Dispensation of Death

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Bishop Walter was happy to accede to Sir Baldwin’s request, and met with Simon and Baldwin in the smaller of the royal chambers, the Lesser Hall. They were only there a short while before Coroner John opened the door and peered inside. The night was falling, and it was growing dark. Simon was glad to see that the Coroner had brought a candle, and servants entered with him, quickly lighting candles in a pair of floor-standing holders. Soon the room was illuminated with a cheerful orange glow.

The Coroner ushered the servants out, and then said, ‘My Lord Bishop? I was told to come here.’

‘You have seen the two dead men out there?’ Baldwin asked the Bishop.

‘I am afraid so. Two of Despenser’s men and one other, of whom we have only the head. I am shocked by these deaths. What could have led to such a violent assault?’

‘Three dead. Three more dead,’ Baldwin said heavily. ‘And all for so little reason.’

The Coroner stirred in his corner. ‘I should not overly tax your sympathy on their behalf, Sir Baldwin. I am sure that one of those men was involved in the murder of the innkeeper over at Chelchede on Sunday.’

‘That is a terrible thing to say of the dead!’ the Bishop said, startled.

‘Perhaps. Yet I believe you said that you have evidence I could use?’

‘Yes, indeed, Sir John,’ Baldwin said. ‘We have much. For the first, we know that the assassin who was found in the palace here was in fact in the pay of Sir Hugh le Despenser. He was named Jack atte Hedge, and was a known killer.’

‘You have proof?’

‘Yes. He climbed the wall at the south-western point where the wall meets the Abbey grounds, knocking out the guard on duty there, before making his way into the palace.’

‘Where he died,’ John noted with satisfaction.

‘After killing Mabilla,’ Simon growled.

‘And then there was the supposed attack upon Despenser himself. The bowman who tried that had a perfect shot at Despenser, from what we have heard. Despenser was walking away from the wall, one man well ahead of him out in the front, and the other nearer the wall. Yet the bowman leaned right out to fire.’

‘Yes. I thought the same when I studied the ground,’ John agreed.

‘What do you infer from that?’ the Bishop asked.

‘That he was not aiming for Sir Hugh. He was aiming at another,’ Baldwin said.

‘How much, I wonder, would a man be paid for killing the Despenser?’ Coroner John wondered aloud.

‘At least twenty, maybe five-and-twenty pounds. Maybe even more, if he was being paid by someone who had a serious grudge against the man,’ Baldwin said. ‘There are some who would no doubt pay any price to see him removed.’

The Bishop said, a little stiffly, ‘I hardly think that this sort of speculation is helpful.’

Coroner John nodded — although he was remembering the coins he had found in the dead bowman’s wallet. The sum had amounted to less than a pound. Hardly the King’s ransom that Sir Hugh’s enemies would have paid for his head.

But as he calculated, the door behind them all was kicked shut. ‘Who else would they have been aiming at, then, Sir Baldwin?’

Simon felt his hackles rise at the sound of that voice. Sir Hugh le Despenser had been standing at the door for some little while — how long Simon didn’t know — but it was plainly long enough for him to get a feel for what was being said.

‘Well? You have been making accusations against me with joyful abandonment. Am I the only person to miss the full depth of your ingenuity?’

Simon instinctively felt for the hilt of his sword as the man swaggered over to stand by the candles. He stood facing his accuser.

Baldwin nodded. ‘Very well, then. I know that you had your man Jack atte Hedge enter the grounds. I think that he knocked a guard, Arch, on the head and all but addled his brains. I believe that you had commanded him or another man to kill the maid Mabilla.’

‘My. Wasn’t I busy!’ Despenser observed coldly. He held a hand to the flame nearest him as though seeking the warmth.

‘However, after the death of Mabilla, you knew full well that your man might come to recognise your part in her murder. You did not wish him as an enemy within your household, so reluctantly you decided that the dead girl’s brother Ellis too must die.’

‘“Reluctantly” eh? You do me that honour, at least.’

‘A man like you will only reluctantly lose a competent and reliable servant like him,’ Baldwin said with confidence. ‘But the last days must have been disastrous for you. You lost Jack atte Hedge, then Ellis and William Pilk. At the same time you have lost your best spy on your wife and the Queen.’

‘You step too close to the brink, Sir Baldwin!’ Despenser hissed.

