The Silent Songbird (Hagenheim #7)(59)

“Thank you very much.” Nicola curtsied, smiling. “And now I can hardly wait to hear you sing.”

Evangeline placed a hand over her stomach. “I don’t know why I’m nervous. I have been singing every night with Lord and Lady le Wyse and their family.”

“And have you been singing privately to Westley?” Nicola winked at her.

“No, I have not.”

“I have heard that the two of you can be seen sitting alone together every day just before the evening meal.”

“We are reading.”

“Reading? Has he kissed you?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you kiss him?”

“I cannot do that.” Evangeline gave Nicola her best horrified look. The thought, in truth, did not horrify her much at all.

Evangeline straightened the belt around her hips. “Westley is an honorable young man. He does not go around kissing girls.”

“Perhaps if you kissed him, it might help him make up his mind.”

“Make up his mind about what?”

“About whether he should kiss you, whether he should marry you.”

“Why would he want to marry me?” Evangeline turned away from Nicola and bent to put on her shoes, then reached for her overdress.

“Because you are beautiful. You know how to read. You apparently come from a wealthy family.”

“A wealthy family?”

“It is obvious, Eva. You don’t know how to perform the ordinary tasks that any other girl would have been doing since she was six years old. But you know how to read.” She gave Evangeline a pointed look.

Evangeline’s heart suddenly ached to tell Nicola her whole story, ached for a deeper friendship with another girl her age. But wouldn’t that put Nicola in danger?

“I did have an unusual upbringing,” Evangeline finally said. “I was an orphan and my guardian kept me a prisoner, you might say. He wanted me to marry someone I didn’t want to marry, and I ran away.”

“Why didn’t you want to marry him? Was he rich?”

“Yes.”

“But he was old and ugly?”

“Yes.”

Nicola shook her head and sighed. “I would have done the same.” She stepped toward Evangeline and helped her on with her overdress. Then she made some adjustments to her hair. “And now, if you can get Westley to marry you, you will not have to marry that other person.” She smiled.

Even if she were married to Westley, Lord Shiveley could have her marriage annulled, could steal her away and have the king “make amends” to Westley and his family. But now that she had her newly learned skills of defending herself, he would not find her an easy conquest. She would literally fight him at every turn if she had to.

“You look beautiful in this dress.” Nicola stepped back to look at her. “The green brings out your eyes, and when you are singing at the festival, Westley will forgive you for when you pretended to be mute. Perhaps he will even kiss you at the festival.”

“Let us not speak about me anymore.” Evangeline’s cheeks burned. “Westley can kiss whomever he wishes. What about you, Nicola? Do you have a sweetheart?”

“My sweetheart died last winter.”

Evangeline covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, Nicola. What happened?”

“He was a poor villein, only seventeen—we both were. He caught a cold that went into his chest. He lived for two weeks, barely able to breathe, and then he died.” Tears puddled under her eyes. “I almost never talk about it.”

“I am so sorry. I did not mean to cause you more pain.”

“No, no.” She shook her head as she wiped her face with her apron. “It is good for me to speak of it sometimes, I think. No one ever wants to speak of it. Probably they don’t want to see me cry again. But the pain . . . It doesn’t seem to get any better. My mother tells me I shall love again, but . . . I can’t imagine it.”

Evangeline suddenly felt selfish and thoughtless. She was so absorbed with her own problems, she had not thought to even ask Nicola about her life.

“But I don’t want you to think about me today.” Nicola sniffed and seemed to force a smile. “Today you can make me very happy if I can hear you sing, see you win the contest, and then hear tomorrow that Westley has kissed you and declared his love for you.”

Evangeline shook her head. “You are teasing me.”

“Not a bit. Now, let us go or you will be late, and then I shall have to tell Westley that it was my fault, and I don’t want his wrath falling on me.”

Evangeline hugged Nicola. “I am sorry for what you have suffered, Nicola.”

“It is the way of this world, as the priest told me. Life is fleeting.”

“But it was a cruel thing to have happen.” Evangeline looked down into her friend’s eyes. “I wish it had not happened to you.”

“Thank you, Eva.” She hugged her back. “Now, let us be going.”

They hurried out and found Reeve Folsham waiting for them. “Ready?”

They nodded and walked with him to the far meadow. People crowded the road as they were all walking that way. Colorful booths were set up all around the outside edge of the open space. People were pressing in on every side. Evangeline had never seen so many people in one place. Nicola greeted three young maidens who smiled and hugged her, while Reeve Folsham pushed his way through toward the stage that had been built at one end.