Saraband for Two Sisters

“There has been a lot of talk of witches lately.” Oh, yes, mistress, ‘twas since the ladies came and it was remembered. There’s the one they came to get long time ago at Castle Paling and her fled. But now ‘tis the daughter the/m after. She have a look of the Devil in her and she have bewitched the fine gentleman from London. He be always seen with her. There was not many as would listen at first, on account of her being at the Priory. Witches by rights lives in little huts and they’re easy to take. There was some who wouldn’t believe the lady was a witch ... not until the toad was found on her pillow. »

“Oh!” I gasped. “And now...”

“They’ve had their proof, mistress. They’re going to take her the first opportunity they get and they’re going to hang her on a tree on the night of the full moon. If they can take her easy, they’d like that better, not wanting trouble with the Priory ... but if they can’t ... well, they’ll take her some way.” My first thought was: “It’s worked. I’ve done this. I’ve roused them up against her, and no one will know that I did it. I shall have my revenge. They will kill her ... in most horrible fashion and I shall be avenged.”

Then I saw her in my mind’s eye being dragged to the pond. Would they tie her right arm to her left leg and her left arm to her right leg and throw her into the water? If she sank she would be innocent but dead and if she floated she would be guilty and put to death.

This was the perfect revenge. Ugly death, humiliation. Carlotta, the dignified lady, to be submitted to such.

Why not? She had taken Bastian from me, and then she had rejected him in his turn for Sir Gervaise-or so it seemed she would. She deserved the worst that could happen to her. I should not be sorry for her.

Since the toad had been found in her bed....

Phoebe was looking at me. “You’re so good, Mistress Bersaba. You won’t let it happen.”

I pressed Phoebe’s hand and went to my mother.

“I must speak to you at once,” I said. “Please, quickly ... there’s no time to lose.”

Once more she took me into her bedroom.

“They are going to take Carlotta,” I said. “If they can’t capture her before they’ll take her on the night of the full moon. They are going to kill her... hang her on a tree or drown her.... Perhaps...”

“My child,” cried my mother and held me against her. “I feared it,” she went on.

“That man is wicked. He seeks revenge. And he calls himself godly. He yearns to inflict torture on everyone. It is not the concept of Heaven that he loves, but that of Hell.”

“What shall we do, Mother?”

“Thank God you discovered this in time. It is two days before the full moon. They must leave tonight. Your father and I will arrange it.”

That night Senara and Carlotta left and Sir Gervaise, his business with my father completed, accompanied them.

I lay in bed bewildered. I could not sleep. What had I done? I had planned so carefully and when my plans were nearing fruition I had deliberately ruined them. I could not understand myself. What had come over me? I hated Carlotta and yet I had saved her.

My mother came into the room and stood by my bed.

“They are safe,” she said. “They will soon be in Castle Paling.”

I did not answer and she stooped over the bed and kissed me.

“You have saved them,” she said. “I’m proud of you, my darling.” When she had gone Angelet said to me, “You’ve become a sort of saint. Mother’s proud of you and Phoebe thinks you’re a god or something.”

“And you know different,” I answered, and added: “So do I.”

Angelet went on talking about witches and I pretended to be sleepy. “I think she was one,” was Angelet’s verdict. “After all, there was that toad in her bed. How could a toad have got there ... and then it disappeared, didn’t it?” I remained silent, asking myself what had possessed me to do what I had and the answer was: I did not know.

The night of the full moon passed without incident, for it was soon common knowledge that Carlotta had left with her mother and the fine gentleman from London. This seemed further proof of her special powers. But it was an anticlimax. The fevered excitement had died down. There was to be no witch baiting on the night of the full moon and Thomas Cast’s pregnant daughter had become a maid at the Priory where her child would be born. It was not the first time that the Big House had sheltered wayward girls and it seemed in the natural course of events that the affair would soon be forgotten.

Life went on normally at the Priory. We no longer ate in some state in the main hall but took our meals in the small dining parlor. Estate affairs were discussed between my father and Fennimore and they were planning together how the estate should be run when they had both gone to sea. There was already a very good manager and he would take over much of Fennimore’s work and everything would be satisfactory while Fennimore would be doing what he wanted to.

My mother was uneasy at having two men at sea but as usual she curbed her misgivings and believed in the best.