A Rose for the Crown: A Novel

by Anne Easter Smith

  Dawn was casting its slate light over the stableyard as she skirted the moat by the lane. She had decided she would borrow a horse and go looking for Geoffrey, even though she only knew the way into Ivy Hatch and the village of Ightham beyond. She slipped into the still darkened stable and was careful to avoid the sleeping stable lads, scattered like sacks of feed among the hay.

  She crept into the stall of her favorite jennet, Rosey. The horse stirred at the unexpected visitor. Kate quickly calmed her and stroked her velvety nose. The horse nuzzled Kate, and they stood thus for a minute or two until Kate’s eyes became accustomed to the half-light and she could see where the bridle and reins were hanging on a peg. She had never ridden bareback before, but as she had neither the strength nor the knowledge to attempt saddling the animal, she would have to take a chance. She got the horse to take the bit, tied the bridle as best she could and tugged gently for Rosey to follow. No one moved in the hay, and she held her breath as she walked the horse to the door. The clip-clop of hoofs seemed deafening to her even on the soft dirt floor of the stable, but no one stirred.

  Safely out in the open air, she led Rosey to the mounting block. She was pondering how to mount alone when she felt a firm hand grip her arm. She gave an involuntary shriek and jumped. It was Ralph.

  “Where be ye agoing, mistress?” he asked, not unkindly. “’Tis a mite early for a ride, methinks. Be ye thinking to go ahunting for your brother? Be that what’s in your mind?”

  “Ralph! Unhand me!” Kate tried to sound imperious. “’Tis none of your business where I am going. Let me go, I beseech you!” She pulled against his grip. He released her arm but then took both her shoulders and shook her lightly.

  “Mistress Kate, Master Haute would be right angered with me if I let you ride off. I cannot let you take one of the horses without his permission. Besides, it be not seemly for a young lady to ride out alone at this time of the day. There be thieves and vagabonds everywhere.”

  Kate’s heart skipped a beat. “Aye, so there are!” At his words, she suddenly remembered the figure she had seen in the woods the morning before. “And I think ’twas a vagabond who pushed Mistress Elinor, not my Geoff.” The idea suddenly became a real possibility. “I did see someone hiding in the wood by the lake yesterday, Ralph, I swear I did. I thought perchance my eyes were fooling me, but now I know I must have seen someone. I must tell Master Richard!”

  “He be keeping vigil just now, mistress. Do not disturb him at his prayers. You can tell him after he has broken his fast.” Ralph scratched his unshaven chin and nodded slowly. “I do think you be right in this matter. Geoff would not harm anyone, especially not a lady. He be a strong boy, Kate, and I cannot tell a lie when I say he do have the strength to do it, even with a lame arm, but I do not believe he has the heart or the mind.” Ralph was earnest. “We must think how we can prove he were not there. But for now, be a good girl and run on back to the house before you be missed.”

  Kate promised to wait until after breakfast to give Richard her new theory. She handed Ralph Rosey’s reins and ran off in the direction of the house. Ralph turned and went back to the stable and so did not see Kate double back into the herb garden and disappear from sight in the direction of the lake.

  It was now quite light, and she went quickly, not wanting anyone to see her from an upstairs window. The night had not been as cold as the night before, and frost only covered some of the unexposed areas of grass and plants around the stewpond. She made her way around the lake and easily found the place where Elinor’s body had been dragged up onto the bank. The water had muddied the ground at the spot, and many footprints were visible. She walked slowly back towards the woods, staring hard at the ground to see if there were other footprints, but the earth was hard and revealed nothing.

  She wended her way through the trees until she found the one behind which she had been convinced she had seen a brown cloak. She examined the area around it, and her heart leapt as she saw something wedged under a fallen branch at the foot of the tree. She knelt down and looked more closely at the object. It was a dirty scrap of rough material wrapped around something lumpy. She wondered what to do next. If she took it to the house, no one would believe she had found it under the tree. If she left it and brought Richard to see it, how would he know she had not put it there? Oh, why had she not asked dear, kind Ralph to come and search the wood with her. But it was too late now.

