“Oh, don’t speak harshly of Erlend, Gunnulf! Who among us is pure before God? My father grew fond of him, and our children love their father. Remember that he found me weak and easy to sway, but he led me to a good and honorable place. Oh, yes, Husaby is beautiful. On the night before I left, it was so lovely; the sunset was magnificent that evening. We’ve spent many a good day there, Erlend and I. No matter how things go, no matter what happens, he is still my husband—my husband, whom I love.”
Gunnulf leaned both hands on his staff, which he always carried now whenever he left the monastery.
“Kristin . . . Do not put your faith in the red of the sunset and in the . . . love that you remember, now that you fear for his life.
“I remember, when I was young—only a subdeacon. Gudbj?rg, whom Alf of Uvaasen later married, was serving at Siheim then. She was accused of stealing a gold ring. It turned out that she was innocent, but the shame and the fear shook her soul so fiercely that the Fiend seized power over her. She went down to the lake and was about to sink into the water. She has often told us of this afterwards: that the world seemed to her such a lovely red and gold, and the water glistened and felt wondrously warm. But as she stood out there in the lake, she spoke the name of Jesus and made the sign of the cross—and then the whole world grew gray and cold, and she saw where she was headed.”
“Then I won’t say his name.” Kristin spoke quietly; her bearing was rigid and erect. “If I thought that, then I would be tempted to betray my lord when he is in need. But I don’t think it would be the name of Christ but rather the name of the Devil that would bring this about. . . .”
“That’s not what I meant. I meant . . . May God give you strength, Kristin, that you may have the will to do this, to bear your husband’s faults with a loving spirit.”
“You can see that’s what I’m doing,” she said in the same voice as before.
Gunnulf turned away from her, pale and trembling. He drew his hand over his face.
“I must go home now. It’s easier . . . at home it’s easier for me to collect myself—to do what I can for Erlend and for you. God . . . May God and all the saints protect my brother’s life and freedom. Oh, Kristin . . . You mustn’t ever think that I don’t love my brother.”
But after he had left, Kristin thought everything seemed much worse. She didn’t want the servants in the room with her; she paced back and forth, wringing her hands and moaning softly. It was already late in the evening when people came riding into the courtyard. A moment later, as the door was thrown open, a tall, stout man wearing a traveling cloak appeared in the twilight; he walked toward her with his spurs ringing and his sword trailing behind. When she recognized Simon Andress?n, Kristin broke into loud sobbing and ran toward him with outstretched arms, but she shrieked in pain when he embraced her.
Simon let her go. She was standing with her hands on his shoulders and her forehead leaning against his chest, weeping inconsolably. He put his hands lightly on her hips.
“In God’s name, Kristin!” There was a sense of deliverance in the very sound of his dry, warm voice and in the vital male smell about him: of sweat, road dust, horses, and leather harnesswork. “In God’s name, it’s much too soon to lose all hope and courage. Surely there must be a way . . .”
After a while she regained her composure enough to ask his forgiveness. She was feeling quite wretched because she had been forced to take the youngest child from her breast so suddenly.
Simon heard how she had been faring the last three days. He shouted for her maid and asked angrily whether there wasn’t a single woman on the estate who had enough wits to see what was wrong with the mistress. But the maid was an inexperienced young girl, and Erlend’s foreman of his Nidaros manor was a widower with two unmarried daughters. Simon sent a man to town to find a woman skilled in healing, but he begged Kristin to lie down and rest. When she felt a little better he would come in and talk to her.
While they waited for the woman to arrive, Simon and his man were given food in the hall. As they ate, he talked to Kristin, who was undressing in the alcove. Yes, he had ridden north as soon as he heard what had happened at Sundbu. He had come here, while Ramborg went to stay with the wives of Ivar and Borgar. They had taken Ivar to Mj?s Castle, but they allowed Haavard to remain free, although he had to promise to stay in the village. It was said that Borgar and Guttorm had been fortunate enough to flee; Jon of Laugarbru had ridden out to Raumsdal to hear the news and would send word to Nidaros. Simon had reached Husaby around midday, but he hadn’t stayed long. The boys were fine, but Naakkve and Bj?rgulf had begged him earnestly to bring them along.