Of the Ring of Earls (Conqueror Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  He was frowning. ‘Perhaps she does not want me to have her daughter and would therefore further our hopes.’ He glanced down at Judith, still folded in his arms. ‘Did you know what passed when I saw the King? Did you know he offered me Montgomery’s daughter?’

  She shivered. ‘They told me. My uncle was angry at your refusal and my mother beat me for a wanton. I don’t know what the lord of Taillebois could have told her of our meeting in the forest.’

  He was shocked, and angry too. ‘My little love, did she hurt you? If so . . .’

  She made a little grimace. ‘No, not much – and there’s naught you can do.’

  ‘But surely you explained . . .’

  ‘Oh, she knows I am not wanton, but she wishes me to wed a Norman noble, or a Flemish Prince.’

  ‘So the King said. Judith,’ he hesitated, ‘you do not think – no, it is not possible.’

  ‘What is not possible?’ she asked in sudden fear, seeing the gravity of his expression. ‘Tell me . . .’

  ‘Even if my lord Roger wants me for a son-in-law, I am certain his lady does not, and Ivo would see me ruined if he could. Perhaps they arranged this meeting for some evil purpose.’

  ‘And after what my uncle has said to both of us it would anger him greatly.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘Yes, Mabille could and would do such a thing. My lord, I must go. If we are found thus and here . . .’

  ‘One moment.’ He caught her hands, seeing the death of all his dreams of the last months, seeing her taken from him. He could not let her go, nor so easily tear the heart from his body. ‘Judith, this cannot be the end for us. I will ask your uncle again. And perhaps Abbot Lanfranc would speak for us, I think he has a kindness for me.’

  ‘No,’ she raised her head, her chin set firmly. ‘No, it will not be the end. I will will not let them force me to another husband. I have a will too.’

  He touched her hair, wrapping his fingers round the shining plaits. ‘I believe you have, my fiery love. When we are man and wife you will twist me as you want.’

  She laughed at that and held him tightly. ‘We will have each other despite them all, will we not, Waltheof my lord?’ He bent to kiss her, but scarcely had his mouth found hers when there was the sound of heavy footfalls outside and a voice said, ‘As far as horseflesh goes, beau sire, you could not do better. This Hungarian charger is . . .’

  The speaker broke off abruptly. Waltheof and Judith had sprung apart and stood, still too close together, fixed to the spot, for in the doorway, framed against the light outside, was the King himself with Roger of Montgomery and attended by Richard of Rules and Ivo of Taillebois.

  William was dressed for riding, a heavy mantle about his shoulders, and in his hand he carried a whip, the end of which he held absently between his teeth.

  When he saw them he shook it free and Judith gave a sharp cry.

  * * *

  William Malet might well be said to have a foot in both camps for, able to understand both the Norman and the English tongue, he heard any gossip in the hall at the supper hour. On this particular evening he listened with growing uneasiness to the tale going around and sat staring apprehensively at the Earl of Huntingdon’s empty place.

  The jester, posturing and grinning, leaned over him and whispered. ‘Our Earl has no taste for supper tonight, eh? They do say he wears a magic amulet that gives him his great strength. Will it give him enough to defy our William and chase after his lady love, think you?’

  ‘How should I know?’ Malet muttered and then added defensively, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about?’ Gallet laughed and shook his bauble in Malet’s face. ‘How ill that lie fell off your tongue! Our handsome Saxon is not here, is he? Nor the dark-eyed flower of the King’s household. Even a poor fool can use his eyes. And if he had abducted her, how far would they have got? It would have been haro! haro! and a chase for all the knights after the doe and the stag.’

  ‘Oh, be still.’ Malet aimed a blow at the jester but he ducked and ran away, chuckling to himself. God’s bones, Malet thought, is the whole hall talking of this nonsense? And as soon as supper was over he sought out de Rules.

  ‘How they talk!’ he said gloomily. ‘Tell me, Messire Richard, is it true or is it not, that the Earl tried to abduct the lady Judith? I hear you were there.’

