel the baby.”
Madlen could see the sheriff’s obvious discomfort with her description of this gruesome event.
“And what do you believe was the reason for this, miss?”
Madlen noted with satisfaction that his respect had returned. She hesitated, not knowing whether she should say what was on her mind. “I asked Adelhaid what happened. She told me that she’d fallen down the stairs.”
“Hmm.” He rubbed his chin again. “I would like to believe what you’ve said. There’s only one thing that doesn’t seem to make sense.”
“Yes?”
“Why would the maid report you?”
Madlen shook her head. “Believe me, I have no idea.”
“Hmm,” he said softly and fell silent for a while. “Could it be that the maid, this Barbara, had something to do with the mistress falling down the stairs? And now she’s trying to make you responsible for the miscarriage?”
“No,” said Madlen evenly. “I can’t imagine that.”
“It’s to your credit that you didn’t immediately seize the excuse.” He rubbed his chin again, which now looked raw and red.
“May I ask you a question, my lord?”
“Of course.”
“Did Barbara come to you with the dead child and accuse me?”
“No, no,” he blurted out. “The maid was caught trying to bury the dead baby in the forest. Someone saw her and turned her over to the constables, at which point she said you were responsible.”
Everything started to make sense. Matthias probably came home and forced Barbara to bury the child. When she was caught, she sought only to avoid punishment by her master.