The Lions of the North E-Book

Edward Marston

• Herausgeber: Allison & Busby
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Serie: Domesday
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 361

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

One island of wealth and luxury remains in the war-torn lands of Yorkshire, the castle of merchant Aubrey Maminot which holds two great terrors: the rogue Olaf Evil Child, a hero of the poor and conquered Saxon people, and the ravenous lions Maminot keeps as pets. The lions make a feast of an anonymous young man who tries to sneak into the castle. Why would someone commit such an act of suicide?

Leseprobe

PRAISE FOR EDWARD MARSTON

‘A master storyteller’

Daily Mail

‘Packed with characters Dickens would have been proud of. Wonderful [and] well-written’

Time Out

‘Once again Marston has created a credible atmosphere within an intriguing story’

Sunday Telegraph

‘Filled with period detail, the pace is steady and the plot is thick with suspects, solutions and clues. Marston has a real knack for blending detail, character and story with great skill’

Historical Novels Review

‘The past is brought to life with brilliant colours, combined with a perfect whodunnit. Who needs more?’

The Guardian

5

THE LIONS OF THE NORTH

EDWARD MARSTON

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 5:8

Contents

Title PageEpigraphPrologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter ElevenEpilogueBy Edward MarstonAbout the AuthorCopyright

9

Prologue

The two men were courting danger. They knew that. Throughout all their discussions, it had been an invisible presence at their shoulders but it remained silent when their brave words instilled a heady confidence. Strength of purpose brought them to the city and enabled them to conduct their reconnaissance with care and precision. Bright sunshine blessed their enterprise. The swirling crowds were an ideal cover for them. It all went as planned.

Darkness changed everything. The populous streets slowly emptied. The teeming wharves became deserted. The boisterous taverns closed for the night. The last of the 10day’s cacophony gradually died away. Even the competing smells of the city seemed to lose their pungency. York was no longer the bustling marketplace that had opened its gates to them at first light with a smile of welcome. A chill wind began to blow. They found themselves locked inside a cold and hostile prison.

Danger could now be seen and heard on every side. It conjured fearsome shapes out of the gloom and assaulted their ears with strange and unexpected cries. Danger could also be felt, tingling in their blood, pressing in upon them with gentle but persistent force, weighing down their bodies, fettering their ankles. Their courage was put to the test. It was the older of them whose resolve began to weaken.

‘We need more men,’ he said.

‘No,’ said his companion. ‘Two may succeed where twenty would surely fail.’

‘Twenty? Ten times that number could not storm the castle.’

‘We are not trying to storm it. We come but to look.’

‘The walls are too high to scale.’

‘That is why we brought the rope.’

‘The castle has a garrison. There will be guards.’

‘Then we must elude them.’

‘What if they catch us?’

‘They will not,’ insisted the other, ‘if we stay alert and act boldly.’ He grabbed his friend’s arm. ‘What ails you, man? Have you so soon lost your nerve? I have not come all this way to turn back now with the task undone. Think how many depend on us. I’ll go alone if the dark brings out your cowardice.’11

‘I am no coward!’ retorted the other, stung by the charge. ‘It was my idea to come here in the first place and I stand by that. I merely counsel caution.’

‘Say no more. Let’s about it.’

The younger man was nineteen, tall, sturdy and lithe. His beard and hair were bleached by the sun, his face bronzed and weathered. Five years older, his companion was shorter and more compact. Though he could move swiftly, he did so with a pronounced limp, executing a curious dance on his toes. His beard was fuller and already salted with grey. Both of them wore tunics and gartered trousers. Each had a dagger concealed in his belt.

As they flitted through the streets, they felt the first drops of rain. They were on the west bank of the Ouse, the river that flowed through the heart of York before greeting its tributary, the Foss, with a liquid kiss beyond the city walls. When they came round the angle of a house, they halted in their tracks. Directly ahead of them, rising into the night sky like a small mountain, was the castle they had so meticulously studied during daylight hours. It looked indomitable. Its sheer bulk taunted them.

Rain now began to fall in earnest but the younger man ignored it. His eyes traced the outline of the stronghold with the calculating ardour of a lover appraising his mistress before their first embrace.

‘There it is!’ he whispered.

‘If only we knew what is inside.’

‘We do know.’

‘We may only be guessing.’

‘We know,’ affirmed the other. ‘My father helped to 12build this place. He described it to me in great detail.’

‘It has altered since then.’

‘Not much. They lavished their time and money on that.’