  Richard threw up his hands. ‘I don’t know how such a story got about. Of course it is not true. The Earl was looking at her palfrey’s injured leg when the King came by. That is all there was to it.’

  Malet blew out his cheeks. ‘Are you sure? I suppose you are since you were there. But we all walk on the edge of a precipice who try to keep peace between Norman and Saxon.’

  ‘Scotch the rumour if you can,’ Richard said. He saw Thorkel Skallason and drew him away to a quiet place by the door. As soon as he was sure none could over hear, he said, ‘I could not get away any sooner – the King kept me with him. Where is the Earl?’

  ‘In our chamber,’ Thorkel told him. ‘When he came in he told me he had seen the lady Judith in the stables and that the King had chanced to come by . . .’

  ‘Chanced!’ Richard said under his breath. ‘That is what I told Malet just now and I would to God it had been true, but I fear it was not. Those cursed Bellêmes – Mabille is the worst of them.’

  ‘What has she to gain by what she did?’

  ‘God knows, but she is a devil and I don’t envy her lord his bed-companion. I detect the hand of her kinsman, Ivo, in this too.’

  ‘I could strangle her,’ Thorkel said furiously, ‘the scheming bitch, and Ivo too! But tell me how it all fell out.’

  ‘Well, Montgomery has two fine Hungarian destriers newly sent to him and he wanted to present one to the Duke. You can guess it was his wife who arranged that Judith and the Earl should be there when her lord took the Duke to see the horses. Poor Montgomery, he was much discomfited when he realised what had happened and I swear he knew nothing of it. I would have tried to warn the Earl, but by the time I saw him it was too late. William’s anger was very great – he called the Earl a traitor and a seducer and – other things. He had his riding whip with him and I think he would have beaten Judith if the Earl had not held her behind him.’

  ‘Oh God!’ Thorkel slammed one fist into the palm of the other hand. ‘It was an ill day that we came here. What then?’

  ‘Your lord has courage, I’ll say that. Not many men defy our William in one of his rages, but Waltheof stood there, not moving, and said if the King wished to whip the lady Judith he would have to beat him first. It was like Hector facing Achilles. I tell you, Messire Skallason, I thought William would shackle the Earl for that, but . . .’

  ‘But what?’ Thorkel asked sharply.

  Richard paused while Haimer of Thouars walked past them talking volubly to Roger FitzOsbern, and then went on, ‘Instead he said, in that cutting way he has, that he thought better of the Earl than that he should lose his head over a wench.’

  Thorkel stirred uneasily and sat down astride a bench by the wall. Something in the words sounded ominous, though he could not tell why. There were times when the mystical side of his nature, the poet in him born within sight of northern lights, felt strongly the influences that formed men and circumstances, when he seemed to glimpse some path or destiny as yet unrevealed. He shivered suddenly as if a chill wind had blown over him and hastily crossed himself.

  ‘What is it?’ Richard asked sharply.

  ‘Nothing – go on.’

  ‘Well, the Duke raised his arm as if to strike, but then he threw down his whip and ordered Judith to go from the court at once. He is sending her to Champagne to her stepfather’s castle. Judith told him he could shut her up on bread and water but she would not bend to his will, whereupon he gave a bark of laughter and said she was too much like himself. But she is gone for all that. He sent her off with Montgomery and she rode out an hour after.’

  ‘And my lord?’

  ‘William just looked at him and said, “I wish you Engli
shmen no ill but absolute obedience I must and will have.” The words were harmless enough but the tone in which they were said many a man has heard to his cost. Then he turned on his heel and walked out. I wanted to stay but I dared not risk angering him further. You do not know what it is like when the Duke’s anger is up. I don’t know what the Earl did after that.’

  ‘He saddled Balleroy and went to ride out of the Castle gates but two men at arms stood in his path and told him, as politely as you like, that he might not. He came up to our chamber then and sent us all out. He barred the door and I’ve not seen him since.’ Thorkel leaned wearily against the wall.

