No Dark Place

15

It was dark by the time Hugh reached Somerford, which was situated in the very northern part of Wiltshire, close to the border of Earl Robert’s territory. If Hugh accepted the earl’s offer, Somerford would most likely be one of the first castles that Robert would try to take.

Supper was finished and the tables already cleared away when Hugh walked into the castle’s Great Hall. Servants were carrying platters and basins to the buttery to be washed, while others were raking the rushes so that they lay evenly on the floor. A group of Nigel’s knights were gathered in front of the leaping fire. Thomas was playing his lute in accompaniment of Reginald, who was singing a French love song in his mellow baritone. A few knights played at dice, while others were mending harnesses and listening to the music.

Hugh sniffed the air appreciatively, smelling the faint, pleasant aroma of the herbs that had been sprinkled in the fresh rushes.

Reginald saw him first, stopped his singing, and shouted a greeting. Hugh went to join the men by the fire.

After exchanging greetings with the knights, he inquired, “Is Sir Nigel in the solar?”

“Sir Nigel is not here,” Thomas returned. “He left shortly after you did, to pay a visit to Marlborough. We expect him back shortly, however.”

Hugh slowly pulled off his gloves. He was not wearing mail, as Simon’s party had traveled back and forth to Bristol unarmed. Simon had had no fear of attack so deep in the Earl of Gloucester’s own territory.

“I see,” Hugh said, trying not to let his disappointment show.

“The Lady Cristen is here, though,” Thomas went on.

Hugh’s disappointment magically disappeared.

“She is upstairs with her ladies,” Thomas said. “Shall I send a page to tell her that you have returned?”

“Aye,” said Hugh. “Do that.”

He stood with the men in front of the fire, listening idly to Thomas’s music while the page ran upstairs to fetch her. It seemed a very long time before he heard the sound of the dogs’ nails scratching on the wood of the floor above. They came galloping excitedly down the stairs, and then, finally, Cristen herself appeared.

If someone had asked him what color tunic she was wearing, he wouldn’t have been able to answer. All he saw was her face, her eyes, and the delicate flush of color in her cheeks.

He went to meet her.

“Hugh.” She held out her hands. “Welcome back.”

He took her small, competent hands into his own and for the first time since that dreadful near-encounter with his mother, he felt the world steady itself under his feet. He managed a smile. “I’m sorry to arrive at such an inconvenient hour.”

She wrinkled her straight little nose in dismissal of such foolishness. “Come along with me into the solar and I’ll have some food brought to you,” she said briskly.

Ralf was whining softly and butting his head against Hugh’s knee. Hugh looked with mock sternness into the eager black face that was lifted to his. “Do you require some attention?”

The dog’s tail, which was tipped at the end with a splash of white, making it look as if it had been dipped in a pot of whitewash, wagged frantically. Hugh bent and scratched him behind his ears, in the exact spot he liked the most.

Ralf sighed with pleasure.

Cedric, more timid than his companion, looked longingly at Ralf’s ecstasy.

“Play fair,” Cristen said with amusement. “It’s Cedric’s turn now.”

Obediently, Hugh transferred the ministrations of his long, clever fingers to Cedric.

Proper recognition having been accorded to her dogs, Cristen was ready to move to the solar. Hugh and the animals accompanied her.

The page Cristen had sent ahead of them had already lit the candles and was in the process of lighting the charcoal brazier when they came in the door.

Hugh said, “Can it be possible that you have grown another inch in the week that I have been gone, Brian?”

The boy flushed with pleasure. “Perhaps not quite an inch, Hugh. But I am growing.”

“You certainly are,” Hugh said admiringly. “You’ll top me soon.”

Brian stood up straighter. Then he stiffened and his flush of pleasure was replaced with the brighter red of embarrassment. “I’m s-sorry, my lord,” he stuttered. “I did not mean to be overly familiar.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Hugh said easily.

Brian grinned.

“Food, Brian,” Cristen said gently.

“Aye, my lady!”

At last the food had been brought, the wine had been poured, the brazier was glowing, and they were alone.

“What happened?” Cristen asked.