He pointed across the river to an even bigger castle, which was climbing out of the shadows. The two citadels were monuments to military might, twin sentinels that protected York from attack without while discouraging any thoughts of insurrection within.

‘Two Norman castles,’ said the older man ruefully. ‘York is doubly cursed. I would love to torch them both.’

‘Think only of one tonight. This is our target.’

‘I am ready.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes,’ said the other, mastering his apprehension.

‘I need a strong man at my side, not a fearful one.’

‘I am with you.’

‘That heartens me.’

They embraced in a brief display of friendship, then steeled themselves for the task ahead. The younger man led the way furtively through the dripping darkness.

The castle loomed malevolently above them. Fronted by a deep ditch, its walls were high earthen banks surmounted by a wooden palisade. Night painted out the gaudy colours in which the timberwork had been daubed. As they slithered down the bank, they found the ditch filled with accumulated refuse. One man swore under his breath as his foot slipped on human excrement, the other was startled when he trod on the putrefying body of a dead dog. They held their breath and scrambled up the bank towards the palisade.13

The young man uncoiled the rope he had been carrying over his shoulder. It already had a loop tied in the end. He swung it a few times before tossing it high above him. It bounced harmlessly off the wood and caught his companion a smarting blow across the face as it came snaking back down. The rope was pulled in, partially coiled, then swung in the air before being hurled upwards again. The aim was true this time. The loop settled over one of the upright, timbers that had been sharpened to a spike.

They waited for a few minutes to make sure that the thud of the rope had not aroused any of the guards on the rampart. Satisfied that they were unobserved, the younger man tested the rope before shinning up it with speed and agility. When he reached the top, he peered over the palisade to take inventory of the manpower. They were in luck. Only a handful of sentries had been posted on the walls and they were too busy complaining to each other about the wet weather to notice the lone figure who now rolled over the palisade and crouched on the rampart.

A tug on the rope signalled a second ascent. The man with the limp had strong arms and he was soon hauling himself over the palisade to kneel beside his accomplice. Torches flickered in the courtyard below to illumine a large oval area dotted with wooden buildings. Raucous laughter identified the guardhouse, and the stables were also easy to locate. Barracks and storerooms lay under the wall. Sheep and cattle were kept in separate open pens. A low fire still burned in the armourer’s forge.

The keep was at the far end of the bailey. Constructed of solid oak and sitting atop a huge mound, it was encircled 14by a ditch, which was in turn defended by a palisade of sharpened stakes. The soaring tower looked impregnable.

‘We’ll never get in there,’ hissed the older man.

‘We must.’

‘But how?’

‘Watch me.’

He retrieved the rope and coiled it up again. The rain thickened.

Though it hindered their movement and obscured their vision, it also came to their aid. Grumbling guards shuffled away to take cover. The intruders were able to scurry along the rampart without fear of being seen. When they were close to the keep, they sat hunched against the palisade while they took their bearings. A strange odour drifted into their nostrils.

‘What’s that foul smell?’ said the younger man.

‘Normans.’

‘I’ve never known such a stench.’ He surveyed the keep for a full minute. ‘I’ll go first. Wait until I’m inside before you leave the rampart.’

‘God go with you!’

‘Amen!’

He checked to see that nobody was looking, then hurried down the wooden steps into the courtyard. Moving towards the rear of the keep, he chose a part of the palisade that was largely obscured from the bailey. It was lower than the wall they had already scaled and his rope found its target on his first throw. Within a second, he was up and over the initial line of defence.

The older man was about to follow when a great roar 15went up from beyond the palisade. The noise was so loud and so savage that it seemed to fill the whole castle. His friend cried out in terror but his voice was drowned beneath a second blood-curdling roar. Guards came running, lights appeared at windows in the keep, animals in the courtyard were restive. Wanting to rescue his companion, the figure on the rampart was frozen by fear.

He caught one last glimpse of his friend. The younger man clambered up the inside of the palisade and tried to climb over it but something caught him from behind with a triumphant roar and began to drag him back down. As the courtyard filled with soldiers, the older man looked to his own safety. His accomplice was beyond salvation. Impaled on the sharp stakes, he was howling in agony as unseen tormentors attacked him from below.

The man on the rampart took to his heels. With the roaring still in his ears, he flung himself unceremoniously over the palisade and dropped through the darkness into the filth of the ditch. Bruised by the fall, he yet had enough strength to drag himself to his feet and limp off in the direction of the river. His mind was ablaze and he was further impeded by the weight of the terrible news that he bore.

