Alys Clare - The Rose of the World

It was Yves’s stable lad.

Yves was already on his knees in the mud beside the young man’s mother. He had his hand on the lad’s throat and, as Ninian watched, he bent down to put his cheek beside the open mouth. He glanced up, and Ninian saw him catch his brother’s eye and briefly shake his head. Then he stood up, ran his eyes over the gawping villagers and, selecting a couple, told them to escort the wailing, shocked woman back to her home. Two more were sent to fetch a stretcher for the body. There were still four or five people hanging about and, with a swift, impatient gesture, Yves said, ‘Get back to your work. There is nothing anyone can do for him now.’

When everyone had gone, Yves beckoned to Patrice and Ninian, and they approached the body.

‘How did he die?’ Patrice asked. ‘Did he drown?’

‘I do not think so, for his hair is dry,’ Yves said. He was running his hands over the body, searching for the fatal injury. With a soft exclamation, he pointed to the neck. On the left side — the side on which the body lay — there was a short, deep cut beneath the ear. The young man’s life blood lay in a great pool beneath it. ‘See,’ Yves said softly. ‘A stab to the neck.’ He touched the dead cheek with a gentle hand. ‘Such a small wound, to bring about a man’s death.’

Ninian had seen something else. The lad’s right hand was tightly clenched, but the edge of a small leather bag was visible, sticking out between the thumb and the forefinger. He reached down and opened the fist, extracting the bag. Opening it, he saw that it was full of coins. Silently, he handed it to Yves, who quickly counted the coins, his eyes widening.

‘There’s several months’ income here!’ Yves whispered. ‘However did Stephan come by so much money?’

‘Perhaps he stole it,’ Patrice suggested.

Yves frowned. ‘I would have said Stephan was an honest man, but recently he has changed. He wishes to marry,’ he went on, looking at Ninian, ‘and he has not the means.’

‘Someone desperate for money may turn from his former honest ways,’ Ninian said.

Still Yves looked doubtful. ‘Who could he have stolen from, though? We see few strangers here, and nobody local carries this sort of sum around with them.’

Patrice stood up. ‘I will go and ask among the villagers,’ he said. ‘I’ll take Ninian with me, unless you wish him to stay with you until they come for the body?’ Yves shook his head. ‘Then I would be grateful for your company,’ Patrice went on, turning to Ninian with a smile. ‘Your eyes are a lot younger than mine, and you may well spot something that I miss.’

Not many of the villagers had obeyed Yves’s order to return to work. Stephan’s mother had disappeared, presumably now pouring out her grief inside her house, and a group of the men who had stood around the body were gathered close to the church. They had been joined by several more. A man stood in the middle of the group, speaking urgently. Seeing Patrice, he fell silent. As one, the men turned to look at Patrice and Ninian.

‘Stephan was murdered,’ Patrice said. There was a low rumble of comment, although Ninian was almost sure the men had already known. ‘He was clutching a bag of money. We don’t know how he came by it. If any of you has anything to say that might help us find out what happened, you must tell us immediately.’ One or two of the men exchanged glances. ‘If you prefer to speak privately, come to the manor house.’

He waited. Ninian looked around the group. Nobody made any move to speak. ‘Very well,’ Patrice said. ‘We will return to the manor.’ He paused. ‘Remember, all of you, that a young man who was one of the Acquin community has been brutally slain. He leaves a widowed mother, who depended on him. He leaves a pretty young girl who was expecting to marry him. Both women will be heartbroken.’ He turned his horse, nudged it and moved off, Ninian behind him.

‘Do you think anyone will respond?’ Ninian asked once they were out of earshot.

Patrice smiled grimly. ‘I fully expect it,’ he replied. ‘The man who was addressing the crowd — his name is Pierre — makes it his business to know everything that goes on among the Acquin peasantry. He might have spoken just now, but he likes to make himself important by adopting the role of spokesman for the village.’ They were back at the house, and Patrice reined in to let Ninian ride ahead into the yard. ‘Besides,’ he added, ‘Pierre knows there’s always a mug of ale and a sweet cake to be had when he comes here with useful information.’

They had not been back long when Yves arrived home. He assembled the household and briefly told them all what had happened. There was a cry from one of the kitchen women, quickly stifled, and several of the younger servants looked pale and shocked.

The family sat down to eat and had almost finished when a servant came into the hall and spoke quietly to Yves. He nodded, stood up and then glanced at Patrice and Ninian and jerked his head in the direction of the passage that led along to the kitchens. Both got up and followed him out.

‘Pierre?’ Patrice asked.

‘Aye.’

Pierre was waiting for them in the small covered area between the main house and the kitchens. He was a wiry, thin-faced man with restless eyes set close together. He doffed his cap when they approached, twisting it in his hands.

‘You have something to tell us, Pierre,’ Yves said.

‘I have, sir.’ He glanced at Ninian.

‘You may speak in front of him,’ Yves reassured him.

‘Er — thank you, sir. It’s not that, not exactly.’

Yves frowned. ‘What, then?’ he demanded.

Pierre gave a faint shrug, as if of resignation. Then he said, ‘There’s been strangers in the village. One man in particular, asking questions. He knew the name d’Acquin, and he was looking for a young man who had come to stay with the family here.’ He waved a hand, indicating the spreading manor house.

Ninian felt as if a cold fist were closing around his heart. He made as if to speak, but Yves put a hand on his arm, restraining him. ‘This man was offering to pay for information, I imagine?’ he said coldly.

‘That he was, sir, and I hope I need not say that, almost to a man, we were having none of it.’ Pierre managed to form an expression with his sharp features that was a perfect mix of indignation and hurt loyalty.

‘No, Pierre, you do not,’ Yves said. ‘You are decent people, I know that.’

Pierre acknowledged the comment. ‘Well, Stephan, he was the exception,’ he went on, ‘but then, as we all know, Stephan is in love and that can turn a man’s head, and when he was offered more money than he sees in half a year, just for passing on what was no deep secret anyway, he thought to himself: where’s the harm?’

‘He has been reporting to this stranger concerning the movements of my nephew?’ Yves demanded.

‘That he has, sir,’ Pierre answered.

‘You did not think to come and tell me?’ Yves sounded angry. ‘Had you done so, Stephan’s death might have been averted.’

A crafty look came over Pierre’s face. ‘Well, now, it might and it might not,’ he said. ‘Trouble was, sir, if you don’t mind me saying so, that, according to what I heard, this stranger told young Stephan that your — er, your nephew here was a wanted man back in England. Killed a man, they say.’ His eyes shifted to Ninian, then back to Yves. ‘Now, I don’t necessarily believe it, but it wasn’t my place to come here repeating such accusations to you, now, was it, sir?’

‘I-’ Yves bit back whatever he had been about to say. Instead, he fixed Pierre with a steely stare. ‘What my nephew may or may not be accused of is no business of anybody here,’ he stated firmly. ‘The full story is known to me already, and there is to be no speculation. Do you understand?’ Pierre nodded. ‘Now, tell me everything you can about the man who paid Stephan for information.’