by E. M. Powell
Stanton frowned. He’d never seen Barling look like this before. The man appeared very troubled. No, haunted. But, wait – he had. Once. At Theaker’s wake, when Barling said something about dwelling on mistakes. Then, as now, the clerk’s strange, distracted appearance disappeared in a heartbeat.
Barling snapped back to his usual self. ‘Lindley would not have dared to tell you, a complete stranger, Stanton. The one confessor available was Osmond, Edgar’s own nephew. So Lindley had to keep his silence, though he must have been in great torment, with the terrible injustices that had been done to him. It is no wonder that Webb was able to persuade him to break out of the gaol.’
‘Out, only to be slain and left to rot in a barrel.’ Stanton shook his head. ‘While we all blamed him, feared him. Hunted him.’
‘Except Edgar’s hunting of him was always ineffectual,’ said Barling. ‘He dragged his heels over and over about searching for Lindley. I had assumed it was his drunkenness, his usual chaos. But Edgar, as I have said, was ruthless rather than evil, which Webb was. Once Lindley was gone, Edgar was happy. What Edgar really wanted all along, what he really needed, was Lindley’s silence about what he had done.’
‘Which Webb had provided.’ Stanton looked at the mound again. ‘Poor Nicholas Lindley.’
‘Or whatever the man’s name really was,’ said Barling. ‘Edgar referred to him as Timothy to me on the day you found Theaker’s body. Edgar said it was merely a slip of his tongue. That may or not have been true.’
‘Who knows with Edgar?’
‘Indeed. But I am sure Lindley had a different life before he became a beggar,’ said Barlow. ‘He was well spoken. His hair and beard were not overlong, suggesting he had not always been so unkempt.’
‘But he has no life now.’ Heartsick, Stanton glanced over at his horse. He needed to leave this place.
‘No,’ said Barling. ‘For which I am partly responsible.’
‘You?’ Stanton stared at him, stunned by his response. ‘How?’
‘The very first day, I was preoccupied with the correct following of the law. With making sure that the crime was properly dealt with in a uniform manner. I was adamant that nobody could look into the case more effectively than me. I should have listened more carefully to you, Hugo Stanton. You were so very clear that you believed Lindley was speaking the truth. I did not take heed of what you were saying, of the doubts you presented. And so I failed Lindley.’
Stanton had no words.
‘I can help him in the next life,’ said Barling. ‘I have paid Osmond for indulgences for his soul and will be praying for him every day. And yes, you are right. By leaving out this line, Edgar’s reputation, such as it is, survives. But Edgar’s willingness to send an innocent man to the gallows cost him his life, so he has paid the highest price. Nicholas Lindley, a totally innocent man, a victim of Edgar as much as Webb, paid it too.’ He shook his head. ‘The least I can do is keep his tragic story from the ears and tongues of those who would condemn him for eternity.’
‘Perhaps they wouldn’t condemn him if they knew the whole story.’
‘But a story with no living witnesses, Stanton, save what Edgar did to you. A story about a lord and a beggar. The beggar lies dead, with nobody to speak for him. The lord leaves a nephew with a powerful voice, not merely the rector but the new lord of this place as well. Believe me, the condemnation of Lindley would fast drown out any of Edgar.’
‘I suppose you’re right.’
‘Not always, remember?’ Barling gave him a fleeting smile. ‘But in this matter, rest assured that I am.’ He gestured to Stanton’s horse. ‘I shall keep you no longer. Godspeed.’
‘Are you going back to the hall?’ said Stanton. ‘I can ride alongside you for a while if so.’
‘No, I shall stay here with Nicholas for a little longer.’ He raised a hand.
‘Godspeed, Hugo Stanton,’ he said again.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Stanton rode slowly away from the graveyard through the village of Claresham.
The sun climbed high now and the whole place had come to life.
Women at the well, full buckets of water in their hands, stopping to chatter and gossip, while a small boy chased a cat around their skirts. A peasant drove a plodding cow along the roadway, neither of them in any hurry. The warm smell of baked bread wafted on the air, along with that of brewing ale. Two girls stretched a newly washed linen sheet over a rosemary bush, giggling and blushing as Stanton nodded to them as he rode past.
Then he was approaching the Webb cottage.
Margaret sat outside on a low stool, her back leaning against the wall of the cottage, head still bandaged but with her spinning in her busy fingers. To his surprise, she wasn’t alone.
Agnes sat with her, winding wool from another basket as John swept the yard, dust puffing up from his wild, hard sweeps. At the top of a tall ladder, Caldbeck was laying fresh thatch on the damaged roof.