The lions of York were still dining noisily behind him.16

17

Chapter One

‘Who is he?’ demanded Canon Hubert with frank disdain.

‘Tanchelm of Ghent,’ said Gervase.

‘I know his name and his country of origin. But what of his character, his rank, his fitness for this important work? In short, what manner of man is this Tanchelm of Ghent and why is he being allowed to interfere in our affairs?’

‘He is coming to aid and to advise us, Canon Hubert.’

‘We need no aid,’ argued the other vehemently. ‘We require no advice. Did we not discharge our duties ably enough in the Savernake Forest? Were we not decisive in our handling of irregularities in the Blackwater Estuary? 18Have we not earned praise for our success in Archenfield?’

‘We have, indeed.’

‘All that was achieved on our own, Gervase.’

‘True enough.’

‘Then answer me this. If we can manage perfectly well without him in Wiltshire, in Essex and in Herefordshire, why are we saddled with Tanchelm of Ghent when we ride to that heathen wasteland known as Yorkshire?’

‘It is the king’s express wish.’

‘We do not want another commissioner.’

‘Royal command overrides our own inclinations.’

Canon Hubert sulked in silence. He was sitting astride his donkey close to the half-built cathedral up on the hill. It was shortly after dawn and the city of Lincoln was already bursting into life below them.

Gervase Bret, also mounted, hid his amusement behind an expression of studied neutrality. The young Chancery clerk remembered only too well how long and how vociferously Hubert had resisted the summons to take up his present role, contending, with righteous indignation, that he had been called to serve God in Winchester rather than to oblige the Conqueror by journeying to inhospitable corners of his kingdom. Yet this same reluctant canon was now boasting about their earlier triumphs and strongly resisting the addition of a new member to their commission. Canon Hubert did not want to share any of their glory with a stranger.

He came out of his silence to repeat his question.

‘Who is Tanchelm of Ghent?’

‘I do not know,’ admitted Gervase. ‘All I can tell you 19is that he has substantial holdings in this county.’

‘Then why does he not stay to look after them instead of obstructing our deliberations?’

‘He has been sent to assist us, Canon Hubert.’

‘Unnecessarily.’

‘I disagree. We have a large number of cases to examine, some of them so tangled that we may be grateful for an extra pair of hands to help to unravel them. This is by far our most onerous assignment. We must look to spend at least a fortnight in the North Riding alone.’

Hubert emitted a groan of despair and rolled his eyes towards heaven in supplication. The adipose canon was not enjoying the journey to Yorkshire. He was a poor traveller at the best of times and they had been on the road for over a week already. Lincoln seemed like a beacon of hope after the interminable ride from Winchester and he expected to be welcomed and soothed by Bishop Remigius himself. Instead, since the bishop was absent from the city, Hubert had spent the night at the home of one of the secular canons. Having arrived in Lincoln too late to see anything of the place, they were now leaving too early to permit any but the most cursory exploration. It was galling.

There was another reason for Hubert’s deep frustration. It came out through the gate of the nearby castle. Ralph Delchard rode at the head of a troop of fifteen men-at-arms from his personal retinue but it was not the sight of the Norman lord that offended Hubert. He was accustomed to the mocking joviality of his fellow commissioner by now. What he could not get used to – 20still less, approve of – was the presence at Ralph’s side of an attractive and gracious woman.

Golde had drifted into their lives during their stay in Hereford and she would assuredly have drifted out again if circumstance had not thrown her and Ralph Delchard together. She was now his constant companion. Gervase was very fond of her but Hubert regarded the Saxon woman as an irritating encumbrance and a symbol of moral decay.

‘Good morrow!’ called Ralph.

Golde offered a warm smile by way of greeting.

Gervase gave them a cheery wave but Hubert merely grunted in acknowledgement. Brother Simon, faithful scribe to the commission, could not even manage a grunt. He lurked in the shadows a short distance away and watched Golde with mute disquiet. Women of all kinds unsettled him and he had taken the cowl partly as a means of isolating himself from the terror of their tenderness. What scandalised him was that Golde had such a close and candid relationship with a man to whom she was not married. In Simon’s codex, she was anathema. He was being forced to travel alongside someone who deserved excommunication.

‘Where is our new colleague?’ asked Ralph, reining in his horse.

‘He should have been here at first light.’

‘Let us ride on without him,’ urged Hubert.

‘We have orders to wait.’