‘Yes,’ Baldwin smiled grimly. ‘I, who interpret the facts, may imperil my life, while you, who are responsible for all these deaths, may threaten me with impunity! But I am not finished, for you also comprehended your danger and sought to alleviate it somewhat. And how? By having a bowman execute your man Ellis. Except he missed his target, didn’t he? He was to have killed Ellis, and then you would have had him slain immediately. But no matter. When William Pilk saw him and called attention to him, Ellis ran to save you! What irony! He ran to save the man who had paid another to kill him. And then your guards on the walls slew the bowman, as you had anticipated. What, did you tell him that he would be able to escape safely because you had warned the guards to let him loose?’

‘This is all most fascinating,’ Despenser murmured. ‘Pray, what else am I guilty of? Perhaps I also caused the famine? Did I slay the officer in St Sardos and precipitate the war with France?’

‘Do not be flippant!’ Baldwin said. ‘You, who have been responsible for so many deaths, should at least show a little compassion and humility! Do you have nothing more to say?’

‘I have plenty to say. I say this is nonsense! I say that the tale is built upon your remorseless enmity to me and my people. You, Sir Baldwin, have tried to thwart my people all over the country. I know of you from old. And now you have created this fiction!’

As he spoke, he had removed himself to the other side of the great candle-holder, and Simon thought that he was moving in order to defend himself from attack. But then he took a small parchment strip from his scrip and held it to the flames. For a moment Simon wondered what he was doing, and then he gasped. ‘Baldwin, the indenture!’

‘This?’ Despenser smiled wide-eyed at Baldwin. ‘Did you want this? Ah, but it was a nothing.’

It had flamed like an oil-soaked cloth, flaring in a moment, and he dropped it quickly. But there was no point attempting to rescue it. As it landed on the ground it was clear enough that it would be ash before Simon or Baldwin could reach it. A few words might have been legible, but only a few.

‘Did you want it? Oh, I am sorry. It was only a scrap of mine,’ Despenser said, and now there was a harsher edge to his voice, ‘So, Sir Baldwin. What proof exactly do you have of my crimes? You allege that I had this man Jack working for me — I deny it; you say I had him killed — again, I deny it; you say I had Mabilla killed — that is nonsense; you suggest that I attempted to have my man Ellis killed — and all this without the slightest hint of proof. I am tempted to demand justice from the King for such disgraceful accusations. But no, I can afford to be lenient. You have much to learn about this little isle, Sir Baldwin. It will be a pleasure to witness your education. Do not mind if I leave you now. I do not think that there is any point in continuing this discussion.’

‘I shall carry on to find who …’

‘Yes, yes, yes,’ Despenser said with an elaborate yawn. ‘I am sure that you will, Sir Baldwin. Be careful, though. Such a task could prove to be a heavy cross to bear, eh?’ and he glanced at the sword sheathed at Baldwin’s hip. ‘Do we really wish to rake over old ashes?’

‘Well!’ Coroner John said when Sir Hugh was safely out of earshot. ‘I think, my Lords, that he has you by the short hairs. There’s little enough to be said, I think.’

‘I am sorry,’ Baldwin said. ‘I appear to have wasted your time.’

‘Yes. Well.’ Coroner John paused, shot a look at the Bishop, then held out his hand to Baldwin. ‘Friend. For all the good it will do, I would say that the Despenser was right. You have much to learn about this place. The Palace appears to be built on solid foundations, but in reality its bedrock is politics, and that means lies and deceit. Don’t worry yourself unduly, eh? Ach, what do I know? I’ll take my leave, lordings. My Lord Bishop.’

The Coroner nodded to Simon and Baldwin, made a cursory bow in the direction of the Bishop, and walked from the room.

He had misjudged the two men. They were no more dishonest than he himself. Perhaps less so.

After he left the room there was silence for a while.

‘Baldwin, I am sorry,’ Bishop Stapledon said. ‘Truly. I did not expect to-’

‘My Lord, you knew that piece of paper was the vital link between him and the assassin, yet you kept it back and gave it to him?’

‘I did.’

‘You had sworn to keep it safe for us,’ Simon pointed out, aghast. ‘Why did you give it to him?’

‘Do you think it will be best for our Kingdom to be thrown into disarray just now?’ Bishop Stapledon demanded. ‘Look about you, gentles. Look at the King’s council. Did you see much by way of rational, logical debate? Was there much unanimity? Was there agreement? No! There was a bear-pit of dispute, and then Sir Hugh Despenser was able to close it down and bring matters to a reasonable conclusion. What would that scrap of paper have achieved?’

‘It could have brought a murderer to justice,’ Baldwin said with ponderous emphasis.

