“It certainly seems that way,” Bernard agreed. He coughed again. “What I don’t understand is why I was sent there.”
Hugh turned to look at him, eyebrows lifted. “Surely that at least is clear. You were meant to take the blame for de Beauté’s death.”
“I don’t know if that is the case,” Bernard returned slowly. He shifted a little on the chest, as if trying to get more comfortable. “You must understand, Hugh, that it was a complete accident that Richard’s squire should have found me the way he did. Richard had sent the boy to the church to retrieve his dagger, which he had left in the vestibule. The boy had no reason at all to come inside the church. He was supposed to collect the knife and return home.”
“Why did he go into the church?”
“Apparently he decided that, since he was there, he would stop and say a quick prayer.” Bernard frowned. “I have been thinking about this, and it seems to me that if someone went to such trouble to get me to the Minster at that precise hour, he would have made a more foolproof arrangement to ensure that I was discovered.”
Hugh continued to look at Bernard. “Perhaps he did make such an arrangement, and the squire foiled it by appearing when he did. I rather think that if the boy had not turned up, someone else would have come into the church to find you.”
Once more, Bernard rubbed his forehead. “Perhaps that is so. On the other hand, perhaps I was only meant to discover de Beauté’s body and sound the alarm. Perhaps it was purely an accident that I came to be suspected of the murder myself.”
“That is a possibility, I suppose.”
Hugh did not sound convinced.
He returned his gaze to his hands and stared at them intently. “Let us assume for the moment that you were meant to be found and blamed for the murder. In order to make you appear a likely culprit, a motive was needed. Do you know who first advanced the notion that you killed de Beauté in order to facilitate my claiming the earldom?”
Bernard shook his head. “I don’t know whose idea it first was,” he said. “But I can tell you that within hours of the murder, it was going around the castle like wildfire.”
There was a long silence. Then Hugh leaned his head back against the stone wall and half closed his eyes. “There is one key question we must ask ourselves in all this. Who profits by the death of Gilbert de Beauté?”
Bernard stared at Hugh’s perfectly chiseled profile, and did not reply.
Hugh answered his own question. “The most obvious person, of course, is the sheriff himself. With de Beauté dead, he no longer has to worry about eviscerating the shire’s defenses.”
From the look on Bernard’s face, it was clear that he had thought of this, too. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “Gervase is not the sort of man who would stoop to such treachery.”
“If it was possible to tell what a man was capable of from his outward guise, we could dispatch with all evildoers before they act,” Hugh said practically.
Bernard blew through his nose and mumbled a reluctant agreement.
“Gervase had the motive, and he had the opportunity,” Hugh said. “He is one of the few people whom de Beauté would go to meet in the Minster. And let us not forget that it was a message from Gervase that put you into the unfortunate position in which you now find yourself.”
“I know,” Bernard said unhappily.
“So then, we must consider Gervase as a likely suspect.” Hugh’s eyes were still half-shut. “Who else besides the sheriff might profit from de Beauté’s death?”
“I have been thinking and thinking, and I can’t come up with anyone else,” Bernard admitted.
“I can,” Hugh said.
A cold wind blew in the open window, and Bernard coughed and clutched his blanket tighter. “Who?” he demanded.
Hugh opened his eyes and turned his head so that he could look directly at Bernard. “While he was in Lincoln, Gilbert de Beauté raised two issues that were sure to upset the political power base of the shire,” he said. “The first we have discussed-his challenge to the sheriff’s authority.”
“And the other?” Bernard demanded when Hugh did not immediately continue.
Hugh’s eyes were level and unreadable. “He announced that he was going to marry his daughter to the heir of the de Leons.”
For a long moment, Bernard stared at Hugh. Then he said incredulously, “Are you saying that you have a motive?”
Hugh smiled. “Not me, Bernard. William of Roumare.”
“Roumare!”
“Aye. For years William of Roumare and his half brother, the Earl of Chester, have planned to bring Lincolnshire within the circle of their control. Roumare owns vast estates in the shire and he fully expected to be named Earl of Lincoln. Stephen infuriated him when he named Gilbert de Beauté over him.”
“He named Roumare Earl of Cambridge,” Bernard pointed out.
“He tried to placate Roumare by giving him Cambridge, but Roumare has no lands in Cambridgeshire. His power is in Lincolnshire, and it is Lincolnshire that he wants. His half brother Ranulf commands all of Chester, as well as controlling a string of estates and castles that run along the line of the Trent right into Lincolnshire.” Hugh’s eyes narrowed slightly. “The aim of the brothers has always been to seize dominion over this entire part of the kingdom.”
Bernard blinked twice, trying to assimilate what Hugh was telling him.
Hugh thrust his fingers through his hair, which had fallen across his dirt-streaked forehead. He went on, “Then my uncle stepped in and won for the de Leons the power that Roumare and Chester had hoped to win for themselves.”
“Your marriage to the de Beauté heiress,” Bernard said slowly.
“Aye,” Hugh agreed. “My marriage to the de Beauté heiress. With that accomplished, Guy would have Wiltshire, and I would be in position to inherit Lincolnshire. The de Leons, not the brothers Chester and Roumare, would be the ones to control the crucial heart of England.” Hugh’s voice became very dry. “I doubt that this prospect made either Ranulf or William very happy.”
Bernard’s brow was deeply furrowed. “Do you think that Roumare and Chester might be involved in de Beauté’s death?”
“I think it is extremely likely,” Hugh replied. “The time frame certainly fits. Less than two weeks after de Beauté revealed the marriage arrangement, he was murdered. The result of his death is that the earldom is empty, the wardship of the Lady Elizabeth passes to the king, and the de Leons are cut out of Lincolnshire.”
“Why shouldn’t the marriage go forward?” Bernard protested. “After all, the king approved the match between you and the Lady Elizabeth.”
“He approved it when her father was alive and the king wanted to keep him happy. With de Beauté dead and his daughter unmarried, Stephen is free to name anyone he wants to be the new Earl of Lincoln. He can still honor his word to Guy and give me the lady in marriage, but the earldom does not have to go along with her. Stephen might very well decide that it would be wisest to give it to William of Roumare after all.”
“Jesu,” Bernard said slowly. “I never thought of that.”
Hugh nodded. “It would not have been difficult for Roumare to find someone to kill de Beauté for him. As I said before, he has vast estates in Lincolnshire. There are many men who would find it profitable to do him a service.”
“It would have to be someone whose presence inside the castle walls would not be questioned,” Bernard said. “I have thought about this, and no stranger would have been allowed to remain after the gates were closed. Nor would the guards admit anyone who could not demonstrate legitimate business within.”
Hugh nodded.
“I simply cannot believe that it could be one of the castle guards,” Bernard said stubbornly. “I have served with all of them for years and I would swear that they are honest.”