While he ate he told her about his meeting with Simon and their subsequent visit to Robert of Gloucester. He finished by telling her about the earl’s offer.

Silence fell as he sat back in his chair, a cup of wine between his fingers. He had eaten every scrap of food that Brian had brought.

“He must need Wiltshire badly,” Cristen said at last.

She was sitting in her usual chair, with her feet resting on an embroidered footstool. She needed the footstool, else her feet wouldn’t touch the floor. The dogs lay on either side of the stool; Ralf’s chin was actually propped right on it, with his nose touching her small leather slipper.

“He does, of course,” Hugh replied. “He was disappointed, I think, by the response to his arrival. Except for Wallingford, which was pledged to him by Brian fitz Count, all of his support is in the west.”

“Well, he certainly did his best to tempt you.”

His look was wry. “Get thee behind me, Satan…?”

Her face was grave. “Earl Robert has a few adherents in this part of the world, Hugh. Father went to Marlborough because Stephen was there, besieging the castle. John Marshall, the castellan, has declared for the empress.”

Hugh’s eyes glittered with sudden alertness. “Oh?”

“The king isn’t there any longer, however. I received word from Father yesterday that he has raised the siege and taken his forces south, to besiege the empress in Arundel. Father sent the knights of his own escort to accompany the king.”

Hugh leaned his dark head against the back of his chair and looked thoughtful.

“In the same letter, Father told me that Guy had also come to Marlborough.”

Hugh’s shoulders tensed.

Cristen’s brown eyes were solemn. “I don’t know what happened between Guy and Stephen. Father will probably be able to tell us when he returns. I expect him tomorrow or the day after.”

Hugh took a sip of his wine. “If Stephen succeeds in capturing the empress and sending her back to Normandy, this war will be over before it begins.”

Ralf yawned.

“That’s your opinion,” Hugh said sternly to the dog, who stared back for a moment, then closed his eyes.

“That might not be a good thing for you,” Cristen pointed out in a neutral voice. “Earl Robert’s offer to support you only has value if there is a war.”

They looked at each other.

Finally he said, “I wasn’t raised by a great feudal lord, Cristen. I was raised by a man who had some respect for his country.”

She smiled at him, as if he had given her a great gift.

Some of the tenseness left his body.

Cedric turned and bit at the top of his tail.

“You had better not have fleas, Cedric,” Cristen said.

The dog gave her an adoring look.

Cristen turned back to Hugh. “Something else happened while you were at Evesham. You were very upset when you arrived, and it wasn’t about Earl Robert’s offer.”

Hugh lifted his brows in mock outrage. “Don’t I have any privacy at all?”

She smiled at him again. “Not from me.”

He sighed and then, in a flat, expressionless voice, he told her about what Lady Alyce had done, and his own disastrous response.

When he had finished he sat looking at her stoically, awaiting her judgment.

She leaned toward him and said in an aching voice, “I’m so sorry. Oh, Hugh, I’m so very, very sorry.”

She didn’t say what she was sorry for, but he knew it was for his pain, and he was comforted.

He managed a crooked smile. “The people at Evesham must think I’m insane.”

“Who cares what the people at Evesham think?” she said fiercely.

He put his wine down and ran his fingers through his hair. “I need to talk to someone who lived at Chippenham when I was a child, Cristen. Do you know the names of any of my father’s household knights? They must have been loyal to him. Perhaps I can trace a few of them.”

“Father will know,” Cristen said. “We’ll ask him when he returns.”

They talked for a little longer and then Hugh retired to his solitary bedroom, enormously appreciative of the quiet and the privacy after the noise and the cramped quarters of the night before.

Since Nigel wasn’t at home, Cristen had one of her ladies spend the night with her, for the sake of propriety. For her sake, Hugh hoped that Cristen’s companion didn’t snore.

It was three more days before Nigel finally returned to Somerford, and when he did he was not alone. Henry Fairfax of Bowden, another of Guy’s vassals, accompanied him.

