Pure Hands Part Ten
Baron's eyes narrowed in anger as he immediately got up from his chair, slamming his hands on the table hard enough to send two papers to the floor. "Be careful of what you say," he whispered while glaring into the soldier's soul.
The young man jumped at his reaction but didn't seem that shocked. "I am, my lord. That's why I said nothing to no one but you. I want to be wrong, I swear, but I know what I saw."
Deciding that the soldier was speaking too loudly for such a delicate topic, Baron walked around his large heavy desk before leaning against it. "Keep your voice down and tell me what you know."
Thankfully, the soldier was willing to comply. "I was on night watch last night, and my post was in the North Tower. It was all boring and normal for several hours, but even little things are immediately noticeable in the dark. A candle in one of the windows caught my eye when it was lit, so of course I looked." He swallowed hard. "It was the baroness, my lord. I know it was her because she was in the same dress she married you in, and she was dancing slowly in a man's arms."
Baron's teeth gnashed furiously. "Could you identify the man?"
"I'm afraid not," the young man confessed helplessly. "I tried, but she only lit one candle and the window was a good distance from my post. All I can say is that he was wearing a muslin shirt and that the two were holding onto each other very tightly. They circled for about an hour before the lady blew out the candle. I don't know what happened af-" He swiftly cut himself off as his lord began growling like a demon.
'What is she thinking?!" he thought furiously. 'I thought for sure she'd make at least a few attempts for my attention, but she didn't even try before looking for outside entertainment.' This was beyond disappointing. The king and literally everyone on down was determined to make Haru out as a saint, and yet she betrayed her wedding vows in the first year of marriage?
It was unlikely that the soldier was lying. The baronetcy was clearly happy to have him, and they've been dropping hints that it'd be wonderful if his children could someday take over his duties.
He'd need to handle this carefully. While it was true he didn't love her, he did respect her for at least respecting his space, and he hadn't heard a single whisper of her mistreating a single person. The queen would definitely want this indiscretion handled carefully and silently. He winced at the idea of reporting to her, since there would be bound to be comments like, 'pity you never took her into your arms, or she wouldn't have looked for other ones!'
As little as he liked it, the idea had more than a few rings of truth. He felt lonely too, but he had memories of Louise for company. Haru clearly had no one, or Queen Yuki would have used her influence over her husband to make certain her cousin got the husband she wanted.
Well, she clearly had given her heart to someone now. That meant that she wouldn't look at him with that same heartbreak in her eyes as their wedding night.
Baron almost casually reached out and grabbed the young soldier's armor and dragged him close enough to whisper into the man's ear. "The queen will not tolerate such talk about her cousin. You are to speak of this to no one, thank you for bringing it to my immediate attention."
"Yes, my lord," the soldier agreed without hesitation, though he still looked troubled by what he had seen under the moonlight.
With that, Baron escorted the man out of his study, locked it tight, and immediately began marching to the East Wing to confront his wife. 'Perhaps this won't be as bad as I fear. If Haru is discreet, I could claim any resulting children-"
A searing hot rage flooded his veins. No, marriage vows were meant to be absolute. He'd rather have no wife than a disloyal one. He tried counting his footsteps, hoping that the distraction would help him keep a cool head by the time he met his wife.
… There was no help for it. All he needed was for Haru to say she found someone else, and he could do right by her. He was in love with another woman, what stones did he have to throw? An annulment over irreconcilable differences would take care of her, at least, and maybe he'd be able to keep the baronetcy.
Or forced to marry again himself. He shuddered at having to go through another wedding, crush another girl's dreams, and what if she wasn't as considerate as Haru had been? He was finally getting used to sleeping without fear of 'midnight visitations', what if…
"Now I worry about this," he groaned, covering his eyes with one hand as his head began to pound from the impending stress.
'Stay calm, stay controlled. She will be more likely to tell the truth if I am collected.'
Her door seemed to loom closer and closer, as if it were the one approaching him instead of the opposite. The bigger it became, the more he didn't want anything to do with it, or the person behind it.
But this needed to be taken care of, especially before more people saw her with her paramour. He forced himself to pound on her door.
