She attributed her sadness at leaving these men to a fear of what lay ahead but, when she set eyes on the obedient mule that had pulled the cart, tears welled. It was ridiculous. She didn’t even know the beast’s name, or if it had one.
She allowed Mandeville to take her hand as she climbed aboard the longboat, suddenly struck by the notion that she and the mule shared a common fate. They were given no choice but to stoically carry the burdens placed on them.
As she took her place amid the rowers, she noticed a second, smaller iron chest atop her trunk. Mandeville must have taken note of her puzzlement. “Your dowry,” he explained.
“King John has provided a dowry?” she exclaimed, having previously believed the baron had bought her from the tyrant.
“Proceeds from the sale of your manor house on the south coast,” the major said, his words sending chills racing across Adelina’s nape. Bile rose in her throat. “Melton Manor?” she asked gripping the bench as the rowers took up their oars and the longboat lurched into the waves.
“Yes,” he replied. “The coin rightfully belongs to your future husband. Now, on to Ravenglass.”
Chilled to the bone by this latest travesty, Adelina struggled to recall where she had heard that name before.