Her Knight Protector Page 15

  ‘In truth I do not know,’ he said at last, for Stefan was eyeing him curiously. ‘Perhaps nothing…’

  ‘You search for something,’ Stefan said thoughtfully. ‘I see it in your eyes. I have felt as you do, brother, but I found what I lacked in love. Elona filled the emptiness inside me and I need nothing more than my wife and children, and to live in peace and comfort with them.’

  ‘Mayhap I could find that same content with Katherine,’ Alain said. ‘Yet there is a need inside me that I cannot explain—perhaps it will never be met. I hoped that I would be a part of restoring Jerusalem to Christian rule, but it was not to be.’

  ‘You feel that you failed?’

  ‘Perhaps…how can we know what history will make of what we did there?’

  Stefan saw that there was an aching need in his brother, but he could only hope that his feelings for Katherine would show him how to find happiness.

  ‘Come, if you are rested, we should continue our journey. The Lady Alayne will not want to miss the King’s coronation…’

  ‘We shall go to see Richard crowned for the second time,’ Alayne said decisively as soon as the messenger had delivered his welcome news. ‘It will give us all the chance to visit the silk merchants and indulge ourselves.’ She saw that Katherine looked uncertain and held out her hand to her. ‘I speak of you as well as my daughters. You have made no complaint about wearing Marguerite’s old clothes, but now you shall have new ones.’

  ‘But… I have no money to pay for them,’ Katherine said and blushed. ‘Alain gave me my cloak and you have already given me so much. I cannot take more from you, my lady.’

  ‘My son sent me some bales of material to use as I would, and that will provide some of the clothes we all need for winter. But I think a richer colour would suit your colouring and we shall buy something special. You must and shall have a new gown for the King’s coronation,’ Alayne said. ‘It will be my pleasure to pay for it and I shall be offended if you refuse my gift.’

  ‘Indeed, you must have a new gown for the occasion,’ Marguerite said as Katherine looked uneasy. ‘We shall all have them. It is a time for celebration and pleasure.’

  Katherine was silenced. To argue further would seem churlish, but she was conscious of being beholden to her hostess, and it made her determined to do something about her situation as soon as she was able.

  ‘I can only thank you,’ she said shyly. ‘I wish that I might do something to repay you…’

  ‘Nonsense! Your company is recompense enough. I have enjoyed having you with us.’ Alayne smiled. The news that had reached them only that morning was all that she could hope. Her instincts had been right. Alain had received a slight wound, but his arm was recovering. Both he and Stefan had arranged to meet them on the road and would swell their escort. ‘God has been good to me, Katherine. Let me give what I can in return for all that I have.’

  ‘But you give so much to others,’ Katherine said and smiled at her. ‘You saved me when I was close to death.’

  ‘I nursed you,’ Alayne replied. ‘It was God who saved you, Katherine. You must never forget that all healing comes from Him. If I have a gift that helps me to help others, it comes from our Lord. If I did not believe that most truly, I could not continue to minister to the sick as I do.’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Katherine said, for she knew that the Lady Alayne would never accept the praise for herself. ‘But you were there when I needed you and I shall always thank God that you were sent to me.’

  ‘Indeed, it was fortunate that I was already on my way to London—and it might not have been so, for we had almost decided to wait another three days…’ She smiled at Katherine. ‘You see, it was our Lord’s intervention that brought me to you.’

  ‘Yes, I see that you are right,’ Katherine agreed. ‘But you said that Sir Alain had been wounded in the arm…’

  ‘Stefan’s letter says that it is merely a flesh wound and he has applied a salve to it. Once we meet them on the road I shall be able to discover if there is more that needs to be done.’

  ‘I believed there was hardly any fighting,’ Katherine said. ‘Sir Alain was unfortunate to be wounded.’

  ‘It was not in the skirmish with Prince John’s men,’ Alayne replied with a frown. ‘Stefan says that someone fired an arrow at him from the forest as they were returning home—’ She broke off as she saw Katherine turn pale. ‘What is wrong? You are not feeling ill?’