  She suspected the bundle contained some kind of food, and if it was not discovered soon by a person, it most certainly would be found by an animal, and her proof would be gone. She straightened up and made up her mind. Glancing furtively around, she took the rag out of its hiding place and opened it. She was right; it was food. A half-eaten apple, a small piece of moldy cheese and some beechnuts were the unappetizing remains of somebody’s last meal and certainly not from the Hautes’ rich larder. In his haste to run away, the vagabond had abandoned his meager supply of food. Kate reached up to the lowest branch of the tree and jammed the package between two small limbs. It was visible from the other side of the tree. By hiding it off the ground, Kate could be assured that no dog or rat would find it, and she only had to worry about squirrels and birds.

  Now she had to find a way to make Richard have the wood searched on the evidence of her having seen the stranger the day before.

  She knew she should get back to the house quickly so that no one would suspect her of having already been there. She sped back to the other side of the stewpond and let herself into the little garden, carefully locking the bridge gate behind her.

  As soon as Richard’s vigil was over, a flurry of activity kept the house on its toes for the rest of the day. Richard took Anne into the kitchens and presented her to the staff as their new mistress. Kate was impressed by Anne’s poise when the servants doffed their hats and bowed. Richard spent an hour in his office with Edgar, planning the search routes. Edgar dispatched Ralph to Thomas Draper and John at Tunbridge and Bywood Farm with messages about the incident. Then he went to the stables to arrange for enough horses to be saddled for the searchers who would comb the countryside. Richard called for Kate and instructed her to go to the chapel and pray for her wicked brother and Elinor until Anne needed her. Someone was to be at Elinor’s side day and night praying for her soul until the burial could be arranged.

  “Perhaps ’twill ease your conscience, Kate, if you are thus employed.”

  Richard seemed so preoccupied with arrangements that Kate was afraid of putting her vagabond theory to him, but she plunged ahead.

  “Cousin! I pray you hear me out. I want to tell you something that occurred yesterday morning that I only remembered when I woke today.” She leaned towards him from her side of the table, and her urgency got Richard’s attention. He listened to her tale of seeing someone in the woods and frowned.

  “How do I know you are not lying to me, Kate? Just to save Geoff. Or it could have been a flight of fancy.”

  “Nay, sir, I am sure I saw a figure behind the oak tree to the right of the path by the stream. I pray you, may we search there in case of footprints, or perhaps he left a thread from his cloak on a thorn? Please, I beg of you. I need to try every possible road to help Geoff.”

  Richard had had plenty of time to think during his vigil overnight, and he was less convinced Geoffrey was the culprit than he had been at first. He was also exhausted and had not the strength or the heart to dismiss her effort to save her brother. He was disinclined to argue.

  “Very well, Kate. I will send Oliver and a page to search the area, but I do not think they will find anything. Now go to Brother Francis.”

  Kate ran round the table and planted a swift kiss on his cheek and escaped gratefully. Later, she heard Richard telling Edgar to have Oliver search the woods. He and the search party would go on horseback up to Ivy Hatch and begin their inquiries into any sightings of Geoff.

  The search party clattered off up the lane, and the rest of the servants quietly resumed their everyday tas
ks. The house smelled like a fish market, because the final big catch from the stewpond was being smoked and salted for the winter months. Life in the house went on as usual, despite the dramatic events that were taking place around it.

  Oliver and the page set out later in the morning. Kate could hear nothing from downstairs as she told her rosary by Elinor’s bier. Brother Francis chanted and prayed until Kate’s patience became frayed and she begged for a visit to her chamber pot. She lingered in the room, peering out of the window across the courtyard to the gate, hoping for a sign of Oliver and the page. But her timing was bad, and she was back at her prayers when they came running through the gatehouse into the courtyard calling for Edgar, who had remained behind to supervise the household.

  When the bell rang for dinner, the chaplain allowed Kate to leave and get some sustenance. He assured her he would keep vigil while she was gone. When she sat down at her trencher, she saw Edgar staring at her curiously. He came over and sat next to her at the high table. Anne moved to occupy her mother’s chair.

