Michael Jecks - The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover

‘This is all guesswork,’ Simon said.

‘No. It is mostly gleaned from the people we have questioned, and some of it is deduced.’

‘Then why ?’ Simon asked. ‘What would a priest be doing trying to kill all these people?’

‘Perhaps he happens to be close to his king?’ Baldwin guessed. ‘If Charles knows him well, maybe that’s why he chose to ask him to help?’

‘That horse won’t ride,’ Peter said with a firm shake of his head. ‘No. I think Père Pierre is not of that temper. If a king told a priest to go and commit murder, he would refuse.’

‘But we can be sure that this man is guilty of many murders,’ Baldwin said. ‘Your intervention in the chapel showed that.’

‘Yes. Well. I was not going to have a man blaspheme by lying about his offences — especially since he was attempting to have the blame put entirely on the shoulders of a dead man who had confessed while in the proximity of his own death. A man in that position doesn’t lie.’

‘Which crimes did he confess to?’ Baldwin asked innocently.

‘A good try, Sir Baldwin. I am not so gullible that I can fall for that. His confession is between him and God.’

‘If that priest is as guilty as we think,’ Simon said, ‘is there any way we could bring him to justice?’

‘I think that to be able to do that, we’d need the full support of the King. And I have no authority here, as he pointed out. Nor do you!’

‘So he escapes? After so many deaths, he just walks away?’

‘I fear that may well be the case,’ Baldwin said heavily.

‘It is not right,’ Simon said.

‘No. But in a foreign country, there is little else we can do but accept its customs.’

‘I still wonder what would lead a man of God into such actions,’ Peter said.

‘He was staying with you during the journey here — did he give you no indication of what sort of man he is? No clues as to his thinking or anything?’

‘The only thing I picked up from him was his hatred of heresy. He does detest those from his old home who profess the Christian faith, and then go and hold their own heretical services afterwards, considering the Catholic religion to be a perverted form of Jesus’s. Apparently it’s common down in the south.’

‘And this Jean came from the south. It is part of the comté , too,’ Baldwin noted. ‘So the Comte was responsible for that area. Perhaps the priest thought that these men were responsible for the heresy? He was eradicating it and doing a service for God.’

‘I have known religious madmen, but that would be stretching the point,’ Peter said.

‘I agree,’ Simon said. ‘I would think his motive was simpler. He wanted either money or power. If it was money, he would be sure of a reward if he was capable of providing this service to the King; if power, no doubt the King would petition his bishop for his advancement.’

‘Advancement …’ Baldwin wondered. ‘Surely a priest would gain all the worldly wealth he could desire as he clambered up the ladder from novice to clerk to deacon and so on. A man like Pierre would have gained all he wanted as he rose through the ranks, and if he were to rise but a little farther, he would command much influence and money.’

‘Oh, I shouldn’t think he’d ever have enough to justify so many deaths on his conscience,’ Peter said.

‘There are some men who do not think of other men. Sir Hugh le Despenser is one of them. Perhaps this priest is in the same mould?’ Baldwin wondered. Then he stood. ‘Simon, come! We have more work to do.’

They found Sir John de Sapy sitting disconsolate in the little yard near the Queen’s chambers.

‘Sir Peter and Sir Charles will have little to do with me since they heard of my efforts,’ he said. ‘But I swear, all I wanted was to be sure of my post at court.’

‘Others are always jealous when someone manages to ingratiate himself with the man they would also like to be close to,’ Baldwin said.

‘I just don’t want to be outlawed again.’

‘Tell me, then, the priest. Père Pierre. How did you come to meet him?’

‘My brother introduced me in a tavern. He said that if I wanted to get into Sir Hugh’s favour, I should help the priest. All I had to do was lead him to that house in London, nothing more, and then keep guard outside. I heard some noises … but I didn’t think he was going to kill anyone. He was a priest! Later I was taken to Despenser’s hall. You know the Temple? He thanked me there. Despenser told me that aiding this little priest had shown I was trustworthy enough for his household. That was when he offered me this embassy.’

‘Knowing that all the loose ends would be snipped away,’ Baldwin noted. ‘He was planning to kill you, Sir John.’

‘Sweet Jesus! Does that mean my brother …?’

‘I think he will be safe enough. And when you yourself return home, you can tell him what happened over here, which will itself be of use to him.’

‘Yes. Yes, I suppose so,’ he said, looking anything but confident.

‘Now, Sir John, is there anything that could tell us what made the priest want to kill the family?’

‘There was one thing he said: that they were guilty of a heresy. He seemed quite warm on the matter.’

‘ Heretics ,’ Baldwin murmured. And then he gave a little smile. ‘I wonder if we could use that against him?’

He left Simon a little while later, wandering off alone into the small orchard area behind the castle, while Simon stood guard outside the Queen’s chamber. While he was there, there was a blaring of trumpets at the gate, and when he bent his head that way he saw a great procession arriving. Magnificent horses caparisoned with immensely expensive-looking equipment rode in through the gates, and behind them were more horses. Men-at-arms were everywhere, and then there came a great wagon, obviously the transport of a very wealthy person. The whole entered and formed a sweeping curve in the court, while servants dropped from their horses or the rear of the wagon and ran about, depositing steps by the wagon’s door, forming a line, and standing smartly waiting.

Soon the door opened and out stepped two ecclesiastics. From their clothing Simon guessed one was a bishop, the other an archbishop.

‘Dear Christ!’ he heard behind him.

It was William de Bouden. He looked at the newcomers, cast a glance towards his chamber as though considering bolting for the security of his own desk, and then grimaced and turned to knock on the Queen’s door.

‘William, who are they?’ Simon asked.

‘The Bishop of Orange and the Archbishop of Vienne. They are the Pope’s envoys, here to seal the peace between France and England. I don’t think her Majesty will be happy to see them.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because we are nowhere near making peace yet. The best you could say is that we are close to extending the truce. No more than that. The whole embassy has been a failure. And those two are probably here to say that their latest discussions have also collapsed.’

‘Perhaps they’ve done well, though?’ Simon wondered hopefully.

‘Look at their faces,’ de Bouden snarled, and as Blaket opened the door he slipped inside.

Simon could see what he meant. If a man ever looked like a thunderstorm, it was the archbishop as he marched towards Simon. Simon stood aside to let him and the bishop pass into the Queen’s chamber, and then he relaxed into his comfortable slouch once more. Two guards wandered up and took their own stations nearby, and Simon eyed them as they shared a piece of dried sausage. He saw a servant of the Queen, and asked him to bring wine for the two, who looked parched, and was soon in conversation with the one who spoke reasonable English.