‘Good morning and give me some bread,’ said Walter in Italian, bowing deep and low to the King. ‘My horses are lame and I own seven children.’
‘My son is learning Italian,’ Agnes explained, poking him hard to stop him from showing off. ‘Someone told him it was the language of love.’
‘Actually, French is the language of love,’ said Henry, leaving no room for debate. ‘Italian is the language of poisoners.’ He gazed coolly at mother and son.
‘Then I shall make sure he abandons the project,’ said Agnes smoothly. She smiled at Henry with eyes full of promise, and Geoffrey saw that she was preparing to practise her wiles on him, too. The King returned the smile, and Geoffrey had the distinct feeling that when they next met, they would not be discussing Italian.
‘I will arrive at Goodrich in about a week,’ Henry went on, addressing his subjects again. ‘And then I shall continue to Monmouth, where I shall inspect my borders.’
Baderon stepped forward. ‘It will be an honour, Sire, to explain how I have gone about creating a land that is secure and peaceful.’
Henry gathered his reins and touched a spur to his horse’s flanks. ‘I hope I am not disappointed.’
Henry glanced at Durand as he rode past, and Geoffrey saw their eyes meet. Durand gave a slight nod, as if reassuring the monarch. Geoffrey was more than willing to help Durand on that score: it was in Goodrich’s interests to see Corwenna’s plans exposed. He watched the royal cavalcade ride away and then turned his thoughts to his own investigations.
The first thing he wanted to know was why Jervil had given Baderon a dagger that sounded remarkably like the one that had killed Henry. The opportunity to initiate a conversation about it came sooner than expected, because Baderon came to stand next to him. Hilde was with him, tired and dishevelled from her hunt for Hugh. Seguin and Lambert hovered, but were too far away to hear what was said.
‘It is good of you to offer us the use of Goodrich, now Dene is gone,’ said Baderon amiably. ‘It will be pleasant to spend a day or two hunting and hawking while we wait for the King. Sir Olivier and Lady Joan are excellent hosts, and it is a pity the relationship between our estates is not sealed with a marriage.’
Hilde spoke sharply, embarrassed by his candour. ‘You could at least wait until I have gone. You are obsessed with alliances these days, and think of little else.’
‘I am growing old, and need to consider what I leave behind,’ replied Baderon. ‘If Hugh were strong, I would be content. But he is not, and I worry about what will happen when I die.’
‘You have two daughters wed, and a host of knights who owe us allegiance,’ said Hilde. ‘Hugh is immaterial. Have you seen him, Geoffrey? He is still missing, and I have been looking all night.’
‘Seguin says he is with Eleanor,’ said Baderon, before Geoffrey could reply. ‘You know how he follows her.’
‘Seguin is guessing,’ snapped Hilde. ‘Besides, just because he says something does not make it true. You listen to him far too readily.’
‘Hold your tongue, woman!’ cried Baderon, although Geoffrey thought he would be wise to listen to her.
‘When I was looking through my brother’s possessions, I found something missing,’ said Geoffrey in the awkward silence that followed. ‘He owned a large dagger with a ruby in the hilt, but it is nowhere to be found.’
‘Did he?’ asked Hilde, raising her eyebrows. ‘He was a man who liked show, but I never saw him wearing such a weapon.’
Geoffrey looked hard at Baderon, who refused to meet his eyes.
‘Such baubles come and go,’ mumbled the Marcher lord. ‘They are given as gifts and stolen by servants. I have learnt not to grow overly attached to them.’
‘Are you saying Henry’s dagger was stolen?’ asked Geoffrey. ‘By Jervil, for example?’
‘I would not know,’ replied Baderon, clearly flustered. ‘But your manor is no different from anyone else’s, and retainers have light fingers.’
‘Jervil,’ mused Hilde. ‘He was a thief, was he not? I recall a fuss over thefts at Goodrich. Joan kept him because he was good with horses, but he was not allowed to sleep in the hall, because he plundered his friends while they slept.’
‘Do you know Jervil?’ asked Geoffrey of Baderon, wondering whether the man would admit to buying stolen property from him.