Margaret raised a hand to stop him, saying a few quiet words to Agnes, who helped her to her feet.
Caldbeck looked around and nodded. ‘Stanton.’
Stanton nodded back. ‘Good day to you.’
Caldbeck returned to his task as both women made their way to the gate, where Stanton waited, Margaret leaning on Agnes’s arm for support.
‘Thank you for stopping, sir,’ said Margaret. ‘I wanted to thank you with all my heart. You saved my life. And you saved my boy’s. My precious boy’s.’
John swept on, lost in his own world, his heh-heh laugh telling how funny he thought this whole broom business was.
Stanton flushed. ‘I did what I could, Mistress Webb. That’s all.’
‘But if I had been gone,’ said Margaret, ‘Peter would have either worked John to the grave or beaten him there. You saw what no one else did. And your compassion, your good heart, brought you to my bedside. Thank you again, sir. From the bottom of my heart.’
Stanton shifted in his saddle. ‘I would do it all again, mistress.’ But he wouldn’t. Because he couldn’t. Because he was leaving it all behind.
‘You saved my life too, Hugo,’ said Agnes. ‘And brought justice for my father.’ She swallowed hard. ‘For my Thomas.’
‘I wish I could have saved him as well,’ said Stanton. I wish I could have saved them all. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t. It must all be so hard to bear.’
‘It is.’ Agnes lifted her chin to him. ‘But you brought us truth, you and the King’s clerk. And while it may be hard, we are nothing without it. Nothing.’
‘Nothing,’ echoed Margaret.
The noise of the broom stopped.
John had spotted him. He gave Stanton a huge wave and an even bigger grin, then set about sweeping again.
‘Where to next for you, Hugo Stanton?’ asked Agnes.
Stanton had made his decision. The letters were in his bag. He took a last look over his shoulder at the churchyard.
The black-robed Barling continued to pray, head down, hands joined, over the grave of Nicholas Lindley.
So Stanton made another decision.
‘Where to next?’ he said. ‘I’m not sure. But I go with the King’s clerk.’ Stanton gave both women a respectful bow. ‘To bring justice to wherever we are needed.’
He pulled his horse’s head around and clicked to his animal.
Note from the author
Readers of my Fifth Knight series will have already met Hugo Stanton in Book 2, The Blood of the Fifth Knight. For those who have not and who would like to find out the full story of Hugo and his murdered lover, the Fair Rosamund, you can find it here. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LAE5DN4).
Historical Note
My story of Hugo Stanton and Aelred Barling is of course fictional. But as with all historical fiction, much of what takes place has been inspired by or is based on real history.
King Henry II is undoubtedly best known in the popular imagination for the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket, a murder for which the King was blam
ed. Four knights broke into Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170 and slew Becket in the most brutal manner. My fictional Fifth Knight thriller series had its origins in that event.
But less well known is Henry’s influence on law and order, which continues to this day. He is credited with having laid the foundation of the Common Law. When he came to the throne in 1154, he set about reforming the English legal system. Henry’s realm was in deep disarray following civil war and he needed to impose order. He introduced major changes to land law, with efficient systems for dealing with cases of dispossession and inheritance. His reform of criminal law was also hugely effective. He issued new legislation at Clarendon in 1166 and Northampton in 1176 to deal with serious felonies, such as murder, robbery and theft. Juries of presentment were established, consisting of twelve lawful men in each hundred (a subdivision of a county) and four in each vill (village). These juries were not there to decide on guilt or innocence but to support an accusation. Juries of presentment are the ancestors of the Grand Jury, which is still part of the legal system in the United States.
The royal justices, who travelled the country hearing cases, were another innovation of Henry’s reforms. He first introduced them at Clarendon but refined the system at Northampton. The country was divided into six circuits, with three justices, the justices of the general eyre, allocated to each. Twelfth-century chronicler Roger of Howden lists the eighteen justices itinerant and their circuits for 1176. Ranulf de Glanville, Robert de Vaux and Robert Pikenot went on circuit in Yorkshire, Richmond, Lancashire, Copland, Westmorland, Northumberland and Cumberland. These are the justices who appear briefly in the novel.
Ranulf de Glanville was also one of Henry’s staunchest allies, securing key victories for the King in the rebellion of 1173–74 and rising to the position of Justiciar of England. The Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England, produced in the late twelfth century, is the earliest treatise on English law and is commonly referred to as Glanvill, though it is unlikely that de Glanville was its author.
