King's Gold

‘Is there any man here who would stand by him?’ Sir John demanded. He was a big man, almost as tall as Sir Richard, although younger, and with a powerful, heavy body that was not fat, but accumulated muscle. He had only a couple of days’ growth of beard, which gave him a belligerent appearance.

‘I will,’ said Sir Richard happily. ‘Sorry, me lord, but we can’t break the King’s laws.’

‘I too,’ Baldwin said. ‘As a Keeper of the King’s Peace . . .’

‘So am I!’ Lord Berkeley stated angrily.

‘I was about to say, my lord,’ Baldwin finished smoothly, ‘that as Keeper of the King’s Peace yourself, you would hardly wish it known that you had deliberately flouted the King’s laws in your own court. Bring the coroner here so that he may witness the execution. That is all. It need not be a lengthy process.’

‘True,’ the lord said, frowning at Baldwin and Sir Richard with a baleful eye. ‘Very well. Put him back in the gaol. He can wait there until the coroner arrives.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Good Friday

Berkeley Castle’s Hall

‘I still think you are both mad,’ Simon said as he took a mess of fish cooked in a white wine sauce. ‘He was furious with you when you told him he was not allowed to execute his own felon.’

‘When you get to my age,’ Baldwin said, ‘you realise that there really isn’t much to fear about standing up for what you believe is right, Simon.’

‘No,’ Sir Richard said, belching behind his hand and reaching for the mess himself, decorously scooping out a large bowlful, setting it on the table before him and sighing happily. With a hunk of bread in his hand, he began to eat. Swallowing noisily, and sticking his tongue out to catch a stray drip from his moustache, he turned a beaming face to Simon. ‘And he couldn’t argue. Not with all his people there, as well as us and Sir Jevan. He knew that there were too many for him to cow us.’

‘Why did you both do it?’ Simon asked. ‘He is a felon, isn’t he? He did take the cart.’

‘Mayhap he is, but if we allowed this lord to hang a man illegally, what sort of example would that leave, eh?’ Sir Richard said reasonably.

Simon nodded. ‘And?’

Baldwin grinned, dropped his bread onto his wooden trencher and said, ‘There was an indecent haste about the way Lord Berkeley convened his court to investigate the murder of a complete unknown. The lord himself will never have heard of this “Ham”, after all – so why the need for such speedy justice? Because the lord feels anger at a peasant’s death? I doubt it. Because he loathes the sight of this man Dolwyn? Why should he? Or is it because Dolwyn is a threat to him? Again, that would be hard to believe. But perhaps the lord wanted to make a point. To cow someone else?’

‘Dolwyn’s master?’ Simon guessed.

‘Yes,’ Baldwin agreed, and a faraway look came into his eyes. ‘But there was a striking lack of support from Bardi, wasn’t there? I cannot help but wonder whether there is something going on between the Bardi and Lord Berkeley.’

Simon had to agree with that. He too had noted that Matteo had appeared reluctant to support Dolwyn, his servant. ‘You think the Florentine had reason to desert his servant?’

‘I’ve never known a banker do anything unless it was in his interests,’ Sir Richard said with certainty.

Baldwin smiled at his comment, but he looked round at the sight of Harry and Senchet being brought into the hall. ‘Look. The Lord Berkeley decided they were innocent, after all.’

‘Good,’ said Simon. ‘From all I’ve heard, they had nothing to do with the murder, no matter what the facts about Dolwyn.’

‘There, I believe you are correct. About those Bardis, though,’ Baldwin said. ‘I should not trust such men. What sort of interest could such bankers have in the fate of a servant like Dolwyn?’

Sir Richard guffawed and poked Baldwin in the flank with a finger as thick as a sausage. ‘Hah! You are too innocent, sir. If one of my servants was to open his mouth and babble to a clerk, I’d worry. And so would half the women in west Devon, I’d be bound! You may not be a fellow for the women or for the delights of the chase, but perhaps the fellow Bardi has a happy wife and a happier mistress, eh? A wise man tries to keep them apart, but it would only take a word or two from an old retainer to bring a little more fire into the home than a man might like, eh?’

Baldwin set his head on one side. ‘ALondon man would scarcely be anxious about his wife’s hearing something in Berkeley,’ he argued reasonably. ‘If there were cause for him to be alarmed, it would be his business, not his love affairs. Perhaps he has been less than scrupulous over his accounts. He was the old King’s banker, and a man like him could be tempted to perhaps hold on to a little more of the King’s gold than he ought, during a time of civil war. Suppose Bardi kept back monies that should have passed to the new King and his mother? That would be a cause for great embarrassment, were a reliable servant to announce such news to the son-in-law of the King’s Regent.’