  Katherine shook her head. Had Alain been attacked because he had rescued her from brigands in Italy and brought her here? Was it because of what she carried that an attempt to murder him had been made?

  ‘No, I am not ill,’ she replied, controlling her emotions with difficulty. ‘It is nothing. I shall be perfectly able to accompany you to the King’s coronation, my lady.’

  Nothing would keep her here when Alain was hurt! She knew that she would not rest until she had seen him for herself.

  Katherine was there with the de Banewulf family to see Richard wearing his crown in Winchester’s great cathedral, and joined in the celebrations afterwards. All of them were wearing new gowns, but Katherine believed that hers was the most splendid. Fashioned of a rich, dark green with a surcote of silver, it suited her colouring, and the sparkle in her eyes had made her almost beautiful.

  Her spirits had risen the moment she saw Alain and realised that, although still suffering from pain, he was not seriously wounded.

  ‘It is merely a flesh wound,’ he had told his anxious mother when she insisted on looking at his arm immediately, ‘and Stefan’s salve hath already eased the pain.’

  Having inspected it for herself, Alayne announced that she was pleased with what she saw and gave her son a small measure of the medicine she always carried with her to aid his recovery.

  Katherine was able to smile at him without betraying the anxiety she had felt, though she asked anxiously if he thought the attack on him had been because of her father’s treasure.

  ‘Nay, I do not think it,’ Alain lied to comfort her. ‘I dare say it was merely common thieves thinking to rob unwary travellers.’

  She had pretended to believe him, though she suspected that he was trying to shield her from the truth. If her father’s discovery had almost cost Alain his life, then it was time she was rid of her burden. It had been pleasant to dally at Banewulf, but she would tell Alain that she must leave for France as soon as the celebrations were over.

  The church bells rang out joyfully all over the city. King Richard had once more asserted his right to the English throne and his people were glad to have him back, for few had prospered under John’s rule.

  Maypoles had been erected in the streets and people danced for the pleasure, for many of Richard’s wealthy nobles had distributed gifts of food and ale to the poor of the city.

  Katherine stood with Alain, Stefan and Elona to watch some mummers performing a play in the market square, laughing at the antics of the fool with his pig’s bladder. They had been to a horse fair that morning, buying and eating hot pies as they wandered round the side shows and marvelled at the wares the pedlars offered. Katherine had spent some minutes looking at the stall selling holy relics, a frown creasing her smooth forehead.

  ‘I do not know why people buy them,’ she said to Alain as she turned away from the stall. ‘If every fragment of the Cross offered for sale was genuine, it would have taken thirty men to carry it—and the saints can surely never have had so many fingers.’

  Alain was amused by her observation, but then he saw that the thoughts underlying it were serious. ‘You are thinking of your father’s discovery?’

  ‘Yes, it has been much on my mind of late,’ she said and looked up at him, her anxiety plain. ‘How can I hope to prove it is genuine without my father’s notes?’

  Alain hesitated, then, ‘Perhaps I should speak to Ravenshurst?’

  ‘Would it not be dangerous? I do not wish you to risk your life, Alain. I think it might be best if I return to France. I might t
hen ask my uncle his advice.’

  ‘It is strange that Baron Grunwald hath not replied to my father’s letter,’ Alain said, looking thoughtful. ‘I wonder—’ He broke off as a young squire wearing colours of dark green and gold approached them, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The youth came up to them and bowed respectfully to Katherine. Alain glared at him. ‘Yes, what do you want, sirrah?’

  ‘May I have permission to address the Lady Katherine of Grunwald, sir?’

  ‘Who sent you?’ Alain’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  ‘My master is Philip of Rotherham, sir. He is the lady’s uncle through her late mother.’

  ‘Yes, I know of him,’ Alain replied, and laid a warning hand on Katherine’s arm. ‘I sent word that I wished to see him and received no reply. How can I be sure that you are who you claim to be?’

  ‘I have a locket that the lady may have seen before—there was another just like it. If I may present it?’

