‘Ah,’ said Geoffrey, ‘well, that’s why going to a tavern has its merits. I have arranged with a merchant who travels between here and Dover to bring us in a consignment of silver.’
William raised his eyebrows. ‘Through Dover?’ he said. ‘How much?’
‘Five hundred marks.’ Geoffrey went to the flagon on the trestle and poured the dregs into a cup.
‘Then that is five hundred marks we will never see again. They will seize and search every entourage and every cargo entering the port or crossing the sea.’
‘Do you have a better idea?’
‘Joanna has matters in hand.’
‘She’s a woman!’ Geoffrey snorted. ‘I know you think the sun shines from every part of her, but how will she manage it? Pretend that she’s with child and stuff a money sack up her gown?’
William shot him a glare. ‘I have every faith in Joanna for good reason,’ he snapped. ‘If she says she will accomplish a thing then she does.’ He rose to his feet. ‘Our first need is to reach our own lands safely, and that means not taking risks. We have to be brothers in more than name.’
Geoffrey puffed out his cheeks, but nodded and came to put his arms around William in an embrace, pungent with aromas of wine and garlic. ‘Aye,’ he said. ‘Brothers to the end. Very well, let us get these requests written. The sooner done, the sooner we can leave this Godforsaken place.’
‘There’s a fresh jug of wine on the sill,’ William said to be conciliatory. ‘You should have brought some of that mussel broth back with you.’
One of Aymer’s clerks arrived, bringing some fresh rolls of parchment and candles. He too had been out in the town and he was breathing hard, for he had run all the way back to their lodging. ‘Sires,’ he said, ‘there are soldiers in the town, fresh off an English ship. Mercenaries bearing the badge of de Montfort and de Montfort’s two eldest sons at their head. They were enquiring after your whereabouts.’
‘Now you see why we should not be in the town drinking,’ William said. ‘I knew this would happen. They let us leave, and then they come after us intent on assassination. Now we see what the word of Simon de Montfort is worth.’ His belly curdled with fear even while he kept a face of fury. If they were willing to pursue him to this end, then what might they do to his wife and children? Involuntarily, he put his hand to his sword hilt.
Aymer laid a calming hand on William’s wrist. ‘We do not know the full story yet. Simon de Montfort’s sons are not de Montfort himself. This may just be a crowd of callow youths out to prove some kind of manhood to themselves. Indeed, this may have done us a favour. It will be easier to obtain our safe conduct now these lamentables have pursued us to Boulogne. The King of France will not want English warring factions borrowing his turf for their disputes.’
Geoffrey fetched his sheathed sword from where he had propped it against the wall. ‘I will send them home,’ he growled, ‘but not with their tails between their legs. Those they shall leave behind, nailed to these tower doors.’
‘No,’ Aymer cautioned. ‘If we answer their provocation, it will lessen our chances of receiving a safe conduct.’
‘And not doing so will make us seem weak,’ Geoffrey retorted. ‘Since when has caution stayed your hand, brother?’
‘Aymer’s right.’ William sat down again and pushed his hands through his hair. ‘I am as keen as you are to put a blade through Henry de Montfort and his brother but if we spill blood here in Boulogne, where do you think it will end? For our lives we must stay within the law. King Louis will be displeased with de Montfort’s sons, not us.’
‘Hah, so we sit here like poultry in a chicken coop watching a pair of foxes slavering at the latch?’ Geoffrey tossed his sword on to the table.
‘I will write to Henry and to Edward,’ William said.
‘Well, I am sure that will have a great impact,’ Geoffrey scoffed.
‘More than you think. Some at court will not respond well to the news that de Montfort’s sons have violated the safe conduct. I will ask Henry to intercede with King Louis on our behalf, and I will write to John and his Bigod brothers.’
‘Letters.’ Geoffrey waved his hand dismissively.
‘There is nothing to stop us from defending ourselves, but we should not go on the attack,’ William insisted.
Guy stood up and flexed his broad shoulders. ‘Time was when we couldn’t keep you out of a brawl, little brother,’ he said with a sour smile.
‘Perhaps I have grown up,’ William replied. ‘I am no coward, you know I am not, but we will only make this worse by fighting, and the stakes are already too high.’
Guy fetched his own sword but left it sheathed. ‘We are going to face some great provocation,’ he said, rubbing his chin, ‘but I am inclined to agree with you.’ He looked at Geoffrey. ‘Cool your heels for now, except in the matter of making sure we are well supplied to resist them, and meanwhile write the letters. De Montfort’s sons are unproven puppies. We should not be complacent but I doubt they will have arrived armed with money and siege machines and certainly no one in Boulogne will help them.’
The clerk cleared his throat. ‘Sire,’ he said to William, ‘you should know that your wife’s brother is with them.’
William snorted contemptuously. ‘Hah, that does not surprise me. He’s been dogging their heels like a stray whelp for months, chasing scraps.’
*
An hour later Simon de Montfort’s sons and a small entourage of soldiers arrived at the fortified tower house where William and his brothers were lodging.
