Michael JECKS: Squire Throwleigh’s Heir

Stephen stared. ‘I am a priest! If you harm me, you will be damned for eternity!’

‘You think so? I think you are already accursed. When your soul leaves you, it will roast for ever, and I see no need to delay it.’

‘Bailiff, I look to you for protection!’

Simon refused to meet his urgent stare, and Stephen threw up his hands. ‘Very well, I admit it! My Lady, I am sorry, but I have to confess my guilt. I apologise, it’s not something I should have wished to have to tell you, but I have no choice now. It isn’t my fault; the temptation has always been there, and God knows, I have struggled against it! But there are times when even a priest is weak, and for me it is when there is a pretty face and an open, enquiring mind. I can refuse most things, but not the two attractions together.’

‘You admit it?’ Simon burst out.

‘I can’t see how I can avoid it; Thomas will murder me from ignorance, else.’

‘You confess to killing Herbert?’ Simon confirmed.

‘What? Of course not!’

‘You deny the murder, then?’ Simon demanded. ‘You admit to being a pederast, but flinch at…’

The priest’s face underwent a strange transformation. It went oddly pale, almost a greenish-white, before taking on a bright puce tint, so strong it was almost purple.

‘What? You dare to… You have the… You accuse me of something like… You accuse me of buggery? Of sodomy, you devil? Are you prepared to try me with a sword, you obnoxious bastard! Give me a sword, you shit, and I’ll put you to trial with a man, by God’s own power. With His help I’ll teach you to…’

Baldwin held up his hand and stared at the spitting priest. ‘If you deny it, who were you talking about? You said you were prey to an attraction – who was it?’

‘It was me, sir!’ said Petronilla, and she burst into tears all over again.

There was utter silence. Petronilla had thrown her arm around her face, and now sobbed into her elbow; Lady Katharine was weeping silently, the tears streaming down her cheeks; Anney had her hand over her brow to conceal her tears; even Jeanne felt the drops falling from some kind of sympathetic reaction. The men simply stared at each other.

The exception was the priest, who stood glaring balefully at the bailiff, then gave a quick gesture as of disgust and fell back into his seat.

Baldwin was the first to recover. ‘So it was Petronilla who walked with you down to the stream?’

‘Yes. And while we were there, I am afraid I took advantage of her again. It was wrong, but I couldn’t help myself. I have asked God for His forgiveness many times since then.’

‘And after Petronilla had left you, Herbert fired at you?’

Stephen didn’t answer for a moment, merely staring at Baldwin with a kind of frozen, angry coldness. ‘I was not alone when he fired at me. He hit me on the arse.’

‘You weren’t alone?’ Simon repeated slowly. He coughed and turned away as the implications of the priest’s bitter tone came home to him. ‘And you were hit on the backside. Ah, I see!’

‘What would you have done, Bailiff? Just the same as me, I expect. I leaped up, pulled down my robe and tried to find the little bastard. That was why I was barefoot, because I had taken my shoes off while I was… with Petronilla. I fastened them on again in a hurry, and one came off as I chased after him.’

Lady Katharine felt her face harden as she became aware of the suppressed laughter all about her. She had an overpowering urge to scream at them; they weren’t there for enjoyment, they were there to find the murderer of her boy!

‘What happened then?’ probed Baldwin. Alone of the men in the room he displayed no signs of amusement, to the lady’s appreciation. He knew how painful this interview must be for her and wished to treat it with as much dignity as possible for her sake.

She looked back to her ‘priest’. The title, one supposedly of honour, made her curl her lip.

Stephen lifted a hand and let it fall as if in sorrow. ‘I caught up with him where the track leads down to the road. There was a large branch lying nearby, and I bent Herbert over a rock and whacked him with it. I told him that if he ever did something like that to me again, I’d see to it that he wouldn’t be able to sit for a week. That was all.’

‘What, you left him there?’ Simon asked.

‘Bailiff, my woman was back down at the stream. I wanted to make sure she was all right, for God’s sake!’

Lady Katharine saw Sir Baldwin gaze at Petronilla.

‘It’s true,’ she said. ‘I have been seeing Stephen for months, and I wanted to talk to him because I have discovered that I am with child. But then his passion overwhelmed me, and I…’

‘I think we understand that,’ Baldwin interrupted smoothly. ‘But how long was he gone, and how was he when he returned?’

‘He was gone long enough for me to stand and pull my clothes back,’ she asserted defiantly. ‘I heard the boy cry out when he was caught, and saw Stephen strike him, and I could hear him crying still when Stephen came back to me.’

Lady Katharine had to swallow to keep the sob from bursting out of her. The talk of her boy being beaten, his punishment being spoken of so casually, made her feel physically sick with longing to see him again, to have a last opportunity to cradle him in her arms and soothe his hurts.

‘And you both left together?’ Baldwin asked.

‘Yes,’ Petronilla said.

‘But why didn’t you search for your shoe?’ Simon asked.

‘I couldn’t find it,’ Stephen said. ‘I did go back briefly to seek it, but I was unsuccessful.’

‘So you walked back to the manor without a shoe?’

‘I thought it had to be a punishment from God for forgetting my vow of chastity,’ Stephen said stiffly. ‘I returned for a better look as soon as I had a chance, as you saw, but there was still no sign of it.’

Lady Katharine averted her face from the man. As he spoke, he had glanced towards her as if hoping to see some sign of forgiveness – but how could he expect her of all people to give him that comfort; it was an insult to her son’s memory. However, the bailiff’s next words caught her attention, and she slowly turned to face him.

‘But Anney’s son said…’ Simon stumbled, and then was silent as he saw Lady Katharine’s face.

She stared at the bailiff and the knight, who had caught his sleeve with an urgent warning, but too late. ‘Anney’s son…’ she repeated, and looked at her maid with horror.

Anney met her gaze with an almost amused sneer. She had thought Simon would accuse someone else – she’d hoped the bailiff would find the priest guilty – but now her last hope was gone and there was no further alternative. With a loud sniff, Anney stepped forward with a dignified mien. ‘What of it? Why shouldn’t a son protect his mother?’

‘What are you saying, Anney?’ asked Baldwin quietly.

Lady Katharine saw Anney smile. It looked like a mask of pure evil. Her face was as white as that of a witch or a ghost. The heart beat twice as fast in Lady Katharine’s breast as she heard her maid gleefully announce, ‘I’m saying that I killed Herbert! And I’d do it again.’

And then Lady Katharine screamed once, and fell senseless.

Instantly all was bustle as the women went to the lady’s side to try to assist, and the men stood fidgeting, wondering what should be done. Daniel pushed through them all and picked his mistress up, lifting her as easily as if she were a mere child herself. Saying nothing, he turned and walked to a large bench near the fire, laying her down gently.

‘Petronilla?’ Baldwin called. ‘Fetch feathers.’ The girl gave an understanding nod. Burning feathers beneath a fainting person’s nose would waken them. Only when she had gone did Baldwin look for Anney.