The Merchant's Daughter (33 page)

Relief flooded her body, buckling her knees. She held on to Mistress Eustacia’s arm to steady herself. She wanted to go to Stephen and hug him, but instead she smiled across the way
at him. He simply lifted his brows, as relieved as she was, and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

But their relief might only be temporary. The bailiff could regain his memory, as Sir Clement had implied, and when he did, he might accuse both Stephen and Annabel of trying to kill him — his word against theirs. But at least there was no threat of Stephen being hung.

Lord Le Wyse gave her a whisper of a smile.

As Annabel began to relax, Maud rushed to the middle of the disintegrating circle. “What of the teeth marks on my father’s hand?” Her brows were lowered in a fierce scowl, and she directed her question to the members of the jury, turning her body to look each person in the face.

Sir Clement stopped at the top of the manor house steps and turned to listen.

“Teeth marks don’t appear by accident,” Maud continued, her cheeks red. “And the knife in his hand? What of that?”

The other jury members squinted, looked away thoughtfully, or nodded.

“Someone tried to kill my father. What do you say to that, Sir Clement? You are the king’s coroner. Shouldn’t you investigate?”

Annabel’s stomach sank.

Sir Clement shrugged and gestured with his hand, his eyelids half closed as though Maud’s outburst concerned him not at all. “As I clearly said, when your father is stronger, and remembers what happened, your jury may question any and all that you wish.”

“No. The inquest jury is here. Why should we wait? My father may never remember what happened.”

A murmur of approval went around the circle.

Sir Clement hesitated then nodded to the hundred bailiff. “There is your hundred bailiff. Let him decide.”

The crowd began to reassemble into a tighter circle, suddenly attentive and murmuring approval.

“I agree with this young woman,” the hundred bailiff said. “Let the jury question those they wish to question.”

The jury foreman stood. He cleared his throat, and when the assembly had grown quiet again, he said, “The first person we wish to question is the bailiff’s daughter, as she claims to have information to offer. Maud atte Water, come forward.”

The crowd turned as Maud made her way through the press of people. Her lips were pursed together, barely able to cover her prominent top teeth, and her eyes glinted with malice. Maud moved to the middle of the circle as if she were on stage.

“Maud, who do you think tried to kill your father?” the jury foreman asked in his loud voice.

Sir Clement interrupted from the manor house steps. “This is not the time to speculate about who, if anyone, tried to kill the bailiff. You may question Maud about where she was the night of the bailiff’s death or about what she saw. Nothing more.”

The jury foreman gave a slight bow to the coroner. “Maud, did you see anything the night of the bailiff’s death?”

“I saw him” — she pointed a finger at Lord le Wyse — “coming out of the woods behind the manor house.”

Chapter
18

The murmuring and whispering rose to a
high pitch.

“He knew my father would protest him seducing me and then refusing to marry me.”

Loud gasps and cries arose with this declaration. Annabel’s face burned and her stomach turned. Lord le Wyse and Maud? The mere thought made her want to retch. But no, he would never do such a thing.
I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it.

In a clear but monotone voice, Lord le Wyse replied, “That is a lie.” His face turned pale, but there was no other outward reaction from him. He remained expressionless, his eye unblinking.

For her to tell such a lie, and in front of the entire village!
A fire burned inside Annabel as she glared at Maud.

A rumble of thunder, as if triggered by Maud’s expression, vibrated Annabel’s breastbone. The crowd lifted their eyes to study the clouds.

Neither the jury foreman nor Maud reacted to the noise or the coming storm.

The foreman continued with his questions. “Did you see the knife the bailiff had in his hand when he was found?”

“Aye.”

“Had you ever seen the knife before?”

“Nay. It wasn’t my father’s.”

Annabel’s insides turned cold.

Sir Clement came closer and joined the hundred bailiff
standing near the jury. The coroner absently chewed a length of straw. He drew it out of his mouth and proclaimed, “You have yet to establish that the bailiff was attacked or that any foul play was involved. This jury needs to be about the business of finding facts. Maud atte Water, do you have any facts to offer?”

Maud’s tiny black eyes stared back at the coroner defiantly. Her hands were drawn up into fists at her side. “Someone tried to kill my father.” She stepped in Sir Clement’s direction and screamed, “I have nothing else to say!” A vein stood out, red and bulging, in her neck. She spun around and stalked away on stiff legs.

The foreman then announced, “The jury now wishes to summon the one who discovered the bailiff’s body. The jury wishes to question Lord Ranulf le Wyse.”

Annabel’s gaze flicked to Lord le Wyse, but his face was unreadable.
O God, please be with him. Don’t let him take the blame.

Lord le Wyse stood before them all, looking both stoic and calm.

The foreman looked a bit nervous and cleared his throat, his shoulders rounding a bit as he faced the lord of the demesne.

Lord Le Wyse’s dark brown hair was skillfully cut and combed into place, though his black eye patch gave him a look of danger. His beard was, as always, neatly trimmed, and he wore his finest silk doublet — sapphire blue with gold embroidery — along with a purple velvet robe with an intricate border along the hem, fastened at his right shoulder with a jeweled pin. He would have been welcome anywhere in that attire.
Anywhere except, perhaps, here.

