by Anne Herries
Philip felt a chill at the nape of his neck. He had only that rogue Bartholomew’s word that Zander was dead.
Supposing he lived and discovered who was his true enemy?
Zander could not be alive. He would have sent word to Elaine—but more importantly, he would have come after his one-time friend and demanded revenge…unless he lay close to death and had finally breathed his last.
Yet still the problem remained. Why had no one come to tell Elaine what had happened to her husband?
Chapter Twelve
The sick man opened his eyes and glanced up at the person who tended him. ‘You should not do this for me, my lord,’ he said. ‘It should be I that tends you.’
‘My wounds healed quickly,’ Zander said and smiled. ‘You were close to death and I wanted to care for you myself. You have saved my life twice, my friend. You covered me with your body when they would have hacked me to death—and once again I am in your debt.’
‘You would have done as much for me.’
‘Yes, because we are as brothers.’ Zander frowned. ‘You know we were betrayed? Those rogues lay in wait for us and we were outnumbered, for I thought Newark had given his word that we should come in peace.’
‘Someone betrayed us.’ Janvier tentatively moved his neck. The blow to his shoulder had cut deep and he’d lain in pain for weeks, not knowing what was happening about him. ‘Who was it that laid the trap—Newark or…’ his eyes widened in shock ‘…your friend Lord Stornway. The message came through him…he could have betrayed us, lured us to what should have been certain death had your men not fought so valiantly.’
‘Exactly,’ Zander said. ‘Newark has made no move against Sweetbriars. My spies tell me that he recently allowed his prisoners to go free—and is making plans to leave Howarth. I do not know whom to trust, which is why I dare not send to Elaine again, though I do not know if she had my message. If she revealed that we were alive and where we were hiding, we should have no chance against a superior force. Our best plan is to stay hidden until we are ready to return to the manor.’
‘But why would your friend betray you?’
‘I have thought long and hard,’ Zander said. ‘I believed we were as brothers before I left for the Holy Land. Philip wanted to take the Cross, too, but Richard made him his King’s Marshal and he was forced to stay in England. I sent him money and jewels…he could have robbed me of my fortune, but he did not…even the silver I sent for my steward was returned to me.’
‘But now you have something of far more worth,’ Janvier said. ‘I think he envies you your wife.’
‘Elaine…you think he wants Elaine?’ Zander frowned. He cursed beneath his breath. ‘I have been a fool dallying here. I wanted time to recover and plan before I sent word to my uncle. I need more men…and I must have proof of what Philip has done or we shall never be sure.’
‘You should send your lady word that you are alive, but warn her to keep it secret,’ Janvier said. ‘You should have left me here and gone home, my lord. In your absence anything may have happened.’
‘I could not leave you, my friend, but I should have sent word to her. Yet she would not leave the manor…’
‘Unless she was tricked.’
‘God forgive me!’ Zander cried. ‘If he has harmed her, I shall kill him.’
‘You must leave me here and go home,’ Janvier urged. ‘I can manage alone. I pray that it is not already too late.’
‘But if she had my message…’ Zander frowned. ‘Unless Eric was murdered before he reached her.’
‘You must return to the manor and make certain she is safe,’ Janvier urged. ‘I do not trust Lady Anne. She asked me some strange questions concerning your time in the Holy Land—and about Sir Jonquil…I think he meant something to her, though she tried to hide her feelings. Forgive me, I should have told you…this is my fault…’
Zander shook his head, still hardly able to believe what his mind told him. ‘It was not your fault. I trusted them both, thought them my true friends—but if they are behind this…’
‘You should send word to your uncle at once and then ask the Earl of Newark to meet with you at Sweetbriars,’ Janvier said. ‘You cannot fight two enemies, my lord. You must make your peace with the earl if you can.’
‘Newark had my father beaten to death…’
‘Have you proof of this?’ Janvier asked. ‘Who told you of your father’s death? You were not present when he died?’
‘No, I was at Richard’s court, planning my journey to the Holy Land.’ Zander’s gaze narrowed in thought. ‘Philip told me what happened that day.’
