The Dragon of Handale (28 page)

Now she understood that when she was escorted to Handale, they had left by a side entrance, following the rim of a half circle of moat in the castle’s defences. The main gate was far more imposing and was reached along the peninsula on the landward side.

Today the battlements were decked with pennants. Red and gold, they cracked in the wind. Surprised, HIldegard saw that the standard above the main gate displayed the arms of Northumberland, a gold lion rampant on a red ground.

From the top of the gatehouse, a lookout in the earl’s red and gold colours shouted down to ask their business. A door in the massive gatehouse was opened and someone poked his head out. He wore a basinet and chain mail with the Kilton emblem on his surcoat. Permission to enter was achieved with an amount of discussion that Hildegard, wet and cold from their walk, could have done without.

She was aware that Matt and Hamo were staring in astonishment as she parlayed with the guard, expressing more than a townswoman’s confidence and showing a side of her they had not seen before.

Once inside, Matt, at sixteen, looked round with an open mouth. He had clearly never been anywhere like it. Hamo was more cynical, although even he, presumably, had never before witnessed such a concentration of military strength and the splendour that went with it. Both observed the armed militia and their gleaming weaponry with awe.

To judge by the emblems on show, several baronial households were present. It was clear there would be no stepping out of line with such tough-looking and well-equipped professional soldiers. A flotilla of servants followed them about. “Like gnats round a midden,” grunted Hamo, striving to remain unimpressed.

They could see into a second courtyard through an arch on the other side of the yard. The colours of the earl hung from the battlements, and the clash of arms could be heard as the captains put their platoons through their daily drill.

Half a dozen guards were standing around the entrance and stopped them when they tried to walk through. They were quickly informed that only the earl’s closest guests were allowed into the inner court They were sent ignominiously back into the melee in the outer court.

“It wasn’t like this when I arrived the other night,” she told them both. “Something important is obviously going on.” It was clearly no visit from a mere knight as she had assumed from Fulke’s conversation with his mysterious customer. The harbingers of the earl had already arrived, as they soon discovered.

“Have we got a chance of hiring horses, then?” asked Hamo, looking round. “Somebody’s got to get to Durham and let master know what’s happened.”

“A courtier might be your best bet,” Hildegard suggested. “Cheaper than hiring a horse anyway.”

She stopped a passing servant and, after asking about couriers, she inquired where she might find Sir Ulf of Langbrough. He gestured towards the common hall. “Probably in there with the other knights.”

“What’s going on?” she asked.

He looked at her in astonishment. “What do you mean, mistress?”

“Why this gathering of militia?”

“His grace the earl,” he replied, spacing the words as if talking to a country bumpkin, “will shortly be in residence? See his harbingers?” He hurried off, shaking his head.

“What earl’s that, like?” asked Hamo when the servant was out of earshot.

“He’ll mean the earl of Northumberland. Look at his colours.’ Matt pointed to the battlements. “But what’s he doing here?”

“We’ll soon find out. Follow me.” Hildegard led the way to the great hall, and when they got inside, she asked the marshal to bring Ulf of Langbrough to them.

Over a hundred knights and their attendants were dining at tables of ten or so. Emerging from out of this crowd, Ulf greeted Hildegard with evident relief. Hildegard could not have been more glad to see him, either.

He took the three of them back to his table. He was sharing his place, as was the custom with a knight of equal status. The man was a stranger to Hildegard and was eating as if food was a scarcity where he came from, and he merely glanced up, nodded, and carried on eating.

Ulf managed to attract the attention of one of the servers as he swept past with an armful of platters.

“You’re late,” he said, addressing Hildegard as he poured wine for them all. “I thought you were going to arrive yesterday. Was it the snow that delayed you?”

Hildegard nodded. “And much more than that. I’ll tell you later. These two masons”—she introduced them—“wish to get a message out to their master in Durham and to call the coroner to register the death of one of their workmates. They fear that the prioress of Handale has not kept her word to them.”

She explained further, interrupted now and then by Hamo and Matt as they told Ulf about Giles and what had befallen him.