‘Do you think that one, or two, or three, or even four murders would justify removing the last baron capable of maintaining the realm? Sir Hugh is unique. He has the King’s ear. With his arguments, we may be able to renegotiate a truce with France. You think we can afford to lose such a man, just now when the whole of the King’s French territories are under threat? You would not destroy Sir Hugh, but you could bring him under such scrutiny that his ability to command men would be restricted, and then where would we be?’

‘My Lord, you justify his murders?’ Simon asked quietly.

‘No. I do not condone murder. But there are times when commanding a kingdom, when a man must look to the necessities of the ruler, not the ruled.’

‘I will have no part of it!’ Baldwin spat. He turned on his heel.

‘Sir Baldwin,’ the Bishop called. ‘I do not expect you to understand me in this matter. But do not condemn too swiftly. Your anger may be misdirected.’

‘Misdirected,’ Baldwin fumed ‘My arse!’

Simon glanced up and down the corridor. ‘Old friend, I think it would be best were we to leave this place as soon as we may.’

‘I agree. There is nothing for us here. All here are shallow and dishonourable. My God — I despair of this. That the Bishop himself could suggest that I might condemn too swiftly! Dear God in heaven, what must a man like Despenser do to be found deserving of punishment? He is safe from accusations of murder, so how may a man find justice?’

‘I don’t know. It was an odd thing, though.’

‘What?’

‘The way the Bishop said that — about not condemning too swiftly. Did you hear his words? That “when commanding a kingdom, a man must look to the necessities of the ruler” — could he think that the King was responsible?’

Baldwin looked at him and there was some wildness in his eyes. ‘You think that the Bishop considers Despenser a gentle, kindly fellow? Simon, we have merely seen a glimpse today of the Bishop’s own heart. He would prefer stable government to honesty! A man must not rock the balance of power in the state in case it topples. I suppose that was what he meant. But for my part, I would see Despenser accused, gaoled and hanged if there was even a remote scrap of evidence.’

‘But there cannot be,’ Simon said. ‘You cannot find a man who would have seen Despenser walking the passages during the night, because you know that the killer was the man Despenser himself hired. And the other, the man who killed Mabilla, was built in a more scrawny manner than a knight, if that woman Joan is to be believed. It was probably some fellow discovered in the streets, like the lone bowman sent to kill Ellis.’

‘Sir Baldwin, Master Bailiff,’ the Coroner called breathlessly. He had been trying to keep up with them since seeing them leave the chamber, but their anger had made their steps fly over the ground.

‘Sir John,’ Baldwin said coolly. ‘How may we serve you?’

‘I think it is unlikely we can do much, except I was not sure whether I hold any information which could be of use to you.’

‘You did not mention it in there,’ Simon said curtly.

‘Aye, well, a man may love truth and honour, and yet choose to keep from accusing a man like Sir Hugh,’ Sir John said with a twisted grin.

‘You didn’t trust us?’

‘No, not at first. I do now, though, seeing how you tweaked the tail of Despenser. No, I was just unsure whether you had spoken to Arch.’

‘Yes. And got little of any use from him,’ Simon admitted.

‘Did he tell you about the moon’s halo?’

Simon and Baldwin exchanged a blank look.

‘I checked with the men. He asserted that he saw a moon with a halo. All others said that the night was black and there was no moon until the middle watches. I asked that guard to the Queen’s door, and he said that it was only then that the moon rose, and it did have a halo, just as Arch stated. So he wasn’t lying. He was awake through to the middle of the night. Arch even recalled the guard walking the circuit.’

‘I do not see how that helps us, my friend,’ Baldwin said after a moment’s consideration. ‘It means we know the assassin must have arrived late into the night, I suppose, but that is all.’

‘Why did the guard walk about?’ Simon wondered.

‘Hmm?’

‘Surely all the guards should have kept to their posts, not wandered about like lovers under the stars?’

‘Arch said that the Queen’s guard was checking because there were rumours of danger,’ John shrugged. He left them shortly afterwards, declaring a desire for ale.

Baldwin stood watching him with a frown of concentration marring his features. ‘Eleanor was certain that it must be Pilk or Ellis — but either of those two she would have recognised, surely.’

‘Yes,’ Simon said, frowning. ‘Although in the dark …’

‘We both know that they were all accustomed to candlelight. No, I believe that if it were either of those two, Eleanor and Alicia at least would have recognised him and told us.’

Alicia, Simon thought. ‘Alicia never gave us a description of the man, did she? It was only Cecily and Joan and their lady. The Queen and Alicia did not.’

‘What of it?’

