Richard said, “I am afraid that you are not the only one who has come to Lincoln in search of Hugh, my lady. The Earl of Wiltshire arrived here two days ago, and he and his entourage have already taken up residence in the bishop’s guest house.”
Judas, Thomas thought in barely suppressed panic. Now what am I to do? Lord Guy will be enraged if he finds that Cristen has come here without her father.
Cristen continued to look perfectly unruffled.
Thomas said hopefully, “Perhaps you might be able to recommend some other place to us, Sir Richard.”
Elizabeth de Beauté said, “Of course Lady Cristen will stay with me.”
Everyone stared at the slender figure standing next to Richard.
“The sheriff has very graciously given me his apartment in the castle,” Elizabeth informed Cristen. Her voice was clear and bell-like. “There is plenty of room for you and your lady. I should be happy to have your company, Lady Cristen.”
For the first time since they had left Somerford, Thomas saw a trace of unsureness in Cristen.
“I do not wish to discommode you, my lady,” she said. “We will do perfectly well at an inn.”
At this point, Richard earned Thomas’s everlasting gratitude by saying firmly, “An inn is no place for the daughter of Nigel Haslin. I strongly suggest that you accept Lady Elizabeth’s gracious offer. It is already growing dark.”
Thomas stared hard at Cristen, willing her to accept this very generous invitation. She glanced at him and read his thought. He saw her mouth set. She turned back to the young woman who was standing on the ground beside her.
“Thank you, my lady. You are very kind.” Her voice sounded grim rather than relieved.
“Not at all,” Elizabeth said. She, on the other hand, sounded positively gay. “It will be most enjoyable to have a companion of my own age.”
Cristen’s small straight nose quivered.
“I think we can forget evening service for tonight, Sir Richard,” Elizabeth said. “It is more important at the moment to get our guests into shelter before dark.”
As the couple turned to retrace their way back to the Inner bail, Thomas looked at Cristen’s straight back and wondered how she was going to like lodging with Hugh’s betrothed.
Cristen was not pleased with her lodging arrangements, but there didn’t seem to be any alternative. She certainly couldn’t go to the bishop. If Lord Guy found out that she was in Lincoln, he would order her home before she had a chance to see Hugh. And Hugh would be absolutely livid if he found her residing at an inn.
Elizabeth de Beauté, who was so aptly named, was both friendly and efficient as she introduced Cristen to her companion, Lady Sybil, and arranged for Cristen and Mabel to share a bedroom.
After Cristen had washed and changed from her travel-stained riding clothes, she returned to the austere main hall of the sheriff’s apartment to be reunited with her hostess.
Elizabeth gave her a delighted smile.
She could not look more pleased to see me than if I was her long-lost sister, Cristen thought sourly as she returned her hostess’s smile with restraint.
She noted with interest that Richard Canville had remained. He had risen in courtesy as she entered the room and now he informed her, “I must tell you that we expected Hugh back before now, my lady. He went to visit one John Rye, a knight who was serving with the castle guard when Sir Gilbert was killed.”
Cristen took the seat between Lady Elizabeth and Lady Sybil, and Richard returned to his.
“Did you know that Hugh is attempting to prove that Bernard Radvers is innocent of murdering Gilbert de Beauté?” he asked her.
Cristen accepted a cup of wine from a servant and regarded Richard over its rim. “Aye,” she said. “I know.”
“He is wasting his time,” Elizabeth said, and for the first time a hard note sounded in her musical voice. “Bernard Radvers murdered my father. He was found standing over his body with the murder weapon clutched in his hand.”
“So I have heard,” Cristen said mildly.
“Considering all that, I don’t understand why Lord Hugh won’t simply let justice take its course,” Lady Elizabeth complained.
“Hugh has always been loyal to his friends,” Cristen returned. “Bernard is a friend of his and Bernard says he did not murder your father. Hugh believes him.”
Elizabeth’s green eyes shot sparks. “Then Lord Hugh must be very gullible indeed.”
“Hugh is not gullible, my lady,” Richard said. “I have known him since we were children and I can assure you that he is not gullible at all.”
Cristen looked at Richard with more interest than she had shown heretofore. “You knew Hugh when he lived in Lincoln?”
“Hugh and I have known each other since we were ten years old,” Richard replied.
Cristen looked at him thoughtfully and sipped her wine.
“I wonder what urgent matter can have brought you to Lincoln so precipitously?” Elizabeth asked guilelessly.
Cristen ignored her comment and said to Richard, “How long has Hugh been gone?”
Richard’s blue eyes narrowed with thought. “It must be four days now. John Rye’s manor of Linsay is only a few miles to the north of here, so I assume that either he wasn’t there and Hugh is waiting for him, or he has gone in search of him.” He gave her a charmingly rueful smile. “Hugh has not seen fit to communicate with us, so I cannot tell you for certain.”
Cristen knew that Hugh was all right even though she didn’t know where he was. She nodded calmly.
A tiny silence fell, broken by Lady Sybil. “Wasn’t your father the one who first discovered that Hugh Corbaille was in reality the lost heir of the de Leons?” she asked Cristen eagerly.
“He was,” Cristen replied.
“What an exciting story that is!” Elizabeth’s companion gushed. “A jongleur could make a wonderful chanson de geste from it.”
Cristen thought of all the anguish Hugh had gone through when he had finally accepted his true identity, and found that she could not reply.
Elizabeth decided on direct tactics to get the information she wanted. “But why have you come to Lincoln in search of Hugh, Lady Cristen? Surely your father should have accompanied you!”
Cristen’s eyebrows were fine aloof arches over her astonished eyes. “I beg your pardon?” she said.
Color stained Elizabeth’s cheeks and her green eyes glittered. “I was merely wondering what you are doing in Lincoln,” she snapped.
“I have come to see Hugh,” Cristen replied.
Elizabeth stared at her. Cristen gazed steadily back.
“Does Lord Guy know that you are here?” Elizabeth asked shrewdly. “He is your overlord, is he not?”
“I did not have time to communicate with Lord Guy before I left Somerford,” Cristen said. She took another sip of her wine.
Richard said with faint amusement, “If you like, my lady, I will send someone to Linsay tomorrow to tell Hugh that you have arrived.”
For the first time since she had entered Lincoln, Cristen gave a genuine smile. “Thank you, Sir Richard. I should appreciate that.”
His return smile was utterly beguiling. “Not at all, Lady Cristen,” he replied. “It makes me happy to be able to serve you.”
Late the following morning, Alan Stanham rode out of Lincoln, his destination the manor of Linsay. Richard had entrusted his squire with a horse and the mission of delivering a message to Hugh de Leon if Hugh was at Linsay.
Alan was thrilled. This was the first time he had been given such an important task, and he felt it was a sign of Richard’s faith in him.
To trust him with a horse!
To let him go by himself!
Alan was wrapped in pleasant fantasies of his future as a knight for almost the entire ride. It wasn’t until he reached the village of Kestven that he actually awoke from his daydreams and took stock of his surroundings. He got directions to the manor of Linsay and started on the last lap of his journey.