Chapter Four
When the commissioners eventually arrived at the shire hall, they found a number of people awaiting them. Saewin had assembled all the witnesses who needed to be examined on the first day and was standing by to receive further instructions.
Ralph Delchard, Gervase Bret and Hervey de Marigny strode into the hall with the speed and purpose of men who wished to make up for lost time. Canon Hubert’s protest about their lateness was brushed aside by Ralph. Four of his men were stationed at the rear of the hall while four of de Marigny’s knights acted as sentries outside. Ralph had learned from experience that the presence of armed soldiers tended to encourage a more truthful response from witnesses.
All five of them were soon seated behind the table with documents set out before them. Ralph occupied the central position with Hubert and de Marigny on either side of him. Brother Simon was poised to record the proceedings of the day in his neat hand. Gervase was the most anxious of them all to set things in motion. Though his mind was concentrated on his duties, his heart was still in Winchester with his betrothed.
Every delay lengthened the time he would be apart from her and might, he feared, even prevent him from returning in time for his wedding.
Hervey de Marigny looked along the table and gave a chuckle.
‘What a daunting tribunal we make!’ he observed. ‘I would not like to face such an imposing set of judges.’
‘We endeavour to frighten the witnesses into honesty,’ said Ralph with a grin. ‘Only minor cases come before us today so we will not be unduly taxed. I would suggest that you watch us throughout the morning before you join in the merriment.’
‘It is hardly merriment, my lord,’ said Hubert reproachfully.
‘We are royal agents with serious business which must be addressed seriously. May I remind you that one of our principal witnesses was murdered on the eve of our arrival? That is hardly a cause for merriment.’
‘No,’ agreed Ralph. ‘I am justly rebuked. Though our work is not a tale of unrelieved tedium. I am sure that our new commissioner will find some amusement in the lies and evasions which we are bound to hear in the course of the day.’
‘Let us begin,’ suggested Gervase.
‘We have waited long enough to do so!’ sighed Hubert.
‘Your patience would make Job look restless,’ Ralph teased him. ‘It is time to let the citizens of Exeter know that we are here and that we will tolerate no false claims to property.’ He addressed one of the guards. ‘Ask the reeve to send in those involved in the first case.’
‘I find this oddly exciting,’ said de Marigny.
‘So did we at first,’ said Ralph. ‘Then boredom quickly set in.’
Hubert sniffed noisily. ‘The administration of justice is never boring.’
‘Speak for yourself, Hubert.’
‘I always do, my lord.’
‘Much of what we do is bound to be humdrum.’
‘Not if you have the intelligence to probe below the surface.’
Ralph laughed at the reproof, then composed his features into judicial solemnity as the reeve brought a number of people into the hall and directed them to sit on the benches. When all the witnesses were present, Ralph introduced himself and his colleagues then called the first man to give his testimony. After taking an oath, the witness launched into a long defence of his claim to some property to the north of the city, plucking charters out of his satchel and waving them in the air. Hervey de Marigny was enthralled. Minor disputes which seemed innocuous on the page took on a colour and vitality which surprised him. Even the most insignificant cases were invested with a bitterness which made them blaze in the shire hall.
The commissioners had complementary skills. Ralph was a stern but just leader, controlling events with a sure hand and giving every person the right to plead his case in full. As befitted a lawyer, Gervase worried away at the fine detail of a claim, haggling over the wording of charters and questioning the legal basis of many assertions. But it was Canon Hubert who most impressed their new colleague. Having found him a learned but vain man, too puffed up with his own importance, de Marigny watched with fascination as Hubert’s true mettle emerged. Fair but fearless, he asked the most searching questions and pursued any hint of deceit quite relentlessly. Three of the witnesses were exposed as arrant liars and a fourth was reduced to tears by his persistence.
By the time the cathedral bell gave sonorous warning of Nones, de Marigny felt able to take a more active role in the process, asking for elucidation, questioning witnesses directly and studying their faces for telltale signs of their true character. Under the pressure of examination, few of them maintained their composure throughout. Hervey de Marigny soon learned how to sow discomfort with an artless query and he was eventually repaid with a moment of triumph. At the end of the day’s proceedings, Ralph was the first to congratulate him.
‘Who are the teachers and who the pupil here?’ he said. ‘That was masterly. You had that fellow squirming like a fish on a hook.’
‘He was obviously lying,’ explained de Marigny.
‘But how did you know?’
‘He all but took me in,’ admitted Gervase.
‘And me,’ said Hubert. ‘I have never met so plausible a rogue.’
‘It was his very plausibility which alerted me,’ said de Marigny.
‘If his argument was as strong and irrefutable as he alleged, why did it not convince our predecessors? They smelt an irregularity.
So did I.’
‘And unmasked the man for the perjurer he was.’ Ralph gave him a pat on the back. ‘Excellently done, Hervey! You are indeed a worthy commissioner and need no more instruction from us.’
‘Tomorrow, you may think otherwise,’ said de Marigny modestly.
‘Why?’
‘Because we only dealt with the most paltry cases today, Ralph.
Small disputes which could easily be settled. Tomorrow, I believe, we are due to tackle something far more substantial and complicated.’
‘The case involving the late Nicholas Picard.’
‘Yes.’
‘I have a suggestion to make,’ said Hubert in a tone of voice which made it sound more like a decree than a proposal. ‘Let us postpone that dispute until a fitter time and deal instead with the many others which await our judgement.’
‘That is eminently sensible advice,’ said de Marigny.
Hubert was pleased. ‘Then it is settled.’
‘No,’ said Ralph, ‘it most certainly is not, Hubert. Our schedule has been worked out and we will keep to it as planned.’
‘But the lord Nicholas’s death alters everything,’ returned Hubert.
‘The only thing that it alters is his chance of appearing before us.’
‘The case must be postponed out of respect.’
‘To whom?’
‘His family.’
‘That will not be necessary.’
‘His widow will be prostrate with grief.’
‘Then why did she send word to me through Saewin that she wished the dispute over her husband’s property to be settled as soon as possible? The town reeve gave me this message as we arrived here.’
‘He delivered another message for you,’ suddenly recalled Brother Simon.
‘Indeed?’
‘It seems that there is a further claimant in that dispute.’
‘One more reason to tackle it at once,’ decided Ralph. ‘The longer we delay, the more time we give for new people to contest those holdings. We already have three in addition to the widow of the lord Nicholas, who would normally be expected to inherit his estates. Postpone this case indefinitely and we will find that half the county wish to lodge a claim.’ He rose from the table.
‘Who is the latest to be added to the list?’
‘The lady Loretta,’ said Hubert. ‘Widow of Roger de Marmoutier.’
‘That is a name of importance in Devon,’ noted Gervase. ‘The lord Roger held property scattered throughout the county and did at one time hold the land at the centre of this dispute.’