‘I had met him,’ replied Baderon. His face became crafty. ‘I saw him arrive last night and went to greet him. I was afraid he might have brought bad news about dear Joan, but he was just on his way to visit his brother. He stopped here to break his journey. It is a pity, because if he had slept in the forest, instead of at Dene, he would still be alive.’
He took his daughter’s arm and escorted her away. Baderon had guessed that there was a witness to his meeting, and had taken steps to make it sound innocent. Geoffrey rubbed his chin. Baderon was not easy with lies, and there was clearly something amiss.
‘You would be wise to mind your own business,’ said Seguin, advancing on Geoffrey from one side while Lambert approached from the other. ‘No one likes a man who asks too many questions.’
‘I am sure you are right,’ replied Geoffrey. ‘But it is odd that a Goodrich servant should come here to speak to Baderon, but not to me. And it is odder still when money changes hands – money that is now missing.’
‘Henry asked questions, and look what happened to him,’ said Seguin, leaning close in an attempt to intimidate. ‘Go back to Goodrich and tend your sheep. You have quite enough enemies already.’
‘Baderon likes you,’ said Lambert, countering his brother’s bluster with reason. ‘I understand he has offered you Hilde. But he will not continue to like you if you ask dangerous questions.’
Geoffrey studied them carefully. They showed signs of having been in the fire, and Lambert had a gash across his forearm. He thought about the knife in Jervil’s dead hand. If he had used it to protect himself, it was possible he had injured his assailant. However, it being in Jervil’s left hand, and not his dominant right, indicated that it had been placed there after he was dead – either to claim self-defence should the killer be caught, or to confuse whoever looked into the murder.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Lambert uncomfortably. ‘Why are you staring at us like that?’
Geoffrey shrugged. ‘It is possible to tell a good deal from a man’s clothes after a murder.’
Seguin was angry. ‘I will commit a murder if you do not leave us alone. You are treading on thin ice, and I advise you to stop while you can.’
Eight
It was no easy matter to transport several households and their travelling possessions from one manor to another, and Geoffrey, despite having seen entire armies on the move in the Holy Land, marvelled at the arrangements required. They took all morning, before being interrupted by the requiem mass for Margaret.
‘I know the King has charged you to look into Margaret’s death,’ said fitzNorman as they emerged from the chapel. ‘But I forbid it.’
‘Do you?’ asked Geoffrey mildly. ‘And why do you think I should obey you, and not the King?’
‘Because I will kill you if you start asking personal questions,’ replied fitzNorman. ‘You will not pry into my family’s affairs.’
‘Your sister was murdered. Surely you want to know the culprit?’
‘Look,’ said fitzNorman, leading him to one side so they would not be overheard. ‘Margaret was a friendly woman, and liked a dalliance, if you take my meaning. She may have loitered in the stables with this Jervil, and I do not want her name sullied by such a rumour.’
Without waiting for a reply, he was gone. Geoffrey doubted that Margaret had ‘liked a dalliance’, given her devotion to her husband’s memory, and thought fitzNorman cruel to suggest it. Had he killed her himself, because she would not take a new husband? He had a temper, and Geoffrey had seen nothing to imply that he would not turn it on a woman.
After the midday meal, Geoffrey decided to leave, whether his guests were
ready or not. He did not want to spend a second night in the hut near the Angel Springs, and space in the ravaged manor house was severely limited. He saddled his horse, sent Bale ahead to Goodrich and prepared to set off himself. His actions prompted the others to shift themselves, and the yard quickly became a hive of activity, with horses readied and the last few travelling chests tossed into carts.
Agnes had intended to flout the King’s orders and follow him to Gloucester, believing Henry would not object once she presented herself. Geoffrey remembered the looks that had passed between them and was sure she was right, but Giffard insisted that she and Walter go to Goodrich. Mother and son were angry, but Giffard was immovable.
Baderon and his knights were also ready, although Hilde resolutely refused to abandon the hunt for Hugh. Corwenna grudgingly accompanied Seguin, and Geoffrey felt like telling her that since she did not want to come, and he did not want her to, she should return to Wales. But he did not want a row, so he held his tongue.