He could hear light footsteps, the door unlatching, and then it opened a little to reveal her vexing maid.
"My lord!" she exclaimed happily, making him wince.
He'd never liked the maid, especially since he felt the only thing separating her from the girls he knew in Yrael was that she at least had the decency not to throw herself at a married man.
"Is my wife in?" he asked politely.
"No, but she'll be back shortly. She's out riding at the moment," Hiromi explained as she opened the door wider for the lord to walk through.
"She has an escort, I assume?" Baron asked pointedly.
"Of course. I think Tomboe's with her today, the guards that know how to ride like to take turns to keep from fighting for the chance."
That both helped and rattled his nerves. It meant that Haru wasn't spending an excessive amount of time around one man, but now it was harder to nail down who her lover could be.
"I'll wait here, but don't tell her I'm in here. I want to speak with her alone," he explained, knowing how the nosy maid would take it.
Hiromi nearly squealed before exiting the room in a hurry.
Baron frowned. The maid hadn't acted like she suspected her lady of having an affair. Could Haru really hide a lover from someone that desperately wanted the prestige of bringing the baron and baroness together?
It would have to be a servant, he mused sadly as he took a seat at her writing desk. He hadn't received or heard of many noblemen passing through his baronetcy over the past year. But who could it be when Hiromi proudly announced on more than one occasion that no man had ever even entered his wife's chambers without several guards to ensure appearances?
On the off-chance there was a clue, Baron took a second to look through her letter drawers, his ears keeping as much of a lookout as they could through a thick closed door. After a while, he learned to recognize the handwriting of the queen and his father-in-law, which simplified the process into a mere moment.
There was a small number of letters, but they were invitations from ladies to tea parties or luncheons. He thought hard but couldn't remember a single time Haru had left the castle for anything other than horse-riding.
This was no good. However Haru was covering her secret, the chance glimpse by moonlight had been all that gave her away. He shoved the drawers shut and turned away from the desk. "Come now, or I'll have to saddle my horse for answers," he muttered furiously.
It was another ten minutes before his ears, accustomed to the complete silence, began picking up the gentle tapping of footsteps coming down the hall to this very door. They were genteel footsteps, becoming of a lady of rank.
Baron stood up in preparation for the confrontation. 'I don't have to like it. I just have to do it.'
He watched the doorknob turn as his insides seemed to follow suit, and in walked his wife.
She pulled off a long blue cloak as she walked past him, her eyes dull and tired as she hung the garment in her wardrobe and immediately glided to the seat by the window and picked up the sheet before sitting down. "Now where was I?" she muttered lowly to herself as she began looking across the hem of the large bedsheet, likely for the needle and thread attached.
Baron couldn't help feeling a twinge of guilt. This was clearly her routine, if she couldn't notice when she wasn't alone in the room. "Would you mind-"
Haru yelped at the sound of his voice, accidentally found the needle with her arm, and stood up from the seat to stare at him with shock.
He smiled a bit guiltily. "Sorry for startling you, but we need to have a chat."
Haru took a second to collect herself before glaring at him and setting the sheet back on the chair as she'd found it and held one hand to the arm where she'd been pricked. "You never let that bother you before, what's so special about today?"
He flinched. "I'll admit that I deserved that, but as to your question, there seems to be an urgent matter afoot."
Haru brightened like a giddy child. "Am I being sent back to the palace?" she asked eagerly.
"No, it's a matter closer to home. Haru…" he swallowed hard before closing his eyes. "I'm afraid there isn't a delicate way to put this, but you were seen last night."
Haru made some choking sounds, and when he opened his eyes again, her face was nearly the color of a strawberry.
Then she marched to the couch and collapsed into it while covering her face. "Just when my reputation couldn't be more in shambles."
Baron blinked, since that didn't seem to be the right reaction to exposed adultery. "You are held in high regard by everyone I speak to."
"That's because they're talking to you. The marquis makes certain that I know what's said when your back's turned. Would you like to know how people really feel about me?" she demanded, looking over her shoulder at him with a glare.
