offer evidence of her guilt so carelessly.”
“I agree, but I have no other direction for suspicion.”
“Women can be as wrathful as men,” Kate said.
“I suppose, although their temper does not usually result in the use of daggers and swords, or bodkins, either, I think. I am confused. Do you now say that Lady Anne might have slain her father in a fit of anger?”
“Nay. A resentful woman will seek to destroy her enemy with her wiles rather than blades. Being the weaker sex, she must use her wits for lack of brawn.”
“So if Lady Anne is not stupid, you say she may be shrewd… enough so to devise ways to throw me and Sir Roger off her trail? But what I have learned points to her. How can that be shrewd?”
“There is another woman involved,” Kate said. “Do Lady Margery and Lady Anne seem friendly?”
“Ah, I see your point. They cast no daggers with their eyes when at Lord Gilbert’s table, but Lady Anne is Sir Henry’s heir by his first wife, Lady Goscelyna. If Lady Anne went to the scaffold for her father’s murder Lady Margery would not have to share the estate, such as it is.”
“Such as it is? What do you mean?”
“Sir Henry went to his grave in debt. His valet is unsure if his possessions are of greater worth than his debts.”
“So he was not likely slain for an inheritance.”
“Nay. Lady Margery and Lady Anne would know there would be little profit to balance against the risk of discovery. A wife who slays her husband is considered guilty of treason against him, and likewise a daughter, I believe.”
Kate shuddered. “They would be hanged, drawn and quartered?”
“That is a punishment reserved for men… but hanged, surely.”
“But the valet said that Lady Margery was displeased with Sir Henry?”
“He did.”
“And now she is free to wed some other. Perhaps you will not solve this murder until she takes another husband.”
“And that fellow will be the felon?”
“Or the reason for Lady Margery’s felony.”
K ate and I awoke next morn to the ringing of the Angelus Bell. Before I wed I was accustomed to seeking the church early on Sunday for Matins, but now that Kate and I have a babe we do not enter St Beornwald’s Church until time for mass. May the Lord Christ forgive my sloth.
After mass, and a dinner of porre of peas, I left Kate and Bessie and sought the castle. I wished to speak more with Walter Mayn, and found him just leaving the hall after his dinner.
I greeted him pleasantly, but the valet seemed reluctant to speak to me. Perhaps he feared that I had another unpleasant duty to assign to him. He was not far wrong.
“Have you spoken since yesterday to Lady Margery’s maids?” I asked.
“Nay.”
“Make a point of doing so today.”
“To what purpose?”
“Tell them that you believe the sheriff is about to seize Sir Henry’s murderer.”
“If they ask why I think so, what am I to say? Is it indeed so?”
“There are those more likely guilty than others, but if any ask of you how you know this, tell them only that Master Hugh has told you he has found grounds to accuse the felon. If you tell what I ask to Lady Margery’s maids, gossip will soon send the rumor to every corner of the castle.”
“That is all you wish of me?”
“Aye. For now. Set folk’s tongues to wagging and we will see where it leads.”
I suspected that Walter’s gossip would envelop the castle before nightfall, and so it did, but other complications also encompassed Bampton Castle that day.
King Edward requires that all men practice with the longbow of a Sunday afternoon, and as bailiff to Lord Gilbert it is my duty to see that the charge is carried out. I had assigned Arthur to setting up the butts in the meadow before the castle, and after I told Walter what I required of him I wandered back through the gatehouse to watch the practice and oversee the competition.
Lord Gilbert provides four silver pennies each week as prizes for those who show the greatest
“I agree, but I have no other direction for suspicion.”
“Women can be as wrathful as men,” Kate said.
“I suppose, although their temper does not usually result in the use of daggers and swords, or bodkins, either, I think. I am confused. Do you now say that Lady Anne might have slain her father in a fit of anger?”
“Nay. A resentful woman will seek to destroy her enemy with her wiles rather than blades. Being the weaker sex, she must use her wits for lack of brawn.”
“So if Lady Anne is not stupid, you say she may be shrewd… enough so to devise ways to throw me and Sir Roger off her trail? But what I have learned points to her. How can that be shrewd?”
“There is another woman involved,” Kate said. “Do Lady Margery and Lady Anne seem friendly?”
“Ah, I see your point. They cast no daggers with their eyes when at Lord Gilbert’s table, but Lady Anne is Sir Henry’s heir by his first wife, Lady Goscelyna. If Lady Anne went to the scaffold for her father’s murder Lady Margery would not have to share the estate, such as it is.”
“Such as it is? What do you mean?”
“Sir Henry went to his grave in debt. His valet is unsure if his possessions are of greater worth than his debts.”
“So he was not likely slain for an inheritance.”
“Nay. Lady Margery and Lady Anne would know there would be little profit to balance against the risk of discovery. A wife who slays her husband is considered guilty of treason against him, and likewise a daughter, I believe.”
Kate shuddered. “They would be hanged, drawn and quartered?”
“That is a punishment reserved for men… but hanged, surely.”
“But the valet said that Lady Margery was displeased with Sir Henry?”
“He did.”
“And now she is free to wed some other. Perhaps you will not solve this murder until she takes another husband.”
“And that fellow will be the felon?”
“Or the reason for Lady Margery’s felony.”
K ate and I awoke next morn to the ringing of the Angelus Bell. Before I wed I was accustomed to seeking the church early on Sunday for Matins, but now that Kate and I have a babe we do not enter St Beornwald’s Church until time for mass. May the Lord Christ forgive my sloth.
After mass, and a dinner of porre of peas, I left Kate and Bessie and sought the castle. I wished to speak more with Walter Mayn, and found him just leaving the hall after his dinner.
I greeted him pleasantly, but the valet seemed reluctant to speak to me. Perhaps he feared that I had another unpleasant duty to assign to him. He was not far wrong.
“Have you spoken since yesterday to Lady Margery’s maids?” I asked.
“Nay.”
“Make a point of doing so today.”
“To what purpose?”
“Tell them that you believe the sheriff is about to seize Sir Henry’s murderer.”
“If they ask why I think so, what am I to say? Is it indeed so?”
“There are those more likely guilty than others, but if any ask of you how you know this, tell them only that Master Hugh has told you he has found grounds to accuse the felon. If you tell what I ask to Lady Margery’s maids, gossip will soon send the rumor to every corner of the castle.”
“That is all you wish of me?”
“Aye. For now. Set folk’s tongues to wagging and we will see where it leads.”
I suspected that Walter’s gossip would envelop the castle before nightfall, and so it did, but other complications also encompassed Bampton Castle that day.
King Edward requires that all men practice with the longbow of a Sunday afternoon, and as bailiff to Lord Gilbert it is my duty to see that the charge is carried out. I had assigned Arthur to setting up the butts in the meadow before the castle, and after I told Walter what I required of him I wandered back through the gatehouse to watch the practice and oversee the competition.
Lord Gilbert provides four silver pennies each week as prizes for those who show the greatest
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