  “Kate, you may be right about seeing somebody yesterday. Oliver found a bundle of food lodged in some branches in that tree. We cannot be sure it was not put there by someone from the house, though I do not think the food was from here.” He wrinkled his nose with distaste. “But this evening, when Master Haute returns, we will put the question to the household.” He searched her face for clues. He was convinced Geoffrey was guilty, and he would not have put it past his clever sister to have planted some evidence to clear the boy. Kate’s eyes betrayed nothing but surprise and hope at the news. She thanked the steward sincerely, and he moved back to his place.

  Anne looked quizzically at Kate. “What is it, Kate? What have they found?”

  Kate whispered to her of Oliver’s find. Anne looked skeptical.

  “All fingers point at Geoff, Kate. I would not count on this bundle to prove otherwise.”

  Kate felt annoyance at Anne for the first time. What a ninny she is, she thought, selfishly forgetting that Anne was still shocked and grieved at losing her mother.

  All afternoon, Kate mumbled prayers while her mind flitted from one scene to the next in her imagination. Richard coming home and being told the news of the forgotten food. Geoff reappearing with a perfectly good explanation for his absence. Richard coming across the vagabond carrying Elinor’s headband . . .

  “Certes!” she said aloud, as the light dawned. Brother Francis frowned, and Kate bowed her head. He stole her jeweled headdress and Elinor tried to fight him off! That is what must have happened, she thought.

  The tired horsemen returned at dusk empty-handed. No one in the villages of Ivy Hatch or Ightham had seen the boy the day before, and extensive searches in the woods and fields had yielded nothing. Kate was sick with worry not only about Geoff’s general well-being but also because it looked certain that Richard took Geoff’s prolonged absence as a sign of his guilt. But then Edgar took Richard aside and told him of Oliver’s discovery, and the two men disappeared into the office to examine the bundle. The call to supper was not delayed, and when Richard reappeared to take his place at the high table, he was carrying the bundle. In Brother Francis’s absence, Richard said grace. Before the household had time to begin eating, he raised his arm and came around to the front of the table to address them.

  “First, I do thank those of you who rode with me today to search for my wife’s assassin. We were not successful in finding young Geoffrey, but tomorrow we shall try again. Now”—Richard turned and picked up the bundle, holding it high over his head—“is there one of you who recognizes this?”

  Some of the servants at the back of the hall crept forward for a closer look. Richard had asked the question pleasantly enough, and there was no reason for any of the household to feel afraid of speaking up. Nobody claimed the ragged bundle, and Richard thanked them and told them to begin eating. He turned to Kate and showed her the bundle. She gingerly untied the knot and peeked at the contents, feigning surprise.

  “Maybe your theory is right, Kate. It seems Oliver found this in the spot where you say you saw someone hiding. It is a paltry piece of cloth and could belong to a vagabond, in truth. But we must go on looking for Geoffrey. Guilty or no, I am now concerned for his safety.”

  KATE HARDLY SLEPT that night. She tossed and turned, wondering what had become of Geoff. She again rose before dawn to take a walk around the moat. She put on two pairs of leggings and her second chemise under her warmest woolen robe before creeping through Richard’s chamber and onto the landing. This time, Oliver heard her, and she whispered she needed to take a walk because she could not sleep. He mumbled something about wrapping up and pulled his bedcover up over his head. Kate went on her way.

  Her walk took her along the terraced garden on the east side of the stewpond, and as dawn came up and the household stirred, she wandered through the beds now devoid of all but the hardiest of vegetables. As she passed the old stone shed where the gardeners kept their tools and a few hens liked to roost, she heard a whimper. She stopped and listened intently. Yes, there it was again. Her heart began to thump as she crept to the open side of the structure. She peered into its darkness.

  “Geoff, is it you in there?”

  There was a prolonged sniffle, and a small voice whispered back, “Kate? Aye, ’tis me. Oh, Kate, how did you find me?”

  Kate quickly checked around her, but no one had appeared from the house as yet. She entered the shed and made out Geoff’s small form crumpled up in the darkest corner. A rough blanket covered him. His face was dirty and tear-smudged. He put out his arms, and Kate knelt down to hug him. He was shivering with cold and fright, and his teeth were chattering between his sobs. She cuddled up to him, offering the warmth of her body and cloak. She dried his tears with the sleeve of her chemise and rocked him until she felt him relax.

