‘Very well. That same morning, young Master Herbert was found by his father trespassing in the orchard with two friends. When seen, Herbert helped his accomplices to escape, and then, when he was asked by his father who the two were, he lied, saying he’d seen no one. He subsequently proceeded to plead for them, when it was plain to all that they must be punished. The last command Squire Roger gave to me was that I should whip the child, and so I did. Children, Sir Baldwin, have to be trained, the same as any other animal. They must be taught to respect their elders, to tell the truth, and to behave honourably. I fear Master Herbert was not able to do these things. Perhaps in Sir Reginald of Hatherleigh’s service the lad might have learned.’
‘Perhaps,’ Baldwin agreed, but he was secretly shocked at the priest’s candid words. It was appalling, listening to the man who was to bury the child, talking about him like this.
‘I think that was probably why the squire himself died.’
Baldwin looked up. ‘Eh?’
‘I only meant that since the squire fell dead from some imbalance in his bodily humours, they must have been caused by something. He left here in a tearing hurry to go hunting, but was delayed because he had to ride off to demand that the friends of his son should be punished. Thus logically I feel fairly sure that Master Herbert, although unwittingly, was himself a parricide.’
‘You don’t truly mean to say you believe that the child was guilty of his father’s death?’ Baldwin cried.
‘Oh, it’s all very well, Sir Baldwin, to wish to think the best of all the dead,’ said Stephen huffily. ‘But hypocrisy is not one of my faults. In any case, I am only telling you what others also think. Even the boy’s mother blamed him.’
‘Lady Katharine?’ Baldwin burst out.
The priest nodded calmly. ‘Yes, Sir Baldwin. I know you saw how she treated her son at her husband’s grave. It was perfectly obvious, was it not? After that, I don’t know if she felt anything more than loathing for her son. She had loved her husband, you see. And when her son caused him to die, I think she lost all feeling for him. Poor child.’ He stared thoughtfully through the window. ‘He was always unlucky.’
‘In what way?’
Stephen threw him a surprised look, as if he had been musing to himself and had forgotten that Baldwin was present. ‘Hmm? Oh, I only mean that he often got himself into scrapes – and then again he was ever a hapless child. For example, he was present when another local boy died, a little chap called Tom -only a toddler. He fell into a well, and young Master Herbert didn’t fetch help. Usual sort of thing, often happens. But I don’t think the parent ever truly forgave him.’
Baldwin kept the eagerness from his voice as he asked, ‘Whose child was it who died?’
Stephen shrugged. ‘A maid from the village who works here for Lady Katharine – I think because my Lady took pity on her.’
‘Oh? Is she the wife of Edmund?’ asked Baldwin, recalling Christiana’s face and wondering whether she worked at the hall.
‘Him? Good God, no!’ For the first time Stephen gave a dry smile. ‘No, Anney’s husband was still more feckless than Edmund. Anney’s man left her shortly after the birth of her second son, Tom. It was found that he was already married.’
Baldwin felt curiously deflated. He had hoped it might be Edmund. It could have explained much.
‘There was no reason to think Anney would have tried to harm the boy, Sir Baldwin,’ Stephen said sharply. ‘She blamed him, certainly, but that’s different from harbouring a lethal grudge. Her boy fell into the well – you know how dim these villein children can be. The only aspect of culpability was Master Herbert’s inability to call for help, but he was only three years and a half at the time, and not many boys so young would have been able to do anything. The Church shows us that children are like lunatics – they don’t act with free will because they can’t distinguish between right and wrong. That’s why children under fourteen aren’t legally responsible for their actions. Anney wouldn’t have hurt him, I am sure. No doubt she regretted he didn’t call for help – but regret is a different emotion from that which demands the wreaking of vengeance. She’s a good woman; she wouldn’t bear ill-feeling towards Master Herbert.’
‘What of her husband?’
‘Ah, well, he’s no longer here for us to ask him. I fear he shan’t be seen in these parts again.’ Stephen gave a thin smile. ‘I arrived in Throwleigh a little before the drowning of her child and he was gone by then; I heard he went shortly after the birth of the second boy. Tom, the boy who died, wouldn’t have known him. I understand Anney gave and received nuptial vows, but his promises weren’t valid: he was already wedded. The bastard left her to raise both boys fatherless.’
‘Where did he go?’
‘Back to his first wife – somewhere down towards Exeter, I heard. Her brothers came and collected him.’
‘This Anney must be lonely.’
Stephen looked at him with genuine surprise. ‘Why should you think that? She has enough to keep her busy. She even has her own cottage in Throwleigh, although it looks ready to collapse.’
Baldwin thanked him, and soon after left the priest to prepare for the interment of the child. The knight walked thoughtfully down the stairs and out into the yard towards the stables, but every now and again his attention was drawn to the door of the storeroom, where Herbert’s body waited for its burial – and on his face was fixed a puzzled frown.
Simon was surprised to find his friend outside. ‘Thanks for leaving me with the repellent Thomas, old friend. I look forward to repaying the compliment. You’ll be delighted to hear that the new lord of the manor has gone to prepare for his breakfast so we’re safe from him for a while.’
‘Thank the Lord God for that at least!’
Simon noticed his expression, and the movement of his eyes towards the storeroom’s door. ‘What’s on your mind, Baldwin?’
Baldwin shook his head. ‘I cannot help wondering… Simon, Herbert’s body showed all the signs of having been run over, didn’t it? Yet we only saw the corpse at night, in darkness, didn’t we?’ he added, as if to himself.
‘Baldwin, are you thinking…?’
‘Simon, his death was not viewed by all as a particularly sad occurrence. To his uncle it was an absolute godsend, because he could acquire this land; to Lady Katharine’s maid it meant revenge, because Herbert saw her son drown without calling for help; Lady Katharine herself apparently blamed her son for the death of her husband. And then we have this steward enthusiastically advocating the arrest of the farmer, and it turns out that even the damned priest wasn’t fond of him!’
‘Don’t suggest the priest was responsible,’ the bailiff chuckled, but then his manner changed. ‘You’re right, Daniel was insistent this morning, wasn’t he? You don’t think he considers his new master could be guilty of killing his nephew, do you? That would explain why he was to keen to have us return.’
Baldwin didn’t meet his eye. ‘When we came here before, I told you I felt responsible because I should have seen the danger surrounding the child. Hearing that he had been run down and died by accident was a relief, but now I have to wonder whether I was right to assume that.’
‘You saw the body – so did the Coroner,’ Simon pointed out. ‘The death has been recorded as an accident.’
‘Yes, but what if the Coroner, like me, only saw the child in the dark of the storeroom?’
Simon gave a low sigh. ‘What do you wish to do?’
‘We have to see the body again, Simon. We have to.’
Chapter Fourteen
The Lady Katharine sat in the hall, at her side the maid whom Baldwin correctly assumed to be Anney. He had not studied her before, but did so now and liked what he saw. She had a broad, intelligent face with calm grey eyes, and looked the kind of woman who would be steady in an emergency.