‘Our embassy will brook no delay.’

‘He will not be long,’ said Gervase. ‘Tanchelm dwells nearby. And it would be foolish to continue 21without the additional escort that he will surely bring.’

‘Wise words,’ agreed Ralph. ‘The road to York is a long one and many bands of outlaws haunt it in search of easy prey. We will need all the swords that we can muster in order to ensure our safe passage.’ He beamed at Golde. ‘And to guarantee the lady complete protection.’

‘I fear nothing when I am at your side, my lord,’ she said softly. A spluttering noise drew her attention to the figure in the shadows. ‘I did not see you there, Brother Simon. Good day to you!’

To be in Golde’s company was ordeal enough for him. To be addressed directly by her was like a sudden descent into Purgatory with no intervening stops. Brother Simon shut his eyes tight, crossed himself and began to pray vigorously. Ralph came across to tease him but the clatter of hooves diverted his attention away from the Benedictine monk.

Clad in helm and hauberk, with his cloak trailing behind him in the wind, a tall, stately man in his forties was cantering up the hill on his destrier. At his back, riding in formation, were a dozen soldiers with an array of weapons. Sumpter-horses were pulled along behind the cavalcade, which scattered pedestrians in the narrow street. When they reached the waiting commissioners, the newcomers came to a halt and drew up in a semicircle. Their leader nudged his mount forward and bestowed a disarming smile upon them.

‘Welcome to Lincoln!’ he said affably. ‘I am Tanchelm of Ghent.’

22Aubrey Maminot was a genial man of middle years with an almost boyish eagerness about him. Time had silvered his hair and etched lines into his face but it had stolen none of his restless energy. As he discussed preparations with his steward, he paced up and down the hall at the castle, his gown billowing and his heels clacking on the oaken boards.

‘Venison served with frumenty,’ he decided.

‘Yes, my lord.’

‘Or maybe lamb would be more to their taste.’

‘We will have both, my lord. With a dozen other dishes beside them.’

‘Spiced rabbit must be an offer as well,’ said Aubrey. ‘I want my guests to be well fed during their stay.’

‘When will they arrive?’

‘In a day or two at most.’

‘And how many of them will be staying at the castle?’

‘That remains to be seen, Bodin. Ralph Delchard’s letter spoke of five or six but they will bring a sizeable escort as well. I want them to have all the comforts of the castle. Ralph is an old friend of mine and deserves the best that we may offer here in York.’

‘I understand, my lord.’

‘They will banquet in here on their first evening.’

‘Everything will be put in readiness.’

Bodin was a dark and slightly sinister individual but Aubrey had always found him a most efficient steward of his household. Quiet, watchful and discreet, Bodin had a quick mind that enabled him to adapt to the ever-changing whims of the castellan. If five or fifty guests arrived at the 23gate of the castle, he would be able to accommodate them.

‘How long will they stay, my lord?’ he wondered.

‘As long as they choose.’

‘Of course.’

‘My home is theirs while they are in the city.’

Bodin gave a polite bow and backed away, electing to make the kitchen his first call. Aubrey Maminot continued to strut around the hall with proprietary zeal. Razed to the ground on more than one occasion, the castle had been rebuilt with greater solidity and a sense of permanence. Its castellan liked to think that he had transformed the keep into something more than a mere fortress. The hall and the apartments had touches of style and luxury that were not usually met with so far north.

As he glanced across at the long table, he imagined it laden with a magnificent banquet set out with exquisite taste, steam rising from a selection of appetising dishes that would tempt the most jaded palate. For a few moments, the room seemed to fill with music, song, dance and the happy laughter of his guests. It would be good to share a goblet of wine and a wealth of reminiscence with Ralph Delchard. He chuckled as he recalled the last occasion on which he had met his friend. A knock on the door invaded his reverie.

‘Come in!’ he snapped.

The door opened to reveal a short, stocky figure in a sleeveless coat of toughened hide that showed off his taut muscles. Black hair and a black beard framed his handsome, swarthy face. Broad wristlets of studded hide set off the matted hair on his forearms. The man somehow combined 24the appearance of a serf with the arrogance of a lord. Legs set apart, he stood there with his hands on his hips.

Aubrey Maminot smiled at his visitor with an almost paternal affection and bustled across to him.

‘Ludovico!’

‘You sent for me.’

‘I wanted to know how they are.’

‘Fine, my lord. Fine.’

‘Have they settled down?’

‘They are sleeping. I did not disturb them. I will feed them later when they wake up.’

