It was late by the time the Queen left the table and all the men rose to their feet. Simon was pleased. After all the noise and excitement of the day, he was keen to make his way to his bed. The memory of the clean white linen made his muscles ache afresh. ‘I’m for my bench,’ he said to Baldwin when they stood alone together. ‘I’m too tired to carry on.’
‘You go. I doubt not that I shall be going to my own bed before long,’ Baldwin said with a grin, and he watched for a moment as his friend left, hoping that Simon would not become lost in the labyrinthine corridors of the palace.
He filled his cup with some water, and drank deeply. The salted whale was a little too strong for him, and had left a thirst which he found it hard to assuage. He had taken some rissoles to try to ease the effect, but they were too salty for his palate as well, and only served to exacerbate the problem.
Walking outside, he unsuccessfully sought the privies. There was a wall near the great hall which would serve, though, and from the scent others had been forced to the same expediency.
Finished, he was walking back inside when he glanced to his left. Beyond a lean-to building that had been added to the hall, he saw a couple of men — de Bouden and the man Simon had seen de Bouden staring at earlier. There was something about their manner which struck him as odd — furtive, like conspirators — and it put him on alert.
Carefully he eased himself backwards into the shadow by a buttress, peering round the stonework. The man with de Bouden clearly made the comptroller anxious, and he was gesticulating as they conversed, while the other was cool and collected, listening a little, and then making a brief comment. He concluded with a few words, leaning down towards de Bouden as though to whisper, but Baldwin was convinced that the movement had little to do with keeping his words secret, and more with the fact that his leaning down made him seem more intimidating to the shorter man.
Whoever he was, he stepped back, holding de Bouden’s eyes all the while, before stopping and glancing about them quickly. He turned on his heel and strode away but, Baldwin noted with a spark of concern, not away from the palace complex. Whoever the man was, he was here inside the palace and staying put.
De Bouden was walking back towards the entrance now. He was pensive, Baldwin could see. The light from a torch flared at the lines on his face, and he shook his head as he walked, as though carrying on an internal debate.
‘Comptroller, you look disturbed.’
‘Christ on a cross!’ de Bouden blurted, startled, and shot backwards. His heel snagged a cobble, and he all but fell, but righted himself at the last moment. ‘Dear heaven, Sir Baldwin, what do you mean by leaping out at me like that? You could have stopped my heart, I swear!’
‘Perhaps I could. My apologies if I shocked you. It was not entirely my desire to do that.’
‘Entirely? You did mean to a little, you mean?’
‘Oh yes. I wanted to see whether you looked guilty, you see. And you do.’
‘What nonsense is this? You think you can upset me like this? Excuse me, Sir Baldwin, but I have work to be getting on with.’
‘Wait a moment, Comptroller,’ Baldwin said, moving to stand between him and the entrance. ‘Who was that man with whom you were conversing?’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I was watching you, de Bouden. I saw you talking to a man over there. Who was he? I did not recognise him.’
‘No one. There was no one you need worry about. It is my business — only mine.’
‘Then you will not mind my mentioning it to Lord Cromwell?’
‘You’d tell him?’
‘I am here with other knights charged with the protection of the Queen. You appear to be holding clandestine meetings with a stranger, and refuse to tell me who it is. That is surely enough to warrant my informing the leader of our party.’
‘He wants to meet the Queen.’
‘Who does? Come along, man! Speak out!’
‘Lord Mortimer of Wigmore. The rebel.’
Chapter Nineteen
‘And what did he say to that?’ Simon asked.
Baldwin had gone to Simon in their room, and since, fortunately, none of the other knights had retired yet, he could tell Simon all about the conversation.
‘He begged me to keep his association secret. Secret, in God’s name! The Queen’s Comptroller meeting with the King’s most detested traitor!’
‘What will you do? You should tell the Queen herself, or at least tell Lord Cromwell. He’s charged with her safety. The traitor Mortimer tried to have the King assassinated, after all. It would be perfect for him to embarrass the King by harming the Queen here. He might have her killed, or capture her and take her away. What could a man like that do to her?’
Baldwin said nothing for a moment, and Simon shot him a look. ‘Baldwin? Did you hear any of that?’
‘Well yes. Yes. I suppose you are right,’ Baldwin said.
‘There was a “but” at the end of that sentence, wasn’t there?’
Baldwin rose and walked to the window. Staring out, he spoke as though musing to himself. ‘I know that the King would expect me to tell Cromwell about Mortimer’s being here. But in truth, all know this is where he has been hiding. He sought sanctuary with the French king as soon as he escaped from the Tower of London. There is no surprise to anyone in the fact that he is here. This is a royal palace. So his presence is not news.’
‘Even if that were true, Baldwin, the simple fact that he appears to be on friendly terms with de Bouden, the Queen’s own clerk, is surely enough to raise warnings in the minds of any who have her interests to heart.’
‘Simon, I know you are probably right, but let me just ask you to consider this more deeply. This man Mortimer, whom all eagerly declare to be a traitor, was a close friend of the King’s for twenty years or so. He has backed the King in everything, even supporting his friendship with Gaveston, when all the other lords and barons had the man exiled. He served the King with his body and arms in all the King’s wars.’
‘I know that, Baldwin. But if you have a good, loyal dog, you still kill it if it develops the rabies. You can’t trust it after that. Mortimer has lost any rights because he raised a host against the King.’
‘He never raised his standard against the King, only against the rapacity of the Despenser — and we both have had experience of that devil!’
‘I don’t say I don’t agree with the aim of removing Despenser. But we’re here to protect the Queen, and if Mortimer’s here, he is a threat to her. He is the King’s own stated enemy, he was held under sentence of death, for Christ’s sake! Now he’s escaped from the Tower, he’s more dangerous than ever. We have to tell Lord Cromwell.’
Baldwin said nothing for a few moments, but then he turned away from the window. ‘And what will that achieve? John Cromwell will be determined to find the man and execute him, which will lead to more bad feeling between the French and the Queen’s party. I have already experienced the trouble that a killing can bring, Simon. People still look at me askance, thinking I killed Sir Enguerrand. The men who killed the Comte de Foix endangered my reputation. If another man is slain here, we shall be put in a dreadful position. It may well ruin the talks about Guyenne, and then we would be guilty of harming English interests and the King’s.’
‘So you would keep this secret?’ Simon demanded. ‘I tell you now, Baldwin, I cannot agree to that. I believe that the danger must be pointed out.’
‘I agree. However, I think that we should put the news in the hands of the one person here who knew Mortimer and can form a judgement on the degree of the threat he presents to the Queen — and that is the Queen herself.’