Royce was pacing the hall when Gaultier answered his summons. He fully expected an outbreak of temper from his overlord, since the prisoner had escaped and one of the finest archers was dead.
“I have heard the testimony of Roger,” he said, gesturing to the one bowman who had returned from pursuit of the prisoner. “He brings most curious tidings.”
“Indeed, sir?” Gaultier had not questioned Roger, but sent him immediately to Royce to make his report, as the body of his companion had to be retrieved. He braced himself for Royce’s reaction to more bad news. “The other men have returned, sir, for they could not discern the trail of the escaped prisoner and his comrade.”
“It does not matter,” Royce said, to Gaultier’s surprise. “This Bartholomew will return here to the keep. He can do naught else.”
“Sir?”
“Have you not heard the tales of the one true son doomed to reclaim Haynesdale, Gaultier? I thought them nonsense, or willful thinking, and perhaps it is nonsense, but this knight, Bartholomew, believes himself to be the son of my predecessor, Baron Nicholas.” Royce paced more quickly. “He will meet his father’s end, to be sure.”
Gaultier glanced at Roger and held his tongue.
“Sooner or later, I will be rid of him.” Royce straightened suddenly, then smiled. Evidently some detail had occurred to him. “Perhaps sooner than he anticipates.”
“Sir?”
Royce dismissed Roger then seated himself. He smirked at the Captain of the Guard. “How could it be, Gaultier, that my wife left this hall to say her prayers in the chapel, yet did not see the thieves when they entered the same chapel?”
Gaultier blinked. “How do you know they were in the chapel, my lord?”
“The cabinet by the altar, the one for the prizes of the chapel, was unlocked. It is never left so.” Royce lifted his gaze to Gaultier. “They were there, likely in the same moment as my lady wife.”
If the cabinet had been open, Gaultier had to agree. He had seen Lady Marie that morning, walking toward the stable, before the hue and cry had been raised about an intruder. “Did they claim the prize, my lord?”
Royce raised a finger. “Fortunately, I had the foresight to move it to a more secure location.”
Gaultier assumed that was in his lord’s own chamber.
“But consider the course of my lady wife. Not only was she in the chapel, but she chose to visit her mare in the stables, immediately after her prayers,” Royce continued. “Where not only another sentry had been left bound and silenced, but a rope had been lowered into the sewer.”
“The sewer was their means of escape, my lord. The grill on the other end had been removed.”
Royce nodded. “But what of my lady wife? Does she truly know naught?”
Gaultier was not such a fool as to accuse his baron’s wife of any crime. “Women do not always observe keenly as men, sir….”
Royce interrupted him with a short laugh. “Or perhaps shelies, Gaultier.” He rose to his feet anew, paced the chamber quickly, then spun to face him. “Where was my lady wife when the intruders were discovered?”
“Before the stables, sir.”
“Exactly. And how many times was she said to have gone from chapel to stables?”
“Twice, sir, for she forgot her psalter the first time.”
“And one has dire need of a psalter when visiting a mare.” Royce strolled toward Gaultier. “How often does my wife visit her mare?”
“I cannot think of the last time, sir.”
“Exactly! What if my lady wife did see the intruders in the chapel? What if she spoke to them there?” He halted before the Captain of the Guard, his expression exultant. “What if she made a wager with them, that she would aid in their escape?”
Gaultier could not imagine what a thief could offer to the lady of Haynesdale. “To what purpose, sir? Does she know that this villain believes himself to be destined to take your place?” It seemed folly for Lady Marie to ally herself with such a man while her own husband was yet in command of the keep, but Gaultier had never troubled himself to understand the thinking of women. They had but one purpose in his view, and it was not conversation.
Royce clapped him on the shoulder, his manner amiable. “I like that your thoughts do not readily travel the same path as mine, Gaultier. It is a good sign for our shared future.”
“Sir?”
“I do not know what my wife schemes, Gaultier, but I would find out. Ensure that Lady Marie is followed whenever she leaves the keep and do as much without detection.”