‘Call me. I would like to be there.’

‘Yes, my lord.’

There was no trace of obeisance in Ludovico’s manner. Secure in his position and confident of Aubrey Maminot’s indulgence, the little Italian had an air of independence about him that was envied by the rest of the castle. He also had a success with the ladies that aroused a darker envy among some of the men. Because he could offer a service that nobody in York could match, Ludovico basked in his master’s favouritism and wallowed in the female attention that he invariably excited.

‘Who was he?’

‘We do not yet know,’ confessed Aubrey.

‘What was he doing in the castle?’

‘That, too, remains a matter for speculation.’

‘How did he get inside?’

‘There, we are on firmer ground,’ said Aubrey with a flash of anger. ‘He scaled the wall by means of a rope and walked the rampart unchallenged. The captain of the 25guard has been disciplined. The dolt had the temerity to blame the heavy rain last night. I expect vigilance in all weathers.’

‘Was the man alone?’

‘No, Ludovico. He had an accomplice. A figure was seen hurling himself over the top of the palisade. When they searched outside with torches, they found a place where someone had landed heavily and slithered down into the ditch. Apparently, his only concern was to save his own skin. He obviously abandoned his friend to his grisly fate.’

‘The intruder paid dearly for his boldness,’ said the other. ‘He came up against a line of defence that can never be breached.’

‘Thanks to you.’

‘And to you, my lord. Who brought us here?’

‘I did,’ said Aubrey with a complacent grin, ‘and it was the most sensible decision I ever made. I know that you miss Italy and hate our Yorkshire winters, but I tell you this, Ludovico. With the three of you beside me, I sleep so much more soundly in my bed.’

‘That is why we are here, my lord.’

‘It is part of the reason.’ He became brusque. ‘I have instruction for you. Important visitors will soon arrive at the castle. They are here on royal business and must be given every assistance. But they need entertainment as well.’

‘I follow, my lord.’

‘The animals must be on their very best behaviour.’

‘Leave that to me.’

‘I always do, Ludovico.’26

‘Have they ever seen lions before?’

‘No,’ said Aubrey, cheeks glowing with pride. ‘Not like mine. Nobody has ever seen lions like mine!’

Tanchelm of Ghent was an amiable man who went out of his way to befriend his companions. Introduced to them in turn at Lincoln, he quickly identified Canon Hubert as the person who would be most difficult to win over. As they left the city and rode north along Ermine Street, he fell in beside Hubert’s donkey and struck up a conversation.

‘I must offer my profound apologies,’ he began.

‘Apologies?’

‘For foisting myself upon you like this. It is not by choice. King William gave orders that I should join your commission. Left to myself, I own, I would much rather have stayed on my estates, immersed in my books.’

‘Your books?’

‘I am a reading man, Canon Hubert. I would willingly put a soldier’s life behind me for good and spend the rest of my days in the simple joys of study and meditation.’

‘Indeed?’

Hubert was impressed. Tanchelm of Ghent was a Flemish mercenary who had fought beside the Duke of Normandy at Hastings and been richly rewarded. The likelihood was that he would be a boorish warrior with a compulsion to take control and to have everything on his terms. Instead, he turned out to be an intelligent and sensitive man who spoke Norman French without a whisper of a Flemish accent. When Tanchelm described some of the titles in his library, the canon was even more impressed.27

‘You have read Boethius?’ he said in surprise.

‘Many times.’

‘And the Venerable Bede?’

‘I can quote parts of Historia Ecclesiastica verbatim.’

‘I wish that all soldiers exchanged the sword for the written word quite so readily,’ said Hubert with a meaningful glance at Ralph Delchard up ahead of him. ‘But some, I fear, are beyond recall.’ He turned to look shrewdly at Tanchelm. ‘May I ask what your appointed role is, my lord?’

‘To lend what assistance I may.’

‘Yes, but in what capacity?’

‘The king advises me that I sit in commission as an equal partner with you but I realise that that would be an act of gross presumption on my part.’

‘Presumption?’

‘You are all experienced,’ said Tanchelm respectfully, ‘while I am a mere novice. You have sat in judgement before; I have little knowledge of legal matters. I have so much to learn, Canon Hubert, but I am a willing pupil. I have that in my favour. Be patient with me and I will soon grow to be of some practical use to you.’

‘I am sure that you will, my lord.’

‘In the meantime, overlook my folly and pardon my ignorance. Have no fear that I will challenge your decisions. I defer to you and the others at all times.’

