carefully took her mind away from wherever next her thoughts might have gone. Whatever trouble Katherine was making between herself and Lady Blaunche, there was no need to let it become a trouble for her, too, and firmly not thinking about anything except going to bed, she stripped down to her undergown, slipped into the far side of the truckle bed that indeed she was to share with the two waiting-women, pulled up her share of the blankets, shut her eyes, and set to saying Compline’s prayers in hope that sleep would soon come, leaving the others to sort things out as they would.
Chapter 6
The shutters had been set wide open from the narrow, tall windows down both sides of Brinskep’s great hall to let in the cool wash of the overcast day’s lean light and the warming day’s spring-scented air—not being from the pigsty side of the manor today, Robert thought wryly. The windows were too high in the walls for anything to be seen from them but pale sky with thin clouds instead of thickly gray and raining ones. Without the rain, even with the roads still mudded, travel should have gone well enough today and even while he agreed aloud with Master Durant that the weather looked likely to clear, he was thinking that they should have been here by now, Katherine and the others. But aloud, to keep up his share of the talk, he said, “If the weather holds dry for a few days, we might be plowing by next week’s end,” because after all Master Durant was one of the six arbiters who were to help sort out matters with the Allesleys and it was better they liked each other than not, and from the little he had seen so far of Master Durant and his fellow Master Hotoft in the hour or so they had been here, he liked them both well enough. It was simply that he was not as ready as he could wish for all that was happening. The matter of arbitration had moved forward more swiftly than he would ever have deemed possible in the scant weeks since he had no more than raised the possibility with the attorney’s clerk who had come with Sir Lewis Allesley’s latest demands. Sir Lewis had answered back by swift messenger that he was more than willing to it, and after that, among the possible ways arbitration might be done and the difference in place and power between himself and Sir Lewis, they had settled on each bringing three arbiters to the dealing, rather than on trying to find a neutral lord who might after all have interests one way or the other; and because Sir Lewis Allesley as the earl of Stafford’s man would draw his arbiters from the earl’s council, Ned had advised Robert he should ask Lord Grey of Groby’s help in providing his own.
‘It would obligate me to him,“ Robert had protested.
‘You’re going to have to be obligated to someone to balance the Allesleys or else you’ll have no chance in this at all. Grey is the coming power this end of Warwickshire. You’ll likely have to align with him soon or late. Why not now and have some good out of it right off?“ Then, knowing perfectly well the answer, Ned had added, ”Unless you’d rather ask Sir Walter’s help?“
Because any Fenner help would reach no further than flat refusal to consider parting with any land, Robert had turned away from that possibility without second thought, had sent word to Lord Grey of his need, been promptly assured of Lord Grey’s willingness to help, and now here were Master Durant and Master Hotoft, with Master Fielding due to arrive tomorrow when the Allesleys and their arbiters were likewise expected, with the talks among them to begin the day after that.
And all Robert found he was truly mindful of was that Blaunche should have been here with Katherine by midday and it was now late afternoon and neither they nor word of them had come.
Beside him, Ned had been keeping Master Hotoft in talk but they had moved on from weather to other things and Master Hotoft now turned to Master Durant to ask, “Tom, do
Chapter 6
The shutters had been set wide open from the narrow, tall windows down both sides of Brinskep’s great hall to let in the cool wash of the overcast day’s lean light and the warming day’s spring-scented air—not being from the pigsty side of the manor today, Robert thought wryly. The windows were too high in the walls for anything to be seen from them but pale sky with thin clouds instead of thickly gray and raining ones. Without the rain, even with the roads still mudded, travel should have gone well enough today and even while he agreed aloud with Master Durant that the weather looked likely to clear, he was thinking that they should have been here by now, Katherine and the others. But aloud, to keep up his share of the talk, he said, “If the weather holds dry for a few days, we might be plowing by next week’s end,” because after all Master Durant was one of the six arbiters who were to help sort out matters with the Allesleys and it was better they liked each other than not, and from the little he had seen so far of Master Durant and his fellow Master Hotoft in the hour or so they had been here, he liked them both well enough. It was simply that he was not as ready as he could wish for all that was happening. The matter of arbitration had moved forward more swiftly than he would ever have deemed possible in the scant weeks since he had no more than raised the possibility with the attorney’s clerk who had come with Sir Lewis Allesley’s latest demands. Sir Lewis had answered back by swift messenger that he was more than willing to it, and after that, among the possible ways arbitration might be done and the difference in place and power between himself and Sir Lewis, they had settled on each bringing three arbiters to the dealing, rather than on trying to find a neutral lord who might after all have interests one way or the other; and because Sir Lewis Allesley as the earl of Stafford’s man would draw his arbiters from the earl’s council, Ned had advised Robert he should ask Lord Grey of Groby’s help in providing his own.
‘It would obligate me to him,“ Robert had protested.
‘You’re going to have to be obligated to someone to balance the Allesleys or else you’ll have no chance in this at all. Grey is the coming power this end of Warwickshire. You’ll likely have to align with him soon or late. Why not now and have some good out of it right off?“ Then, knowing perfectly well the answer, Ned had added, ”Unless you’d rather ask Sir Walter’s help?“
Because any Fenner help would reach no further than flat refusal to consider parting with any land, Robert had turned away from that possibility without second thought, had sent word to Lord Grey of his need, been promptly assured of Lord Grey’s willingness to help, and now here were Master Durant and Master Hotoft, with Master Fielding due to arrive tomorrow when the Allesleys and their arbiters were likewise expected, with the talks among them to begin the day after that.
And all Robert found he was truly mindful of was that Blaunche should have been here with Katherine by midday and it was now late afternoon and neither they nor word of them had come.
Beside him, Ned had been keeping Master Hotoft in talk but they had moved on from weather to other things and Master Hotoft now turned to Master Durant to ask, “Tom, do
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