The lord of Bowden was a man of about thirty-five, tall and fair-haired and ruddy of complexion. He had been at Marlborough in Guy’s train and so was privy to the deal that the earl had struck with Stephen. Nigel told Hugh all about it as they walked through the bailey on their way to the mews. Henry Fairfax was an avid falconer and had asked to see Nigel’s birds.

“It is as I feared,” Nigel said to Hugh. The two of them were walking together, with Cristen and the lord of Bowden several steps in front of them. “Fairfax has told me that Stephen promised to confirm Guy in his earldom if Guy would rally his feudal levies for Stephen when the king calls upon him.”

“No surprise there,” Hugh said noncommittally.

There was a strong wind blowing from the west, and all the Somerford flags were streaming straight out. As they passed the fish pond, Hugh noticed that even the surface of the water was rippling from the stiff breeze.

Nigel said gruffly, “What happened at Evesham?”

“Simon took me to see Robert of Gloucester, who made me the identical offer that Stephen made to Guy,” Hugh said.

The breath hissed between Nigel’s teeth.

“And what was your answer?” he demanded.

The wind was blowing Hugh’s black hair, which needed to be cut. “I didn’t give him an answer.”

Nigel walked along in silence, his head lowered as he fixedly regarded the dirt of the bailey yard. “I’m sorry, lad,” he said at last. “I bungled things by taking you to Chippenham. I forced Guy’s hand in a way that I never intended to happen.”

Hugh disagreed. “On the contrary, it was the right thing to do. I needed to go to Chippenham.”

He noticed how the wind was blowing Cristen’s red tunic flat against her slender body.

“You are the rightful earl!” Nigel exploded. “Everyone who sees you must know that!”

Hugh answered patiently, “It doesn’t matter if I am Roger’s son or not. Earldoms have changed hands before this, sir. You know that is true. And Guy has been the earl for fourteen years. My face isn’t going to change that.”

There was a moment of frustrated silence. “Are you giving up, then?” Nigel demanded.

There was humor in Hugh’s voice as he answered, “I never give up. Perseverance is one of my few virtues.”

Nigel stopped walking. “Well, then, what are you going to do? Accept Gloucester’s offer?”

Hugh replied quietly, “Before I do anything, I need to know how my father died.”

After a moment, Nigel’s scowl lifted and he began to walk forward again. “I’m a fool. Of course. The best way to depose Guy is to prove him a murderer.”

“Aye. And to do that, I need to talk to someone-preferably several people-who lived at Chippenham when I was a boy. I was wondering if you knew where I might find some of my father’s old household knights, sir. Perhaps they might be able to shed some light on what happened all those years ago.”

Nigel frowned. “Roger’s knights? To the best of my knowledge, lad, most of them are still at Chippenham.”

Hugh was stunned.

“Still at Chippenham?” he repeated, staring at Nigel in amazement.

“Aye. Guy had no following of his own. He was a younger son, remember. He brought a few friends with him when he became the earl, but otherwise he kept on Roger’s household guard.”

“My father’s knights transferred their allegiance to Guy?”

Hugh’s amazement was so profound that Nigel began to feel uneasy. “Why does that surprise you so?”

“Well, for one thing, it must mean that Roger’s own knights did not suspect Guy of having a hand in his death!”

“Not necessarily,” Nigel said. “It is not easy for a landless knight in these times, Hugh. There are few men who would forsake a comfortable place in an earl’s household, no matter what they might suspect in their hearts.”

“No honorable man would serve his lord’s murderer,” Hugh snapped.

“You wouldn’t. I wouldn’t. But necessity is a hard mistress, lad.”

There was a sharp line between Hugh’s brows. He did not look convinced.

“At any rate,” Nigel said, “if you wish to speak to some of Roger’s old knights, you have not far to look for them. Of course, many of them will have grown too old for service, but I’m sure a few still remain at Chippenham.”

Cristen’s laugh floated back to them. She was smiling up at Henry Fairfax.

For some reason, this put Hugh out of temper.

“Did you question that Father Anselm?” Nigel asked. “He was Roger’s priest. He might be a good source of information.”