‘Then you have only his word.’
‘Yet why should he hate me enough to lie…to cause my father’s death…?’
‘I cannot tell you, my lord.’ Janvier made to rise, but could not manage it. ‘I am weak now, but soon I shall be better. Let me go to Newark and ask if he will meet you at Lady Elaine’s manor. You must send messengers to your uncle, asking for help, and return to the manor. Send one of the grooms to tell your lady to meet you in secret. If Lord Stornway has plotted mischief, she will know.’
‘Your advice is sound as always,’ Zander said and smiled. ‘I have two men watching Newark, but until the last day or so I did not consider that Philip could be my enemy.’
‘What made you begin to suspect him?’
‘I could not think why Newark should ask for a meeting between us only to set a trap. If it were his intention to murder me, he would surely find it easy enough to dispose of me when I was at Howarth without sending men to waylay us?’
‘Perhaps you have been mistaken in your enemy, my lord.’
‘Yes, perhaps I have…’ Zander’s eyes narrowed. ‘Yet why should Philip hate me?’ he asked again.
‘I cannot answer that,’ Janvier’s reply was the same. ‘Perhaps it was merely a young man’s jealousy—that you had taken the Cross while he was forced to stay at home.’
Zander shook his head. ‘I would swear he was well satisfied with his lot, proud to be the King’s Marshal in these parts.’
‘Did he see you as a threat—or your father?’
‘I do not know how a poor knight like my father could threaten Lord Stornway,’ Zander said. ‘My father was a truly honest man with no desire for advancement. I can see no reason why anyone should want him dead.’
‘Only Lord Stornway can tell you the truth. Return to Sweetbriars and make sure your lady is safe, my lord. Then you can confront Lord Stornway and demand an explanation.’
‘Yes, you are right—but I do not like to leave you here alone, my friend.’
‘I shall do well enough now—and I will take your message to Earl Newark in a day or so.’
‘Yes, I must go,’ Zander said. ‘Forgive me that I leave you—but I grow anxious. I shall set out at once for Sweetbriars.’
Zander was at fault, he knew it. Even after he had decided to wed Elaine, he had been haunted by his memories—and the suspicion that had been growing in his mind concerning Philip had been hovering like a dark cloud. If Philip was not the friend he had always thought him… Elaine might be in danger even now. God forgive him, if his carelessness led to her death for he would never forgive himself.
‘I do not trust Lord Stornway,’ Bertrand said to Marion as they walked in the woods near the castle and picked herbs to make a tisane for Elaine. ‘He and his sister have deceived you, Marion. His talk of giving us a cottage and land—why should he do so much for us? Methinks ’tis a bribe.’
‘I thought him a good man.’ Marion stared at him intently. ‘What makes you distrust him?’
‘He looks at Lady Elaine in a way I do not like. I think he seeks to marry her whether she will have him or no.’
‘How could he? She is wed to Lord Zander and without proof of his death she must wait for some years before the Church will grant her permission to remarry.’
‘Yet he is making arrangements for a wedding before Christ’s Mass.’
Marion gasped. ‘How can that be? It would not be lawful. Besides, she grieves for her lord. She would never agree.’
‘I heard him speaking to the priest. I saw money change hands—and I think he means to force her.’
‘I should never allow that,’ Marion said fiercely and then bit her lip, looking at him with regret. ‘I have been on his side…I told her he was a good man. Surely he would not do anything so wicked?’
‘I heard something about one of Zander’s men. He was ambushed and wounded, but brought here still alive and in his senses. He told someone that Lord Zander had sent orders that Lady Elaine was to remain at the manor.’
‘She does not know that,’ Marion said. ‘The message she received was that her lord had been betrayed…we thought by Earl Newark.’
‘Something is not right,’ Bertrand said and frowned. ‘Lady Elaine should be at home to grieve in peace. She should not be forced into another wedding so soon after her lord died…if he is dead. Where is the proof? Has anyone seen his body or even a grave? I am uneasy, Marion. I think Lord Stornway sought to get rid of you by giving us land, so that she would have no one to help her.’