  Richard sat down beside him. ‘We have one thing in common now, you and I, my friend,’ he said, ‘but there seems little enough either of us can do for him. Even the Duchess will not move the Duke now.’

  ‘I know,’ Thorkel sighed. Then he stiffened. ‘Look!’ He pointed to the stair.

  Waltheof came down slowly, blinking in the sudden light of the hall. He acknowledged one or two greetings with a nod and made his way across to where Richard and Thorkel sat.

  The latter sprang up. ‘Minn hari, you have had no supper. Shall I send a serving man to fetch meat for you?’

  ‘I want nothing,’ Waltheof said, but he took up a horn from a half-cleared trestle, filled it and drank.

  Roger FitzOsbern and Haimer came back up the hall then and Haimer in his usual chatty manner remarked that they had missed the Earl at supper and asked if he was ill?

  ‘No.’ Waltheof answered. He drank again.

  Roger said, yawning, ‘I see the King has retired already – we shall get little entertainment tonight. Shall we play at chess?’

  Haimer laughed. ‘Perhaps we can persuade some of the Duchess’ ladies that it is too early for bed and to try their hands at skittles with us. What do you say, my lord?’

  Waltheof set down his horn. He could not live with himself tonight, nor return to that tower chamber where he had paced like a caged animal all the afternoon. If he went back there she would fill the room even though there were God knew how many miles between them.

  ‘For Christ’s sake,’ he said, ‘is there no wenching to be had in this town?’ Richard and Thorkel exchanged glances, but neither spoke.

  Haimer gave a great laugh. ‘Plenty, if you know where to look – despite the Duke’s ban on houses of pleasure – and there are alehouses too where you may get drunk away from this abstemious court. Shall we go, my lord?’

  ‘Aye,’ Roger thrust his arm through Waltheof’s. ‘We will show you a way out of this castle at night, to a part of Rouen you have not yet seen!’

  Arm in arm they went out, Waltheof without a backward glance, and Richard looked at the Icelander.

  ‘Tomorrow he will have need of you again,’ he said, but Thorkel did not answer.

  In the morning, heavy-eyed and weary Waltheof declined to join the hunt and instead sent Ulf with a request that the Abbot of St Stephens would receive him. Outside in the corridor Ulf encountered Outy and said with the tears starting into his eyes, ‘Oh, what is the matter with him? He cuffed me for not giving him the shoes he wanted. He has not done that before and he looks as if he had not slept last night. When I woke he was not in his bed.’

  ‘He slept,’ Outy said grimly, ‘but where need not concern you boy. Do as you are bid – he is not angry with you.’

  Ulf brushed away the tears and sped down the spiral stair. Presently he came back to say that Lanfranc would see the Earl in the solar reserved for visiting prelates.

  Waltheof cast a glance at .Thorkel who was putting the unwanted hunting spears back in their place. ‘You need not fear,’ he said with a glimmer of a smile. ‘I am not wood-wild yet, nor will I do anything that will risk all our necks.’

  ‘Thank God for that,’ Thorkel said and went on with what he was doing. He wanted to throw his arm about the Earl’s shoulders, tell him that he was young, that there were plenty of other women in the world, that a man’s first moon-sickness seldom lasted, but if he thought his lord would put aside all hopes of Judith his next words belied that conjecture.

  ‘I will have her,’ the Earl said, ‘despite them all.’ He laughed, but without mirth. ‘Did you despair of me last night?’

  ‘Not I.’ Thorkel shrugged. ‘To stick one’s head in a swill-pot is as good a way as any not to see what one does not want to see.’

  ‘Sometimes the whole world is a swill-pot,’ Waltheof said. Thorkel, he thought, had not misunderstood and he was glad of it.

