The banging on his door awakened him at first light.
‘Yes?’ he called.
‘The captain of the guard has sent for you, my lord.’
‘What is amiss?’
‘He asks that you come at once.’
‘Why?’
‘He said that it was urgent.’
Robert did not need to be told twice. Leaping out of bed, he grabbed his gown and wrapped himself in it before slipping back the bolt and opening the door. Only an emergency would justify disturbing his sleep. He wondered what it might be. Within a matter of seconds, he was stepping out bare-footed on to the western battlements. The captain of the guard was waiting for him with a cluster of his men.
‘What is the problem?’ asked Robert.
‘See for yourself, my lord.’
‘Where?’
‘Down there,’ said the other, pointing.
Robert of Rhuddlan looked out across the valley. Half a mile away, stretched out in a single line, were a hundred or more mounted warriors in full armour. It was a menacing sight. They seemed to be studying the castle with great interest, as if searching for any weak points. They were too far away to be identified but their general purpose was clear. They were an advance party of a Welsh army. After a few minutes, they swung their horses round and rode swiftly away.
One thing was obvious. They were massing for attack. When they came again, there would be far more of them.
Robert of Rhuddlan’s orders were curt and peremptory.
‘Double the guard!’ he snapped. ‘And rouse the rest of the garrison!’
Chapter Nine
The arrival of his wife invigorated Ralph Delchard in every way.
Not only was he up early on the following morning with love in his heart and energy in his limbs, he felt that his mind had been stimulated as well. Gone was the mood of creeping sadness which always gripped him whenever he and Golde were apart and hampered his relationship with his colleagues. Ralph was now liberated. He could think clearly for the first time since he had come to Chester.
When he encountered Earl Hugh in the courtyard, Ralph beamed happily. His greeting was excessively cordial.
‘You seem to be in good spirits,’ observed Hugh.
‘I am, my lord. My wife arrived last evening.’
‘So I understand, and she is most welcome. I am sorry that she joins us at a time when we are distracted by events in the Forest of Delamere. No matter,’ he said with a confiding grin, ‘I can see that she warmed your bed for you. I, too, had a lively night. There is nothing quite like a woman to provide solace in times of trouble.’
‘Nothing quite like a loving wife,’ corrected Ralph.
‘I will settle for a woman. Any woman.’
‘We must agree to differ.’
‘You would change your mind if you enjoyed the bounty that fell to me last night,’ said Hugh. ‘A fine, fiery wench in every way.
Malbank’s loss was my gain.’
His meaning was clear. Not wishing to hear any more about his amorous adventures away from the marital couch, Ralph changed the topic of conversation at once.
‘I have been thinking about the death of Raoul Lambert.’
Hugh scowled. ‘It was a cowardly murder!’
‘Yet obviously planned, my lord.’
‘In what way?’
‘If you were the chosen target — and for the time being let us assume that you were — then you had to be attacked at a vulnerable moment. The forest was the ideal place. You would be among friends and completely off guard. An assassin would never have such a good opportunity here in the city.’
‘What do you conclude?’
‘We must look for someone familiar with your movements.’
‘I could have been watched.’
‘But there is no pattern to your hunting,’ said Ralph. ‘You ride out when the mood seizes you and choose what game appeals to you on any particular day. The forest is vast. You traverse different parts of it every time you venture out.’
‘So?’
Ralph was blunt. ‘You have a traitor in your ranks.’
‘Out of the question.’
‘Not the assassin himself, perhaps, but his confederate.’
‘The night with your wife has befuddled your brain.’
‘Think it through, my lord,’ recommended the other. ‘A hunting party leaves the castle early in the morning. Will an assassin be lurking in the city in order to follow you? It seems unlikely. He would surely be seen on your trail. It would be much easier for him to conceal himself in that part of the forest which you had decided to hunt in.’
‘Go on.’
‘Then he could bide his time until opportunity arose.’
‘You have shifted your ground, Ralph,’ said Hugh with a curl of his lip. ‘Yesterday, you were telling me that a member of my own hunting party actually shot the arrow at me.’
‘That is still a possibility.’
‘Only in the realms of fancy.’
‘The assassin needed help,’ said Ralph doggedly. ‘If he was not a member of your entourage, then he must have been forewarned by a co-conspirator.’
‘Stop chasing moonbeams.’
‘Hear me out, my lord.’
‘I do not need to,’ said Hugh dismissively. ‘Your theory has a fatal flaw in it, Ralph.’
‘What is that?’
‘Nobody in my entourage knew our destination until we breakfasted on the morning itself.’
‘Then listen to my final guess,’ suggested Ralph. ‘And remember, I am a detached observer. I view the situation dispassionately from the outside. No personal loyalties blur my vision. I realise that you do not enjoy that advantage.’
Hugh was sceptical. ‘And what is this final guess?’
‘It will offend you, my lord.’
‘Tell me all the same.’
‘It concerns Raoul Lambert.’
‘Go on.’
Ralph waited until a detachment of soldiers marched past on their way to relieve the guard. Under the earl’s cynical gaze, he took a deep breath before developing his argument.
‘My feeling is this,’ he began. ‘Raoul Lambert was, I suspect, the designated victim, after all. Let me finish, my lord,’ he pleaded as his companion mouthed a protest. ‘We both have archers at our command. We know how long and how painstakingly they will practise. Accuracy is a matter of honour to them.’
‘So?’
‘They rarely miss a target from short range.’
‘The Welsh archer contrived to miss me.’
‘No, my lord,’ said Ralph, ‘his aim was good. An arrow which misses one person will rarely kill another with such precision. It is far more likely to wound him. Yet you say that your huntsman was virtually killed outright.’
‘That is so.’
‘Then grapple with this notion,’ advised Ralph. ‘Raoul Lambert was not merely the chosen target in the forest. He was also the man who betrayed your movements to the assassin.’
‘Then why was he killed?’
‘As a stark warning to you.’
‘The assassin murdered his own confederate?’
‘He removed someone who had already served his purpose.’
‘Raoul?’ spluttered Earl Hugh. ‘He was no traitor. It is an insane suggestion. You never even met the man.’
‘Not face to face, my lord, I grant you. But I know him from the documents we brought with us. He appears a great deal in those.
Gervase made his acquaintance that way and so did Canon Hubert. Between the three of us, we know your huntsman far better than you think.’
‘He would never be in league with a Welsh assassin.’
‘Even though his holdings intruded into Wales?’
‘He hated the Welsh.’
‘That would not stop him taking their money,’ said Ralph. ‘We both fought at Hastings, my lord. Remember how many of those French and Breton and Flemish mercenaries of ours must have hated Duke William. Yet they fought under his banner.’
‘Raoul was my close friend!’
‘Then he was in the ideal position to betray you.’
‘Never! The idea is ridiculous!’
But Ralph could see that he had planted a tiny seed of doubt in the other’s mind. It was enough. He backed off.