‘You must return to the manor,’ Marion said. ‘Find out if there is any news. I shall remain here to guard my lady.’
‘What can you do alone?’ Bertrand frowned. ‘We should take our lady and return to the manor with her.’
‘If you are right, he would not let her go.’ Marion was thoughtful. ‘Go back to the manor and then send word to Lord Zander’s uncle. If our lady is a prisoner here, she will need to be rescued.’
‘Very well,’ Bertrand agreed. ‘But be careful, Marion. If Lady Anne or her brother discovered that You suspect them, they would not hesitate to kill you.’
Marion shivered. ‘You cannot think they are so evil? I am sure they will be proved innocent.’
‘Take care, my love—and trust me. I know what I saw and heard and ’tis not right. Lady Elaine would never marry so soon…and I fear she does not realise how evil some men can be.’
Marion agreed. ‘I shall watch over her like a hawk. Go now, Bertrand, and return to me as soon as you can.’
Elaine stood at the window of the tower in which she had been lodged. She was beginning to feel better and to think for herself. She should never have agreed to wed Lord Stornway in the spring if he brought her proof of Zander’s death. She did not wish to marry again. She’d agreed in a weak moment, but now she thought she would prefer to enter a nunnery. The Abbess would accept her dower lands as her dowry and she would take her vows rather than be persuaded into a marriage she did not want. In a nunnery she would be safe from men who wished to wed her for reasons of their own.
Her heart belonged to Zander and she would never love anyone else.
‘Where are you, my love?’ she whispered. ‘I love you so much. How could I ever marry again now that you are gone from me?’
She had been grateful to Lord Stornway for his help. He and Anne had saved her life, but she did not wish to remain here a moment longer. She would return to Sweetbriars and then she would decide what to do with the rest of her life.
The door of her chamber opened behind her and Anne entered bearing a silver tray with a pewter cup filled with a hot liquid that she knew would taste of wine and honey.
‘I have brought you a drink to ease you,’ Anne said, smiling at her.
‘Thank you, I shall drink it later,’ Elaine said. ‘You and Lord Stornway have been so good to me—but I have decided that I shall return home tomorrow. Would you send word to let my people know, please?’
‘Are you sure you wish to go? Have we not made you welcome here?’ There was a flicker of displeasure in Anne’s eyes, but quickly hidden.
‘Yes, most welcome,’ Elaine said. ‘I am grateful for your care of me—but I wish to be at home to grieve in peace. I think I may enter a nunnery. I thought I might marry your brother in time, but it is impossible. I could never be happy as the wife of any other man.’
‘You must not break his heart…’
‘It would hurt Philip more if I married him without love. He would grow tired of a wife who could feel nothing for him. I shall beg his pardon and hope that he will continue my friend.’
Anne frowned but said nothing. ‘Drink your wine, Elaine. It will make you feel much easier in your mind.’
‘Thank you…in a moment…’
‘It will grow cold and not taste so good,’ Anne warned and went out. As she left, Marion entered. She curtsied to her and then stood waiting until Elaine turned. For a moment she pressed her ear to the door, then opened it and looked out. Lady Anne had disappeared down the corridor.
‘Why did you do that?’ Elaine asked.
‘I am not sure we can trust her—or Lord Stornway,’ Marion said and frowned as Elaine reached for her drink. ‘Let me taste that…’ She took the cup and smelled it. ‘Honey and lemon…I think there is nothing more, but it would be best if you did not drink it.’
‘How can you doubt Lady Anne or her brother after they have been so kind to me? She cared for me when I was ill and you told me that he’d offered you a cottage and land.’
‘Bertrand is suspicious of him. Why should he offer us so much? We are but servants and have done nothing that deserves such reward. Bertrand thinks he means to force you into wedding him before Christ’s Mass.’
‘But that is no more than a week away…’ Elaine shook her head. ‘How could that be possible? My husband…no one knows for certain that Zander is dead. The Church would not allow it.’
