‘And what happened?’ Athelstan asked.
‘I was in Dover at the time,’ the young knight continued. ‘Commanding a large force of knights, hobelars, men-at-arms and archers. We had four craft at our disposal led by a cog of war, The Great Edward. The Constable of Dover Castle received information that the St Sulpice and St Denis would be waiting for our ships so we took to sea. It was a long and bloody fight: the St Denis was sunk, the St Sulpice captured.’
Athelstan picked up his writing-bag, tying the cord at the top.
‘That’s almost miraculous,’ he observed. ‘From where did the Constable of Dover Castle get his orders?’
‘By courier from London. The message was general. It simply said that our wine fleet would be leaving Calais and French privateers were busy in the Channel’
‘A remarkable coincidence.’ Sir John, wheezing and puffing, got to his feet.
‘What are you implying?’ Athelstan asked.
‘Something I’ve suspected.’ Sir Maurice spoke up. ‘The St Sulpice and St Denis came out of a French port. They had to be prepared and provisioned for sea.’ He shrugged. ‘It was common gossip that the Regent had a spy in the French camp who sent him news about this.’
‘And now the French captains themselves suspect this?’ Athelstan asked.
‘Possibly.’
Sir Walter rubbed his hands together, pleased that suspicion had been diverted from him.
‘It could well cause animosity amongst the prisoners,’ he declared, bright-eyed, ‘if they thought someone was the traitor, perhaps Serriem?’
Sir John clapped him on the shoulder. And you, Sir Walter?’
‘I know what you are thinking.’ The knight gaoler shrugged Sir John’s hand off. ‘Don’t worry, Sir John, I thought the same as soon as I knew Serriem was dead. Here’s old Limbright, a man who hates the French, who killed his wife, sons and drove his daughter witless. What a marvellous opportunity for revenge!’ He drummed his fingers against his dagger. ‘But I didn’t want them dead, Sir John. I just wanted them prisoners. I wanted them to experience the hurt that I felt. To pine for their families as I did. To walk round and round a room and feel the grief of separation.’ He faced the coroner squarely. Athelstan noticed the spots of anger high in his cheeks. ‘And if I wanted to kill them, Sir John, I’d do it honourably. I may be the knight of the dirty jerkin, ageing and bitter, but it would be sword against sword, or lance against lance, not poison in the dead of night.’
‘Well said! Well said!’ Athelstan commented.
‘And the corpse?’
‘It will be interred in some churchyard!’ Sir Walter snapped. ‘If the French want it home they’ll have to pay for it!’
‘I’d best be leaving,’ the physician interrupted.
Aspinall bid farewell, and quietly left.
Sir Walter waited until the footfalls faded.
‘Now there goes a man,’ he muttered sarcastically, ‘who believes that blunt, honest speech covers a multitude of sins.’
‘What do you mean?’ Athelstan asked.
‘Our good physician is what he claims to be but he likes visiting Hawkmere Manor.’
‘Stop talking in bloody riddles!’ Sir John snapped.
‘Aspinall is a bachelor; he’s taken a liking to young Gresnay.’
‘You mean he’s a lover of men?’
‘I didn’t say that, Sir John. Serriem did. Aspinall is recently arrived in London. I know little of him. Anyway, Gresnay had a fall downstairs. Aspinall came to examine him. Nothing more than bruised ribs. Serriem cracked a joke about our physician being as tender as a woman. Gresnay and the physician became rather flustered, very embarrassed. A fight might have ensued but Vamier intervened.’
‘Is there anything else we should know?’ Sir John asked.
‘Very little! The French seem a close-knit group of sailors and soldiers who’ve fought against the Goddamns since their youth. They give little away.’
‘And how long will they remain here?’ Athelstan asked.
‘They are all from fairly wealthy families. But the ransom is steep, ten pounds in gold each.’
‘Why so high?’
‘Talk to any ship owner along the Thames,’ Sir Maurice answered. ‘The St Sulpice and St Denis were hated and feared. Those two warships did terrible damage to English shipping. They are only receiving what they served up to others.’
‘Wait! Wait!’ Sir John held his hand up as Sir Walter went to open the door. ‘They commanded warships?’
‘I’ve told you.’
‘Sir Maurice, when the St Sulpice was taken, what was its cargo?’
The young knight scratched his chin. ‘Most of it was armaments, some chests and coffers which were immediately sealed with the Regent’s insignia. The cargo always goes to the Crown,’ he added wryly.
‘And the ship?’ Sir John persisted.
‘Oh, it now flies under English colours, it’s been renamed the Carisbrooke. ’
Athelstan cradled his writing-bag. Something was very wrong here. Why should a man be murdered in such close confined quarters? Was it a coincidence that the sly and subtle John of Gaunt had asked him and Sir John to help, in the affairs of the heart, the knight who had commanded the ships which had brought these Frenchmen to such a poor pass? We are in the dark again, Athelstan reflected; shown bits and pieces but denied the whole picture. He glanced quickly at the coroner, who was now showing obvious signs of the generous swigs from the wineskin. He had a fixed smile on his face, and was licking his lips and patting his stomach.
‘Come on, Sir John,’ he urged. ‘And you, Sir Maurice, let’s visit our French guests.’
The prisoners were assembled in the long, dingy hall below stairs. A narrow, gloomy room with rafters like a barn, its plaster walls had turned a dingy yellow from the countless fires in the crumbling, canopied hearth. Trestle tables stood about, badly scrubbed. Two thin-ribbed wolf hounds were busy licking the table-tops for morsels.
The French were seated on a dais sharing a jug of wine and a platter of roast chicken. Athelstan suspected that Sir Walter provided this to placate his prisoners and restrain them from launching into a litany of protests about their conditions. They were a taciturn, hard-bitten crew; younger than Serriem. Their hair was cropped, their faces weatherbeaten. They were dressed in dingy clothes, shabby jerkins with frayed, faded shirts beneath. The only exception was a girlish-faced young man with thick, red lips and eyelashes any girl would envy. He had allowed his blond hair to grow and his skin was so white Athelstan wondered if he rubbed paste into it.
They hardly bothered to acknowledge their visitors but kept talking among themselves until Sir Walter struck the table with his hand.
‘Ah, good morning, Sir Walter,’ one of them said. ‘We have visitors?’
Their gaoler made the introductions. Routier, with his close face, was the first to greet them. Maneil, surly, his left eyelid drooping, constantly fingered the deep scar on his cheek. Vamier was pleasant-faced, or at least he smiled with his eyes. Athelstan took an immediate dislike to the blond-haired Gresnay who simpered in silent mockery at them. Their command of English was very good. They ignored Sir Maurice, just acknowledging his presence with nods of their heads. Athelstan was surprised but he whispered that, unlike the knights of chivalry, sea captains nursed animosities and jealousies: they regarded him as the cause of their misfortune. Sir Walter rearranged more chairs round the circular table. He offered some wine but Athelstan quickly refused.
‘I suppose you’ve heard about Serriem? Poor Guillaum?’ Routier glared at Sir Walter. ‘It’s all a sham,’ he railed. ‘We are prisoners, kept against our will, exorbitant ransoms are demanded. Now we are to be poisoned!’
Sir John got up and leaned across the table.
‘I am no sham, sir! If murder is committed, justice must be done!’