Hugh flushed as he thought of the manner of his leaving Evesham. “I didn’t have the chance,” he said shortly. “I will do so eventually, but first I think I shall go to Chippenham.”

“And just how do you plan to gain entrance to Chippenham?” Nigel asked with heavy sarcasm. “Introduce yourself to Guy as his nephew and ask if you might pay a visit to your old home?”

Hugh looked amused. “A brilliant idea,” he said. “I believe that is precisely what I shall do.”

Nigel groaned.

“I rather think that he will let me come,” Hugh said. “He’ll feel more comfortable with me under his eye than knowing I’m running loose around the countryside.”

“He’d feel more comfortable if you were dead,” Nigel said bluntly.

Hugh shook his head. “He won’t harm me. He can’t afford to have it whispered that another de Leon came to an untimely end at Chippenham. He must know that he has been suspected of doing away with his brother.”

“Don’t you understand?” Nigel said impatiently. “Guy is one of the greatest territorial magnates in all of England. He is an immensely powerful man, Hugh. He administers his palatinate free from any vestige of royal control. Within his own lands, he wields the power of life and death. Furthermore, he is arrogant and hotheaded. He has frequently been known to act first and think later.”

They had almost reached the mews.

“I cannot guarantee your safety if you go to Chippenham,” Nigel said.

“I am not asking you to guarantee my safety, sir,” Hugh said calmly.

Nigel swore.

Cristen and Henry Fairfax had already reached the mews, and Cristen was introducing the falconer to Henry Fairfax when Hugh and Nigel came up to them.

Nigel looked at his guest, clearly making an effort to focus his mind on a topic other than the one he had been discussing with Hugh.

“I don’t have very many birds, Fairfax, but I think the ones I do have are quite fine.”

The big man said indulgently, “Lady Cristen has been telling me that she does not care for the sport.”

“She never has,” Nigel said ruefully.

“I have a very pretty little merlin,” Fairfax said. “A perfect bird for a lady. If I may, I will send it over for Lady Cristen. Perhaps she will change her mind about hunting once she sees my Faence.”

He gave Cristen a charming smile.

Hugh scowled. Who the devil did this man think he was, offering Cristen a hawk?

Cristen said firmly, “Hunting for meat is one thing, Sir Henry, but killing for sport is not something of which I will ever approve.”

Fairfax looked amused. “Your daughter is very tenderhearted,” he said to Nigel indulgently.

Hugh gave him such a hostile look that if Fairfax had seen it, he might have been tempted to draw his dagger to defend himself.

“Come, Pritchard,” Nigel said to his falconer. “Let us show Sir Henry our birds.”

Hugh’s dislike of Henry Fairfax increased as the day went on. He hung around Cristen so closely that Hugh scarcely got a chance to speak to her himself. And Nigel seemed to approve, actively encouraging the man to spend time with his daughter.

By the time supper was finished, Hugh was ready to skewer the man.

The crowning insult came when the four of them were sitting around the brazier in the solar and Nigel said, “You won’t mind if Sir Henry shares your room tonight, will you, Hugh?”

“Not at all, sir,” Hugh said between his teeth. “In fact, he may have it to himself. I’ll be glad to sleep in the hall with the knights.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Fairfax said with the genial charm that Hugh found so nauseating. “I don’t mind sharing.”

Well, I do.

Adela’s training held firm, however, and Hugh did not speak his rude thought aloud. Instead he gave a long, lethal look to Nigel’s hated guest and said, “I shall be perfectly happy in the hall.”

Fairfax shrugged.

Cristen gave him a worried look.

“Suit yourself,” Nigel grunted.

When the group around the brazier finally broke up, Hugh went back to the hall, took one of the straw mattresses, and dragged it away from the beds of the other knights.

“Where are you going, Hugh?” Thomas said. “You’ll be warmer if you stay with us.”

“Do any of you snore?” Hugh demanded.

Every eye went immediately to Ranulf.

“I thought so,” Hugh said. “It will be quieter over here.”

Ranulf did indeed snore magnificently, but it was not the noise that kept Hugh awake. It was the image of Fairfax’s blond head bending over Cristen.

He scowled fiercely into the dark.

