Previously
Baldur returns the book Jeanne left under the tree and permits her to continue using the library. Jeanne explains that she named her horse Brül after the dessert Crème brûlée, leading Baldur to send her a basket of high-quality orchard apples after seeing her picking wild ones.
As it turned out, the garments were crafted by layering cotton batting between the fabric and stitching it into a diamond-quilted pattern. Putting one on felt wonderfully snug and warm. Along with the dresses and coats came a square scarf draped down from the shoulders, as well as a winter hood secured with ties fastened beneath the chin.
‘This should keep me more than warm enough indoors. And I suppose stepping outside for a brief moment wouldn’t hurt, either.’
Having tried on the garments, I was relieved I hadn’t strained my purse to buy a fur coat.
The merchant had pressed fur upon me, insisting nothing warded off the chill better than winter pelt, but the sheer cost had left me balking the moment I heard the price.
‘This is plenty. It may feel a bit stiff and stuffy, but it isn’t as if I’ll have much cause to wander outside anyway.’
A few mornings later, the Duke returned to the estate.
‘He’s back!’
Looking down at the grand spectacle of his return through the window, I could tell the winter hunt had been a resounding success. What gave it away were the carts at the tail end of the soldier retinue, once empty and mule-drawn, now piled high with a veritable mountain of game.
After lunch that day, His Grace summoned me to his office. Wondering what could possibly be the matter so soon after his return, I scrambled to change my clothes and hurried down, only to freeze on the threshold, my jaw dropping in utter disbelief at the scene inside.
‘Could that be… a bear?’
Indeed, there was a bear. An animal I had only ever encountered in printed words or illustrations, never once in the flesh… a bear.
I stood frozen for a long while. Dressed in comfortable attire, the Duke shifted his gaze between me and the creature before speaking.
And what lay before my eyes was that very beast: the hide of a black bear.
‘How did he even bring it down?’
How could a human take down such a thing? The pelt—complete with head and four paws—was spread wide across the office floor. Even stripped of all its flesh, the sheer size of the hide was staggering; how massive must it have been in life? The paw pads were broader than my head, and the claws longer than my fingers.
This time, I studied the Duke’s countenance closely. He looked worn and fatigued, the strain of travel still lingering in his features. Surely he would rather sink his exhausted frame into a soft, comfortable bed than remain upright in an office, which left me utterly baffled as to why he had summoned me.
He was hardly a ten-year-old child eager to boast of his prize, after all.
I nodded absently, listening to his explanation.
At his prompting, I lowered myself onto one knee, bowed my head, and reached out. A musky animal scent hit me as I drew near. Contrary to my expectation of rough bristles, the fur felt silky, smooth, and cool to the touch. Wondering what I ought to do next as I stroked the pelt, I looked up at him—only for the Duke to speak.
“I am giving this to you.”
I pressed a hand against my chest.
Had he not just declared it the greatest prize of the hunt? Besides, what was I supposed to do with something so enormous? I could not fathom what practical use I had for it.
Sensing he was about to end the conversation then and there, I panicked, stammering without knowing what to say.
What did he expect me to do with a raw, reeking hide that was too heavy even to drag away?
‘What could I possibly do with such a thing?’
At my frantic question, his brow furrowed, his head tilting slightly to the side.
Having unexpectedly come into possession of a bearskin, I asked Madame Pauline to summon a furrier to the manor.
The moment the furrier laid eyes on the pelt, his gaze flared as though he had struck gold. He stroked it thoroughly with both hands, even leaning in close to catch its scent here and there.
It seemed an expert could discern such things at a glance.
‘Arrows? Blades?’
I was hardly a soldier; what need did I have for armor that could deflect arrows?
‘What good is that to me?’
Sensing my bewilderment, the furrier smoothly shifted tack.
At those words, someone immediately sprang to mind.
Lady Ana likely possessed plenty of cozy winter coats already, but surely another would not go amiss. I had her measurements taken alongside my own, and we commissioned ankle-length winter coats. The bearskin was so vast that even after both were finished, enough remained to produce hats, boots, and gloves.
When the coats arrived roughly a month later, slipping into mine proved delightfully stifling—heavy, yet warm enough to draw sweat. Putting on the hat, boots, and gloves before the mirror, I found myself resembling nothing so much as a black bear.
‘My goodness, bears must be truly warm throughout winter.’
Dressed in my coat, I headed to the study and had Lady Ana try hers on as well; together, we looked like two bears.
‘Still, why bestow such a magnificent pelt upon me? Did he simply have hides to spare?’
Though I had ended up fully equipped against the cold, it remained an utter mystery why the Duke had granted me the bearskin in the first place.
* * *
The reason Baldur de Skadi had bestowed the pelt upon the tutor was simple.
He wanted to see it: the sight of the woman bundled in fur.
Battles in summer, hunts in winter. When the season arrived and the frozen earth ceased to yield anything more, the Duke and his subordinate lords led their soldiers into the hunting grounds for a grand expedition.
Its ostensible purpose was to cull the herds that had grown throughout the autumn so that the remaining beasts could survive on scarce winter forage, to eliminate predators threatening the villages, and to distribute the meat among the common folk. In truth, however, it served as military drills disguised as sport—a means for the Duke to display his martial prowess and military might, commanding the respect and acknowledgment of the lords beneath him.
Soldiers encircled the expansive forests to cut off the quarry’s escape, and horsemen steadily drove the beasts forward. No matter how vast the grounds and abundant the game, allowing a great throng to hunt without order inevitably bred disaster.