‘Oh, very well,’ he acknowledged. He gave her a rueful look. ‘I only meant to help you.’
‘Oh, Josse, I know that!’ She sat up and flung her arms round him, the violent gesture throwing off the bedcovers so that her upper body was naked. Nuzzling her face up to his cheek, she murmured, ‘Are you coming back to bed?’
‘Joanna, we should be thinking about-’
But she had slid her hand up his thigh to his crotch, and the teasing fingertips were already fluttering up and down his erection. Whatever they ought to have been thinking about flew right out of his mind as, ripping off his clothes, he slid into bed and gave himself up to the delight of Joanna.
* * *
Soon after noon, they were up, dressed, and downstairs in the kitchen, where Joanna was preparing food.
Josse was thinking about the Abbess Helewise’s suggestion that he take Joanna to his own house, and hide her away at New Winnowlands until whatever danger Denys de Courtenay represented to her was past. He was musing over how best to put the idea to her when she said, ‘You’ve gone quiet, Josse. What is it?’
He looked up at her. Having decided that, for someone like her, the best approach was probably the direct one, he said, ‘I have a house, Joanna. Not far from here — a short morning’s ride, perhaps, certainly no more — and I have a staff of two. My manservant, Will, and his woman, Ella. Both discreet, trustworthy people, and each most capable at their own skills. My house has been newly renovated and it is comfortable. If you would accept, I can think of no safer place for you. For one thing, you would not be alone — even when I am from home, Will and Ella are always there. For another, nobody would ever think of looking for you in my house, because they don’t know that you know me. Whereas it is more likely known that you had a connection with Mag Hobson, and, in addition, with this house. I fear that it is only a matter of time before the deduction is made that you are here. If you agree, then New Winnow-lands is at your disposal, for as long as you want or need a refuge.’
She had heard him out without interrupting. The silence continued after he had stopped speaking, and he was just beginning to think that he must have offended her when she said, ‘Josse, I thank you. You have thought this out well.’ A slight frown crossed her face, as though she were weighing up the advantages of accepting his offer. Preparing himself for an enquiry or two — she might want to know what sort of accommodation he could offer her, for instance, or whether the house was warm and draught-free, that sort of thing — but, when she finally spoke, her question was quite surprising.
‘A short morning’s ride away, you said?’
‘Aye.’ He could not immediately see the relevance.
‘And — your house — New Winnowlands — is easy to find? It’s not so deep in some rural backwater that nobody knows it is there?’
What on earth was she driving at? Unable to work it out, he answered as honestly as he could. ‘New Winnowlands is, as I said, a modest ride from here. It stands quite close to a reasonably well-used road, and we are visited by the occasional passer-by — in fact, as I recall, we had a tinker push his barrow into the courtyard not a fortnight ago. But, Joanna, what would it matter that we are not hidden away at the back of beyond, when nobody knows you are there?’
‘But somebody determined could find it if they really wanted to?’
He was puzzled by her insistence. ‘Aye, of course, but-’
She came over to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, silencing him with a kiss. When the kiss was finished, she said, ‘I accept, and with deep gratitude. Please, Josse, take me to your house.’
* * *
He helped her fasten her pack on to the back of Ninian’s pony — she did not seem to want to take much with her, but perhaps she did not possess many belongings — and, in the early afternoon, they set out.
He rode ahead, leading the pony, and she followed behind. He looked back at her once or twice as they left the secret manor — she had been very particular over leaving it neat and tidy, and over securing it thoroughly — and, each time, he saw that she was craning round in the saddle, eyes fixed to the house as if trying to impress every detail in her memory.
‘We’ll be back,’ he said when, the house now hidden from view, she kicked her mare into a trot and came alongside him. ‘When this time of troubles is over, you can return, if you wish to.’
‘I shall,’ she said quietly. ‘It — this house and the little dwelling in the woods are where I can sense Mag most strongly.’
Her recalled his dream of the morning. ‘Aye,’ he said. ‘That I can understand.’
There was so much he wanted to know, so many questions that kept rising insistently into his head. Tentatively he said, ‘When you were young, did you-’
But she interrupted him. As if she hadn’t even registered the beginning of his own question, she asked one of her own. ‘Do you know what they did with Mag’s body?’
He recalled Sheriff Pelham’s words: we’d better see about taking this here into town for disposal. Was there a kind way of telling Joanna that? ‘Er — the Sheriffs men took her back to Tonbridge. She would have been buried there, I think. That was what the Sheriff appeared to have in mind.’ He wondered if, like him, she was imagining some hurried interment in an unmarked grave. ‘We can enquire, if you wish. We can-’
But she was shaking her head. ‘No, it doesn’t matter.’ Belatedly she added, ‘Thank you.’
Again, he was puzzled. So much about her puzzled him! ‘Joanna, I’m sure it could be arranged for the body to be moved.’ He had no idea how these things were done, but, in his experience, it was usually the case that almost anything was possible if you were prepared to grease a few palms. ‘If that’s what you were thinking.’
She turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were wide, unfocused, as if she were seeing something a long way off. ‘No, Josse. You are kind to be making these suggestions, but, as I said, it doesn’t matter. Where Mag’s body is buried is of no concern to me.’
It sounded a strangely heartless thing to say, and he didn’t believe Joanna to be heartless. Certainly, not where Mag Hobson was concerned. ‘Then why did you ask?’ he ventured.
‘Oh-’ She seemed to have to think about it. ‘I just wanted to make sure that she had been buried.’
‘As opposed to what?’ he asked, half laughing.
But she had ridden ahead of him and didn’t appear to have heard.
* * *
New Winnowlands looked every bit as clean and well cared for as the house they had just left. Making a mental note to thank Will and Ella, Josse led the way in through the gates, across the yard and into the stables, where Will, having heard them ride in, came hurrying to help.
Josse, working on the principle that what a man doesn’t know he can’t tell anybody else, said, ‘Will, this lady is a friend of mine. She is visiting the area, and is to stay here for a while. Would you please ask Ella to prepare accommodation for her?’
Will had been staring at Joanna with undisguised curiosity. ‘That I shall,’ he said. ‘Just let me see these three horses comfortable, then I’ll speak to Ella straight away.’
Josse took Joanna up the steps and into the house, aware, as surely she must be too, of Will’s keen interest. What on earth would he say to Ella? Josse could well imagine something on the lines of, the Master’s found himself a woman, and a fair looker at that. He’s ordered a chamber prepared for her, but, judging by the way they look at one another, it’s my opinion that she’ll not be using it. You might as well save yourself the trouble, Ella.
Ah, well. There was nothing he could do about it. Showing Joanna to a seat by the fire, he risked a quick look at her. She was smiling slightly, as if the situation amused her. She didn’t seem in the least offended nor awkward.
‘Your arrival is bound to cause a bit of a stir,’ he said quietly; Ella might well be within earshot, she moved so softly about the place that you really never knew where she was. ‘It’s not often I bring a beautiful young woman to my house.’