Alan was delighted, and volunteered to procure a set so they could play.
Dark had fallen, but indoors the castle was lit by flambeaux affixed to the stone walls. All of the staircases and halls Alan passed through were shadowy and empty. The de Beauté knights were gathered into the guardroom and Lady Elizabeth’s household was at supper in the sheriff’s apartment. The only people Alan saw as he passed through the silent, high-ceilinged stone chambers were a few servants carrying buckets of water up the stairs to the sheriff’s apartment.
Alan knew that Gervase kept a chess set in one of the chests in his office, and he decided to see if by some chance the office was unlocked before he went on downstairs to the guardroom.
To Alan’s surprise, a light showed under the office door. The sheriff must be working late, he thought. He knocked briskly on the door and said in a loud voice, “I’m sorry to interrupt you, sir, but it’s Alan Stanham. I was wondering if I could borrow your chess set.”
No answer was returned. Instead, the door opened abruptly and Alan found himself looking not at the sheriff but at the sheriff’s son.
Richard did not appear pleased to see him. “What are you doing here?” he asked irritably.
“I came to borrow the chess set, my lord,” Alan repeated. “Lady Cristen expressed a desire to play.”
“Couldn’t you have gone to the guardroom?” Richard sounded almost angry.
Alan replied steadily, “I am sorry, my lord, to have disturbed you. I will go to the guardroom.”
Richard drew a deep breath, as if he were trying to get control of himself. Then he said, “Now that you have already disturbed me, you may as well take the bloody set.”
“I will go to the guardroom if you prefer, my lord,” Alan said. He had never seen Richard so out of sorts before.
Richard gave him a scathing look. “Stay there and I’ll get it for you.” He turned back into the room.
Alan remained at the door, knowing that he had blundered, but not knowing why. His eyes flicked around the room, taking in the rolls of parchment heaped upon the desk.
Richard turned from the chest that he had opened, the chess set in his hands. “Come in, Alan,” he said in his normal voice. “I have been going over some tax figures for my father and it has given me a headache. I’m sorry I sounded so churlish.”
Alan felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. He smiled and came a little way into the room. “That is all right, my lord.”
Richard rubbed his forehead as if it ached. “How are you faring with Lady Cristen?”
“It’s boring, my lord,” Alan said frankly. “Nobody has come to see her except the servants. Bernard truly is very ill. I don’t think you need to worry about him trying to escape. He has a high fever and most of the time he just sleeps.”
Richard dropped his hand from his forehead. His blue eyes regarded Alan shrewdly. “Have you seen Bernard for yourself?”
“Only from the door,” Alan returned. “Lady Cristen does not want me to get too close to him, lest I take the infection.”
Richard offered Alan the chess set. “Isn’t that thoughtful of her?” he said. Irony sounded clearly in his voice.
Alan blinked as Richard’s meaning became clear.
“Do you think she is just pretending that Bernard is ill? That she does not wish me to get too close to him in case I see through the mummery?”
“It is a thought,” Richard said softly.
Alan flushed. “You must think me a fool.”
“Of course I don’t think you a fool.” Richard put a hand on Alan’s shoulder and walked with him to the door. “I’m sure Lady Cristen has been very kind to you and you don’t like to think ill of her. It is always hard for a man to think a lovely lady may be deceiving him. It is always wise to keep the possibility alive in one’s mind, however.”
“Aye, my lord,” Alan said in a subdued voice.
“Hugh hasn’t been to see her?”
“Nay, my lord.”
“All right.” Richard patted his squire’s shoulder. “I have faith in your good sense and your loyalty, Alan. I know you won’t fail me.”
“Never, my lord,” Alan promised fervently.
Richard gave him a gentle push, and Alan stepped out into the passage. “Good night, then, Alan. God go with you.”
“And with you, my lord,” Alan replied. Clutching the chess set against his green tunic, Alan returned upstairs to Bernard’s sickroom watch.
Cristen’s kindness to Alan did not extend as far as allowing him to beat her at chess. They played as equals the first game, with Cristen checkmating him after only a few moves. The second game she gave up a knight, and the game went on a little longer before she won handily. The third game she gave up her queen, and it took her over half an hour to beat him.
“Judas!” Alan exclaimed as he stared in frustration at the board. “I didn’t think ladies could play chess like that.”
“My father is an excellent chess player,” Cristen said. “He taught me when I was very young.”
A voice from the doorway said, “Aren’t you going to mention the advanced tutelage you received from me?”
Alan had thought that Cristen was very pretty, but the way her face lit when she heard Hugh’s voice made her look positively breathtaking.
“You?” she said. “You never tutored me. All you ever did was beat me.”
Hugh walked across the room to the stool that held the chessboard. He regarded it with interest.
Alan said glumly, “She even gave me a queen and I still lost.”
Hugh grinned. “She’s a ruthless woman, Alan.”
Alan stared at Hugh in astonishment. There was real warmth in that smile, and genuine gaiety. The look was contagious, and Alan felt his mouth curl in response.
Cristen said austerely, “Alan is not the kind of person who would want his opponent to throw him the game.”
Alan said, “Well…not if I knew she was throwing me the game.”
At that, both Hugh and Cristen laughed.
Treacherous delight shot through Alan that he had been able to elicit such a response.
Hugh’s face sobered. “How is Bernard?” he asked Cristen.
“His fever has come down a little with my medication, but it is still too high. He has been sleeping for most of the afternoon and evening,” she replied.
Alan rose from his stool on one side of the chess board. “If you don’t mind, my lady, I think I should return the chess set to the sheriff’s office.”
Hugh looked at him in surprise. “Won’t it be locked at this hour?”
“Sir Richard was there when I went to fetch it, my lord,” Alan said. “He may be there still.”
Something that Alan couldn’t decipher flickered in Hugh’s gray eyes. “Richard is certainly working late,” he said lightly.
“Aye, my lord. He is helping his father with the tax rolls.”
“Oh, then the sheriff was there as well?”
Alan hesitated. The question had been posed carelessly, but he had a feeling that his answer was important. He bit his lip. “Nay,” he said reluctantly. “Only Sir Richard was working tonight.”
“Such a dutiful, thoughtful son,” Hugh said, and the uncomfortable, mocking edge that Alan so resented was back in his voice.
“Take back the chess set if that will make you more comfortable, Alan,” Cristen said serenely. “If Sir Richard is gone, you will just have to return it tomorrow.”
“Thank you, my lady,” Alan said.
As he fitted the ivory chess pieces into the carved oak box that had been made for them, he listened to Hugh and Cristen talking about Bernard. It was clear to him that they knew each other well and were entirely comfortable in each other’s company. Finally the last pawn had been put away. Alan picked up board and box and went to the door.
“Would you like me to fetch you anything while I am downstairs, my lady?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” Cristen replied with her lovely smile. “But thank you, Alan.”