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She retreated to the window seat and leaned there until Gaucelm crossed the hall, gave orders to his men and disappeared through the heavy doors.
    She took a deep breath. Marguerite turned to speak to her steward and the household staff who had waited for orders. When she was free, Marguerite returned to where Allesandra stared out the window. In the courtyard below, French knights cried orders and went about their business. Glancing upward, she saw the French men-at-arms standing guard on the walls above, and a tremor passed through her.
    "Now that I have started this masquerade, I must finish it," she said to Marguerite in a hushed tone. "But I have placed you in more danger than I anticipated."
    "Nonsense, my dear," said her friend in a lowered voice that would not carry farther than where they stood. "This is my house. It is my responsibility to aid and shelter you against our enemies."
    Allesandra glanced nervously at the guards posted at intervals along the hall. "We must be careful. The men-at-arms might not know Provencal, or then again, they may only appear not to understand. They will carry any plotting they hear back to that knight called Gaucelm."
    Marguerite studied her friend. "He unsettles you, does he not?"
    "Who would not be unsettled in the face of such lies as I have just told?"
    She shook her head, her already disheveled hair further trailing about her shoulders. "I was wrong to come here two days ago, for now I have left my own castle undefended except for the household guard."
    Marguerite laid a comforting hand on her arm. "Your inten-

    tions were honorable. You sought only to help our friend Count Raymond in dealing with his allies. We had thought that Simon de Montfort's forces had dispersed. No one expected him to march in here yesterday."
    Allesandra wrung her hands and paced before the window. "Raymond. Where has he gone, do you suppose?"
    Marguerite's lips drew into a grim line. "There's no way to tell now. Better that we do not know his whereabouts until it is safe to contact him."
    "You are right. We must struggle through this supper the mighty French general orders. But I will still attempt to slip away in the middle of the night. You will have to tell them in the morning that you knew nothing of my departure. I will leave a note saying that I was so homesick and frightened, I decided to set out at once for Rouen, despite the dangers. Do you think you can persuade them that I acted on my own without your help?"
    "Of course, but I would feel better if you remained here where I can at least assure your safety."
    Allesandra breathed deeply. "You know I cannot abandon my household. Neither would you in the same circumstances."
    Marguerite looked worriedly at her friend. "Yes, you are right. Then I will help you prepare for your journey."
    Allesandra glanced again at the guards who pretended not to watch them. "Very well, but we must be careful "
    The meal that evening, held in one of Marguerite's rooms, was performed without mishap. A friendly fire flickered in the large fireplace. Servants brought tempting dishes, which the knights and the women ate with spoons and knives, sopping up the sauces with thick crusts of bread, washing it all down with cups of wine.
    If the French knights knew the strain their female companions felt, they did not display any concern for it. Marguerite dressed in her finery, and Allesandra did as commanded, garbing herself in a long-sleeved turquoise tunic, embroidered at

    hem and wrists. Over this she wore a sleeveless dark-blue sur-coat with deep armholes.
    In keeping with her story of being a mason's wife, she avoided fine jewels, but fastened the surcoat at her left shoulder with an ivory brooch and adorned the chignon over her ears only with a few pearls. Her turquoise veil was held in place by a circlet of stiff linen across her brow, the veil falling gracefully down her back. Seated on the bench beside her at the trestle table, the knight Gaucelm seemed to