Leah laid aside the message when it arrived with a sinking heart. Like everything else she kept about her, the parchment Joan used was permeated with her scent and Leah was coming to recognize the odor as readily as her husband would. She silently handed the note to him when he came in from his conference with Philip. Cain had no need to smell the parchment; the hand was perfectly familiar to him. His first impulse was to fling the missive into the fire, but for one thing there was no fire and for another his curiosity was awakened. He glanced at Leah who was looking out of the window, her back to him, and then broke the seal.
"My lord: I dare not sign this, but you cannot fail to know the sender. If you do not take great care, the prize your wife will have for the tourney is your body laid upon your shield. Mayhap she deserves this, for she has betrayed your secrets to the queen out of spite for your harshness, but you should die a nobler death. I hope you understand, for I dare write no more and risk all by even so much for your sake."
"I hope Lady Shrewsbury has not bad news for you." Leah's voice was totally without inflection and she had not turned around.
Cain looked at his wife's lance-straight back. He certainly did not want another scene like the one last night. On the other hand, he dared not show Leah the note because of the warning in it. She would have hysterics, he thought, if she were frightened any more. He could not help, moreover, being distracted by a burning curiosity about Joan's purposes. Surely she would rather have him dead than alive after what had passed between them. He was ashamed even now of what he said in parting from her, but Radnor merely showed his ignorance of the fact that his death could bring Joan no satisfaction. Only two things could ease her heart—to see him humbled and to have him sue once more for her love.
"I wish," Radnor said finally with magnificent
non sequitur,
"that I had not laughed so heartily at Hereford's dismay yesterday. I am now in almost the same position, except, praise God, I have no witnesses of my discomfiture. I cannot deny that this is Joan of Shrewsbury's hand, nor that there is something here that I would not have you see. I swear, however, that it is no matter of a private nature between Joan and myself. For the rest I care not—she warns me that you have betrayed me to the queen."
"You need tell me nothing. I ask out of concern for your well-being alone," Leah replied mendaciously. "I am not like to question your behavior again, my lord."
"I hope not, but I would not have you distressed for nothing. Of all women on earth, you need concern yourself least with Joan of Shrewsbury. Are you not even interested in how you have betrayed me?"
"If you do not believe that I am faithful to you in word and deed, what could I do to convince you? I know I have betrayed nothing. If you choose to believe Lady Shrewsbury—"
Radnor laughed and gave his wife an affectionate hug with one arm. Whatever Leah's knowledge of her father's doings, he was sure she had told Maud nothing. "She does not name any particular thing. What lies have you been spreading now? Leah, Leah, you will never go to heaven if you speak so many untruths."
"I will go to heaven! God understands everything. Surely He will understand that it is needful for me to protect my husband's interests among those who wish him harm."
Covering his face in humorous despair, Radnor gave up the struggle. He replied, chuckling a little, that she must not forget to confess that she told lies and do her penance. He had to go out again to see what support he could muster for Hereford since there was no longer any hope of saving Chester, but he hated to leave Leah while her mouth still drooped disconsolately. More and more her gaiety was his happiness, and her sorrow, no matter how small and foolish, wrung his heart.
"I must go out on business. Nay, it is nothing to do with this letter, and you may believe me for I am not the prevaricator that you are. I must speak to William of Gloucester and Leicester and some others before the council meeting. Tomorrow I will have no time because of the tourney. What will you do until I return?"
"Nothing of which you would disapprove, my lord. There is always much to be done. I must talk of wines to the steward, of meat and flour and spices to the cooks, of sewing and cleaning to the maids—"
"Well, I do disapprove. You cannot always toil. It is Friday—oh, Lord, fish again—there seem to be five Fridays in every week. Why do you not go to the market, and not to buy wine and meat and flour, but to see the fairings? Giles will— No, I need Giles. Beaufort can escort you and I will give you more money." That should cheer her up, he thought; above all women liked to buy things.
"You are very kind," Leah replied in a small, sad voice.
