‘Certainly. Take them both away! The sight of them hurts my eyes,’ Sir Peregrine said.
After they had been manhandled away, Perkin shouting his defiance and cursing all in the room, there was silence for a short while which was gradually overtaken by an excited chattering as people started to discuss the dramatic developments. Sir Peregrine was grinning quizzically, head slightly tilted, but Lord Hugh still frowned with incomprehension.
‘Tell me one thing, Sir Baldwin, he said. ‘This man Dyne… He must have been there. He must have seen Sir Gilbert’s body, for how else could he have taken the purse and the knife?’
‘I should think he did,’ Baldwin agreed sadly. His mood was growing dark again. He was pleased to have solved the murders, but a black depression was clouding his mind and he longed for the forgetfulness of inebriation. ‘Who can tell when he found the knight? I think that while he tried to escape from the posse on horseback he stumbled over the man and his dog. He saw that the knight was dead and arranged his body neatly, only taking the knife and money because they were of no further use to the dead man.’
Lord Hugh was quiet for a moment, sadly considering the story. ‘He is the only man who comes out of this whole sorry tale with any credit, isn’t he? Dyne was innocent of any crime, and when he found a dead man he treated the corpse with respect; whereas the priest tried to steal the knight’s horse, Sherman hid from the facts because he was a cuckold, Carter was a murderer and incest, and God knows what the others were.’
‘You have come out of the matter with honour, my Lord,’ Baldwin reminded him gently. ‘When Despenser made an attempt to bribe you with a vast sum you didn’t accept it.’
‘No. And I was glad to have done so.’
‘Why, my Lord?’
Sir Hugh grinned crookedly. ‘As I said before, Sir Gilbert was not so convinced of the Despensers himself. He thought that they had left the Kingdom for good, so he planned to travel north to Carlisle where he came from.’
‘And join Earl Thomas’s ranks?’ Baldwin said.
‘Yes – with the jewels.’
Baldwin whistled. ‘So he proved a traitor to his master,’ he said disappointedly.
‘Don’t judge him too harshly, Sir Baldwin,’ Lord Hugh murmured. ‘You may find yourself in a similarly difficult position before long. If the Despensers have returned we will all have many tough choices to make.’
‘True,’ Baldwin said. Then he frowned briefly. ‘Why, then, did Sir Gilbert wait around? Why didn’t he just head off north as soon as he had seen you?’
Lord Hugh cleared his throat and spoke in an undertone, with every appearance of embarrassment. ‘He was waiting for me to prepare a message for Earl Thomas,’ he said quietly. ‘You see, even if you think I have come out of this well, I am not so clean as I appear. When the Kingdom is this close to war, a lord must seek the most advantageous alliances he may. And at present the Earl Thomas seems strongest. So you could say that I, too, am a traitor.’
He walked away shortly afterwards. Baldwin thought he was ashamed of his confession, but it didn’t affect the knight. He was exhausted mentally and physically, and now that the murders were solved he felt himself sinking into a torpor.
John Sherman had stalked out while Baldwin talked to Lord Hugh, and Baldwin wondered where he might have gone. He could feel some sympathy for the man. Sherman now had proof of his wife’s infidelity: the knowledge must be devastating. Of course it was mitigated by learning that Sir Gilbert’s death was not a failed attempt by his wife to murder him, but Baldwin was not sure that was enough of a consolation. Sherman’s wife had still betrayed him. Looking at his own wife, Baldwin wondered how he would react to learning that Jeanne had committed petty treason of that kind. Not well, he was sure.
Seeing his dejected look she smiled and joined him, linking her fingers in his. ‘Are you truly all right?’ she asked.
‘I am fine.’
‘I was terrified when I heard you had been attacked,’ she whispered. ‘I was convinced I was to be widowed again.’
There was a break in her tone, proof of her renewed fear that she might lose her man so soon after finding him. Baldwin squeezed her hand. ‘Do not fear for me, Lady.’
No, he told himself. No one need fear for his personal safety while he could still wield a sword – but Baldwin recalled vividly that rending, tearing of flesh and bone as he hauled his sword up into his opponent’s chest and the memory made him wonder for a moment what sort of man he was. He had always looked upon himself as a model of rational, humane behaviour, seeking to protect those who were weaker than he, and to prevent persecution and violence towards those who were unable to protect themselves – and yet he had exulted in the killing of that man. It had been a delight to end that life.
Jeanne’s touch drew him back to the present. ‘I hope we have a child soon,’ he said.
Simon’s head was not too seriously bruised. He was shaken and feeble for two days but then he began to recover swiftly. On the fourth day after the attack he went to see Lord Hugh in his great hall. The castle was almost deserted; the larger part of the guests had left and Simon found Lord Hugh sitting on his favourite carved chair on the dais with Sir Peregrine alone for company. ‘You asked for me?’
‘Bailiff, thank you for coming. The physician tells me you are recovering swiftly. How does your head feel?’
‘I am fine now, I think. Good food and drink have helped me and your servants have all been most kind, I thank you.’
‘I am pleased to hear it,’ Lord Hugh said. Coming swiftly to his point, he jerked a thumb towards his companion. ‘Good Sir Peregrine here has suggested that you should be knighted, Bailiff. What do you think of that?’
‘I… I am most grateful, my Lord. It would be a great honour and privilege… um.’
‘But one you would be happy to forgo?’
‘My Lord, if I am to be honest, yes.’
‘Why, in God’s name?’ Sir Peregrine demanded.
‘Sir you are trained in warfare. I am not. If I were to be made a knight, I would be expected to fight as a lance in the army – and I have no idea how to. I could be called to tournaments with other knights and forced to fight, and if I lost, I would lose everything. I am not trained for such a service. And there is another thing…’
‘Which is?’ Lord Hugh asked.
‘My Lord, I am conscious of the honour you do me, but surely I would be disloyal to my own master if I accepted a knighthood from any man other than he? My master is the Warden of the Stannaries, Abbot Champeaux of Tavistock. If I accepted a knighthood from you, you could call me away to wars in your host when my own legitimate lord wished me to remain with him or join his army. How could I do that to him?’
‘A splendid argument, Bailiff!’ Lord Hugh slapped his thigh, but Simon noticed that Sir Peregrine looked at him with a bleak distaste in his eyes.
Lord Hugh ceased laughing after a moment. ‘There is another matter, Bailiff, on which I wished to canvass your opinion. The jewels that you and your friend Sir Baldwin deposited with the Coroner. They were clearly intended for me. What do you think I should do?’
Simon looked up into his shrewd eyes. ‘That is something I think is easily decided. The money is the King’s. It was found in a Templar chapel and before that was being carried by a Templar. All their possessions were confiscated by the King, so this too must go to him.’
‘It is a small fortune!’ Sir Peregrine growled.
‘A King’s ransom,’ Simon agreed.
Lord Hugh appeared to have lost his amusement. ‘You don’t think I can claim it as my own?’
‘You could try to appeal in court and prove that it was yours, my Lord.’
‘Appeal against the King?’