Yet the baron had made no attempt to hide his visit. This fact boded well, leading the prioress to doubt he had any intent that reeked of treachery. The many relics available in Parisian churches suggested he was probably satisfying a vow made during his sojourn in Outremer.
All considered, nothing about the baron’s journey home explained why he had banished both wife and sons from his favor. Eleanor was left with the same obvious conclusion with which she had started: Baron Herbert had an unknown reason for delaying his return for as long as possible.
“My brother also traveled by land rather than sailing,” she said at last. “Our family may have regretted the choice, but he had many adventures as a result. Our patience has been rewarded with his fine tales.”
“You are fortunate. When my lord arrived at our gates, he counted the number of sons awaiting him, then turned his back on us all with no explanation. He lives apart, and although we have begged audience with him, he always refuses. Any messages are sent through Sir Leonel.” She looked away. “That is a harsh task to demand of the young man. Yet he balances his duty to my husband with respect and compassion toward us.”
“Sir Leonel seems a worthy man. I have heard that he fought valiantly at your husband’s side. Was he not knighted for his valor?”
Margaret nodded. “My husband was rightfully proud when King Edward chose to honor our family by including our nephew in the ceremony.” She sighed. “I fear my lord has found his nephew to be a better son than those I gave him.”
“If he found fault with any, surely it was because most were unformed boys when he left. With such a noble sire, they must have grown into worthier men.”
“Before he left for Outremer, he called them all sniveling creatures because not one showed any longing to wield a sword.” The lady’s laugh was sharp. “Only our eldest, the heir who died of a fever before my husband’s return, inspired any praise and that was faint enough. My husband said of him that he might wield accounting rolls well enough, but they would be soft swords were this castle attacked.”
A hard man, Eleanor thought. Although her own father was an experienced and skilled warrior, Baron Adam never condemned his youngest son who had always preferred farming to battle. His only other son, however, had proven his mettle in war.
Unlike her father, this baron had not known most of his sons as men, first because of his absence in the cause of capturing Jerusalem for Christian sovereignty and next because of his inexplicable delay in returning. His knowledge of them remained that of babes clinging to their mother’s robe. Did he fail to understand that boys eventually matured?
“I had hoped that Raoul at least might find favor with his father when he came home. He has grown into a man who reminds me much of my husband when I first knew him.”
Eleanor raised an eyebrow at this unexpected remark. “How so?”
“Our youngest keeps his own counsel, then acts with swift, firm purpose. Although his demeanor is stern, this mother knows he owns a loving heart. I fear he mocks what he should not, but his father’s faith deepened only after God had proven His favor with so many sons.”
An interesting assessment, the prioress thought, and quite different from my brother’s. This Raoul was no sniveling creature, yet the lady’s opinion was softened with a mother’s vision.
Margaret frowned. “It is a pity that Umfrey is now my husband’s heir. He has no love for swords and is best suited to a place in the Church. With only two sons left, and Umfrey ill-suited to the task, Raoul may have to remain here, providing his brother with the strong arm and wily spirit needed to survive in this sinful world. That grieves me. We had wished to give one son to God’s service.”
“What of Sir Leonel? Will he remain with this family that raised him?”
“Unless he finds a place amongst the king’s men, he has few choices. Leonel’s father, my lord’s only brother, gambled inordinately, and my husband was forced to sell Leonel’s lands to pay the sire’s debts. Truth be told, my husband sold some of his own patrimony as well to save the family honor. Since this meant there was less to give to the Church, the call to take the cross won my husband’s heart more firmly. If he could not buy fine plate for God’s altar, he knew he should give his soul to the cause in Outremer.”
“Your husband is a worthy man, generous to both kin and God.”
Margaret turned her face away.
Eleanor suspected the lady had disagreed with both the baron’s choices but also concluded that the opposition was never given voice. If she did not speak of this to the baron, she would never admit it to any stranger.
“As for the future,” Margaret said, “Umfrey will find some work for his cousin to perform here, after my husband’s death, unless my lord begs the king for a small favor. Although Leonel did bring wealth back from Outremer, it was too little to buy enough good land to support the needs of a knight of his rank.”
Eleanor was reminded of a young man she met last summer whose father lost all by supporting Simon de Montfort. It is difficult, she recalled, to be sired by a father of noble birth, then be left nothing with which to provide a suitable living. Leonel had shown only grace, from what she had heard, but he must still suffer from the loss of his estate.
“Perhaps the king will grant him more than a simple living,” the prioress said. “Unlike his father, your nephew has behaved with honor and showed bravery in God’s cause.”
“For the time being, he shows no inclination to leave my husband’s side, nor, it seems, does my lord wish him to do so. Perhaps this is selfish of me: I do not long for the day when he must depart. The young knight lightens our cruel sorrow under the weight of my husband’s silence.”
Eleanor asked herself what else she could say to comfort this woman. Although there must be a reason why the baron had chosen to act as he had, she saw no cause. Nor did the Lady Margaret seem to know more than anyone else.
Unless the wife was hiding something, this treatment of Herbert’s sons was unwarranted and illogical. Although the baron might have held his young, unformed sons in contempt before he left, most fathers would be willing, even eager to see how they had grown into men after such a long absence.
Was Baron Herbert so rigid in his expectations that he refused to grant them a chance to prove themselves? Had he learned something troubling about them, of which even his wife had no knowledge? Or had something else happened in Outremer to make him this unbending in his contempt? Hugh might know, but Eleanor doubted it. He had seemed as perplexed as she about what was happening here.
There was only one thing she might say, based on conclusions made after seeing her own brother so changed on his return, as well as other crusaders who had come to Tyndal Priory for healing. Her words might bring little comfort, but they could result in patience.
“From all you have said,” the prioress said, “your husband has changed greatly during those many years of your separation. I have witnessed the same in my brother, although I saw him little enough after our mother’s death. Greeting him when he returned from Outremer, I felt as if I were seeing his face in a mist. The image was recognizable, yet not as clear as it had been. Although I delight in my beloved brother, he has become a stranger in small ways. In the midst of conversation, for instance, he may fall silent and walk away as if he forgets that I am in his company.”
Margaret tilted her head, listened, but said nothing.
“War is a man’s lot. They grow up with it, learn the skills to survive, and then do battle. I overheard my father once say to a friend, that no one could understand what war was like except another man who had also fought.”
“We suffer as well.”
“My aunt agrees and once told me that women often do experience the havoc of war, but our pain is different and should remain unspoken. When husbands return from battle, changed beyond recognition, we must greet them with patience and charity. It becomes our duty to teach men the strength of the meek and pray they hear what God has taught us. If they do not, a wife is left with only the comfort God may grant, and she must pray for eventual peace in her husband’s soul.”