‘Must he come, too?’ muttered Lambert. Geoffrey glanced behind him and saw Durand, mounted on a small pony.
‘The King wants him to audit my accounts,’ muttered Baderon. ‘I cannot imagine why.’
‘If you are concerned about the grain you “forgot” to tax, do not worry,’ said Seguin. ‘I imagine Durand will overlook anything, for a price.’
‘Is that true, Durand?’ asked Baderon. ‘Are you amenable to bribes?’
Geoffrey started to laugh, amused that Baderon should phrase his question quite so bluntly.
‘Why?’ Durand asked frostily. ‘Are you thinking of offering me one when I discover you have not been paying the King’s taxes?’
‘What makes you think you will find evidence of dishonesty?’ asked Baderon, offended. ‘You may uncover mistakes, but you will find no deliberate wrongdoing.’
‘I shall make up my own mind about that,’ sniffed Durand, and Geoffrey was sure that he would find something to embarrass Baderon, whether true or not.
On the way they stopped in Rwirdin, where the villagers brought wine for Geoffrey’s companions. Seguin and Lambert were soon bored, and wandered off to play dice. While they waited for the horses to be watered, Baderon talked to Geoffrey about his ambitions to make the region prosperous and safe, and Geoffrey realized that the man had a genuine, deeply held conviction that he was acting in the best interests of his people. There was a lot to like about him, and Geoffrey thought it a pity that he had surrounded himself with louts like Seguin and Lambert – and that he had purchased a murder weapon from Jervil.
It was even more of a pity that Corwenna had attached herself to Baderon’s party, and Geoffrey jumped when he straightened up from inspecting his horse’s leg to find her nearby with a knife.
‘I do not want to go to Goodrich,’ she said coldly. ‘I made a vow never to set foot in it again, unless it was to kill every last Mappestone.’
‘Then go home,’ said Geoffrey, walking away from her. He sensed her moving behind him and ducked as the knife sailed towards him. It fell harmlessly in the grass, and he picked it up and added it to his personal arsenal.
‘I saw what she did,’ said Durand, coming to hold Geoffrey’s stirrup while he mounted, as he had done as a squire. ‘You should not let her inside Goodrich.’
Geoffrey watched her stalk towards her horse. ‘I cannot believe she tried to kill me when so many people are watching. Does she want to be hanged?’
‘She is a woman,’ replied Durand with a shrug. ‘They are not the same as you and me, and there is no point trying to understand them. Why do you think I prefer men?’
Geoffrey smiled, but declined to follow up on the discussion. When they left Rwirdin, he contrived to ride with Giffard. He would not have minded hearing more about Baderon’s plans for the region, but to talk to the Lord of Monmouth meant he would have to be near Corwenna. However, the journey was doing nothing for the Bishop’s fragile health, and he was a poor travelling companion, morose and irritable.
‘I shall never touch wine again,’ he vowed miserably. ‘I feel sick.’
‘I am not surprised. I thought you rarely touched wine, and it was hardly a brew that warranted unrestrained guzzling.’
‘I had a burning thirst,’ said Giffard, ‘which the wine did nothing to quench. It was poor quality, was it? I am no judge of such matters.’
‘I am sure someone put salt in it, and that it was intended for something other than drinking. Cleaning the silver, perhaps. Joan uses salty cloths soaked in wine to polish spoons.’
‘Agnes gave it to me. I might have known she would resort to a low trick. I thought it was a peace offering, but—’
‘Did you hear anything about Eleanor and Hugh before we left?’ asked Geoffrey, changing the subject before Giffard launched into a diatribe. ‘Are they still missing?’
Giffard nodded. ‘But they did not perish in the flames. No more bodies have been found. Glance behind you, and tell me whether Agnes and Walter are still glaring at me. Walter is sulking, because he resents being told what to do, and Agnes is peeved because she hoped to seduce the King today. But neither can afford to be too cross, because they want me to make Walter my heir.’
‘Walter is scowling like a spoilt brat,’ said Geoffrey. ‘You should leave everything to the Church. He does not deserve anything.’