  ‘Give it to me.’ Alain held out his hand to receive the locket, which was beautiful and intricately worked in silver. He showed it to Katherine, who gasped and turned pale. She looked so stricken that he reached out his hand to steady her lest she swoon. ‘You have seen this locket before?’

  ‘I have seen its twin,’ Katherine said, picking it up to look at it more closely. She opened the clasp with trembling fingers and looked inside. ‘When my mother died my father placed a piece of her hair inside her locket and kept it with him always. It was in his baggage and lost…but his had a tiny dent and this has not.’

  ‘You may address the lady,’ Alain said to the squire. ‘What is your master’s message for his niece?’

  ‘Sir Philip begs that she will visit him at his lodgings, which are but two streets away. He journeyed here for the coronation, but he is sick nigh unto death and would see the Lady Katherine before he dies.’

  ‘Do you wish to see him?’ Alain’s eyes dwelt on her face. She looked pale and anxious, the becoming colour from the morning air quite fled from her cheeks. ‘You may refuse if you had rather not—for you owe him nothing.’

  ‘My master begs that the lady will look kindly upon his request, for he wishes to make reparation for the wrong that he hath done her,’ said the youth almost pleadingly.

  ‘I shall see him,’ Katherine decided. ‘Not for the reparation that ought to have been my father’s—but for my mother’s sake. I know that she loved her brother dearly and it broke her heart when they quarrelled. Yes, I shall see him for her sake.’

  ‘Very well, I shall come with you,’ Alain said and called to Stefan that they would meet them later at their lodgings in the city. ‘Lead the way, lad, for we are but strangers here.’

  Katherine looked up at him, and he saw the anxious, slightly apprehensive expression in her eyes.

  ‘You are afraid of what you may find?’

  ‘A little nervous,’ she admitted. ‘I have never seen my uncle and know only what my mother told me of him. I think they were very alike, and he loved her—perhaps too much.’

  ‘Then it is right that you see him,’ Alain agreed. ‘If he has suffered for his unkindness to your mother, this is his chance to reconcile his mind and relieve the burden on his soul.’

  Katherine was holding the locket tightly in her hand, her heart pounding. Philip of Rotherham had been but a distant figure all her life, someone who seemed to exist only as a dream, but seeing the locket, which was the twin to the one he had given her mother, had suddenly made him very real. What would he be like? Would he still be angry that his sister had disobeyed him and married the man she loved? What would he feel towards his sister’s daughter?

  They had stopped outside a house. Katherine shivered in the chill wind that seemed to have sprung up of a sudden. The squire stepped up and rapped on the door, which was opened by an older man who might have been a steward by his robes. He nodded his head, his eyes moving over Katherine.

  ‘I am Sigmund of Rotherham, lady.’

  ‘And my uncle’s steward?’

  He inclined his head, his eyes intent on her face, searching it intently. ‘You are not like your mother, lady.’

  ‘No, I am told I favour my father in looks.’

  ‘Aye, I remember him. Please follow me.’ He glanced at Alain. ‘Sir Alain—forgive us that we did not answer your letter more fairly, but my master is ill. He should not have made this journey, but he wanted to see Richard crowned once more. And when he was told that you were here, my Lady Katherine, he hoped to make his peace with you.’

  ‘I have no quarrel with your master, sir.’

  ‘Then perhaps you will consent to see him in his chamber, for his illness hath laid him on his bed and he cannot rise to meet you. The surgeon bled him an hour ago and he is very weak, though less feverish than before.’

  ‘Yes, I am most willing to go to him.’ She laid a hand on Alain’s arm, as he would have accompanied her. ‘Nay, it may be best if you stay here. I do not fear that I shall come to harm in this house.’

  ‘I shall wait for you—but call out if all is not as it appears.’

  ‘I thank you for your patience, sir.’

  Alain nodded, watching as she followed the elderly steward up the stairs to the gallery above. It was a good solid house of the kind owned by wealthy merchants and rented out to men of rank at times like this, when the city was full of visitors. He had heard that Philip of Rotherham was a wealthy man, though he knew little of him or his fortune, but perhaps some good could come to Katherine through this visit.

