‘He is friendly, my lord. Watch.’ He jerked the chain and the bear turned a few somersaults. ‘You see? He is like a big child.’
‘A big child who does not know his own strength.’
‘Ursa would not attack anybody! I swear it!’
‘With you there, I am sure that he would not,’ said Gervase, still catching the whiff of herrings. ‘But you were not there when he sneaked off. He may have got lost and scared. When he was disturbed by a stranger he struck out blindly.’
‘No!’ yelled the dwarf.
‘I am only suggesting what might have happened, not what did.
Why not tell it the way you remember it?’ he invited. ‘Tell us how you came to be in the forest in the first place and why you chose that particular place to spend the night. Describe the search for Ursa. And one more thing,’ he emphasized. ‘Tell us if you saw someone on the edge of the forest that morning.’
The dwarf looked from Gervase to Ralph and back again, trying to decide if it was better to lie to them or to tell the truth. Their manner was friendly but that might be a ruse. As he cogitated he rubbed the bear with absent-minded affection.
‘Well?’ said Ralph.
‘A man’s life hangs in the balance,’ said Gervase. ‘He is wrongly accused of murder. What you tell us may help to save him. We are not saying that your bear is the killer but we need to know as much as we can about the time you both spent in the forest. Is that clear?’
‘Yes,’ said the dwarf. ‘And I can tell you one thing right away.’
‘What is that?’
‘I did see a man there that morning.’
When Henry Beaumont and his men arrived at his manor house, Adam Reynard feigned surprise at the news of the prisoner’s escape. The constable’s posse had searched the forest without finding any trace of their quarry. Henry’s rage was matched by his sense of frustration. He gazed around, from the vantage of his horse, with staring eyes.
‘He must be here somewhere!’ he growled.
‘I have seen no sign of him, my lord,’ said Reynard.
‘Have any of your tenants reported sightings?’
‘No, my lord. Boio is unlikely to come anywhere near my land.
He and I were not friends. There would be no hope of shelter here.’
‘I am glad to hear it, Adam. Helping an escaped felon is a heinous crime. If anyone offers him refuge, torture and execution will follow.’
‘However did he escape?’
‘That does not matter now,’ said Henry rancorously. ‘The fact is that he is loose and we must recapture him as soon as possible.
My men will need to search on your land.’
‘But the man is not here.’
‘We would like to make sure for ourselves.’
He gave orders and his men split up into groups and dispersed.
Adam Reynard was not happy about them tramping over his property but there was nothing he could do about it. He was grateful that Grimketel had forewarned him about the lord Henry’s presence in the area. It had given him time to take precautions against a search. No matter where the men-at-arms looked in the vicinity of the house, he had nothing to fear.
‘What of Grimketel?’ asked Henry. ‘He has seen nothing?’
‘Nothing at all, my lord,’ said Reynard. ‘He was here a while ago and had no idea that Boio had even escaped.’
‘Someone should warn him.’
‘Why?’
‘He is the vital witness against Boio. The blacksmith may wish to get his revenge. Grimketel could be in danger.’
‘Then he must be warned,’ volunteered Philippe Trouville. ‘I will do the office myself. Does the fellow live close?’
‘About a mile away.’
‘Tell me where and we will go there.’
‘Search the area thoroughly.’
‘We will, my lord.’
‘There is no need for you to trouble yourself,’ said Reynard with an oily smile. ‘I will send word to Grimketel. That will alert him.’
‘I insist on going,’ said Trouville.
‘Teach him the way, Adam,’ said Henry.
‘Grimketel is my man. I should be the one to warn him.’
‘Do as I tell you, man!’
Henry’s snarl made Reynard lick his lips and back away. With great reluctance he gave Trouville directions and the latter rode off towards Grimketel’s house with his men. The constable was left alone with Adam Reynard. He heaved himself off his horse.
‘While I wait, I will take refreshment,’ he decided.
‘Yes, my lord.’
‘We must pick up his trail sooner or later.’
‘May I ride with you and offer my help?’
‘No!’
‘But I am as eager for him to be captured as you are.’
‘I doubt it.’
‘Boio is a murderer. He deserves to be hanged.’
‘Yes,’ said Henry through gritted teeth. ‘As soon as he is taken.’
‘Without a trial?’
The constable’s face darkened and his eyes narrowed.
‘Let us go inside,’ he said.
The guards at the dungeons were extremely wary about allowing their prisoner to have any visitors. They had seen the cruel punishment meted out to the two men who had been on duty throughout the night and who had allowed Boio to escape. Both men had been whipped until their backs were running with blood.
The guards who kept Brother Benedict in custody did not wish to risk offending their master in any way. When she first made her request, therefore, Golde was turned brusquely away but she did not give up. She soon returned to the dungeons with the lady Adela, who insisted that Golde be allowed to visit the monk and who took full responsibility on her own shoulders. In the presence of the lord Henry’s wife the guards became more polite and amenable. They even apologised to Golde for the fact that they would have to lock her inside the cell if she chose to enter it.
Benedict was amazingly serene when she went in. The monk was kneeling in a corner, gazing up at the rectangle of light coming through the window as if it were a sign from God sent for his personal attention. It took him a moment to realise that he was not alone.
‘My lady!’ he said, rising to his feet.
‘I came to see how you were, Brother Benedict.’
‘That touches me more than I can say but you should not be in a place like this. This filth does not befit a fine lady like yourself.’
‘Do not worry about me,’ she said. ‘Think of yourself.’
‘That is the last thing I will do.’
‘You should not be locked away down here.’
‘I know,’ he said calmly, ‘but it is only a matter of time before the lord Henry repents of his folly and lets me out. In the meantime I have been enjoying the pleasures of contemplation.’
‘ Pleasures? In a vile pit like this?’
‘This is my hermitage,’ said Benedict happily. ‘I am completely cut off from the world here. I can commune directly with God. He put me here for a purpose, my lady, that is what we must remember. The life of a holy anchorite is touched with nobility.
Self-denial is goodness in action.’
‘You do not have to take it to these lengths.’
‘Perhaps not. But tell me the news.’
‘What news?’
‘Of the fugitive. Have they caught him yet?’
‘Not as far as I know.’
‘How many men rode after him?’
‘Virtually the whole garrison.’
‘Poor fellow! Boio has no chance.’ He looked around. ‘I can see why he was so keen to get out of this mean lodging. What suits a monk only unnerves another man. And even I might not find this cell quite so hospitable if I were put in chains as he was. It was an ordeal for him.’
‘He now faces another — fleeing from the lord Henry.’
‘The fear of the animal as the hunters close in on him.’ He gave her arm a light squeeze. ‘But it is so kind of you to think of me.’
‘Archdeacon Theobald tried to visit you as well but they turned him away. He has gone to the chapel to pray for your early release.’
‘What of the others?’
‘Gervase has gone to Coventry with my husband,’ she said.
‘They are hoping to find the man who may provide Boio with an alibi. The lord Philippe, it seems, has joined the search party.’