‘I fully intend to,’ said Giffard with a humourless smile. ‘My will is already drawn up to that effect – although he does not know it.’ He then became uncommunicative, so Geoffrey dropped behind to ride with Agnes. She smiled prettily, her eyes full of mischievous promise.
‘Sir Geoffrey,’ she crooned. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘Have you spoken to Eleanor since the fire?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘We do not like each other.’
‘Why not?’ Margaret had told Geoffrey that the two women had spent time together in Normandy, so he suspected that she was lying.
‘We had a disagreement.’
‘It was not about the Duchess and poison, was it?’ Geoffrey watched her intently.
She gaped at him. ‘What makes you think I know anything about that sort of thing?’
‘I found a phial of mandrake recently. It is good for killing – strong and fast.’
‘The Duchess did not die quickly. She was ill for weeks.’
‘Then perhaps it was administered in small doses,’ suggested Geoffrey.
‘Perhaps, but not by me. I know very little about mandrake – only that it shrieks when pulled from the ground and its root, leaves and fruit are poisonous. Tell me about Goodrich’s palace instead. Will I like it?’
‘Probably not – and it is no palace.’
Agnes showed her small teeth in a tinkling laugh that had Giffard glancing back admonishingly. She poked her tongue out at him.
‘Gloomy old fool! He hates the notion of anyone being happy. He thinks we should all be miserable, cheerless and thinking only of our eternal souls.’
‘He is a good man,’ said Geoffrey, a little coldly.
‘That is what makes him a bore. I warrant you are not so saintly. What do you say we slip away and get to know each other better? We can tell the Bishop we are looking for firewood.’
‘I doubt he will believe that,’ said Geoffrey, trying not to show astonishment at her suggestion. ‘He is not totally naïve.’
‘He most certainly is! Moreover, he needs to open his eyes to the world instead of keeping them fixed on a Heaven that does not exist. Do not look shocked! We all know the Bible is a lot of nonsense.’
‘What do you believe in, then?’ Geoffrey asked, declining to voice an opinion on such a dangerous issue.
‘In having a damned good time before I die,’ Agnes replied fervently.
He thought about her visit to the Angel Springs. ‘Do you believe in frequenting stone altars at dawn?’
‘I suppose Giffard told you I went there? I thought I heard him snoring in that shepherd’s hut. If you must know, I was lo
oking for Eleanor.’
‘Whom you dislike?’
She scowled. ‘You are too quick with your questions! But let us talk of nicer things. You have a fine, strong body and a handsome face. Would you like to—’
‘I would like to know why you were looking for Eleanor,’ interrupted Geoffrey, rather repelled by her salaciousness.
She pouted. ‘You prefer Eleanor to me? I am prettier.’
‘I could not say: I have never seen Eleanor’s face.’
‘She has no lower jaw,’ confided Agnes. ‘One of her magic potions blew it off.’
Geoffrey laughed, thinking it an outrageous claim. ‘What were you really doing at the spring? Was it you who did the drawing of the manor?’
‘That was probably Eleanor. I went to cancel the spell, so the fire would not break out again. My actions were noble.’
‘You know about cancelling spells, do you?’
His questions were making her angry, and her answer was sharp. ‘I learnt from my mother, who was a very wise woman.’
‘Did she teach you about poisons, too?’
‘As I told you before, I know nothing about those.’
Geoffrey was relieved when Goodrich’s sturdy walls appeared. He was tired of Giffard’s misery, Agnes’ attempts to make him behave indiscreetly and her son’s resentful looks.
‘My mother is recently widowed,’ Walter said tightly. ‘And she loves the Duke, so leave her alone. I did not teach you how to seduce women in Italian so you could have her.’
‘Where did you learn Italian?’ Geoffrey asked, before he felt compelled to box the boy’s ears for his impudence.
‘I spent much of my life in Italy,’ replied Walter loftily.
‘How much of your life?’ asked Geoffrey, wondering why he had not, then, learnt the language properly.
‘A whole week. There is much that is admirable about Italy.’
‘Including its poisons?’ asked Geoffrey.
‘You must ask Eleanor the witch about that,’ replied Walter.
‘I would, but she seems to be missing. Have you seen her since the fire?’
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