‘That is very reassuring.’

‘My presence may lend additional weight to the commission but I cannot promise that my voice will supply any illumination. I am content to be guided by wiser heads.’28

Canon Hubert was delighted to hear these remarks and he questioned Tanchelm closely to make sure that the sentiments he was expressing were genuine and not simply a means of ingratiating himself. Prompt with his answers, their new colleague seemed quite sincere. His soft-spoken manner endeared him to Hubert, who spent much of his time battling with the blunt and assertive Ralph Delchard. It was refreshing to meet a soldier who did not treat an argument as an excuse for a verbal cavalry charge. The canon began to see Tanchelm as a potential ally against the nominal leader of the commission. Only one more query needed to be raised.

‘Why do you think that you were chosen for this work?’

Tanchelm gave a wry smile. ‘You must ask that of the king himself, for he did the choosing.’

‘You must have some idea why his eye settled on you.’

‘I have done him good service in the past.’

‘As a paid soldier.’

‘Yes,’ conceded the other easily. ‘I do not deny that I fought for money. It is a more tangible reward than honour. My wealth enabled me to buy the time to educate myself, so I feel that the end more than justified the means. But I have not only been employed on the battlefield, Canon Hubert.’

‘Oh?’

‘I speak five languages. A legacy of having lived and fought in a number of countries. The king has seen fit to use me, in a small way, as a kind of ambassador.’ He gave a shrug. ‘I can only think that my mean skills in foreign courts recommended me for this assignment. Beyond 29that, my sole qualification is the one that we all share.’

‘And what is that?’

‘We are outsiders,’ said Tanchelm. ‘None of us was born or brought up in Yorkshire. We have no personal interest in the county that could blur our perception or sway our judgement. That is vital.’

‘Impartiality is our touchstone.’

‘Even so.’

Hubert inhaled deeply. ‘Let me tell you why I was selected to assist in the compilation of this Great Survey …’

Modesty had never gained more than the most superficial purchase on Canon Hubert and, as a result, his crushing self-importance went largely unchecked. He trumpeted his virtues for a mile or more without the slightest sense of his own vanity. Tanchelm showed remarkable patience and forbearance. Hubert warmed to him even more.

When they stopped to take refreshment, Tanchelm strode across to join Ralph Delchard and Golde. Locked together in their own private world, they had ridden at the head of the column and set a steady pace. It was now time to relax and to mix with their fellow travellers. They gave Tanchelm a smile of welcome.

‘What do you think of Lincolnshire?’ he said.

‘It has much to commend it,’ replied Golde.

‘No,’ said Ralph, shaking his head. ‘The county is too flat and too featureless for my liking. All this undrained fenland. The place is virtually a peninsula. Why on earth did you choose to live here?’

‘I like it,’ said Tanchelm. ‘More to the point, so does my wife. She would not live anywhere else.’30

‘Why not?’ wondered Golde.

‘She was born here.’

‘You wife is a Saxon?’

‘No, my lady. She comes of Viking stock. We are standing at the very heart of the old Danelaw. Look at the names of the places around here, listen to the speech of the people. The Danes left heavy footprints in this county.’

‘I’m surprised they did not sink up to their waists in water,’ said Ralph. ‘I do not like wet terrain. It makes me feel seasick.’

They chatted happily until they were ready to mount and move on. Ralph and Golde again led the way but Tanchelm now took up a position at the end of the cavalcade. Gervase Bret and Brother Simon were absorbed in earnest discussion. He nudged his horse gently between them.

‘Do I intrude?’ he said.

‘Not at all, my lord,’ said Gervase. ‘Ride with us.’

‘I would hate to interrupt a private conversation.’

‘It was more of a friendly debate, one that Brother Simon and I have been having for some time.’

‘May I know its substance?’

‘The Benedictine rule.’

‘A worthy subject for argument.’

‘I was destined for the cowl myself at one point but I drew back from taking my vows. Brother Simon has just been reminding me of some of the rewards of monastic life.’

‘They are beyond my reach, alas.’

He turned to Simon with a half-smile of regret but the 31monk was far too timorous to make any comment. The presence of Tanchelm and his men-at-arms was reassuring at one level but it was also overwhelming. Brother Simon was travelling in the company of over thirty people, yet there were only two of them – Canon Hubert and Gervase Bret – with whom he had anything in common. He felt lost and vulnerable.

Seeing his profound discomfort, Gervase tried to steer the conversation away from the hapless monk.

