Then Wilf came in.

“What the devil are you doing here?” he said immediately.

Ragna stood up. “I want to talk to you about this slave.”

Wilf folded his arms.

Ragna said: “Would you like a cup of wine?” Without waiting for an answer, she poured for two, handed him one, and sat down.

He sipped the wine and sat opposite her. His expression said that if she wanted a fight he would give her a damn good one.

A half-formed thought took more definite shape in Ragna’s mind and she said: “I don’t think Carwen should live in the slave house.”

Wilf looked surprised and did not know how to respond. This was the last thing he had been expecting. “Why?” he said. “Because the slave house is so filthy?”

Ragna shrugged. “It’s dirty because we lock them in at night and they can’t go outside to piss. But that’s not what bothers me.”

“What, then?”

“If she spends nights there, she’ll be fucked by one or more of the men, who probably have disgusting infections that she will pass to you.”

“I never thought of that. Where should she live?”

“We don’t have a spare house in the compound at the moment, and anyway a slave can’t have her own place. Gytha bought her, so perhaps Carwen should live with Gytha . . . when she’s not with you.”

“Good idea,” he said. He was visibly relieved. He had been expecting trouble, but all he got was a practical problem with a ready solution.

Gytha would be furious, but Wilf would not change his mind once he had given his agreement. For Ragna this was a small but satisfying act of revenge.

She stood up. “Enjoy yourself,” she said, though in truth she was hoping he would not.

“Thank you.”

She went to the door. “And when you tire of the girl, and you want a woman again, you can come back to me.” She opened the door. “Good night,” she said, and she went out.

CHAPTER 26

March 1001

hings did not work out the way Ragna expected. Wilf slept with Carwen every night for eight weeks, then he went to Exeter.

At first Ragna was baffled. How could he bear to spend that much time with a thirteen-year-old girl? What did he and Carwen talk about? What could an adolescent girl have to say that could possibly interest a man of Wilf’s age and experience? In bed with Ragna, in the mornings, he had chatted about the problems of governing the ealdormanry: collecting taxes, catching criminals, and most of all defending the region from Viking attacks. He certainly did not discuss those issues with Carwen.

He still chatted to Ragna, just not in bed.

Gytha was delighted with the change and made the most of it, never missing an opportunity to refer to Carwen in Ragna’s presence. Ragna was humiliated, but hid her feelings behind a smile.