Gilbert looked at him as though about to argue, but then he shot a glance at the other man at the door. That fellow shrugged, and Gilbert reluctantly stood aside.
Baldwin knocked. ‘My lord?’
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Kenilworth
Edward of Caernarfon stood when the knock came. He had already heard voices outside, and although they had not been raised in anger, he was aware of tension.
‘You may enter,’ he said now. He felt that tingling in his breast again, as though he was readying himself for a sudden attack once more. The flesh of his scalp was moving, and he could feel his heart pounding in his breast.
And then his fear left him and he almost fell to the floor, so great was his relief. At first he could not speak, his throat closed with the emotion that seemed almost to suffocate him. And then, as the two men knelt, their eyes on him, he held out his hands. ‘My friends.’
‘My liege,’ Baldwin replied. ‘I am here as you ordered.’
‘And I am heartily glad of it,’ the King said. ‘I had feared that I would die before you arrived, but now, to see you both with me once more, I begin to feel sure that I will survive.’
‘We have heard of the attack on the castle.’
‘I am glad of it, Sir Baldwin. But you do not, perhaps, comprehend the full enormity of the attack.’
‘You believe that they may have been intending to kill you,’ Baldwin said. ‘It was my fear also. That is why I am here.’
‘I am sincerely glad of it, too,’ the King said. Then he glanced at the door, and beckoned the other two over to the window at the farther wall. He looked from Baldwin to Sir Ralph, and then placed a finger at his lips in token of silence. ‘There is more,’ he whispered. ‘A man came to see me before the attack on the castle, and he managed to pass me a note. He said that the Bardi were prepared to advance me money to help rescue me, and that they would give me all the aid I require.’
Baldwin exchanged a startled look with Sir Ralph. ‘Are you sure of this?’
‘You doubt me?’
‘I would be suspicious of any such message. At Berkeley on my way here, my liege, I saw the head of the House of Bardi, but he is entangled with the new regime. He provides the money that the Queen needs to pay her mercenaries.’
Edward of Caernarfon smiled. ‘And would they not do so, in order to inveigle their way into the affections of those in power, so that when the moment came, they would be ready? I think you will find that the Bardi are ready to reinstate me.’
Wednesday before Palm Sunday
Kenilworth
It was the sight of the massive castle that made Simon realise the enormity of the Dunheveds’ task.
‘Christ’s ballocks, they tried to storm that?’ he breathed at the sight.
Sir Richard de Welles looked up with a measuring gaze. ‘Hey? Oh, yes, that’s the castle. A good fortress — solid footings on rock, I expect, with a lake for a moat. Not much chance of the fools getting inside without a stratagem of some kind. No doubt they were so confident they thought they could walk to the doors and open them.’
Sir Jevan shook his head. ‘They thought themselves too clever to be captured, my friends. They sent a man in the day before, and learned from him where the King was held, and then the next day they infiltrated many of their companions into the castle, pretending that they were bringing food and drink. Some of them had been delivering goods to the castle for many weeks. It shows how good their planning had been, eh?’
‘They had some foresight,’ Sir Richard nodded. ‘But without the ability to run to a set plan, all that was a waste of time and effort. They were fools. Better by far to jump upon us when we leave.’ He placed his hand on the crupper and cantle, and turned in his saddle, peering around at the men behind, then gazing off at the road along which they had ridden. ‘Yes. On that road. But not here, so near the castle. No, if I were them, I’d have the ambush planned for somewhere nearer the destination. Perhaps along the last five miles. Just at the stage when the plodding escort with the King will be both bored and tired, and ready for a break. That would be my plan.’
‘You have no need to worry about your plan,’ Sir Jevan said with calm confidence. ‘The rebels will not dare to try again so soon. They will need to gather their strength.’
‘Really?’ Sir Richard said with a smile. ‘Hah, that’s a relief. I’d thought that a mob like them, with fifteen men to spare in a frontal assault, may have one or two others about the place. This Stephen Dunhead — was he a local man?’
‘I think his lands were not far,’ Sir Jevan said tightly.
‘Oh. And the others with him — were there any knights?’
‘Some who looked like knights,’ Sir Jevan agreed. He glanced curiously at Sir Richard. ‘What of it?’
‘And all these fifteen men who were inside the castle, they weren’t known to the garrison as locals? Or else they’d have been taken, wouldn’t they?’
‘Of course.’
‘So, we have a man who’s a local boy, who has lots of friends, we can guess. Yet he also has enough friends who’re not known hereabouts, to be able to raise a little force that can come and attack without fear of recognition.’
‘Why do you assume he has lots of friends about here?’ Sir Jevan scoffed.
Sir Richard smiled broadly. ‘Because I have fought many times in me life, my friend. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that it’s better by far to assume that your enemy is much cleverer and more populous than you and your own men. Ye know why? Because that way there are no unpleasant surprises.’
‘There will be none on our ride,’ Sir Jevan said with cold certainty. ‘Not with the force assembling here. And if they were to wish to surprise us, they would find it difficult. We leave tomorrow, as early as we may.’
Willersey
Agatha knew now that no one could help her.
She had gone to see Master William, the reeve, and he had quickly put her straight. No, the cart had not been there. It couldn’t have been, because if the horse and cart had been stolen when Ham was killed, the coroner would come back and fine the vill deodand for the stolen goods. But no one had seen a horse or cart, therefore no one could state that they had been stolen. Perhaps they were lost miles away, and Ham had walked home. It was possible. Mention of the cart now would only lead to embarrassment and expense, he told Agatha. And, he hinted, the vill which was expected to support a widow and child would not be so willing to do so, were that widow to expose the whole vill to more costs.
The law was terrifying. It was there for men, not women. Women did not exist in law except as chattels of husbands or fathers, and even though it was obvious to the meanest intellect that Agatha had been deprived of her family’s goods, she had no right to bring a case against anyone. She was only a woman.
But she was not going to surrender immediately on the word of the reeve. The cart and horse were hers. Jen and she needed food, and the horse and cart together were worth a lot of money.
A clerk in Holy Orders could help a widow. He had a duty to each member of his flock. A priest was educated, he would understand the courts and help her to win the justice she needed. From all she had heard, Father Luke had an interest in finding the cart, too.
She had seen the tyre marks of a cart when she went and looked. The tracks were some distance from Ham’s body, but distinctive. Even days after his death, they were plain on the ground. She knew that he had done as he usually did: hobbled the horse, set the cart in a quiet, hidden place among trees, and then gone to sleep a short way away.
Someone had found the cart, or discovered the horse hobbling about, and took them, together with all the valuables on the back of the cart. Well, Agatha wanted them all back.