The chaplain was accustomed to the sight of terrible wounds on the bodies of soldiers, and it had taken Romulus and Remus to autograph a corpse in a way that actually made him feel squeamish. Tanchelm of Ghent posed no such threat. As he lay on the slab in the mortuary, his eyes now closed by Philip’s delicate fingers, the Fleming looked so calm and healthy that he might have been sleeping. Only his grue-some necklace hinted at a violent demise.
It would not be an onerous duty. The chaplain chose to do it himself rather than delegate it to an assistant. All he had to do was to strip, wash and prepare the body for the journey to its last resting place. He stood the two lighted candles in the most advantageous position and set to work, according the body all the respect due to the departed. As he rolled Tanchelm onto his side to remove his tunic, his hand encountered something that made him stop. A pocket seemed to have been sewn on the inside of the garment. Philip the Chaplain was intrigued.
Golde clung to him more tightly than ever in the darkness.
“It might have been you, Ralph!”
“No, my love.”
“If someone can kill my lord Tanchelm, he could just as easily have attacked you.”
“That is not true, Golde.”
“You are bound to have enemies in York.”
“We have hardly any friends here,” he admitted. “We are royal commissioners with duties relating to the gathering of taxes. Unpopularity is assured. Especially in a city that already has good reason to hate Norman overlordship.”
“What if you are the next target?”
“I will not be.”
“How do you know?”
“Instinct.”
“Promise me that you will take care.”
“Do not fret.”
“Promise me, Ralph.”
He kissed her on the lips and stroked her hair.
“I will,” he said. “But it is an unnecessary promise. I always take great care, Golde. When you have borne arms as long as I have, it becomes second nature.”
“My lord Tanchelm was a soldier also.”
“But caught off guard. That would never happen to me.”
She nestled into him for comfort and he ran a hand gently up and down her naked back. Anxiety made her tense and unresponsive. He tried to put her mind at rest.
“I am here, my love. I am safe. I am yours.”
“When you next venture out, you will be in danger.”
“No, Golde.”
“Take me with you. Let me be another pair of eyes.”
“That is the last thing I will do. I warned you before we set out that my work is paramount. It is something in which you can never be involved. You would make a charming sentry, my love, but you would also be a severe distraction to me. Besides, I do not need more eyes to watch over me.”
“I think you do.”
He chuckled quietly. “You are worse than Aubrey. He offered to put fifty men at my disposal. I told him that there was only one kind of escort I would even consider.”
“And what was that?”
“Romulus and Remus.”
“The lions?”
“Yes, Golde. Imagine me walking through York with those two, like dogs on a leash. Nobody would dare to come near me.” He nibbled at her ear lobe. “Not even you.”
“Yes, I would.”
“Do lions not frighten you?”
“I live with one.”
He kissed her with sudden passion and hugged her close. They lay entwined for several minutes in contented silence. When he spoke, it was in an affectionate whisper.
“Are you glad that you came here with me?”
“Very glad.”
“In spite of what has happened?”
“Yes, Ralph.”
“I must warn you that we may have to stay in York rather longer than we had planned.”
“I will be patient.”
“You were so uncomfortable in the castle at first.”
“I am more reconciled now.”
“Why is that?”
“Herleve has spoken with me. We have become friends.”
“I knew that you would melt that reserve of hers in time.”
“You helped, Ralph.”
“Me? How?”
“It does not matter,” she said with a yawn.
“But I want to know.”
“We are both tired. Let us get some sleep.”
“Not until you tell me about Herleve.”
“There is nothing to tell.”
“Why are you being so evasive?”
“Ralph …”
“Tell me what she said.”
“I do not want to make you angry.”
“Angry? Why should I be angry?”
“You will see.” Golde took a deep breath before she plunged on.
“Herleve saw us together in the chapel. That was what changed her mind about me, Ralph. And about us. She came to apologise for treating me with such indifference. When she saw me arrive at the castle in your train, she thought that I was nothing more than your paramour.”
“She called you that? ” he growled.
“I knew that you would be angry.”
“It is an insult to both of us.”
“Hear me out and you will soon forgive her.”
“I’ll not let anyone say that of you, Golde.”
“She misunderstood. Herleve saw two people sharing a bed without the blessing of the Church. She is a deeply religious woman. It was an affront to her.”
“But she changed her mind, you say?”
“Yes, Ralph. She saw how much we loved each other. And when she found us kneeling together in the chapel …”
“Well?”
“Herleve said that we looked like man and wife.”
There was a long pause. His anger had evanesced into a reflective sadness. She ran a palm across his chest.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“I had a wife once. Elinor was my whole world.”
“Herleve spoke fondly of her.”
“We were kindred spirits in every way. I never thought to find such love again. No man deserves that amount of good fortune. Least of all me.”
“And have you found that love again?” she murmured.
“I think so.”
“That gladdens me.”
“Golde …”
“No,” she said, stopping his lips with a kiss. “Say no more. It is enough. The rest can wait.”
Gervase Bret was unable to sleep. Though his body was tired and his energy sapped by the wine, his mind remained active. The corpse that lay on the floor of the shire hall was such a vivid memory that it would not let him rest. Four commissioners had been sent to Yorkshire to deal with the large number of irregularities that had surfaced in the returns for the county. Why had Tanchelm of Ghent been singled out from the others? What special knowledge did he have that made him a threat while he lived? How had the killer known exactly when and where to find him alone? Whom had Tanchelm arranged to meet?
These and other questions tormented him. Persuaded that Tanchelm’s papers might yield the answers, he studied them by the light of his candle, putting them back in sequence and trying to establish why some documents had been rent apart while others had been merely sullied. He was just beginning to impose some order on the confusion before him when he heard a footstep outside his door. He reached for his dagger.
“Who’s there?” he called.
“It is me,” said Philip the Chaplain.
“So late?”
“I saw the light under your door.”
“What did you want?”
“I have something for you.”
Gervase put his dagger aside and unbolted the door. When his visitor had been admitted, he closed it again. Philip looked slightly apprehensive.
“I was hoping you would still be awake.”
“Why?”
“This could not wait until morning,” said Philip. “I thought to go to my lord Ralph’s apartment but I decided that you might be a more appropriate person.”
“Appropriate?”
“I was laying out the body of Tanchelm of Ghent. It occasioned me some sadness. I had spoken with him a few times since he had been staying here and found him to be a devout and serious man.” A smile crinkled his cheek. “That is unusual among the soldiers I normally meet. The chapel is not a part of the castle that has regular visitors.”