‘We are pleased to have you with us, my lord,’ he said.

‘It is an honour to sit in commission with you.’

‘That is an opinion you may care to revise when you have spent endless days in a draughty shire hall, listening to property disputes. It can be tedious work.’

‘The boredom is not unrelieved,’ said Tanchelm. ‘From what I hear, your investigations have a habit of throwing up a certain amount of excitement.’

‘Unhappily, yes.’

‘You have something of a reputation.’

‘Who told you that, my lord?’

‘I have many friends in Winchester. In any case, it was implicit in the orders that I received from the king himself.’

Gervase was astonished. ‘King William spoke of us?’

‘Yes,’ said Tanchelm. ‘By name. He holds you in high regard. Why else should he choose to send you to Yorkshire? There are other teams of commissioners dispersed throughout other counties to look into questionable claims sent into the Exchequer. Yet they were not singled out for the long journey to York. That reward fell to you.’

‘It could also be seen as a punishment.’32

‘The king trusts you, Master Bret. He has always been able to recognise able lieutenants. That is how I know that Ralph Delchard, Canon Hubert, Brother Simon here and your good self must be a formidable team.’ He gave Gervase a smile of admiration. ‘I repeat. It is an honour to join you.’

Ermine Street, the great highway between London and York, showed scant respect for any variations in contour. It arrowed its way north with Roman straightness and dealt with obstacles in its path by cutting through them. They were able to make steady progress before spending the night at a small village in the north of the county.

Inclement weather delayed their start on the next day and enforced a change of route. When they reached the Humber Estuary, they found it so broad and uninviting, so wild and so windswept, that Ralph Delchard, a reluctant sailor, abandoned the plan to cross by means of the ferry and instead struck west along the bank of the river. The detour slowed them still more and sapped the vestiges of their good humour. By the time they finally reached Howden in the East Riding, they were bedraggled and dispirited.

Like everyone else in the party, Golde fell asleep the moment she climbed into bed. They were staying at the local manor house, a long, low building with a thatched roof and a sunken floor. A fairly primitive structure, it made no concessions to comfort and had a musty atmosphere that made them cough when they first encountered it. It nevertheless seemed like a palace to travellers on the verge of fatigue.33

Golde was sharing a small bay with Ralph. When she awoke in the night, she was alarmed to find that he was no longer beside her. She dressed quickly and went in search of him, feeling her way to the door in the gloom. He was nowhere inside the building. Golde eventually found him at the rear of the house, sitting pensively on a chopping block and staring straight ahead of him. The storm had abated and a crescent moon now picked out everything in sharp profile.

She ran across to him on tiptoe and touched his arm.

‘What ails you?’ she said.

‘Nothing, my love.’

‘Then what has brought you out here?’

‘I could not sleep.’

‘After a day like the one we had?’

‘I felt the need for some fresh air.’ He stood up and slipped an arm around her. ‘But there is no need for you to be out here at this hour.’

‘I want to be with you.’

‘Rest while you have the chance. I am used to a long day in the saddle. You are not. Go back inside.’

‘Only when you have told me the truth.’

‘About what?’

‘This, Ralph. Sitting out here alone in the darkness. It is not like you. Something is troubling your mind and I will not leave your side until I know what it is.’

‘Golde …’

‘Do not think to fob me off with an excuse.’

‘It is nothing that need concern you.’

‘Everything about Ralph Delchard concerns me,’ she 34said firmly. ‘I left my home and my sister to be with you and I have never had a moment’s regret about that decision.’

He grinned. ‘Not even this afternoon in that downpour?’

‘Not even then.’ She kissed him lightly. ‘Now, tell me.’

Ralph heaved a sigh. ‘There is not much to tell.’

‘Then it will not keep us out here much longer.’

He pulled her close and held her in both arms. Golde had brought a happiness into his life that he had never thought to experience again. In the short time they had been together, she had rekindled something in him that had lain dormant since the death of his wife and that no other woman had been able to reach, let alone ignite. Golde was right to remind him of the sacrifices she had made in order to follow him. Having committed herself so completely, she was entitled to know what was worrying him, however painful it might be for him to tell her.

He sat her on the block of wood and knelt beside her.

‘I hope you will not despise me,’ he said quietly. ‘It is not a pleasant tale.’

‘I love you, Ralph.’

‘My story may test the strength of that love.’

‘You will not find it wanting,’ she promised. ‘No more evasion. What brought you out here tonight?’

