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out of here."
"What did you say?" Ella asked.
"Just that I have to stop daydreaming and begin thinking seriously about what I intend to do
next," Gina answered.
"That's always a good idea," Ella said with a laugh.
The evening meal was bread and cheese, washed down with ale or wine. Gina didn't care for the
ale, but she did like the wine. It tasted like slightly fizzy grape juice, and it didn't have much kick
to it. She knew better than to ask for a cup of hot tea, which was what she really wanted to drink.
She seriously doubted if the people gathered in the great hall knew that China or India existed, so
it was a pretty sure guess that they wouldn't know about tea.
Having imbibed three cups of wine for whatever courage they would impart, Gina left the table
soon after Dominick did and followed him out of the hall to the garden.
The sun was low in the sky, casting a golden light on the rustling tree leaves and sending long
violet shadows across the beds of herbs and flowers. The brisk wind that earlier had made laying
out the laundry difficult was now a gentle breeze. The evening air was cool yet with a hint of
summer warmth to come.
Gina saw Dominick bend to smell the lilies. Then he straightened, and though he hadn't looked in
her direction, she knew he was aware of her presence, just as she had known that morning that
he was in the garden.
"It's my favorite time of day," Dominick said. "Work is finished until tomorrow, Feldbruck is at
peace, and soon the stars will begin to shine."
"Were you born here?" she asked, coming to stand beside him. "Have you lived here always? It
seems to me you love this place."
"I do love it, perhaps because I won these fields and woodlands by my own sword at a time when
there was nothing left except my sword that I dared to call mine. The first time I rode through the
gate, I felt as if I was coming home. What Feldbruck is today I have built by my own effort and
with the help of the people who were living here when Charles granted the land to me at the end
of the Bavarian campaign."
"You sound like a pioneer who ventured into a new land to build a new life," she said. "From what
I have seen of your people, they like and respect you, which means you are a good landlord."
Then, before she lost her nerve, she launched into her scheme to learn as much as she could
from him, in hope of discovering how to return to New York City. "Earlier today you said you'd
listen and keep my secrets if I wanted to talk."
"So I will." He faced her, the lowering sun behind him turning his blond hair into a fiery halo. She
couldn't see his expression, but his voice was gentle. "You may speak freely to me. Shall we sit
where we did this morning?"
"If you don't mind, I'd rather walk. I'm a bit nervous. I don't usually talk about my past. It's not a
nice story. In fact, it's pretty awful." He did not respond to what she said. She began to walk down
the gravel path, and Dominick fell into step by her side. Because of what she already knew about
him from Hedwiga and Ella, the first part of her story wasn't terribly difficult to tell. She didn't
think he would be shocked by it. "My parents weren't married. I never knew either of them. I was
told that my mother was very young and my father deserted her as soon as he learned I was on
the way, so she gave me up for adoption."
Gina paused, frowning a little. The words she was speaking were slightly different in Frankish, so
the tale didn't seem quite as stark and unpleasant as it did in English. Dominick's reaction
helped to explain the difference.
"That is a situation common to Francia, as well as to your homeland," he said. "Here in Francia,
children whose parents cannot raise them are usually given as oblates to convents or
monasteries, to be trained into the religious life as they grow up. Occasionally, childless couples
will adopt children, usually the offspring of deceased relatives. There are some unwanted
children, fortunately not many, who are simply abandoned, left to fend for themselves."
"Well, I was adopted by a couple who had no children of their own," Gina said. "For the first three
years of my life I guess I was among the wanted children. I'm sorry to say I have no memory of
that time. When I was not quite four, both of my adoptive parents were killed in a car accident."
"They were riding in a cart?" Dominick asked, looking puzzled. "Why weren't they on horseback?
Were they farmers?"
"No, they ... they lived in the city. It's difficult to explain. Let's just say the cart overturned. I was
only slightly injured, but I was left an orphan, with no other family, so I was put into a foster
home."
"Fostering is not unknown in Francia," Dominick said, nodding his understanding. "Often nobles
send their sons to live in each others households for a time. The custom helps to build
friendships, so the nobles don't fight among themselves as frequently as they once did. Then
there is the
palace school, where intelligent boys can be sent to learn their letters and counting. That's a kind
of fostering, too, with Charles as the foster father. Nor is it unknown for him to take in the
orphaned offspring of his nobles and raise them with his own children."
"That isn't the kind of foster home I'm talking about," Gina said. "The government paid people to
take me in. Actually, I was moved around quite often. Some of the foster families I was sent to
were kind enough. It really wasn't their fault if I had the feeling I ought to be somewhere else. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]