‘Bertrand says that Lord Stornway claims it was no true marriage. He says it was not consummated and therefore he has asked the Church to set your marriage aside.’
‘But I told him…my ladies will bear witness that my sheets bore evidence of my blood…’
‘Only I and one other could swear to it,’ Marion said. ‘If I had left you, who would believe a serving woman? Lord Zander’s men would say that he was with them most of the night and left for but a few minutes.’ She paused, ‘Besides, we saw only a smear of blood—no one saw him come to you.’
‘He left me a letter and a rose. I pressed the rose in my Bible.’
‘Do you have them?’
‘I left them in my chamber at the manor.’
‘If Lord Stornway swears you were not properly wed, the priest will believe him and grant the dispensation. You will be wed whether you choose or no, my lady.’
‘But he cannot force me.’
‘When you heard of Lord Zander being wounded you fainted—but then the Lady Anne tended you and you were ill. So ill that we feared you would die. She gave you her cures and for some days you did not know me when I bathed you. I know you grieved—but why were you so ill?’
‘You are saying she might drug me…that they could make me believe I had consented to the marriage?’
‘I think it is possible,’ Marion said. ‘I have heard of strange poisons that control minds and make people docile—for a while you hardly cared whether you lived or died…is that not so?’
‘Yes, I wanted to die. I must leave here,’ Elaine said. ‘I will not marry anyone else. I would rather die.’
‘Bertrand has gone to Sweetbriars. He will send to Lord Zander’s uncle and ask for his help. Somehow, we must slip away and reach the manor this night.’
‘If Anne suspects…they would not let us go.’
‘Give me the drink she prepared for you,’ Marion said, ‘then lie down on your bed and pretend to sleep. I will empty the cup and then I shall tell everyone you are resting, but I shall come back here and hide in your room. As soon as they are at table this night, we shall leave together.’
‘My lord…’ Elgin faltered, staring at Zander as if he’d seen a ghost. ‘We thought you dead…my lady was near unto death for grief of you.’
‘Then she did not get my message telling her we had been betrayed and to remain here and trust no one until I came?’
The steward turned pale. ‘Lord
Stornway came with news and my lady rode with him to the castle. It was there that she was taken ill and we heard you were slain by the Earl of Newark’s treachery, my lord.’
Zander cursed. ‘Methinks Newark had little to do with any of this,’ he said. ‘I have been betrayed, but not by the man I thought my enemy.’
‘My lady is still a guest at Lord Stornway’s castle.’
‘Or his prisoner,’ Zander said. ‘How many men are within the castle? How many can I count on to ride with me to rescue her?’
‘There are thirty men-at-arms here, my lord, but there must be three times that many at the castle. You left sufficient force here to withstand a siege, but an attacking force would need to be much larger.’
‘I took fifteen men with me when I left to meet, as I supposed, with Newark,’ Zander said. ‘Five were killed when we were ambushed, four badly injured and five returned with me, the other able man remains to guard the wounded. It would be impossible for a force like ours to lay siege to Stornway Castle.’
‘Would your uncle send men to help you?’
‘Perhaps—and yet he might not wish to offend the King’s Marshal. I should need to convince him that Lord Stornway is a traitor to Richard.’
‘My lord…’ A servant had come up to them. ‘Forgive me, but a person hath arrived.’
‘Not now, sirrah,’ Zander said. ‘Can you not see that I am busy?’
‘But my lord…he says he comes from your lady.’
‘Elaine has sent…’ Zander turned at once, all attention now. ‘Pray, where is this man? Tell him to come forwards.’
‘I am here, sir,’ Bertrand said and stepped forwards. ‘You may remember that I was escorting your lady when you helped her once before?’
‘Yes, I recall you. I thought you Newark’s prisoner?’
‘And so I was—but Lord Stornway ordered the prisoners released.’
‘Do you come from him or my lady?’
‘I serve only my lady, sir.’ Bertrand raised his head. ‘I heard Lord Stornway speaking to the cardinal, my lord. He was arguing with him, persuading and threatening by turn.’
