The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter #1)(80)

Fru Aashild was standing in front of the fireplace, stirring the evening porridge, when the dogs gave warning. She heard the horses in the yard, the men coming into the gallery, and a spear striking the door. Aashild lifted the pot from the fire, straightened her dress, and, with the dogs at her side, stepped forward and opened the door.

Out in the moonlit courtyard three young men were holding four frost-covered horses. The man standing in the gallery shouted joyfully, “Aunt Aashild, is that you opening the door yourself? Then I must say ‘Ben trouvé!’ ”

“Nephew—is that you? Then I must say the same! Come inside while I show your men to the stable.”

“Are you alone on the farm?” asked Erlend. He followed along as she showed the men where to go.

“Yes, Herr Bj?rn and his man went out with the sleigh. They were going to see about bringing back some supplies we have stored on the mountain,” said Fru Aashild. “And I have no servant girl,” she added, laughing.

Soon afterward the four young men were seated on the outer bench with their backs against the table, watching the old woman quietly bustling about and putting out food for them. She spread a cloth on the table and set down a single lighted candle; she brought butter, cheese, a bear thigh, and a tall stack of fine, thin pieces of flatbread. She brought ale and mead from the cellar beneath the room, and then she served up the porridge in a beautiful wooden trencher and invited them to sit down and begin.

“It’s not much for you young fellows,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll have to cook another pot of porridge. Tomorrow you’ll have better fare—but I close up the cookhouse in the winter except when I’m baking or brewing. There are only a few of us here on the farm, and I’m starting to get old, my kinsman.”

Erlend laughed and shook his head. He noticed that his men showed the old woman more courtesy and respect than he had ever seen them show before.

“You’re a strange woman, Aunt. Mother was ten years younger than you, but the last time we visited, she looked older than you do tonight.”

“Yes, youth fled quickly enough from Magnhild,” said Fru Aashild softly. “Where are you coming from now?” she asked after a while.

“I’ve been spending some time on a farm up north in Lesja,” said Erlend. “I’ve rented lodgings there. I don’t know whether you can guess why I’ve come here to these parts.”

“You mean whether I know that you’ve asked for the hand of Lavrans Bj?rgulfs?n’s daughter here in the south, at J?rundgaard?” asked Fru Aashild.

“Yes,” said Erlend. “I asked for her in proper and honorable fashion, and Lavrans Bj?rgulfs?n stubbornly said no. Since Kristin and I refuse to let anything part us, I know of no other way than to take her away by force. I have ... I’ve had a scout here in the village, and I know that her mother is supposed to be at Sundbu until some time after Saint Clement’s Day and that Lavrans is out at the headland with the other men to bring in the winter provisions for Sil.”

Fru Aashild sat in silence for a moment.

“You’d better give up that idea, Erlend,” she said. “I don’t think the maiden would follow you willingly, and you wouldn’t use force, would you?”

“Oh yes she will. We’ve talked about this many times. She’s begged me many times to carry her away.”

“Did Kristin ... !” said Fru Aashild. Then she laughed. “That’s no reason for you to count on the maiden coming with you when you show up to take her at her word.”

“Oh yes it is,” said Erlend. “And now I was thinking, Aunt, that you should send an invitation to J?rundgaard for Kristin to come and visit you—for a week or so while her parents are away. Then we could reach Hamar before anyone notices that she’s gone,” he explained.

Fru Aashild replied, still laughing a little, “Did you also think about what we should say—Herr Bj?rn and I—when Lavrans comes to call us to account for his daughter?”

“Yes,” said Erlend. “We were four armed men, and the maiden was willing.”

“I won’t help you with this,” said his aunt sternly. “Lavrans has been a faithful friend to us for many years. He and his wife are honorable people, and I won’t participate in betraying them or shaming her. Leave the maiden in peace, Erlend. It’s also about time that your kinsmen heard of other exploits from you than that you were slipping in and out of the country with stolen women.”

“We need to talk alone, Aunt,” said Erlend abruptly.

Fru Aashild took a candle, went into the storeroom, and shut the door behind them. She sat down on a cask of flour; Erlend stood with his hands stuck in his belt looking down at her.

“You can also tell Lavrans Bj?rgulfs?n that Sira Jon in Gerdarud married us before we continued on to stay with Duchess Inge bj?rg Haakonsdatter in Sweden.”

“I see,” said Fru Aashild. “Do you know whether the duchess will receive you when you arrive there?”

“I spoke with her in Tunsberg,” said Erlend. “She greeted me as her dear kinsman and thanked me for offering her my service, either here or in Sweden. And Munan has promised to give me letters to her.”

“Then you know,” said Fru Aashild, “that even if you can find a priest to marry you, Kristin will relinquish all right to property and inheritance from her father. And her children will not be legitimate heirs. It’s uncertain whether she will be considered your wife.”