Ethelmund and Githa at home

Ethelmund Ashdown was not pleased about moving into the valley. He wasn’t afraid of the so-​called curse, but he was unhappy about leaving his friends, and there were no good fishing holes around the new farm. Worse, the big new farm meant a lot more work, and if there was one thing Ethelmund Ashdown didn’t like it was work. Usually he liked letting his wife manage their affairs because it meant less bother for him, but this time he thought she had gone too far.

One evening, a few weeks after they moved into their new house, he found Githa to be strangely quiet. He waited for her to begin nagging him about the work that needed to be done, as she did every night, but she just stared at the wall, seemingly in another world. Ethelmund tried to enjoy the peace and quiet, but he was worried about the sudden change in his wife. Finally she began. Ethelmund was secretly relieved, and prepared himself to be annoyed, as usual.

“Ethelmund, when you have a little time, I need you to build something for me.”

“What now?” he groaned.

“A cradle,” she said softly.

“A cr— a— a cradle?”

Never had a request to do work made Ethelmund so happy. After five years of marriage he was starting to believe that they weren’t going to have any children, the one thing he wanted most in the world. For the first time, Ethelmund did a chore without having been asked twice.

And so, in the heart of winter, a few weeks after the birth of the Duke’s son, Ethelmund and Githa had their first child, a bright-​eyed girl. The Countess agreed to be her Godmother, and so the girl was named Colburga in her honor.

Ethelmund was happy to stay home and play with the baby all day, since it meant that he didn’t have to do any work. But Githa was far too social to stand being kept in the house, and often visited her neighbors.

Unfortunately, her tongue was a little too sharp, and when she thought she overheard Elfleda Wodehead make a sarcastic remark about Ethelmund’s laziness, she spun around and lashed out at the surprised young woman, mocking her red hair and her freckles, the two things Elfleda was most sensitive about. In truth, Githa was a little bitter that Elfleda has such a hard-​working husband whom even the king praised, but she had been hoping that the two of them could be friends. Worse, the Duchess later gently explained to her that she had been mistaken in what she thought Elfleda had said, and she knew she would have to apologize.

Elfleda listened politely, but she honestly didn’t think Githa would make an agreeable friend, and their relationship went no farther.