Ulf was able to direct them to the steward’s office, where they would be able to pay a courier to take a message for them. They went off looking slightly dazed by the noise and bustle of the place after months sequestered at Handale.

“Well,” said Ulf when they left. “You look the worse for wear.” He refilled her beaker of wine. “So what’s been happening? I expect there’s more to it than you’ve just told me.”

She gave a glance at the stranger still shovelling food into his mouth. Ulf caught her eye and got up. “Mistress”—he bowed—“will you do me the honour of walking with me in the courtyard?”

“Who was that?” she asked when they were outside,.

“Just some passing knight from farther north. I don’t think they know how to talk up there. So far, I’ve heard only grunts from him. As far as I can make out, he came down with Northumberland’s retinue to prepare the place for his eventual arrival. I mentioned a secret convocation? This is it. Roger’s around somewhere. The earl called all the barons of the north to discuss the latest with King Richard.’

“Is there news?”

“It seems de Vere is marching his army along the banks of the river Severn as we speak.”

“Under orders from the king?” she asked in astonishment.

Ulf frowned. “It looks like it. But it makes no sense. The news is that Richard is still in London. There’s been no call from him to muster an army.”

“So why has Northumberland decided to summon all the northern chivalry to this out-of-the-way place?”

“He expects to have to make a decision one way or another. To support the king when the call does actually come, as it must. Or to side with Gloucester, Warwick, and Arundel.”

“And Bolingbroke?”

“He’s yet to show his hand, but yes, I would imagine he’ll fall in with them.”

“God help King Richard.” Her face expressed the depth of her concern. “Ulf, I’m afraid. Innocent people are going to die. The barons are bringing the butchery of the chevauchée to England.”

He touched her cheek with the back of one of his fingers and ran it tenderly to the corner of her mouth. “It won’t come to that. Forget it for a while. Nothing can be decided until the earl arrives, and by then the situation may have changed for the better. Tell me what’s been happening at Handale.”

“Compared to your news, it’s nothing much. Small events in the scale of things, even though they’re matters of life and death to the individuals caught up in them.”

She explained about the task Prioress Basilda had given her in exchange for the hospitality of the priory.

“It was while I was in the scriptorium that I discovered a secret hidden in the priory records It is something that the prioress will want to keep quiet.” She glanced round to make sure they would not be overheard. “You remember I mentioned the priest who died? I’ve now found out who his mother was.” She hesitated. “Ulf, you won’t believe this, but it was Prioress Basilda herself.”

“Are you sure?” He sounded astonished. “When did it happen?”

“The boy was no more than twenty or so. He was born when she was a nun, during her first year, judging by the dates. The father must have been a wealthy man, someone who could afford to pay to keep the matter quiet and placate any retribution from the Church.”

“He might have been a high-up churchman himself,” Ulf pointed out realistically enough.

She did not agree. “Maybe it’s something we shall never know, unless the prioress herself confesses. The reason I doubt it is this.” Then she told him what the priest had said about his expectations. “He saw himself as one of the heirs to Kilton. There was a sister somewhere, although he had not seen her since she was a child of two. It was a matter that had been at law for some years. We must assume his father had waited in vain, in the expectation of having judgement made in his favour. But you know how these things go. The attorneys take their time. It’s bread and butter to them, this sort of litigation. While they draw it out, they’re spinning gold and the contesting parties are forced to live in a kind of limbo. This seems to be much what happened to the priest.”

“So does it mean the prioress will inherit Kilton?”

“If her relationship was not regularised, she could not claim. And clearly it was not, or she would have left the Order. But don’t you see?”

“What?”

“Fulke was making use of the priory to keep his goods out of sight until they could be sold on. Why did Basilda allow him to do so? She was getting an income from them to make it worth her while, as I saw from the accounts detailing Fulke’s donations. But it’s my guess Fulke must have known about her past mistake and used his knowledge to maintain a hold over her. It’s not the sort of thing she would want shouted abroad. She was forced to accept his imposition.”

“Blackmail, you mean?”