  But alone, walking along the corridor above the hall, he felt less sanguine than he had sounded. No one, not even Thorkel, could tell what Judith meant to him. He thought of Harold, and Harold’s devotion to Edith Swan-neck that had lasted more than fifteen years; not even marriage to Edwin’s sister Aldyth had changed that. Poor Aldyth, she had never had Harold’s love despite her desire for it; she must have lain beside him at night, knowing that his heart was with another woman. So it would be with him, Waltheof thought, if he married other than Judith.

  Last night’s debauchery had done little but befuddle his mind so that he could not think clearly, and the light woman he had taken had only eased for a little the ache in his body. Waking at dawn, he had been conscious only of her unwashed skin and the stale straw of her palet. Desire for Judith came flooding back into his mind, bringing a mental picture of what it would have been had he lain beside her all night, and he flung himself from the tousled bed to throw on his clothes and return to the palace.

  As he walked back to the postern gate where Roger had an arrangement with the guard, he breathed in the crisp fresh air in great gulps as it he would cleanse both body and mind from the night’s doings, and watching the sun come up, red and orange and vividly beautiful as it lit the roofs of the little town, he felt master of himself again. If this matter were to be an issue between himself and William he would not yield so easily.

  He found Lanfranc dictating letters to a clerk, but the Abbot dismissed the man immediately on seeing his visitor. He bade him sit, sent him a quick shrewd glance that told him all he needed to know, and then folded his hands in his sleeves.

  ‘Pray tell me how I may serve you, my son.’

  That gesture reminded Waltheof of Ulfcytel, and he had a sudden longing for home, for Croyland and its Abbot. He sighed. ‘I think you know, father. I cannot believe that you, of all men, would be unaware of what occurred yesterday, nor indeed of the offer for the lady Judith that I made to the King – and its reception.’

  ‘I know of it.’ Lanfranc said. His intense blue eyes were fixed on Waltheof’s face. ‘Do you wish me to advise you?’

  ‘If you would, my lord Abbot. I did not know,’ he went on in an uprush of confidence, of desire to unburden himself, ‘I did not guess that love could be so strong. I thought it something for churls, or even for a hand-fasting, but not – not to be considered when marriage was arranged.’

  Lanfranc smiled faintly. ‘It seldom is, but there have been lovers since the world began who have thought it worth all that and more – and no harm either, be it subordinate to a greater love. There is only one pearl of great price,’ he glanced at the Earl, ‘which I think you know, my child.’

  Waltheof nodded. He was remembering Easter at Fécamp and his joy then, and the meeting with Judith in the garden. ‘What must I do?’

  ‘Leave the matter for the moment,’ the Abbot advised. ‘Do not let the world know what is in your heart, and pray that God’s will be done. I will speak with the King presently – but I know him and any reference to the matter now will only anger him further. Be patient and you may yet come happily to your marriage bed.’

  Waltheof got up and walked to the narrow slit in the wall and looked out. He could see the silver shine of the Seine far below, boats plying across it and larger craft coming in from the direction of the coast. Beyond lay the dark forest of Roumare where the more energetic of his court had accompanied the King on his daily hunt. Where was Judith now? Far south
on the road to Champagne, riding straightly as she always did, her dark hair tucked beneath her green hood perhaps. Was she as wretched as he? He thought of his black mood of yesterday, of the despair, the rage, the murder in his heart. If he could have killed last night – Ivo, Mabille, William himself – he would have done it.

  After a long silence he turned back to the Abbot. ‘Confess me, father.’

  ‘Willingly, my son.’ Lanfranc picked up his stole from the table and kissed it before placing it about his neck. There was an air of wholeness about him as if no part of life was separate from another.

  Kneeling humbly on the floor of the solar before this man whose reputation for holiness was equal to his fame as a statesman, Waltheof felt his burden eased. If Ulfcytel had taught him nothing else, he had shown him wherein lay the ultimate hope.

  On the next day, at dinner, William called his English guests to him and announced that in two days’ time they would return to England. This news came without warning, but they were beginning to learn that their King moved swiftly in whatever he did, that once his mind was made up there was never delay and any who could not keep up with his pace were simply ignored.