The Grapevine

[SuperRy]

Brigid d’Vale had been in the employ of the Duke and Duchess Tassnehof for the better part of eight months, serving as a nurse for their daughter, Vara. The stocky woman never failed to seize an opportunity to indulge in the workings of the grapevine, often over-embellishing tales of the couple while providing intimate details of their personal lives to anyone who would show even the slightest sign of interest in what she had to say.

She felt it was her divine right—no, her duty, to keep inquiring minds abreast of the marital ups and downs of the noble pair. It was she who had set the whole of Myrken on its ear back in early January with the news of Lenore’s succumbing to the depths of post-partum depression. It was the nurse who had confronted Burel himself about her own suspicions of his wife’s capability as a mother, setting the stage for the rift that had grown between she and the mousy Duchess.

If not for the toddler’s growing affections for the older and fairly unattractive woman, and the nurse’s care in turn for little Vara, it was likely that her employment would have been terminated long ago. Brigid was quite candid with her words, more noticeably around Lenore who was given to bouts of timidity than to the Duke himself, with whom she had learned quickly the necessity for the application of tact. She had not thought twice about her comment for the Duchess regarding the necessary provision of a male heir to the Tassnehof line, baiting the younger woman with the fact that Burel like so many nobles, might seek to create a son in the arms of other women.

It was no wonder that she’d been so terribly excited that day in the inn, when accompanying mother and daughter in the commons, to bear witness to a ‘moment’ shared between the Duke and Aralina, then simply an unnamed seductive beauty. There was purpose in directing Lenore’s attentions toward them as well, and a smile when the younger woman had reacted to the sight by simply dropping her gaze far too abruptly. It must have seemed too good to be true upon hearing the self-same seductress’ ‘well-meaning’ confession moments later; words which had left the Duchess much paler by design, and obviously upset.

All of it was fuel for the fire that now set the grapevine ablaze.

[SuperRy]

Anxious to tell someone, Brigid was glad for the dismissal from Lenore. The stairs groaned their disapproval beneath the weight of the solid woman’s feet amidst a hurried climb. Vara was cooing and laughing within her nurse’s arms, oblivious to the fact that her mother was near tears downstairs, and that her father’s sterling reputation was becoming tarnished.

Quite out of breath by the time she’d reached the landing, the toddler was let to stand and walk beside with the aid of a hand and the balance it provided. The guards posted outside of the Tassnehofs’ rooms appeared quite confused at the appearance of the woman and her small charge. It was too soon for a scheduled dinner to have been served and finished. Something was out of place, and Brigid soon let them know what.

“No, no,” she began, waving a gesture with her free hand and shaking her head as well, “I don’ think either of them will be eatin’ tonight.” A small and self-satisfied smile coupled the twinkle of mischief within dark eyes. “Or sleepin’ much for that matter.” A chuckle, sadistic enough to beg for further questioning on the part of the guards. They were not overly fond of the rotund woman, but found amusement in her sordid details.

“Go on, have a gander down th’ stairs, if’n you please. Get an eyeful of th’ scene, an’ then I’ll tell you –all- about it.” She was smiling even more as they did just that, employing a stealthy gait for the landing, to see for themselves and try to guess just what she was hinting at. Meanwhile, she sent a passing scullery maid back down to the kitchen to secure their plates; no sense in letting a good meal go to waste after all.

The door to the bedroom which had been allocated as both the nursery and Brigid’s own quarters was left open as she waddled within, Vara in tow, that she might see to a dirty diaper and rest assured she’d not miss her chance to indulge the men with what she’d overheard. Sure enough, pairs of wide eyes and eager ears were pressed through the threshold, prompting the nurse to finish what she’d started. Not that she was the sort of woman who needed any sort of encouragement whatsoever.

“All righ’, all righ’, hold your horses.” She looked quite smug, and though her heart was pounding beneath her breast, she’d make them wait a few minutes because it was the hesitation that drew them to the edge of their seats.

[SuperRy]

Dinner trays arrived by way of the back stairwell, in the hands of a kitchen maid who’d looked somewhat confused at the change of instructions regarding the meal’s delivery. She, alike the guards hanging on the nurse’s every word, wouldn’t be left in the dark very long, however.

Plates were dispersed; Brigid took to feeding Vara from her own, between heaping forkfuls of lamb and potatoes for herself. There was a handful of them gathered about now, picnicking upon the nursery floor, watching the gossip-monger anxiously in wait for her to begin.

The guards knew it was going to be something terribly juicy, judging by what they’d seen in the commons below. A love triangle of sorts, with a defensive looking Duke and a curvy assassin standing shoulder to shoulder before a very small, very distraught mother and wife. There were words they couldn’t overhear, but expressions, body language spoke volumes. And now they simply awaited confirmation of their suspicions.

“So, like I was sayin’,” Brigid began, not letting the fact that her mouth was full of food stop her from speaking, “th' Duke himself, veritable paradigm of chastity and faith, has found himself in quite th' fix tonight, folks.” Brows lifted, then waggled while fingers sought some bread, tearing a bit off for the toddler before claiming the rest of it for herself.

Her audience was leaning closer, likely unconscious of the fact themselves, but she took great pride in the noticing of it. “I always say that people can’t keep secrets secret for long, an’ that tryin’ to keep them that way is a dangerous thing. But no one listens to me ‘round here, let me tell you.”