She nodded. “What else could account for her sudden change when her son died? Fulke was left with nothing to use as a threat. He had no hold over her after that. It would have been her word against his if he’d tried to reveal the truth. Without living proof, as it were.”

“But how did you find out?”

“It’s there, well hidden among the rolls in the scriptorium, and we must believe that is the only proof. I found a document naming the priest’s birth mother and the agreement for him to be taken in as an oblate at Whitby Abbey. I also found copies of more recent letters from Basilda to Fulke complaining about the injustice of his demands on the priory. ‘Do you not think I have suffered enough without you trying to rake up old mistakes?’ she wrote. ‘I have paid the price many times over for my foolishness. Do you want my blood, as well?’ There was more, but something happened and—” She put her fingers to her neck before she realised what she was doing.

Ulf bent his head. “What’s happened, Hildegard? What is that?” He tenderly lifted her hair, revealing the weals from the noose. “You’ve been attacked?” He looked scandalised. “Who did this?”

“I don’t know.” She explained briefly what had happened.

Ulf was enraged, but he said very little. She could tell he was ready to do anything to discover the culprit.

“There’s no point in getting into a rage over it. Something might happen to put us on his or her trail, but until then, there are other matters of far more importance.” She put a hand on his arm. “Your dear Petronel, for instance. I trust you got your beloved horse back? And you haven’t told me what happened to that coxcomb and his purchase.”

He gave a curse. “I have not found my horse. We followed through the blizzard until we fetched up here. That thieving devil entered the castle and we were just behind him. We saw him ride through the blizzard onto the ridge and go up to the main gate. And then he disappeared. You can hardly credit it. But that’s what happened. We haven’t seen him or Petronel since.”

“Did he come inside?”

Ulf nodded. “We saw him enter, all right. They opened the gates with more speed than when we approached. We were kept waiting an age while they checked our right to be here. A list had to fetched. ‘You’re a day early,’ they had the gall to tell me. ‘I’m pursuing a stolen horse,’ I replied. ‘Who was that fellow who rode in before us?’ They looked blank. Trained to look like that, deliberately to deceive. He must be someone of importance for them to behave so. Curse them.”

“But Petronel must be in the stables.”

“We’ve had a look but couldn’t find him. And as for that thief in the capuchon, he’s vanished completely.”

“There are hundreds of strangers here, all with their mounts. It’s not surprising you haven’t found Petronel. We must start another, more thorough search. He’s so distinctive, he won’t go missing for long. If you saw him ridden into the castle, then he must be here. You’re quite convinced the rider didn’t turn off the road?”

“There’s nowhere else he could have gone. We saw him cantering out along the ridge. We heard the portcullis rise and fall. Of course he came here.”

“There’ll be even more people thronging the place when Northumberland arrives. When is he due?”

“Imminently, we’re told.”

“I remember him from last year in London, when we had to accompany Mr. Medford of the Signet Office to Northumberland’s town house.”

“To seek out his secretary, Harry Summers? Yes, I well remember that. Dark days.” He gave her a soft look, but she brushed it aside. Now was not the time to allow Rivera into her thoughts.

“Is Summers coming along here, do you know?”

“I haven’t seen him. If he’s still got his head on his shoulders, I expect he’ll be travelling with the earl.”

“There’s an inner court over there, Ulf.” She indicated the arch with the strong guard on duty outside. “We tried to go in before we met you, but they refused us entry.”

“We lesser beings are not allowed inside.”

“Do you think your man is in there?”

Ulf gazed gloomily across the busy yard. “He and my horse.” He nodded. “It’s very likely. That’s exactly where they’ll be. In a place barred to a mere shire knight such as myself.”

“Barred, you say? In that case, we’ll have to do something about it, won’t we?”

On impulse, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “I must go and sort out my lodgings and see how Matt and Hamo are getting on.”

C
HAPTER
25

To anybody not in the know, the two masons were absorbed in a game of dice. They were sitting over by the wall, not far from the entrance into the inner court yard, when Hildegard went up to the guards. Hamo was looking up at the sky, as if asking for divine help for his next throw. Matt appeared to be inspecting his fingernails.