  Katherine walked the length of the upstairs gallery. The wooden floors were covered with rushes to soften the sound of their feet, and the walls were of a deep golden stone, which was here and there hung with tapestry to keep out the cold.

  The steward paused outside a door and turned to look at Katherine.

  ‘You may find the room airless and unpleasant, for the doctors have ordered that a fire is kept going at all times, and the windows are on no account to be opened.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘I do not believe that my master has long to live. I am glad that he has this chance to unburden his soul before he dies.’

  ‘I do not think my mother ever stopped loving him.’ She smiled at the steward, lifted the heavy iron latch and went in, catching her breath at the heat and stench inside the room. It was dark as well as stuffy and she had difficulty in seeing the man lying in the large bed, approaching it with some apprehension. ‘Sir… Uncle Philip…’

  Now she was close enough to see his face. His skin was a sickly yellow colour, the flesh stretched tight over his cheekbones, his eyes sunken. He had opened his eyes now and was staring at her. She went closer so that he might see her. He stared at her as if hoping to see another face, and a sigh left his lips as he realised his hopes were unfounded. Katherine was not his sister born again, but a very different person.

  ‘I am Katherine,’ she said. ‘You asked to see me?’

  ‘Katherine…’ His lips moved awkwardly as if he found it difficult to form the words. ‘My sister’s child…’

  ‘Yes, Uncle. I am here.’

  ‘Give me your hand, let me touch you?’

  Katherine obeyed and his fingers curled loosely about her wrist. They felt warm and damp, the flesh wasted almost to the bone. She felt a sharp pang of pity for his plight. How terrible it was to see any man reduced to this.

  ‘Are you in pain, sir? May I do anything to help you? You might be more comfortable if the room were less warm…’

  ‘No, no, leave it, child,’ he told her. ‘It pleases the physician to torture me for my sins, and I must bear it. I shall die soon and they cannot prevent it. If their treatment hastens my death, then so much the better. I have not been a good man, Katherine, and this sickness that eats away at me is a punishment from God—that is what they tell me and perhaps they are right.’

  ‘I am sorry for your suffering,’ she said. ‘I know someone who might make you more comfortable even if it is not possible to make you better.’ />
  ‘Nay, for if I suffer now, mayhap I shall not go to hell but win a chance for forgiveness.’ He raised himself slightly from the pillows. ‘I would ask your forgiveness for what I did to her, Katherine. I have wronged my sister and her child. Your rightful inheritance is already yours, the lawyers will see to that when I am dead. I have no wife or son—all that I have is yours. I ask only your forgiveness for the wrong I did your mother.’

  ‘I cannot speak for my mother,’ Katherine said. ‘But she always spoke kindly to me of you, Uncle. I cannot think she hated you. I believe she sorrowed for the breach between you.’

  He sank back against his pillows with a sigh, as if the effort had been too much for him, and she saw a tear squeeze from the corner of his eye and roll down his cheek. For a moment he lay in silence, gathering his strength, and then he looked at her once more.

  ‘I loved her too well,’ he said. ‘The love I bore Helen was too passionate, too intense. It was not the kind of love a brother should have for a sister—do you understand me, Katherine?’

  ‘I believe that I do, Uncle.’ Her mother had given no hint of it, but Katherine’s father had once said something that seemed to hint at some mystery in the past. Looking down at the sick man, she saw that he was tortured by his memories. ‘Do not grieve, for I know that she forgave you.’

  His hands worked on the coverlet, clearly still unable to release his tortured past. ‘I begged her to love me, as I loved her. I wanted to lie with her. My body burned for her, but it was a terrible sin, and she refused me when I told her that she was the only woman I should ever love. I kissed her on the mouth and tried to force myself on her, but she fought me with all her strength and in the end I let her go. I spent the night in prayer for my sins, and in the morning she had gone. She went to your father, who had offered for her and been refused by me. She married him without my consent and so I held back what was rightfully hers. Now you shall have that and all that was mine. You will be wealthy beyond your dreams, Katherine. Men are evil, greedy creatures. Take care that you marry a man who will be kind to you.’