"Have you forgot how to smile this afternoon?" There was a short pause while Cain did some mental gymnastics. "Would it make you happier if I went with you, Leah?" He could not bear her unspoken depression and was now prepared to rearrange his own schedule to please her.
Having what she wanted, Leah did smile, turning her face up to his with brightening eyes. "Of course it would make me happy, but you must not do it. You are merely indulging me, and your affairs must come first. I will wait for you."
"That will take too much time. I do not want to be late in returning. Remember that I am to take the evening meal alone with the king tonight. I know what is best to be done. Go alone, and I will meet you at the Horse Market in Smithfield. I intended to buy you a riding mare or two and I need a replacement for my dead stallion. I will come as soon as possible, but do not look for me before Nones. Now kiss me quickly, and I must go. I am late already."
"Be careful, my lord. Oh, how I wish I might go with you."
"To watch me or to protect me? Go to, do not be such a goose. I would look something a little more than foolish explaining that I had brought my nursemaid along." He laughed at her, pushing away his doubts and telling himself that he should be flattered by her jealousy and her fear.
Radnor's first call was on William of Gloucester whom he found teasing a small dog with bits of meat prepared by a pretty boy. Radnor scowled at William's choice of company and William laughed. He did, however, gesture to the boy, who removed himself and the dog to the guardroom below.
"You have heard about Hereford's latest folly?"
"We have more similar senses of humor than I thought if you are going to class treason as a form of folly," William rejoined.
Cain snorted impatiently. "Well, so it is, in this case, but that was not what I meant. You know the tale that has been spread—give it what backing you can."
William smiled. "So be it, but no woman can save him if he failed to stop Pembroke. How could you send such a trusting child to fulfill such a duty? And do not ask me how I knew that Hereford had failed. I can read your face. Where is Pembroke?"
"I wish to God I knew. You know what it will mean to your father and your lands if Chester and Hereford are taken prisoner. Can you find where Pembroke is, William? Perhaps we can save the oats still. It would be worth—much—to all of us."
The heavy-lidded eyes flickered open and William's lips drew back farther in a brief, vicious grimace that was no longer a smile. He would have allowed few other men to see that expression, but his trust in his foster-brother was absolute, secure enough even to allow him to speak his true mind.
"If I can, you would be the last man I would tell of it. Fool that you are, you would try to save him for the sake of the blood bond that is between you. If I find him, he will die—and I do not desire to have you try to foil my purpose."
Radnor did not answer that remark. "Have you heard any more about Henry's movements?"
"Only what you know. That he will land in Devonshire. We receive his letters, but we still have been unable to reach him. How goes your part of that business?"
"I will see Stephen tonight, alone, without Maud. I am almost sure I can get from him letters in his own hand confirming Henry as his successor. To Stephen it will mean nothing; he is easy of promise who never intends to keep his word. I sadly fear I will not be able to have the letters stamped with the Great Seal. Maud controls that, but one cannot have everything.
As it is, such letters will be of value if by some mischance Eustace is crowned during Stephen's lifetime and more argument arises on the king's death. With these letters in hand, I can get money—to send Henry home, to pay the troops he has brought, and for whatever else is needful. Thus we spare our own purses for that time when money will not be thrown away. I know Maud holds the purse strings, but she will see that it is better that Henry should go, even at her expense, than that he should stay holding those letters and fomenting continual unrest."
William nodded, his face impassive again but his eyes still showed his anger. "It is the best that can be done, I suppose. If it had not been for this idiocy of Chester's, we could have done more. I believe Stephen could have been forced to proclaim the true succession in council, before the whole court."
"Perhaps," Radnor replied, "but we must adjust our desires to what is possible."
"So I believe also, as you well know, and I think you should take your own advice. Have you asked your wife where her father lies hid?"
Cain took a step forward threateningly, but William did not move except to lift his eyes challengingly.
"It is well to hope, ill to believe, and disastrous to trust," William sneered. "If I were you, I would take neither food nor drink from my wife's hands before the tourney." Cain started to turn away, but with a movement swift as a striking snake's William caught his arm. "Have a care to yourself. When Henry is king, you may kill yourself in your own way, for all of me, but until that, day it would suit my purposes very ill indeed if your father had no successor to his title other than Pembroke. What better place to have a fatal accident than a tourney? And what easier way to be sure of such an accident than a potion to make a man only a little drowsy?"
