“So he hadn’t truly changed his ways?”
The man gave a faint, mild smile. “He’dmaybe worn out his fondness for saying ‘May God strike me down’ sooften, but he could still make life a hell for anyone in hisreach.”
“Still, Ralph, he’d given up fisting anyonein the face who displeased him,” put in the other man knight. He had sat next to Guy at the feast, Frevisse suddenlyremembered. “I’d noticed that of late.”
“Ah, that’s because he was growing too oldfor it, Sir Edward,” Sir Ralph’s lady said.
“Maybe it finally came to him that someonewould fist him back someday if he went on the way he was,” theshorter and rounder of the merchants said.
“Someone should have, and a long timeago.”
There were noddings and general agreement tothat. They were plainly enjoying the chance to cut at SirClement now that it was safe to do so.
“He made that poor girl’s life none tooeasy,” Sir Ralph’s lady said. Then she added mostly under herbreath, “And now she’ll do the same for Guy, I’d guess.” Sheand Frevisse exchanged private smiles, understanding that daintyLady Anne had a will of her own.
The men began talking of Guy’s goodfortune. Now that Sir Clement was out of his way, he wasexpected to do well.
“He’s a solid enough fellow, with none of thecrotchets that family seems to carry like other folks pass on brownhair,” the short merchant said. “But the day isn’t going tobetter for our staying here and we ought to be on our way. Weonly stayed to talk with you this while longer, and now wehave.”
He embraced the lady, dropped a casual kissin the vicinity of her cheek and said, “You take care,Eleanor. No rheums this year, you hear?’
“And the same to you, brother,” shereturned. “We’ll expect you at Christmas if you know what’sgood for you.”
There were handshakes and bows all around,and the three merchants left the hall in a bustle of cloaks andservants.
“Ah, now, I’ll miss him,” Lady Eleanor saidwistfully.
Her husband took her by the arm and drew herclose. “Christmas isn’t so far off,” he saidcomfortingly.
“If the weather doesn’t have us all pent uplike badgers by then,” Sir Edward said. “All the signs saythis will be a bitter year.”
“It’s been bitter enough for Sir Clementalready,” Frevisse said. The three of them would leave to sitto dinner soon, and there were still things she wanted to ask thembefore then, so she returned directly to Sir Clement. “I’llbe asked endless questions when I return to St. Frideswide’s, but Iwas so far away from what happened. You were all beside himat the feast. What especially did you see?”
The three looked at each other. SirEdward shrugged as if he could think of nothing special, and LadyEleanor answered more fully, “Why, nothing in particular. SirClement was simply being offensive, as always, and I faced awayfrom him as much as might be, talking to the lady on my otherside. Until he quarreled with my lord.” She smiledsympathetically up at her husband. “And not very long afterthat he began to make strange sounds. That wasterrifying, let me tell you!”
“I thought he’d choked on something atfirst,” Sir Ralph said.
“There wasn’t any warning? He justbegan to choke?” Frevisse asked. She did not know what shewas trying to learn, but if she kept asking questions, someonemight say something that mattered.
Sir Ralph shook his head. “After hisoutburst at me – and mine at him, I lost some of my temper, too,”he admitted to his wife’s knowing prod at his ribs, “we all set toeating again. He snapped at a server for not refilling hiswine fast enough, but that was all.”
“Jevan was waiting on him then?”
“Not with the wine,” Sir Edward said. “That was all from the household servers, moving in front of thetables, you know, and keeping an eye on everyone. They didwell. Your aunt’s to be complimented on her people.”
“But lightning itself wouldn’t move fastenough for Sir Clement,” Lady Eleanor said.
They agreed on that, and went on chattinguntil dinner was called. Then Frevisse assured them her auntwas most sorry for the inconvenience to them, and received theirassurances that they held no one responsible for the trouble -except Sir Clement who continued to be a trial even in death, theyagreed – and they all parted in mutual goodwill.
Dame Perpetua was still in Chaucer’s library,huddled down on a stool in front of one of the aumbries with anopen book on her lap, too intent on it to notice Frevisse’sarrival. Across the room Master Lionel, scrutinizing aselection of documents laid out along the window seat, did notacknowledge her, either. Amused, Frevisse slipped across theroom to lay a hand on Dame Perpetua’s shoulder.
The other nun twitched her head a little andsaid, “Mmmm?” without looking up.
“Is it a good book?” Frevisse asked.
“Mmmm.” Dame Perpetua drew herattention reluctantly away to blink up at her, decided she wasreally there, and said enthusiastically, “It’s Mandeville’sTravels! I haven’t read it since I was a girl. Iloved it then. All those wonders-“
Knowing how long Dame Perpetua could go onabout a book, Frevisse asked, “Did you find anything useful to ourproblem?”
Dame Perpetua’s face blanked; then shebrightened. “Indeed I did! Here.” She setMandeville aside and took up one of the volumes lying besideher. “Your uncle was wonderful. There are books hereabout everything. I could stay forever. This one is aMateria Medica, with a whole part just about poisons andtheir effects.”
Frevisse took it. “How did you manageto find it? And so quickly?”
“I asked Master Lionel,” Dame Perpetua saidwith the simplicity of the obvious. She lowered hervoice. “He doesn’t want to talk to anyone, but he knows whereeverything is. I asked about poisons and he showed me thisone right away.”
“Does it have what we need?”
Dame Perpetua looked abashed. “Idecided to let you see for yourself if it’s any help, whileI…” She lovingly touched the book in her lap.
Frevisse knew she had been no better herselfwith the Gawain book earlier that morning. She smiled andsaid, “I’ll look through it. You go on.”
The book was everything Dame Perpetua hadsaid it was. A little skimming of the pages brought her tothe part about poisons, just after a treatise on the diagnosing ofhumours according to the planets. She sat on the chair atSire Philip’s desk, laid open the book, and began to read. Her Latin was imperfect, but unlike literature, this was mostlystraightforward text and she could follow its gist,translating the fragments that were pertinent to thequestion: Was there a poison whose symptoms matched SirClement’s fatal ones?
The list ranged from commonly known poisonsfound in any English woodland or roadside to ones difficult toobtain except from merchants with very particular contactsabroad. It seemed very complete.
And none of the poisons listed createdsymptoms that at all matched Sir Clement’s.
There were ones signified by difficultybreathing but not the swollen, strangled closing of the throat Dr.Broun had described. There were vomitings of differentquality and color, and sometimes fits or mania; but Sir Clement hadbeen quite clear in his mind and not given any sign of being evensick to his stomach, let alone vomiting. As fordiscolorations of the body, particularly of extremities, there wereno suggestions of his general blotching of itching welts on faceand arms.
If Sir Clement had been poisoned, it was notwith any poison described in what seemed to be a most scrupulouslythorough book.
Dame Perpetua had been paying closer heedthat Frevisse had thought. She said from across the room, “Itdoesn’t have what you want?”