"Is this really the time-"
"They laugh at me. Because you won't come near me. Did you know it's common talk for commoners in other districts that I apparently look like an ogre or a troll?"
Baron made an incredulous sound. "That's hardly the proper reaction and is none of their business!"
"You say that like it's going to stop anybody," she stated point blank before covering her face with her hands again. "I guess I can look on the bright side; it won't be hard for Yuki to send me to a convent now. I'm well prepped for isolation at this point, and maybe I'll be able to make friends with the nuns."
"It doesn't have to be that way, Haru," he insisted, walking over in order to stand in front of her. "But I would like to know who it is."
"Who what is?" Haru mumbled almost incoherently through her fingers.
Baron gave her a stern look. "Haru, you already confessed. While I am disappointed since I was told better things about your character, I would appreciate it if we could handle the situation calmly."
Haru forced herself to lower her hands, revealing confusion through her grief. "That didn't answer my question; who what is?"
"You're starting to make me cross," he informed her, adjusting his tone to a lower serious note. "You were caught, I would appreciate avoiding a scandal, and I promise not to kill whoever it is you name."
Haru gave him an even more baffled look before something seemed to click in her eyes. Without warning, she began laughing hysterically.
Baron couldn't help but fret at such a reaction. 'Maybe retiring to a convent wouldn't be a bad idea. Her reasoning appears to be in tatters at this point.'
As if merely laughing wasn't bad enough, she even fell off the couch and onto the floor, still laughing like she was never going to stop. She could barely breathe enough to provide enough to reach her full volume, and she was pounding on the rug like a mad woman.
"This is a very serious matter, Haru!" he scolded her, but that sent her off again. He groaned, and began pacing in front of the cold fireplace, since it would still be a few months before a fire was needed. He very much wanted to leave the room, but no. The notion of leaving this important conversation unfinished didn't sit right with him, and he wanted this taken care of as soon as possible.
Was she laughing because it was a commoner, and Haru knew she'd never be allowed to remarry a commoner?
"… You… you think…" Haru gasped after several minutes, forcing herself to come to her knees and brace herself against the couch. "… me… bold enough… to take a lover?! Me?!"
Baron gave her a confused look since she'd already admitted to as much, which was all it took to make her fall against the couch and bury her face in the cushions to stifle her guffaws.
He rolled his eyes at this point and leaned against the fireplace. "This may be a joke to you, Haru, but not to me. And I'd much rather finish this discussion before leaving your quarters, since things will need to be done about your actions."
"Stop!" Haru gasped desperately through her boundless mirth. "I need air! I'll show you who… after I get air! Stop talking!"
Show him? Then the rascal was close at hand. Baron's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms as he waited for her to calm down. 'I won't kill as promised, but I'm more than allowed a few broken bones over this."
Haru started some breathing exercises to speed along the process, but it was still a while until she was able to rise to her feet.
'How dare she smile like that at me?!' he fumed when she flashed him a wide, smug grin.
"I think it's going to be interesting to see if maybe you would have preferred a lover."
"Wait, what?" he couldn't resist asking, but she was already heading to her wardrobe. She opened it and searched for something that he couldn't see.
"I have to hide it pretty well to keep Hiromi from finding it," she explained cheerfully while pulling out a muslin shirt.
But unlike any muslin shirt he'd ever seen or worn, the sleeves were easily three times as long as they needed to be. Then Haru almost nonchalantly strolled back to the couch. As she reached for one of the seat cushions, Baron suddenly noticed the deep indent on both sides as it wiggled free.
Just like that, cold realization fell on him like a bucket of ice water. "I don't need to see, I know what you were doing now," he said hastily, feeling ashamed for thinking she had been anything but innocent.
"No," Haru contradicted, her mirth gone as she stood the cushion on the back of the couch so she could slide the shirt over it. "You deserve to see who's been playing the part of a husband when you can't be bothered. You insisted, after all."
Sure enough, the cushion looked like a man's torso with the shirt over it, but it became too much when she grabbed each of the sleeves and-
Baron leapt completely over the couch and slapped the cushion out of the way so that he could wrap his own arms around her like springing a trap.
He felt even more ashamed when she began crying instead at such contact.