Sunniva. Let her think what she would. He wouldn’t go back there again. And Kristin could go off to J?rundgaard if she liked. It might be safest and best for her and the children to be far away in Gudbrandsdal this summer. Later on he would no doubt make amends with her again.
The following morning he rode up toward Skaun. He decided he wouldn’t have any peace until he knew what his wife intended to do.
She received him politely, her demeanor gentle and cool, when he arrived at Husaby later in the day. Unless he asked her a question, she said not a word, not even anything unkind, and she didn’t object when later that evening he came over and tentatively lay down in their bed. But when he had lain there for a while, he hesitantly tried to put his hand on her breast.
Kristin’s voice shook, but Erlend couldn’t tell if it was from sorrow or bitterness, when she whispered, “Surely you’re not so lowly a man, Erlend, that you will make this even worse for me. I cannot start a quarrel with you, since our children are sleeping all around. And since I have seven sons by you, I would rather our servants didn’t see that I know I’m a woman who has been betrayed.”
Erlend lay there in silence for a long time before he dared reply.
“Yes, may God have mercy on me, Kristin—I have betrayed you. I wouldn’t have . . . wouldn’t have done it if I had found it easier to bear those vicious words you said to me in Nidaros. I haven’t come home to beg your forgiveness, for I know this would be too much to ask of you right now.”
“I see that Munan Baards?n spoke the truth,” replied his wife. “The day will never come when you will stand up and take the blame for what you have done. You should turn to God and seek redemption from Him. You need to ask His forgiveness more than you need to ask mine.”
“Yes, I know that,” said Erlend bitterly. And then they said no more. The next morning he rode back to Nidaros.
He had been in town several days when Fru Sunniva’s maid came to speak to him in Saint Gregor’s Church one evening. Erlend thought he ought to talk to Sunniva one last time and told the girl to keep watch that night; he would come the same way as before.
He had to creep and climb like a chicken thief to reach the loft where they always met. This time he felt sick with shame that he had made such a fool of himself—at his age and in his position. But in the beginning it had amused him to carry on like a youth.
Fru Sunniva received him in bed.
“So you’ve finally come, at this late hour?” she laughed and yawned. “Hurry up, my friend, and come to bed. We can talk later about where you’ve been all this time.”
Erlend didn’t know what to do or how to tell her what was on his mind. Without thinking, he began to unfasten his clothing.
“We’ve both been reckless, Sunniva—I don’t think it advisable that I stay here tonight. Surely Baard must be expected home sometime?” he said.
“Are you afraid of my husband?” teased Sunniva. “You’ve seen for yourself that Baard didn’t even prick up his ears when we flirted right in front of him. If he asks me whether you’ve been spending time here at the manor, I’ll just convince him that it’s the same old nonsense. He trusts me much too well.”
“Yes, he does seem to trust you too well,” laughed Erlend, digging his fingers into her fair hair and her firm, white shoulders.
“Do you think so?” She gripped his wrist. “And do you trust your own wife? I was still a shy and virtuous maiden when Baard won me. . . .”
“We’ll keep my wife out of this,” said Erlend sharply, releasing her.
“Why is that? Does it seem to you less proper for us to talk about Kristin Lavransdatter than about Sir Baard, my husband?”
Erlend clenched his teeth and refused to answer.
“You must be one of those men, Erlend,” said Sunniva scornfully, “who thinks you’re so charming and handsome that a woman can hardly be blamed if her virtue is like fragile glass to you—when usually she’s as strong as steel.”
“I’ve never thought that about you,” replied Erlend roughly.
Sunniva’s eyes glittered. “What did you want with me then, Erlend? Since you have married so well?”
“I told you not to mention my wife.”
“Your wife or my husband.”
“You were always the one who started talking about Baard, and you were the worst to ridicule him,” said Erlend bitterly. “And if you didn’t mock him in words . . . I’d like to know how dearly you held his honor when you took another man in your husband’s place. She is not diminished by my misdeeds.”