For the travelling justices, proof of guilt or innocence of those accused of a crime could be established in a number of ways, such as witness testimony, documents or the swearing of oaths. The justices also used the ordeal, especially in cases that were not clear-cut or in those of secret homicide, where there were no witnesses. Ordeal could be by cold water or by hot iron, both of which are explored in the novel. The blessing of the water and the iron served to bring the notion of God’s judgement into the proceedings. In 1215, the church forbade priests to take part in the ordeal, bringing an end to its use.
Wherever there is law there is always bureaucracy. Henry’s government was no exception. The curia regis, the court of the King, which consisted of the Treasury, Exchequer and Bench and which provided the justices itinerant, had a scriptorium (writing office) serving it. The scriptorium was established by Thomas Becket during his time as Henry’s chancellor. By the time Becket resigned, there were fifty-two scribes in the writing office.
The presence of sign language in twelfth-century England might have come as a surprise to some readers. For the monks who followed the Rule of Saint Benedict, silence was a virtue. But living in silence poses practical problems. Monastic sign language was the solution. It was probably introduced to England in the late tenth century from the powerful abbey of Cluny, in Burgundy. A manuscript produced in eleventh-century Canterbury provides evidence of its use. Included in the manuscript is the only Old English copy of Monasteriales Indicia. The Indicia describes 127 hand signs. They include signs for a wide range of food, tools used and, most pleasingly of all, underpants.
Acknowledgments
The brief thanks that I give in this section can’t even begin to cover the debt of gratitude that I owe to so many people. My agent, Josh Getzler, continues with his winning combination of savvy, sage and fun. The team at Thomas & Mercer are as ace as always. Special thanks this time go to Jane Snelgrove and Emilie Marneur for helping me to cast my gaze wider at the medieval world. Jack Butler’s editorial wisdom brought my story to a new level, with Katie Green yet again getting what I do and showing me how to be much better than I ought to be. Their professionalism is matched by their kind patience. Hatty Stiles, as ever, does a wonderful, tireless job in making sure that the world gets to hear about my books. There are many historians whose excellent work I have consulted and who are mentioned in the bibliography. But I would like to give sincere thanks to Professor John Hudson for his answers to my specific queries and for his generosity in sharing his peerless knowledge. My top beta reader, Paul Fogarty, still hasn’t run away, which makes him even more remarkable than I thought. Manchester Irish Writers members also provided much valuable insight. And my Jon and my Angela are, as always, my everything.
List of Characters
Hugo Stanton, a messenger in the service of Henry II’s itinerant justices
Aelred Barling, a senior clerk to the justices
The Itinerant Justices of Henry II in the City of York
Ranulf de Glanville
Robert Pikenot
Robert de Vaux
The Dwellers of Claresham Village in the County of Yorkshire
Simon Caldbeck, a ploughman
Thomas Dene, a stonecutter
Sir Reginald Edgar, lord of the manor
Hilda Folkes, a midwife
Nicholas Lindley, an outlaw
William Osmond, rector and Edgar’s nephew
Geoffrey Smith, a blacksmith
Agnes Smith, his daughter
Bartholomew Theaker, a thatcher
Peter Webb, a weaver
Margaret Webb, his wife
John Webb, their son
Bibliography
Without the sterling work of historians, historical novelists could not do what they do, and I am no exception. Though I try to ground my fiction firmly in fact, any errors are down to me.
For anyone who wants to know more about the real, fascinating history underpinning my novel, I recommend the following books.
Barrow, Julia, The Clergy in the Medieval World: Secular Clerics, Their Families and Careers in North-Western Europe, c. 800–c. 1200 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
Bartlett, Robert, Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal (Oxford: Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints, 1986; facs. edn, Brattleboro, VT: Echo Point Books & Media, 2014).
Bartlett, Robert, The New Oxford History of England: England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075–1225 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
Hudson, John, The Formation of the English Common Law (London: Routeledge, 1996).
Metzler, Irina, Fools and Idiots? Intellectual Disability in the Middle Ages (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2016).
Pollock, Frederick, and Maitland, Frederic William, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1898).
Warren, W. L., Henry II (London: Yale University Press, 1973).
About the Author
Photo © 2012 Angela Channell
E.M. Powell’s historical thriller Fifth Knight novels have been #1 Amazon and Bild bestsellers. The King’s Justice is the first novel in her new Stanton and Barling medieval murder mystery series. She is a contributing editor to International Thriller Writers’ The Big Thrill magazine, blogs for English Historical Fiction Authors and is the social media manager for the Historical Novel Society.
Born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State), she now lives in North-West England with her husband, daughter and a Facebook-friendly dog. Find out more by visiting www.empowell.com.
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