‘Then use your staff. If you want, I can try your head instead. It’s thick enough, your skull should open the sodding thing.’
‘Oh, ha, ha,’ Gil said humourlessly. But he held his staff up and beat upon the door’s timbers heavily, three times. ‘If you don’t mind, sir, I’ll tell him you said you needed to speak with him,’ he added quietly, before bellowing, ‘Open the door in the name of the king!’
There was a muted rattling of bolts, then the lengthy rasp of the door’s lock being turned, and the door opened to show a furious-looking Charles, his steward just behind him with a face that looked sickly with anxiety.
Baldwin made a point of giving the curtest of nods to the two watchmen. ‘You may wait here,’ he said before marching inside, his shoulder clipping the merchant’s.
Charles began to bluster. ‘Who do you think you are to beat upon my door and walk into my house without …’
As he spoke, he became aware of Edgar, who was standing extremely close, right behind him. Charles drew back from Edgar’s smiling features, and Edgar gave an appreciative nod, reaching for the door and pushing it quietly closed.
Baldwin was already in the hall. ‘I would speak with you, Master Charles.’
‘Well, I wouldn’t want to speak to you! State your business, and be gone.’
Baldwin’s face did not alter, but Charles grew ever more conscious of how close Edgar was to him.
‘Master,’ Baldwin said, ‘I am aware that you must be concerned about affairs here, but I am trying to help. I am keen to help your son, and his wife too.’
‘Then go! In Christ’s name, just leave us! Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage? You and Edith’s father.’
‘What do you mean?’ Baldwin demanded.
‘The fact that you are here ruins all!’ Charles said despairingly. He walked to his chair and dropped into it. ‘To think that yesterday I woke and the sun still rose in the east. All was normal and without trouble; and now all is turned to ruin and disaster! My son lies in gaol. My only son!’
‘What have you done to try to have him released?’ Baldwin asked.
‘I have done everything I can, of course! What do you think I’ve done?’ Charles spat. ‘I’ve begged that horse’s arse the sheriff to release him, I’ve spoken to the city’s mayor, I’ve even gone to the receiver of the city to see if he can help, but no! All of them say that if it’s a matter of treason, they can do nothing. Poor Peter lies in that foul place while all the men in the city tell me that he cannot be freed. Why? What else could I have done?’
‘Nothing, my friend,’ Baldwin said, attempting to soothe the man. ‘I have been to the sheriff myself, and I will be speaking with Bishop Walter too. To hold the fellow is plainly wrong. He is innocent of this charge. I will ensure that he is released as soon as may be, but have you had a thought to easing the wheels of justice?’
He was reluctant to mention bribes, but there was no escaping the fact that many sheriffs were particularly venal, no matter what county they hailed from.
‘It was the first thing we thought of,’ said Jan as she walked into the room. Her eyes were glittering with misery, and Baldwin bowed to her in deference to her fears. ‘We offered him money, gold, even shares in my husband’s ventures, but the man would listen to no reason. He refused all we could give, and then he laughed at us.’
‘Have you given him cause to persecute your family?’ Baldwin asked the merchant. ‘I can see no reason why he would behave in this manner.’
‘No. I have had no dealings with him at all,’ Charles said.
‘He owns land near to you?’
‘Yes, but he’s never visited that I know of. I doubt this has anything to do with that.’
‘Your son said he had contacts in the king’s court?’
Charles’s face was in his hands now, and he left it there as he spoke. ‘All I know of him is that he is a close ally of Sir Hugh le Despenser.’
Baldwin felt the blood freeze in his veins.
‘That is all we know,’ Mistress Jan said. She took a shuddering breath, then gave a grimace. ‘If only I thought that there was some reason behind it.’
Her husband slowly withdrew his hands. ‘There is a reason. There is some cause for Despenser to detest Edith’s father. It is all his fault. The sheriff is acting on Despenser’s orders, you mark my words! The fool has brought all this upon our heads.’
‘It is not Simon’s fault if Despenser has grown bitter towards him,’ Baldwin said shortly. ‘Simon cannot be blamed for attempting to uphold the rule of the law.’
‘I can blame him!’ Charles spat. ‘I can blame him and anyone else for bringing this disaster upon our house. The bastard should have kept quiet and not threatened the livelihood of his own daughter and son-in-law like this!’
‘It is his daughter I am most concerned about,’ Baldwin said. ‘She is missing now. Have you seen her since last afternoon?’
‘No. She left here in the morning yesterday, and we haven’t seen her since,’ Jan said. She had an earnest expression, as though to confirm that she was indeed keen to help.
‘She stayed at my house, but tried to ride back here first thing in the morning,’ Baldwin admitted. ‘We had no idea she would try such a thing, but I saw she was gone as soon as I rose.’
‘Good!’ Charles said. ‘Perhaps if she is gone, the sheriff will release my boy and let us return to normal!’
‘Husband, good husband,’ Jan murmured. She walked across the floor to his side. ‘Don’t be cruel to her. She is our family now, and this is not her making.’
‘She sprang from the cods of that fool her father,’ Charles said. ‘I rue the day I first saw her.’
Baldwin grunted impatiently. ‘Well, if you will take that attitude, there is little more to be said. I will wish you God speed. However, if you have a brain left in your head, you will try to bring food and wine to your son. He will be in sore need of good food and drink. Also, bribe the guards to look after him and tell you when anything untoward is threatened to him. In that way, you may do him good.’
He turned to leave, but suddenly there was a scraping on the floor and he realised that Charles was flying towards him. Baldwin made no move, but suddenly Edgar was at his side, and with a swift rasp of steel his sword flashed out. The point came to rest on Charles’s throat.
‘Call your dog off me!’ Charles snarled.
Baldwin stepped back, pulling on his gloves. He lifted the sword up and away, but continued walking towards Charles, who took a pace or two backwards at the sight of Baldwin’s face.
‘First, Master Charles, you are lucky to be alive. Most men who try to hurt me while my servant is at my side only ever have the opportunity to make one attempt. Second, my friend Simon is a good, honourable, upright man who would walk over fire to help you and your son. You would do well to attempt similar loyalty in return. Third, his daughter is one of the kindest, most delightful young women in the city. You forget yourself when you do nothing to find her now when she could be lying in a ditch at the side of the road. It is one thing to think only of yourself, but when that means deserting your own daughter-in-law, your behaviour sinks below the level of the meanest felon in the city.’
‘I seek to protect my son.’
‘You should also seek to protect the others who are now in your care,’ Baldwin said. ‘Reflect on that.’
He strode from the room, unable to trust himself to say more. The behaviour of the man struck him as so dishonourable, so demeaning, he would have expected to see it in the actions of a mere tanner or scavenger, not in a man of position and importance.
But perhaps he was being unreasonable. The man was a merchant, not a knight. He was no warrior, but a man of numbers and money. He had no experience of coping with threats and the power of a man with money and men behind him.
Baldwin was still musing on Charles and his problems when he found himself confronted by the watchman again. Gil was frowning and chewing his inner lips.
‘You wanted me?’ Baldwin asked mildly.