![[Roger the Chapman 06] - The Wicked Winter](https://fs.ageofbook.com/617064/thumbs/152x264/roger-the-chapman-06-the-wicked-winter.jpg)
the chapman. We have both known worse billets, I'm certain.'
'Far, far worse,' I agreed feelingly, noting that the fire still smouldered on the hearth and that there was a pair of stout bellows handy.
The steward's glance indicated that my opinion was of no concern to him, but reassured about the friar, he hurried away.
I seized the bellows, reignited the glowing embers and threw on some logs from a basket which stood nearby. A comfortable blaze soon gave both light and warmth to the room.
'We shall be cosy enough, as Master Steward says,' I remarked, removing my cloak and sitting down.
It was too early to sleep, but I was bone-weary after the day's events and stretched out among the rushes to ease my aching limbs. My mind, however, was in turmoil as, obviously, was Friar Simeon's. Exhausted as he must have been, he could not settle, but prowled around the kitchen, idly picking up one thing after another and then putting them down again, without even realising what he was doing. I indicated one of the stools we had occupied earlier.
'Come and tell me what's preying on your mind, Brother. It would be better to talk about it, whatever it is.'
He agreed reluctantly but did not immediately sit down, scuffing the rushes with a sandalled foot. His toes, I noticed, were covered with painful-looking chilblains.
'Well?' I encouraged him after a moment or two had passed in silence.
'Why did Lady Cederwell send for me?' he asked at length. 'Why was her message so urgent?' And without expecting an answer he went on, 'There is something wrong in this house!' His narrow chest began to swell and his eyes to flash. 'There is the scent of adultery, can you not smell it? Did you not notice the way Sir Hugh and that Mistress Lynom looked at one another? The way she clung to his hand when she first came in?' Knowing too much, I judged it wisest to say nothing and waited for the friar to continue. 'Adultery,' he repeated. 'And it was against this evil that Lady Cederwell needed my help.' He smote his forehead with a clenched fist. 'I failed her!'
'You know nothing for certain,' I pointed out. 'It might just have been that she had a desire to hear one of your sermons. They have been spoken of everywhere I have been in the past two weeks. Your fame has gone before you.' He slowly shook his head, sinking on to the stool and scratching at his chilblains as the heat began to irritate them.
'No, I don't believe that and neither do you, any more than you believe that Mistress Lynom's groom met your hermit, Ulnoth, on his way here.' He took a deep breath and admitted, not without difficulty, 'I made a mistake in revealing what you'd told me. I should have held my tongue.'
'It... was unfortunate,' I agreed, but diffidently. Simeon was not a man who could lightly be taken to task. 'Yet if you don't believe Hamon's story, what is the truth?'
Simeon's expression grew grimmer. 'I think that when he arrived, he saw Lady Cederwell's body lying on the ground. I think it probable that he also saw something or perhaps someone else which sent him chasing back to his mistress instead of rousing the household here and telling them what had happened.'
I moved an inch or two further away from the fire.
'But if,' I objected, 'Hamon was searching for Sir Hugh, as I have good cause to believe that he was, in order to present him with the buttons, he should have approached the house, not wandered down towards the estuary. And furthermore, the body was hidden from view unless you went around to the far side of the tower.'
Simeon's jaw hardened. 'All the same,' he protested obstinately, 'and for whatever reason, he walked to the tower instead of coming straight to the house.'
I stared up into the blackened rafters overhead. 'I'm inclined to agree with you, Brother, although we've not a shred of evidence, and it would therefore be most imprudent for us to make any accusations. Between ourselves, however, I should guess that the groom might have seen someone
'Far, far worse,' I agreed feelingly, noting that the fire still smouldered on the hearth and that there was a pair of stout bellows handy.
The steward's glance indicated that my opinion was of no concern to him, but reassured about the friar, he hurried away.
I seized the bellows, reignited the glowing embers and threw on some logs from a basket which stood nearby. A comfortable blaze soon gave both light and warmth to the room.
'We shall be cosy enough, as Master Steward says,' I remarked, removing my cloak and sitting down.
It was too early to sleep, but I was bone-weary after the day's events and stretched out among the rushes to ease my aching limbs. My mind, however, was in turmoil as, obviously, was Friar Simeon's. Exhausted as he must have been, he could not settle, but prowled around the kitchen, idly picking up one thing after another and then putting them down again, without even realising what he was doing. I indicated one of the stools we had occupied earlier.
'Come and tell me what's preying on your mind, Brother. It would be better to talk about it, whatever it is.'
He agreed reluctantly but did not immediately sit down, scuffing the rushes with a sandalled foot. His toes, I noticed, were covered with painful-looking chilblains.
'Well?' I encouraged him after a moment or two had passed in silence.
'Why did Lady Cederwell send for me?' he asked at length. 'Why was her message so urgent?' And without expecting an answer he went on, 'There is something wrong in this house!' His narrow chest began to swell and his eyes to flash. 'There is the scent of adultery, can you not smell it? Did you not notice the way Sir Hugh and that Mistress Lynom looked at one another? The way she clung to his hand when she first came in?' Knowing too much, I judged it wisest to say nothing and waited for the friar to continue. 'Adultery,' he repeated. 'And it was against this evil that Lady Cederwell needed my help.' He smote his forehead with a clenched fist. 'I failed her!'
'You know nothing for certain,' I pointed out. 'It might just have been that she had a desire to hear one of your sermons. They have been spoken of everywhere I have been in the past two weeks. Your fame has gone before you.' He slowly shook his head, sinking on to the stool and scratching at his chilblains as the heat began to irritate them.
'No, I don't believe that and neither do you, any more than you believe that Mistress Lynom's groom met your hermit, Ulnoth, on his way here.' He took a deep breath and admitted, not without difficulty, 'I made a mistake in revealing what you'd told me. I should have held my tongue.'
'It... was unfortunate,' I agreed, but diffidently. Simeon was not a man who could lightly be taken to task. 'Yet if you don't believe Hamon's story, what is the truth?'
Simeon's expression grew grimmer. 'I think that when he arrived, he saw Lady Cederwell's body lying on the ground. I think it probable that he also saw something or perhaps someone else which sent him chasing back to his mistress instead of rousing the household here and telling them what had happened.'
I moved an inch or two further away from the fire.
'But if,' I objected, 'Hamon was searching for Sir Hugh, as I have good cause to believe that he was, in order to present him with the buttons, he should have approached the house, not wandered down towards the estuary. And furthermore, the body was hidden from view unless you went around to the far side of the tower.'
Simeon's jaw hardened. 'All the same,' he protested obstinately, 'and for whatever reason, he walked to the tower instead of coming straight to the house.'
I stared up into the blackened rafters overhead. 'I'm inclined to agree with you, Brother, although we've not a shred of evidence, and it would therefore be most imprudent for us to make any accusations. Between ourselves, however, I should guess that the groom might have seen someone
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