  “Geoff, where have you been these two nights? Do you know Richard has been looking for you? And I have been sick with worry for you.”

  “Dame Elinor will beat me again, won’t she, Kate?” He began to cry again.

  Kate’s heart leapt with joy. So, he thinks she is alive! That proves he did not do it, she thought. She decided not to tell him about the drowning, and perhaps his surprise in front of Richard or the sheriff would go in his favor. She soothed his fears and probed him again for an explanation of his disappearance. Between sniffles his story tumbled out.

  Desperately unhappy after his beating in the morning, he had made up his mind to run away back to Bywood Farm. He remembered that the road by which he had come to Ightham Mote would lead him to the Tunbridge road, but not wanting to be seen, he had followed the stream from the upper lake, which he was convinced would run into the Medway at some point. He believed he would be home in no time. He had not realized the stream would take him further north, and soon he was lost in the woods.

  About a mile from the house, he abandoned the stream and followed a path for two or three miles, thinking it was bound to lead to a road. Two thieves jumped out at him and stole his cloak. When they saw he was only a child, they left him unharmed. Pointing him towards the London road, they ran off, leaving him cold and alone. He sat down to eat the food he had smuggled in his sleeve and tried to stay warm. He was about to go on his way when he saw a monk on a donkey riding towards him.

  “He asked me what I was doing alone in the woods, Kate. I made up a terrible lie. I said I had got separated from my family after thieves attacked us and that I was cold and hungry.”

  “No matter,” Kate said, agog to hear what happened next. “Go on!”

  “I felt sure he would help me, even though he is odd-looking. His head is too big for his body, and he is no taller than me. Brother Jerome—that is his name—took me up on the donkey. The sun was going down, and he said wanted to reach his shelter on Oldbury Hill—wherever that is—before dark.” He paused.

  Kate shivered at the mention of Oldbury Hill. It was said to be haunted by the ghosts of ancient Britons, which Kate imag
ined had been sacrificed by druids. It was not a place where one wanted to be at night, she thought fearfully, especially not with a strange-looking man, even if he was a man of God. Geoff by this time was in his stride and was enjoying telling his tale. He said had felt safe with the monk, though where Oldbury Hill was and how he was going to get home were questions he did not dare ask.

  “Did you see any ghosts on the hill?”

  Geoff gave her a withering look. “Ghosts? Who believes in ghosts? Fiddle-faddle, as you would say, Kate!”

  Kate stuck her tongue out at him, and for a brief moment Geoff’s plight was forgotten.

  “You cannot fool me, Geoffrey Bywood, I know you were terrified.” Geoff grinned sheepishly at her.

  “How did you get back here?”

  “If you stop interrupting me with silly questions about ghosts, I will tell you.”

  After arriving at the primitive hut and feeding him, Brother Jerome had attempted to get at the truth. Geoff concocted another story, then weariness overtook him. The next thing he knew, it was daylight and he was warmly wrapped in the monk’s blanket on the dirt floor. Brother Jerome was at his prayers, and Geoff thought about running off, but the monk turned when he heard Geoff move.

  “I want the truth this time, young man.”

  Finally, Geoff agreed to tell him the whole story. When he had finished, the monk persuaded him to return to Ightham and face the consequences. The worst punishment he would receive might be another beating from Elinor, the monk warned him, but his conscience would be clear before God.

  The good brother gave Geoff his blanket, a crust of bread and some dried fish and drew him a map in the dirt of the shortest route back to Ivy Hatch. It was only two miles as the crow flies, and Geoff realized he must have gone around in circles before the monk had found him the day before. He set off immediately and arrived back at Ightham just before the search party left to find him.

  “I was tired when I got back and was afeared of Dame Elinor’s wrath again, so I came in here to sleep for a while,” Geoff said. “When I woke up, it was getting dark. I heard the horsemen but did not know it was Cousin Richard looking for me. I thought they were guests, and I did not want to embarrass him by entering the house then. I did not know what to do, Kate. I was so afraid of another beating!” He began to cry again.