‘Golde found that ostentation rather tasteless.’
‘It overpowered me. I felt so small and insignificant.’
‘Well, you’re neither of those things to me,’ he said, enfolding her in his arms. I’ll admit I had grave doubts about asking you to join me on this visit but they’ve all faded away now. I’m so glad that you came.’
‘Are you?’
‘Very glad, my love.’
‘Does that mean I can ride out with you tomorrow?’
‘Tomorrow?’
‘Yes,’ she said, smiling. ‘Golde has offered to go with you to the Henstead hundred and I want to come as well.’
Gervase hesitated. ‘That might not be such a good idea, Alys.’
‘Why not?’
‘To begin with, it’s a taxing ride.’
‘No more taxing than the ride from Winchester to Norwich.’
‘I don’t think you’ve fully recovered from that yet.’
‘Of course I have.’
‘I’d rather you stayed here and rested.’
‘But I don’t want to rest,’ she said, breaking away from his embrace. ‘I’ve seen little enough of you during the day since we got here. All that I want to do is to ride beside you, Gervase. If you can take Golde, why reject your own wife?’
‘It’s not a case of rejection.’
‘Then what is it?’
‘Diplomacy, my love.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘But you were there when I explained it,’ he reminded her. ‘I have to speak to the Saxon woman Olova again.’
‘You don’t think she was responsible for the crime, surely?’
‘No, but I’m convinced she’s holding back information that may be valuable to us. She wouldn’t divulge it in the presence of lord Eustace but she may do so to another Saxon woman like Golde.’
Alys grew petulant. ‘What you’re saying is that I’d be in the way.’
‘Not at all.’
‘Your own wife would be an embarrassment to you.’
‘That’s not the case at all,’ he insisted. ‘It’s just that you’re likely to make Olova feel uncomfortable and that wouldn’t serve our purpose at all.’
‘Then I’ll make sure that she doesn’t even see me. It’s easily done. When we get there, I’ll stay completely out of sight.’
‘No, Alys.’
‘You just don’t want me to go, do you?’ she challenged.
‘It wouldn’t be appropriate, that’s all.’
‘Is it more appropriate for me to stay here on my own?’
‘I’m afraid it is.’
‘So you’re forbidding me.’
‘Of course not.’
‘Then why do I feel so hurt and neglected?’
Gervase fell silent as he struggled with the dilemma. To leave his wife behind on the morrow would make her upset and resentful. Taking her with him, however, involved a number of risks, not least of which was that she would distract him from the work in hand. Gervase knew that he would not be able to concentrate properly if he was worrying about his wife’s safety and comfort. He thought about the sad, pale, uncommunicative woman who had sat beside him in the hall earlier on. Alys might be in a more buoyant mood now but a long ride that began at dawn would be an ordeal for someone who never enjoyed the most robust health. His wife was putting him to the test. He had to be firm.
‘I’m sorry, Alys,’ he said calmly, ‘but you’ll have to remain here.’
‘Why?’
‘Because that’s what I’ve decided. You promised that you wouldn’t interfere with my work if I let you come to Norfolk with us and you’re been scrupulous in keeping that promise until now. There’s a conflict here between duty and pleasure. You know which one I must choose.’
‘Yes,’ she said, gloomily. ‘You’re always so dutiful.’
‘I have to be, Alys. This is no enjoyable ride into the country that we make tomorrow. It’s part of a search for the truth about a serious theft and a brutal murder.’
‘I know that.’
‘And since Olova is also implicated in one of the disputes that we have to settle in the shire hall, it impinges on my work as a royal commissioner. We were appointed by the King himself. He expects diligence and commitment from us.’
Alys was deflated. ‘It might have been better if I hadn’t come at all.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘But I’ll be so lonely tomorrow.’
‘Visit the market again. Or take the opportunity to rest.’
‘If you say so,’ she agreed with a disconsolate nod.
‘And you won’t be wholly alone. Brother Daniel will be here.’
‘What about Ralph? Is he going with you?’
‘No,’ said Gervase with a smile. ‘He’ll be confronting another redoubtable woman. Ralph will be calling on the lady Adelaide tomorrow. He thinks it’s high time that she knew the truth about the wedding gift she was offered.’
‘The two gold elephants?’
‘The lord Richard didn’t buy them in France at all. They were deliberately stolen from the abbey of St Benet, much to the chagrin of the man who brought them back from Rome-Jocelyn Vavasour, soldier turned anchorite.’
‘He’s the man that Ralph and the lord Eustace tracked down today.’
‘Yes. He’s engaged in a hunt of his own now.’
When he first saw the visitor, Brother Joseph did not even recognise him. Hirsute and ragged, the man knelt in prayer in the empty church and looked more like a beggar than anything else. Compline had long since ended another day at the abbey and most of the monks had retired to their dormitory, but the sacristan had stayed behind to putaway all the vestments and holy vessels before sitting in contemplation beside the chest in which the valuables were kept. A scuffling noise had alerted him to the presence of someone in the abbey church. Taking the candle with him, Joseph went quietly into the church and walked silently down the nave. The circle of light suddenly included an unknown man, kneeling in submission before the altar and reciting a prayer to himself in Latin. It was only when the visitor rose to leave and turned to face him that the sacristan had an idea of who he might be.
‘Bless my soul!’ he said, holding up the candle. ‘Is that you, my lord?’
‘I answer to no title, Brother Joseph,’ said Vavasour. ‘I’m plain Jocelyn now.’
‘You’ve changed so since we last met.’
‘Outwardly, perhaps. Inwardly, I’m still the same miserable penitent.’
‘When did you arrive?’
‘Shortly after Compline.’
‘I should have been told,’ said the sacristan, flapping his arms like a black swan struggling to take flight. ‘I could have given you a proper welcome. Come. Let us talk.’
He led the guest into the vestry and offered him a seat. Vavasour preferred to stand, making it clear that it was not a social visit. An outbreak of guilt sent Brother Joseph into a paroxysm of apologies.
‘I don’t blame you,’ said Vavasour, silencing him with a soft touch on his shoulder. ‘You couldn’t stand guard over those elephants twentyfour hours a day, Brother Joseph. What I wish to hear, from your own lips, is what actually happened.’
The sacristan composed himself before relating details that caused him the utmost distress. Interweaving his account with more apology, he explained how they had no choice but to conclude that the traveller who stayed the night there had been the thief. Vavasour pressed him for a description of the man then shook his head.
‘Your guest was lying to you, Brother Joseph. I’ve met this Starculf and he’s not the man you just described to me. Someone was using his name as a convenient disguise.’
‘Who would do that?’
‘I don’t know, but I intend to find out.’
‘We were so dismayed that your precious gift went astray, Jocelyn. It grieves me more than I can say. My only consolation is that the lord sheriff is now aware of our loss. He sent a man called Ralph Delchard to the abbey.’
‘I’ve met the lord Ralph. He seems honest and capable.’
‘He assured me that the treasures would be found and returned.’
Vavasour was emphatic. ‘I’ll make sure that they are, Brother Joseph. Nothing else would have torn me away from my little hut in the marshes.’ A distant smile showed through the beard. ‘I’m very happy there. It’s home and church to me.’