‘Perhaps he thinks to lose a kingdom is one thing – to lose his head…’ Matthew murmured.
‘That could be considered seditious,’ Baldwin said sharply. ‘Be careful to whom you speak.’
‘Oh, I am, sir, I am. There is more, too. They say that the Queen is only a short way away from here now. Bristol will soon be under siege, and when it is, the King’s commands will carry little weight. This city is independent.’
‘It is a city in the King’s realm,’ Baldwin declared hotly.
‘Sir, it’s only ten years ago we had the King’s host outside our doors hurling rocks at us. They took the city, banished eighty of our people, and taxed us so heavily we could hardly afford food or drink. We don’t forget.’
‘Perhaps,’ Baldwin said, ‘you also remember who was the King’s officer at the time? The man positioning the artillery of war was the Queen’s associate, Roger Mortimer. So you could fight the man who ordered the attack on your city, or the man who actually attacked. The choice is not so easy, my friend.’
North of Bristol
The rain started again a little before noon, and Sir Ralph hunched down so his neck was protected from the drips. They were riding through a small wood, and he could hear the pattering of the heavy drops on his felt cap. The water dripped from the tip of his brim onto his groin, which he knew would become increasingly uncomfortable as he rode on. There was already a cool, damp sensation all down his legs, and he tried to pull a fold of his cloak over himself again, but it wasn’t large enough.
It was dark in among the trees, and he was anxious for a while that they might be waylaid. Everywhere moisture gleamed, from leaves, from bark, from the very mud of the path. And now the rain seemed to ease a little, and suddenly they were in the open.
There was a man on a horse, a man-at-arms, who turned to face them as they trotted out. ‘Who are you?’ he shouted out.
‘Sir Ralph of Evesham,’ the knight growled. Bernard was quickly at his side, and the two of them kept their hands near their swords.
‘Where do you ride?’
Sir Ralph looked at Bernard, and the two began to move towards the man, increasing the distance between themselves to provide better fighting space.
‘Who are you, and where do you ride?’ Sir Ralph asked with an edge to his voice, reining in his horse.
He was suddenly taken by the sight before him. There was a large encampment, with men and horses resting. He saw the Earl of Winchester’s arms on a banner, and felt relief. ‘It’s all right,’ he said to the picket. ‘We’re with the King.’
Bristol
Simon and Margaret had been installed in a small inn a short way from the castle’s western gate, and Sir Charles had visited them the previous evening to ensure that they were as comfortable as they might be. He had done so by the simple expedient of explaining to the innkeeper that these were friends of Sir Hugh de Courtenay, the Baron of Devon, who would have the innkeeper stripped and held by the thumbs for the sport of the entire city if he didn’t see to it that Simon and his lady were fed only the best foods and drinks during their stay.
The quality of their food was certainly good. Simon and Margaret were also taken with the bed, which was the first comfortable one they had enjoyed for many long miles. Even now, unusually for Simon and although it was only close to noon, he felt the need to return to his bed and rest a little, and for once Peterkin expressed a desire to sleep too. Rob was already snoring, curled by the fire in the hall.
‘Simon, when do you think we can go home?’ his wife asked, entering the chamber with him.
Sitting on the bed and pulling off his boots, Simon twisted his face into a grimace. ‘I don’t know, Meg. The roads will still likely be filled with men looking to fight for one cause or another.’
‘I am still keen to return to Exeter, to see Edith.’
‘So am I, my love, but I don’t know when we may be able to leave. It’s a hundred miles from here, I think, and with the kingdom in an uproar, it wouldn’t be safe.’
‘But we cannot blithely sit here in comfort and hope Edith’s all right, Simon!’
‘Meg, she is married. Her safety is the responsibility of her husband.’
‘But she is your daughter!’
‘She’s my daughter, yes. But that doesn’t mean I have the right to take her from her husband, does it? And what could I do – what could we do – if we reached Exeter and learned that she was in danger because of the King’s forces besieging the city? Or Isabella’s men? We could do nothing, except get caught in the same trap, which would endanger Peterkin’s life as well as our own. I love Edith as much as you, wife, but there is nothing we can do just now to help her or anyone else.’ He closed his eyes.
‘It’s not good enough. I have to see her. I will see her!’ She stamped her foot, which made Simon open his eyes in surprise. Margaret had never been prone to displays of anger.
‘Meg, you can’t leave the city, not just now – be reasonable! It’s too dangerous. Now, please, just leave me a little while in peace? My old bones need rest.’
‘Yes, and I would hate to deprive you of your rest, while my own peace of mind is flown forever,’ she snapped.
‘Meg, please–’ he cried, but the door was already slammed behind her. Simon grunted, then rose to his feet and went after her. ‘Meg! Please take Hugh with you if you are going outside. We don’t know this city well.’
His wife looked back at him and nodded, just once, before continuing on her way.
Simon returned to the bedchamber, where his son was sitting on the bed, staring at him with wide eyes and an expression of innocence. ‘I’m very tired, Father.’
‘Yes, so am I,’ Simon said heavily, and sat on the edge of the bed again. He lay back, an arm going about his son, and closed his eyes, but sleep would not come for a good while.
He was stirred by the shouts.
North of Bristol
‘I’m taking these friars to meet the Queen to try to negotiate protection for the King’s friends, my lord.’
The Earl of Winchester was sitting on a chair chewing some choice tidbits when Sir Ralph was taken in to see him. He pulled the leg from a honeyed lark and bit into it, before wiping his fingers on a cloth presented by his laver.
Earl Hugh was a bright man, who had earned respect from knights and barons on all sides over many years of loyal service to this King and to his father. He was about sixty-six, a strongly-built man with almost uniformly white hair. His eyes were keen and penetrating, and he displayed little of the anxiety his son was feeling. Where the younger Hugh was nail-biting and fretful, the elder Hugh was still calculating the odds, a gambler with the strength of character his son seemed to lack.
His was a career characterised by loyalty, commonsense and ambition. Sir Ralph personally reckoned that ambition was the main ingredient of his make-up which had been passed on to his son, but where Earl Hugh was keen to improve his standing, there were limits to his avarice – perhaps because he had been born into troubled times. The son of a rebel, his father had died fighting his King at Evesham, and from the age of four, Hugh was tainted with an associated guilt for which he spent the rest of his life trying to atone.
By dint of hard effort and martial skill, he worked his way into the King’s affections. King Edward I was a warrior who knew little about peace, so to find a man like Hugh, who was not only a thoroughly competent fighter, able to prove his loyalty to the King at every battle, but was also a highly skilled administrator and negotiator, was very useful. Sir Hugh le Despenser gradually climbed the ladder of appointments with a stealth that would have impressed a fox.