“Any ways, we’re walkin’ into th' commons, right? All ready for dinner like we’s planned on, and in struts th’ Duke himself, right on time for once, eh? Only his timin’ wasn’t so grand after all, really.

“See, there’s this other woman in there, that vixen sort you saw just then, and th’ two must’ve known each other, ‘cause they had this...energy between them, you know? The kind that charges th' rest of the room, th' kind you can deny nine ways to hell, but th' kind that’s irrefutable.”

Eyes were widening all-around the informal circle. The kitchen maid was gnawing on her lip, and the scullery maid who’d followed her up with the plate of bread was wringing her apron in her hands.

[SuperRy]

“Yeah, you bet I could feel it, and if I could, so could his –wife-. Only I don’ think he realized she was standin’ there too, ‘cause his eyes were only for that...eh, hells...what was her name? Ara...oh! Aralina! An assassin, no less.

“Th' good Duchess was seein’ to th’ baby, see, helpin’ th’ tot walk ‘round th’ bar from back to front, ‘cause we’d come out th’ kitchen. I, bein’ th’ good help I am, directed her to th’ fact that th’ –honorable- Duke had just waltzed in as well. An’ wouldn’t you know it! She caught those two makin’ eyes at each other. Caught her husband starin’ just a little too long at some hot-to-trot other woman she didn’ know from Adam. Can you imagine it?

“Well, sure you can, an’ you know how our mistress looks when she’s in a state. Got all pale she did, an' quite rightly so. Looked away as pretty as you please, as if she’d not seen a damnable thing. Only I knows better. I knowed what she seen ‘cause I seen it my own self.

“Oh, but that ain’ anywheres close to the worst of it, oh no. Not by far. Th’ master snapped out of his...well, I’d be at a loss to call it anything but a lust-struck gaze, and just kept on walkin’ towards us. But that lady, only she don’ look like a lady, if you know what I mean, she’s still walkin’ too...and brushes right up against our Duke. Then they’s said somethin’ to one another real quiet like, so’s we couldn’ hear it. Real suspicious, I tell you, -real- suspicious.

“But th’ Duchess, poor plain thing that she is, just played it off, acted as cool as she could under th’ circumstances, and never even dared look towards that Aralina after that. An’ I’d figured it was over with that, ‘cause we were settlin’ in to th’ table for dinner already.

“I’ve never been more wrong in my life, I tell you. That woman came struttin’ up to th’ table before we ever had th’ chance to sit down, and introduced herself without any sort of invitation to do so. And well, you saw how close she and th’ Duke were standin’ down there, squared off like –they- was th’ pair an' his wife was th’ odd man out.

“ ‘Aralina’, she says she is, an’ even dared tell th’ Duchess what she did for a livin’. Oh, an' you better believe she was talkin’ all honey-toned an' smooth, makin’ nice like. Right before she drops th' bomb.”

[SuperRy]

Vara had become restless, so Brigid abandoned her little tale for a brief while. Just long enough to scoop the toddler up into her lap before she continued.

“Right, where was I? Oh! Oh! Yeah, and so she goes...get this...she goes...’your husband ain’ who you think he is, dear Duchess’. I nearly had a heart attack right then and there, believe you me! But thank goodness I didn’ else you’d not be listenin’ to me tell you this now.

“So she says she an’ th’ Duke have been goin’ at it. Havin’ an affair, see. ‘Cause th’ sweet little Duchess obviously ain’ givin’ him everythin' he wants or needs. And to compare those two, th’ Duchess and that Aralina, you could see why th’ master would choose the assassin’s bed, you know? You men are all alike, I say.

“Anyhow, she tells th’ Duchess that he ain’ satisfied with his wife, and that she’s been doin’ th’ satisfyin’ lately at all hours of th’ day and night. And not only that, but that our Duke had hired her to be done with his wife. To be off with her, you know?”

Brigid sighed and wiped at a sweaty forehead with a clammier hand, appearing quite woe-be-gone. “But that’s where th’ mousy woman shoved th’ babe at me and directed me upstairs, eh? An’ so that’s why I’m here tellin’ you now.”

The guards shook their heads in disbelief, one even spoke up for the Duke, and said that it was unlikely, that the woman had to have been lying. Oh, but the nurse was quite experienced at sowing the seeds of doubt. “Oh, c’mon, I know th’ Duke’s an important and well-meanin’ man. But that’s just it, see. He’s a –man-. And presented with th’ opportunity, who wouldn’ seize it?”

“And you didn’ see th’ way they looked at each other, like they was starvin’ and th’ other was a sammich. Either way, you can bet th’ Duke ain’ goin’ to be sleepin’ in his own bed tonight, or for several nights after. Not after this.

“Besides, he’s his own man, an’ can take care of himself, not like his wife. He don’ have guards watchin’ his back every hour of th’ day. Who’s to say there weren’ some late night rendezvous at th’ stockade somewhere no one else could see, hm? You and I both know that he’s out into th’ wee hours of th’ mornin’, if he comes home at all. Sometimes he’s gone for days. –Days-.

“So, now just you sit on that an’ let it simmer, eh?” And right now Brigid looked quite satisfied, relishing in the shock settling upon listener’s faces. Thrilled by the fact that they’d hold the Duke as suspect to the overheard confession.

“They ain’ so perfect, those two. An’ there’s heaps of trouble brewin’ in paradise nowadays.”


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