In stark contrast, the jury foreman, as well as the other members of the jury, wore the typical dress of the villagers. The foreman’s dull-brown hood hung down his back, its folds draped around his neck and shoulders. His hay-colored hair was stiff and in need of a scrubbing, but his brown tunic was clean. It hung down to his knees over his dull earth-colored hose, and was cinched with a belt at his waist.

The foreman cleared his throat again, looked down at the
ground, then finally raised his eyes to meet Lord le Wyse’s. “Did my lord find the body of our bailiff in the woods?”

“Aye, I did.”

“And was my lord the first to discover him?”

“As far as I know.”

“Had you heard the bailiff set up the hue and cry?”

“No.”

“Then how came you to be in the woods at that time of evening?”

“I was on the path to the men’s privy. You do know that some people use the privy?”

This drew several chuckles from the crowd.

The foreman didn’t even smile. “Did you find anyone there with the body?”

“No.”

Maud cried out from the inside edge of the circle of spectators. “Did you kill my father?”

“I did not.”

Turmoil erupted as the hundred bailiff and Sir Clement said, at the same time, “Girl, you may not speak.”

“You are out of order, young woman,” the hundred bailiff said.

Maud ignored him, never taking her eyes off Lord le Wyse. “Then how came my father to lie on the ground with a knife in his hand and teeth marks upon him?”

“I have no explanation to offer.”

“My father was in perfect health!” Maud screamed even as two men grasped her arms and tried to remove her from the gathering. She broke free from the men’s hold and spun away from Lord le Wyse to look at the jurors. “Now my father doesn’t even know who he is! Since this man came to our village we have had nothing but bad fortune. There is a curse upon us! A drought has ruined most of our gardens and pastures. Fire destroyed our grain crop!” She pointed at Lord le Wyse. “This man has brought this curse upon us. I charge you, look upon him! See that he is accursed!”

Annabel cried out in distress, but she was hardly heard above the muffled exclamations of the crowd. How dare Maud say such things? She clutched her hand over her mouth as she stared at Lord le Wyse, almost expecting to see him laid open and bleeding from such a violent, unfair assault. Her only thought was to go to him and shield him, defend him and lash out at this ludicrous attack. She stepped forward.

“Nay, Annabel. You mustn’t.” Stephen caught her by the arm and pulled her back.

She shook off Stephen’s hand and crossed her arms, her eyes fastened on her lord’s face.

Gradually the crowd quieted, and the hundred bailiff spoke quite loudly. “Jury, you are to assess a fine to this woman for this disturbance.”

Maud allowed herself to be taken outside the inner circle of the court without further struggle while the jury conferred about her fine.

In a few moments, the jury foreman said, “For contempt of the court, the jury fines Maud atte Water fifteen pence.”

The hundred bailiff then addressed Lord le Wyse. “Would you like to respond to the accusations?”

From between clenched teeth, Lord le Wyse ground out, “Superstition shows ignorance. I neither caused nor could I have prevented any of those events. It’s her spite that drives her to cast suspicion on me. And I may be accursed, but at least I don’t tell lies under oath.”

Annabel wanted to cheer. The crowd around her mumbled and whispered to each other.

Maud’s cheeks turned fiery red.

The jury seemed to pretend nothing out of the ordinary had happened as they called two other people forward and questioned them, but neither had any new information to share.

The hundred bailiff spoke. “If no one has any factual information to offer this inquest, I am forced to declare the injury of Bailiff Tom atte Water an accident, unless he, of his own accord, decides to make a complaint.”

Annabel watched Sir Clement’s face. He knew everything and yet he wouldn’t reveal the truth.

The clerk, sitting at his tiny desk, wrote while the hundred bailiff spoke, and while dipping his quill in the ink, he neither lifted his eyes nor his head.

“May the bailiff recover and God’s grace shine upon him and the village of Glynval,” Sir Clement concluded.

At that moment, the skies began to release their first raindrops, and the people scattered, hunching their shoulders as they hurried away to find shelter from the storm.

Sir Clement went over to help his clerk by rolling up the parchment and tucking it into a bag to keep it dry while the clerk packed up his things.

Annabel’s eyes flicked to Maud, standing in the rain, and she could have sworn she saw steam rising from the girl’s head. The way Maud narrowed her eyes at Lord le Wyse before turning away sent a shiver through her. Annabel should have been relieved at the way things had concluded, but her insides still trembled with foreboding.

A hand closed around her elbow. She jumped and turned her head.

“Oh, it’s you, Stephen.” She threw her arms around his neck. “God saved us, didn’t He?”

“He did indeed.”

Annabel pulled away. “You should get out of the rain.”

Stephen nodded. Annabel turned and ran to the manor house.

Maud left Lord le Wyse’s service that day, clearing her things out of the undercroft. Annabel didn’t see her after the inquest, but some of the other maids said she was to live with her sister in a nearby village. Annabel prayed for her but was relieved she no longer had to see Tom’s daughter.

Beatrice’s duties as a dairymaid increased. On the first day of Maud’s absence, she sat at one end of the upper hall churning
butter as Annabel swept the floor. The girls chatted, until Lord le Wyse came through the door and walked across the nearly empty hall to the screened-off corner of the room where his bed and trunks were stored. Annabel glanced at him as he passed by her.

Beatrice was watching him as well. She smiled her biggest, toothy grin. “Good morning, Lord le Wyse.”

He mumbled, “Good day.”