Maud is surprised by her son

Sigefrith pushed open the door to the nursery, and Colban, forgetting for a moment the coldness his mother had shown him lately, ran inside.

Maud was sitting with Lady Eadgith and her daughter, and Sigefrith smiled to see them there, for it seemed that he was interrupting a real conversation between the three of them. It was only lately that she had been speaking relatively normally with other people than her husband.

Furthermore, though she still called Edris Colburga, she had accepted that she was not the same woman, and that Cenwulf had married again. And she had found a sudden fondness for Matilda, and out of pity or generosity of spirit, Matilda had apparently decided to forget the past, and had visited Maud several times recently, now that she was allowed to ride again.

The sore spot was still little Colban: she still cringed away from his affections. This was perhaps not too surprising considering that, of all her children, Colban was by far the most rambunctious, and his affections were like those of a very large puppy.

Maud had grown quite skittish and more deerlike than ever, and even little Emmie seemed to have learned that Mama must be approached with gentleness, but Colban simply could not remember.

“Mama!” he squealed as he ran across the room to her. “Mama, look!”

In her surprise, Maud threw her hands up as if to defend herself, and she cried, “Get thee behind me, Satan!”

“Maud!” Sigefrith barked.

Colban could not have understood what she meant, but he understood her tone of voice, and he stopped short.

Only Emma continued playing with her toys after a quick glance up at her mother. Britamund, the two Eadgiths, and Caedwulf, who had come in behind his father, stared at Maud, as paralyzed as Colban.

“What the hell was that?” Sigefrith cried, forgetting in his shock that gentleness was required.

Maud only looked up at him and smiled her vague and empty smile. “Sigefrith,” she said happily.

“What did you just say to our son?”

“Our son?” she asked, seeming confused.

“Colban here! He only wanted to show you what he can do.”

She looked down at Colban, who was staring up at him, on the verge of tears. “Papa,” he whimpered.

“Mama didn’t mean it, cub,” he said more gently. “We surprised her, that’s all. We must be quiet with Mama, remember?” He turned back to his wife. “Maud, this boy never hurt you. You must remember that he is bit of a lion cub and finds it hard to behave like your other kittens. Colban will try to be more quiet, and you will try to be kind with him, as I know you can be. Will you?” Lately he found himself correcting Maud in the same way he did his children.

“Is it what you desire?” she asked, still with her blank smile.

“Of course it’s what I desire! It’s what he desires, too! Look at him, Maud. You’re breaking his little heart. He doesn’t understand.” And neither do I, he thought.

“May I hold him?” she asked.

“Yes!” he cried in exasperation. “Please, for the love of heaven, hold him! Kiss him, love him, treat him as you do your other children.”

“May I?” she asked again.

“Yes, yes. Please do.”

She leaned down and picked the boy up, now giving him the same smile she always gave her husband.

“Papa?” he heard at his feet. Caedwulf stood before him, his eyes nearly as wet as Colban’s had been.

“She will feel better soon, runt,” he said as he bent to embrace him. “She’s a little better every day.”

Afterwards he winked at Britamund, smiled at young Eadgith, and nodded at her mother. Only Emma played on, undisturbed.

Colban twisted his fingers thoughtfully in Maud’s hair, while she stared off at something only she could see, wearing her vague and empty smile.