“Hugh.”

He didn’t know if she actually spoke or if he heard her voice in his mind, but he opened his eyes and saw her kneeling next to him. She was holding a candle and shading its light with her hand.

“Come with me to the pantry,” she breathed. “I have to talk to you.”

He rose soundlessly and followed her to the small service room where the food brought from the kitchen was arranged on platters before the servants took it into the hall to be served. Cristen put her candle down on one of the scoured wooden benches and turned to face Hugh.

“What’s the matter?” he said. A thought struck him and he went rigid. “That dolt Fairfax wasn’t trying to bother you, was he?”

“Nay, that’s not it.” She shook her head. Her hair was done in two loose plaits and hung over her shoulders and down the front of her green velvet robe.

“What the devil is your father thinking, letting that fellow hang all over you?” Hugh demanded next.

“He wants to marry me, Hugh,” she replied. “And Father thinks it’s a good match.”

Hugh was thunderstruck.

“He wants to marry you?”

“Aye.”

“Well, he can’t!” Hugh said fiercely.

She looked at him.

“You’re not going to marry anyone but me.”

The single candle did not give them much light to see each other by, but he thought he could see her eyes glisten.

“You can’t marry me,” she whispered. “You’re my feudal lord.”

“I’m not your feudal lord yet,” he said. “Besides, what does that have to do with anything?”

“An overlord does not marry the daughter of one of his vassals, Hugh.”

“I shall marry whomever I choose to marry,” he replied with splendid arrogance. “And I choose to marry you.”

It was the only time she had ever heard him sound young.

A note of doubt crept into his voice. “Don’t you want to marry me, Cristen?”

“Of course I want to marry you,” she said.

The doubt left his voice. “Come here,” he said, and held out his arms.

She walked into them and lifted her face. His mouth came down on hers.

His kiss was not tender, it was hard and hungry and fiercely possessive.

His passion did not frighten Cristen. She slid her arms around his waist, pressed herself against his hard young body, and kissed him back.

It was Hugh who finally separated them.

“We have to stop this or I won’t answer for the consequences,” he said. His voice was shaking.

Cristen pulled the front of her robe together with unsteady hands.

“I’ll talk to your father tomorrow,” Hugh said. His light eyes glittered in the semidark.

“No,” Cristen said. She took a deep breath to steady herself. “Don’t say anything to him yet.”

“Why not?” he demanded. His eyes narrowed. “I don’t want that obnoxious fellow laying his hands on you, Cristen.”

He looked and sounded dangerous.

“He won’t do that. He’s too much of a gentleman.”

Hugh snorted contemptuously. “I wouldn’t count on that.”

“Listen to me,” Cristen said urgently. “Now is not the time to speak to Father about us. He won’t let me marry you the way things are now.”

“What do you mean, the way things are now?”

“Father thinks you are in danger, Hugh. He won’t let me marry a man who is a target for an arrow in the back.”

He dragged his hand through his hair. “All right.” His voice was taut. “I suppose I can understand that. But what about this Fairfax fellow?”

“I will tell Father that I don’t like him and that I won’t marry him.”

“What if he insists that you do?”

“He won’t.”

“But what if he does?”

“A parent cannot force a woman to marry against her will, Hugh. The pope has ruled quite clearly on that issue.”

There was a white line around his compressed mouth.

“I won’t marry him,” she said softly.

He let out his breath. “All right.”

“Find out the truth about your past,” Cristen said. “For your own peace of mind, you need to know it. Then, when all is made clear, we will go to my father.”

He scowled at her. “Don’t let that blond giant lay a finger on you.”

She smiled. “I have the dogs.”

Finally his face relaxed and he smiled back. “I love you,” he said. “I knew it the first time I met you. Do you remember? I had that headache and you asked me if I wanted you to stay with me and I said that I did.”

“I remember,” she said.

“I never want anyone near me when I’m ill, but I knew I wanted you.”

“I love you, too.” She stood on her toes, kissed him on the mouth, then turned to pick up her candle.

“Come,” she said. “I had better get back to my room before someone misses me.”