Shaking with fury, Radnor gripped Lord William and glared into his passionless face. He could have crushed William with a single blow, but he was not really angry with his foster-brother; his fury was the impotent rage of insecurity. "Why do you missay Leah?"
Delicately, William freed his gown from the grip Radnor had taken on it. "I do not missay her. For all I know, she is as pure in heart as the Virgin. I only know that she is Pembroke's daughter and I urge caution on you because you have a look on your face these days that only a man besotted upon a woman wears."
"I am sure she is innocent."
"That is why I said my say. Think on it. Do not be so sure that you may be alive and more sure."
Radnor's mood was black as pitch when he left William, but fortunately the Earl of Leicester was of equable disposition and did not take offence. He agreed readily enough that it would be to no one's benefit that Hereford should be attainted, provided the young man would behave himself in the future.
"I believe he has learned his lesson," Radnor said shortly. "He will meddle no more with Chester's doings—if he comes scatheless out of this. He is hot-tempered, however, and if his property or his honor is touched, he will seek revenge. This is why I would have a free pardon for him."
Leicester nodded understandingly. "I will do nothing against it, I assure you, and for what my influence with Stephen may do you will have my voice for Hereford's support. The young are hot-blooded and prone to mistake."
Cain bent his lips into a smile with an effort. "I thank you and I thank you for your patience with my bad temper."
"A man who faces what you do and yet troubles himself about others' well-doing may be forgiven much."
The remark stopped Cain in his tracks as he was preparing to take his leave. Apparently the whole court knew he was to be slaughtered. It did not sound like Pembroke's usual careful planning. What was more, it could not be suspicion of Pembroke's intentions, because Leicester gave no sign of knowing that Pembroke was in London, On the other hand, Leicester was close to the king. It was difficult to believe that Stephen would be party to such a thing; it was not his way. But it was certainly worth questioning further.
"Whence comes all this tender concern for my health, Leicester?"
The older man shook his head. "Not from where you might think. Stephen, good man that he is, loves you well. But I have heard a word here and seen a look there. My wife too has picked up a hint or two in the women's quarters. Since you have brought the matter out into the air, let me say this. You do not keep knights in your train and only knighted men may join in this combat. There are a surprising number of knights errant in the south and east party who are of a sudden very affluent and wear Oxford's colors. I know no more and desire to know no more. I have heard it said that you are the strongest man in England, and I doubt it not, but if you have influence with either the nether regions or the upper ones, you should whistle for help."
Cain's beautiful teeth showed in his broad grin. He could have kissed Leicester in his relief, for that remark about the rumors in the women's quarters indicated that Maud really was involved. Radnor was delighted because he would have no need to make evidence against her; he could with perfect justice turn her own plotting against her to force her to his will.
"Well, well, well. This promises fairly," he said to Leicester's astonishment. "I think I see a break in a very cloudy sky. I had not thought to find so much of real interest in a tourney. I thank you for your kind words and for your good wishes."
Chapter 16
The Smithfield Horse Market had grown considerably in size since Lord Radnor had last visited it. Every type of animal was offered for sale or barter, from colts just weaned to creatures so long past their prime that their shrunken gums exposed the roots of their yellowed teeth from which the crowns had long since been ground by years of eating. Here and there an enterprising dealer even showed the small-headed, thickbodied, thin-legged Arabian ponies, more beautiful than any other horse, to Radnor's mind. He stopped to look at each of these, stroking the silken coats and gazing rather longingly into the large liquid eyes. When the dealers extolled the strength and fleetness of these mounts, however, Radnor laughed and exclaimed that they would never carry his weight, even unarmed, and that his legs would trail on the ground. "Wait until I have a son," he murmured, and rode away from a particularly beautiful mare, white as snow, her well-groomed mane and tail glinting like silver in the sunshine.