‘When we spoke to Eleanor earlier, you pointed out that the killer must have been aware of the Queen’s movements to ambush them all. We spent time thinking of Ellis and Pilk, but what if it wasn’t the Despenser’s man, but another. Perhaps the Queen had a man come to help her.’

‘Which allies does she have here?’ Baldwin mused.

‘Her Chaplain mentioned one, didn’t he? A man-at-arms about the palace, maybe?’ Simon stood still, staring up at the grey sky. Alicia was not keen to describe the killer … and Peter told us she is having an affair with Blaket.’

Baldwin peered at him narrowly. ‘What of it?’

‘Baldwin, you remember the other day, when we got to the Bishop’s palace and the Bishop had Rob serve us in uniform? I didn’t recognise him at all at first, even though that was a well-lighted room. There are times when you may not recognise a man, aren’t there? When you look at a man in uniform, you may see the uniform, not the man beneath. And since many will always wear the clothes bought for them by their master, if they were to go abroad in different clothes, they might not be recognised.’

‘I suppose so. Why — what are you thinking?’

‘If the Queen wished a man to do her this favour, she has a limited fund of men from which to draw. Her household is disbanded.’

‘True.’

‘But there is one man who has been intensely loyal to her. That guard on the door, Blaket. He has been hard to get past, hasn’t he? He’s been determined to protect his mistress. She has turned his head, perhaps. Or his wallet.’

‘He’s in the King’s pay.’

‘Maybe he was, Baldwin. But recall: we met him twice, and did not realise at first that it was the same man, because he was in different places each time. We just thought him a guard by his clothing. Yet if he was not in uniform, would we have recognised him at all?’

‘The Queen sees him every day,’ Baldwin said. ‘He could hardly be unknown to her.’

‘No. Nor to most of her ladies,’ Simon said. ‘But think what descriptions we’ve had from Eleanor and the others: that the man had the slighter build of one who fights on foot. No great thickened neck like a knight. Like Blaket. And yes, he would be known well enough in daylight — but how many of the ladies had seen him at night, in strange clothes, with a mask covering his features?’

‘Why should he try to kill Mabilla?’

‘As I said a minute ago, just think how loyal he was to the Queen. When we tried to see her in her chapel, he refused us entry. He was enormously protective of her.’

‘True enough — yet I ask you again: why should he kill Mabilla?’

‘Because he learned, perhaps, that she was not so loyal to the Queen as he would expect?’

Baldwin looked away. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he wanted to see Despenser accused and convicted. There was something about his swaggering arrogance, his conviction that no matter what, he was safe from any form of justice, that made Baldwin’s hackles rise. It was obscene for any man to consider himself above the law. Even the King had his powers restricted by the barony. The law existed to protect all free men from persecution.

‘Baldwin, I believe that the Bishop was trying to explain it to us. Perhaps he was telling us the Despenser was innocent of this.’

‘And then what? That he was also innocent of ordering the murder of the innkeeper and his wife at the Swan at Chelchede?’ Baldwin snapped. ‘Simon, you’ve seen the man, he will take anything he wants and never count the cost to others. All that matters to him is his own intolerable greed.’

‘Yes. But Baldwin, are you looking to have him gaoled no matter what? Gaoled for a crime he did not commit?’

‘I would see his powers ripped from him, yes,’ Baldwin admitted heavily.

‘And what happened to the man who said that it was better that ten guilty men go free than even one innocent man be unfairly captured and slain?’

‘Ouch! You use my own words against me? Is that kind? Is that fair?’

Simon grinned. The dark mood was leaving his friend. ‘So how do we learn what we need to?’

‘Do you recall Ellis, just before he died? He told us that the assassin entered by Arch on that part of the wall,’ Baldwin said.

‘Which was what we thought.’

Baldwin was frowning. ‘Yes. Except all the guards were looking for someone climbing in. The trick would be to get in past the guards and do so without being seen. What if that was not how he climbed in, but how he intended to get out? Perhaps the man was not foolish enough to think that he could get away with climbing in and making his way all over the palace. Easier by far to get in during the day and hide, and then escape that way.’

‘But he didn’t escape.’

‘No. He was stuck in the palace. He died in the King’s chamber, if the blood in there was telling us the truth.’

Simon shrugged. ‘Perhaps Despenser found his man and slew him himself? He would be one man Jack would trust, surely.’

‘Not if he knew Sir Hugh.’ Baldwin considered darkly. ‘And then, what of the maid?’

Simon shook his head. ‘No. It cannot have been Despenser. He would hardly have Jack emasculated and treated in that manner. No, it must have been another, someone who had reason to loathe him.’

‘And who sought to … Simon, I think I understand at last!’