“It is a very hard ruling.” She shook her head and sighed. “The jury said we must begin immediately to do our share, as free landholders, of the demesne fieldwork.”
Annabel huffed. Leave it to her mother to moan about the easiest part of the ruling. What was so bad about that? At least no one could accuse them of shirking their responsibilities any longer. And as free landholders they wouldn’t have to work as many days as those of villein status.
“Surely you can pay the censum so we don’t have to work.” Durand, who was two years older than Annabel, looked ready to cry. He had always claimed he was too sickly to work. He wrung his hands as he awaited his mother’s answer.
Edward stood with his head high, looking down his prominent nose at their mother. He — and their mother — thought it beneath their dignity to work in the lord’s fields. But what good had pride done them? And if they were this upset by having to simply do their share, what would their reaction be to the jury’s actual punishment?
“We’re still in debt because of your father’s lost ships. There is no money. But that isn’t the worst of it.” Their mother hung her head.
After a few moments of silence, with Edward clenching his fists by his sides, Mother told them of the jury’s demand that one of her children serve the lord for three years, keeping her eyes on the floor the entire time she spoke. “The worst is that our lord will seize our house if we don’t comply.”
Silence fell over them. When their mother spoke again, her voice was flat. “In the morning, the reeve will come to fetch … one of you.”
Durand gasped. “An indentured servant? Mother, not I. You know I’m sick. I get fevers, chills. I can’t do it. I wouldn’t last a week. That kind of hard labor would kill me.” He sniffled and wiped his nose with his hand.
“Well, I don’t think we have to worry about it.” Edward casually glanced down at his hands and then brushed off his sleeve, as though ridding himself of a speck of dirt.
Mother and Durand stared at him with open mouths.
“It will all be taken care of. Bailiff Tom will speak to our lord today and pay our censum for us.”
“Why would he do that?” Durand asked.
“Because Tom wants Annabel, and I’ve given him permission to marry her.”
Annabel watched her mother’s face, waiting for her to protest and say that such a thing could never be. But she didn’t say a word.
“Will Annabel marry the bailiff?” Durand looked not doubtful but hopeful. It seemed he wanted to sell her to the bailiff as much as Edward did. Mother, please say no. Say you won’t let them do this. Besides, Edward didn’t realize the enormous fine the jury had set against the family. The bailiff could never pay such a fine. In fact, Tom must have known the fine would be extreme and lied to Edward so the family would force Annabel to marry him.
“What choice does she have?” Edward’s voice was hard and forceful. “She has to marry the bailiff, or one of us will be forced to indenture ourselves to the new lord.”
Mother returned her sons’ gazes and sighed. “If Annabel will marry him, it will smooth things over, if not solve our problem, and raise our status with the villagers. But she may refuse.”
A stabbing pain went through Annabel’s stomach. She only half listened to the rest of their conversation. Oh, God, I wish Father were here. She thought about what her father would say and how he would protect her.
Other things were said before Edward gestured with his arms, angrily slashing the air. “Don’t look at me. Can you see me as a servant? Preposterous! Doesn’t everyone know our father’s family was nobility, that our grandfather was a knight? I won’t do it.”
“Nay, son, of course not,” Mother muttered.
Mother couldn’t defy their lord. They would be thrown out of their house, and who would give their mother shelter?
But Annabel realized the jury had given her a way out, another choice besides marrying Bailiff Tom. She could go to Lord le Wyse and offer herself as an indentured servant. Her brothers would still have to do the boon work and the other days’ work required of them, but they could go home every night, and most of their days would be their own. Annabel would be bound as a servant to the manor house and to Lord le Wyse’s household, sleeping at the manor, eating at the manor, working alongside his other servants without pay.
As much as she dreaded serving under the fierce new lord who had accused her of throwing herself in front of his horse, it was preferable to marrying Bailiff Tom. If she hadn’t fought back and gotten away from him at the butcher’s shop, he might have succeeded in … She didn’t want to think about what.