‘Guilt.’

‘I do not understand.’

‘How could you, Golde? Only those who were actually here could really understand the full horror of that time.’

‘What time?’

‘When I last visited this godforsaken county.’

‘You have been to Yorkshire before?’35

‘Oh, yes,’ he said soulfully. ‘I came once before. Many years ago, at the heels of the Conqueror himself. And we left the most dreadful legacy of our visit. As soon as I stepped onto Yorkshire soil again, the guilt rose up in me until I could hardly contain it.’

‘But why? What did you do?’

‘We wreaked havoc. We came to put down a revolt but we stayed to exact the most hideous revenge. I have never seen the Conqueror so angry. He was shaking with fury. The rebels dared to challenge his kingship for the third time in a row and he vowed that they would never be able to do it again.’

‘I recall it now. The king executed their leaders.’

‘He did much more than that, Golde. He ordered us to lay waste the whole county. And when Yorkshire was torn asunder, we were to visit the same grisly fate on Northumbria. That was our appointed task – the harrying of the North.’

‘News of the terror even reached us in Hereford.’

‘We committed every crime of which man is capable. We did not just kill our enemies, we destroyed everything in our path. We tore down houses, burned crops, slaughtered animals. King William can be a cruel man when roused and Yorkshire bore the brunt of his cruelty. We starved this county into submission, Golde. The famine was unending. Men, women and children died of hunger in the thousands. The place was a wilderness.’ He stood up. ‘And the shameful truth is that I helped to make it like that.’

‘I can see why it sits heavy on your conscience.’36

‘I shudder when I think of what we did. It is not something of which I am proud. It makes me feel sick. Now that I am back, I am aching with remorse.’

She rose. ‘What are you going to do about it?’

‘I do not know.’

Golde was moved. He had risked her contempt by admitting his part in a vicious act of vengeance but he was making no bid for her sympathy. His anguish was something that he alone had to bear. It could not be soothed away with kind words from her. Golde was grateful for his honesty. She was shocked by his confession but she was also touched that he felt able to reveal a more sensitive side to his character. They stood there without saying a word. Ralph grappled with his remorse while she tried to assimilate the full import of what he had told her.

The silence did not last long. A violent explosion of noise made the pair of them leap involuntarily apart. A quiet night was suddenly alive with noise and movement. Men shouted, swords clashed, horses neighed and a dog barked incessantly. Sounds of a fierce struggle came from the stables. Ralph reached instinctively for Golde and shielded her with his body as he hustled her to the safety of the house.

Once she was out of danger, he drew his dagger and moved towards the gathering pandemonium around the stables. All he could see was a mass of bodies and horses, swirling about in darkness. The clamour had woken everyone in the house and servants came running with torches. Soldiers billeted in neighbouring dwellings had 37also been roused from their slumbers but they reacted too slowly to the emergency.

As Ralph moved in, a voice gave a stern command.

‘Away!’

Before he could get any closer, he was caught in a stampede and buffeted to the ground by plunging animals. As he rolled over in the mud, he heard triumphant jeers rising above the thunder of departing hooves.

‘Damnation!’ he roared. ‘They’ve stolen the horses!’38

39

Chapter Two

Ralph Delchard was back on his feet in an instant, cursing the thieves, calling for light and slashing the air with his dagger to relieve his anger. The whole household seemed to be converging on him. The stables were no more than a series of ramshackle huts at the side of the property. Ralph had left two of his men-at-arms to sleep in the straw so that they might guard the area, and his immediate concern was for them. He grabbed the first blazing torch that reached him in order to see what had befallen his sentries.

Commotion was still at its height. The remaining horses were highly disturbed, the chickens squawked, the 40dog yapped louder than ever and Canon Hubert’s donkey brayed with such ear-splitting force that its owner came trotting out of the house to join the throng. Ralph found the first of his men lying prostrate by the open door of the stables. Blood oozed from a gash in his temple but he was only dazed and seemed otherwise uninjured.

More torches came to illumine the whole stable area. Knocked unconscious, the second of Ralph’s guards lay face down in the straw. When they turned him over, they saw no apparent wounds on him. Ralph was relieved to find both men still alive. Gervase Bret, armed with a sword, pushed his way through the crowd to get to his friend.

‘What happened?’ he asked.

‘Robbers.’

‘How many of them were there?’

‘Six or seven,’ said Ralph. ‘It was impossible to be certain. They overpowered my men and made off with some of the horses. And