‘Yet you clearly love him,’ said Golde.
‘Yes,’ added Adela, ‘or you would not miss him so much.’
Marguerite spoke with a maliciousness that was chilling.
‘I would not care if I never saw him again!’
Philippe Trouville stood shoulder to shoulder with Henry Beaumont and gloried in the confrontation between Church and State. Bishop Robert positioned himself at the door of the abbey to rebut their demands, wearing full vestments to lend dignity and having Brother Reginald at his side to provide spiritual reinforcement.
‘Right of sanctuary has been granted, my lord,’ said the bishop.
‘Not by me,’ retorted Henry.
‘The power of the Church supersedes yours.’
‘You are harbouring a murderer.’
‘We are sheltering a fugitive in accord with tradition.’
‘Turn the skulking rogue out!’ shouted Trouville.
‘We will not be denied,’ warned Henry.
‘You have heard my pronouncement, my lord.’
‘Let me speak with the abbot.’
‘His view is in harmony with mine.’
‘The abbot will listen to reason.’
‘I will tell him that you came, my lord,’ said the bishop with a dismissive smile. ‘Like me, he knows the importance of upholding the right of sanctuary. While a fugitive is within these walls he is immune from arrest by the highest in the land. We will not hand this man over to you. He has sought the protection of Holy Church and that is what he is entitled to receive.’ He raised a hand. ‘Good day, my lords.’
Robert de Limesey stepped back into the abbey, and its great oaken door swung to with a thud. Thick bolts were heard being slotted into place. Henry Beaumont was incensed and fumed in silence but it was Trouville who was the more enraged. He was shaking with fury.
‘We must not endure this, my lord!’ he yelled. ‘They cannot shield a felon who has killed two men in cold blood! Do not bother to parley with that fool of a bishop. Give the command and we will beat down this door.’ He motioned his men-at-arms forward.
‘Let us do it, my lord!’ he urged. ‘I promise you that I will drag Boio out with a dagger in his heart!’
Chapter Thirteen
On the way back to the castle, Warin the Forester became more talkative. Aware of the dire predicament he was in and unable to deceive Ralph Delchard with a mixture of half-truths and lies, he fell back on complete honesty as a last resort. Ralph was quick to exploit the man’s change of attitude. By the time they reached Warwick, he had gleaned some new and important facts.
Any hopes which the forester had that his willing co-operation might help to extenuate his punishment were dashed as soon as they entered the castle. He was handed over to the guard and taken off to the dungeons to be kept in custody until the return of Henry Beaumont. Ralph had no sympathy for the man. In his view, Warin’s crime was unforgivable. When he found his wife, Ralph told her why.
‘The forester knew, Golde,’ he said.
‘Knew what?’
‘That Boio was not seen by Grimketel near the place where the dead body lay. Grimketel was nowhere near the spot himself at dawn. He and Warin were too busy poaching deer.’
‘Warin admitted that?’
‘With a little persuasion from me.’
‘But will he swear as much under oath?’
‘Certainly.’
‘Then Boio is saved.’
‘Not yet, my love.’
‘But you have two witnesses who will speak in his favour now,’
she argued. ‘The old man with the donkey and this forester.
Grimketel lied to incriminate the blacksmith. Who put him up to that?’
‘Adam Reynard.’
‘Why?’
‘It was another way to get at Thorkell. They are rival claimants for a large tract of land. Adam Reynard would do anything to upset the old Saxon. Boio was Thorkell’s man. If he was hanged for murder, Thorkell would bear the taint. Nor would his mind likely be wholly on the legal dispute.’ Ralph heaved a sigh. ‘To lose his reeve at such a time was a big enough blow. This second one must have sent Thorkell reeling. No overlord wants to have a murderer in his camp. Much less a man he had placed so much faith in.’
‘But the blacksmith is innocent.’
‘Few would believe that if he is convicted and hanged.’
‘Your new evidence will rescue him.’
‘That will depend on the lord Henry,’ said Ralph. ‘I will wait to hear Gervase’s news first before I ride hard to Coventry to intercede on Boio’s behalf. We will just have to pray that he is still alive.’
‘He has been granted right of sanctuary.’
‘The lord Henry may not choose to respect that right.’
Golde was disturbed. ‘Would he take the blacksmith by force?’
‘I think that he might stop short of that, Golde. But he is not alone, remember. The lord Philippe is at his elbow and hot blood runs in that man’s veins, as I have discovered. Our host might not violate sanctuary,’ said Ralph, ‘but our esteemed colleague certainly will.’
‘Storm an abbey? That would be sacrilege.’
‘When the lord Philippe wants something, he will let nothing stand in his way until he gets it. How do you imagine he got that wife?’
‘Too true!’ murmured Golde, recalling the earlier disclosures by Marguerite. ‘But to come back to Boio, his innocence means that someone else is guilty of the murder. Who is it?’
‘I am still not sure,’ said Ralph. ‘When I met Warin, I thought that he might be the culprit. He is big and powerful as I know to my cost.’ He rubbed his back where a painful bruise was surely flowering even now.
‘Your cost?’
‘I wrestled with the man to test his strength. He threw me with ease. If he had no resistance, the forester might have broken Martin Reynard’s back. That is what I thought at first, anyhow.’
‘But not now?’
‘No, Golde.’
‘What changed your mind?’
‘Warin’s confession,’ he said. ‘No priest has ever shrived a man so thoroughly. The words poured out of him in a torrent. He and Grimketel poached together for years at Adam Reynard’s behest and the forester admitted to a dozen smaller crimes as well.’
‘But not the murder?’
‘He did not commit it.’
‘Then who did?’
‘I still have my suspicions about Ursa.’
‘The performing bear you told me about?’
‘It could have been him,’ said Ralph thoughtfully. ‘If Benedict is wrong about the time of death then it could easily have been Ursa who crushed the reeve to death in the forest. There is only one problem.’
‘What is that?’
‘I cannot imagine what Martin Reynard was doing at such an isolated spot at that time of the morning. Unless a tryst is involved here.’ He shook his head. ‘No, the cold would have frozen even his ardour.’ Ralph gave a chuckle, then hugged her. ‘But enough of my news. What has been happening here while I have gone?’
‘I too have been hearing a full confession.’
‘From the lady Adela?’ he teased. ‘Was she the woman who arranged to meet the reeve in the forest that morning?’
‘No, Ralph. It was not she who spoke but the lady Marguerite.’
‘Tell me more.’
They were in their chamber and moved to sit on the bed together.
When Golde told him what she had heard, he nodded with interest throughout. The revelations about Philippe Trouville only served to confirm his own judgement.
‘Is that what his wife actually said, Golde?’
‘Yes, Ralph. That he was given to outbursts of violence.’