front of the house before dismounting, whereupon a pair of stablemen appeared from nowhere, making the bailiff smile to himself. Obviously the whole household was trying to put on a good show for the new master.
After Simon had got off his horse and handed it to the waiting hostler, he stood and took in the view. From here he could see for miles, over the tops of the tree-covered hills to the moors, lowering in blue-grey malevolence in the far distance. Tugging off his gloves, he turned to the door as Baldwin came out to welcome them.
“I think I was right to come on ahead,” he said, smiling as he shook the bailiff’s hand. “You have taken an age to get here, Simon. Can you not teach your servant to ride a little faster?”
Simon felt Hugh stiffen behind him, but smiled in return. “It was my fault, sir, I stopped to talk to the monks.”
“What monks?” asked the knight absently as he led them in through the thick wooden door.
“Didn’t you see them? We came upon them at the end of your lane here. Four monks and an abbot; they’re on their way to the monastery at Buckland.”
Baldwin frowned slightly. “No, I didn’t see them,” he said with disinterest, and shrugged, seeming to put them out of his mind as he smiled again. “Wine? Or would you prefer some beer?”
The manor did not seem to have suffered the privations of so many other parts of the county during the rains. Simon and Hugh were given a hearty meal of mutton stew with fresh bread, all the while having to answer a stream of questions from their inquisitive host, who seemed to want to know everything about his new estates, how they had changed in his absence and how the people had fared while he had been away. At last, as they all pushed themselves away from the table and sat closer to the fire, he smiled and apologised.
“I’m sorry if you had to pay for your food so dearly, but I want to be a good master to the people here. I have seen too many lords who treated their people badly and taxed them heavily. I want to be known to be fair to them, and to do that I must know all I can.”
“I think you have a good and strong estate, sir…” Simon began, but the knight interrupted him.
“As bailiff to knight, I think we can talk to each other as equals.”
Recognising the honour, Simon smiled and inclined his head. It was not his imagination – he could feel that already there was some kind of bond between him and this grave knight. The man seemed to be seeking his friendship and Simon found it flattering, even though he knew that it was likely to be only the interest of a lonely newcomer seeking the acquaintance of an important neighbour. He continued, “Thank you. So, Baldwin, your estate has not been so badly affected as some others. The rains have been very bad this year, but Furnshill is high enough to have missed the worst of the damage. The lower-lying areas were badly flooded, but your crops were not too badly affected, not as badly as some. In other shires the people are starving, but I think your people haven’t suffered much.”
“Certainly all I have seen and heard shows that the people of Guyenne and France are without food. And I saw that the people in Kent were suffering when I passed through.” He seemed to be thinking, drawing in on himself with a frown of concentration.
“When was that?”
“What?”
“When did you pass through Kent? Was it recently? I just wondered whether things are still that bad or whether they’re getting better.”
“Oh. Well, it would have been about nine months ago, I suppose. But I have spoken to many travellers since then and things do not seem to have improved.” He sighed. “It sometimes seems unfair that so many people have to suffer so much to survive, does it not?”
“Yes,” agreed Simon, staring reflectively into his mug. “But it is the natural way. We all have to serve, whether it is our master or our God, and the people must work to serve us, although some are more harshly treated than is needed.”
“In what way?”
“As you say, it can seem unfair sometimes. When you see men being taxed too heavily, or the sheriffs taking money from the taxes to put in their own purses, or when you see robbers taking all the profit from a farmer who will have to try some other way to feed his children. It’s not only the weather that causes problems when you are a farmer.”
“No. No, of course not,” said the knight reflectively. “But, tell me, why do you mention the sheriffs? Is there a problem with the man in Exeter?”
“No, we’re lucky here. He seems a good and honest man. No, he’s alright, but you must know about the others, surely? Only a couple of years ago almost all of them throughout the country were changed because of their corruption.”
“I hadn’t heard that, no. But I was out of the country at the time, so…”
“Well, as I say, most were changed. There were many cases of false indictments, and you can guess who benefited. I think it’s beginning again. And, as usual, it’s the poor that are hit hardest.”
“You seem to feel strongly about it, Simon.”
“I do, I do. I want to be known to be fair to the people in my area and known to be their protector. I don’t want to be thought of as a heavy and unfair taxer, as being interested in lining my own purse at the expense of others. And I want to make sure that the people here can travel safely. Thank God we are not yet plagued with outlaws here!”
“Yes. We seem to be lucky in that.”
“We are, none have come this far west yet, although they are moving closer. Apparently there are some outside Bristol, and another group at North Petherton. We can only hope that they fade away before coming down here.”
Baldwin stared musingly at the flames for a moment, I wonder why people join the trail bastons? They must know that they’ll never be able to find peace. On our way here we heard of a number of farmers and merchants attacked – even one knight, I believe, but he managed to save himself. I think the outlaws are getting more desperate.“ Why?”
“Even if they manage to steal, it can hardly ever be enough to support the large gangs we have now.” His voice drifted, his face pensive as he seemed to consider his words. Catching a glimpse of his frowning concentration, Simon nodded.
“Good! There’s no excuse for them. The sooner they’re all arrested or killed the better.”
Baldwin stared into the flames and with a sad grin lifting the corner of his mouth, twisting his moustache. “I know. We can’t have the peace of the shire ruined by a few, and the highways have to be kept clear. But what else can the villeins do? There’s no food for them, and what there is costs too much. If they wanted to, they wouldn’t be able to get work – some lords have even thrown out their retainers. There’s a rumour that some knights are resorting to banditry because they can’t afford food. How can villeins survive?”
“Not by robbery. Life may be harsh, but outlawry is no way out. No, we must make an example of the ones we do catch,” said Simon decisively. “We have to show them they cannot expect to escape punishment – no matter where they go, they’ll be found and made to pay. It’s not just the hurt they cause to travellers, there’s some who live out in the king’s forests and break the forest law. They must be taught that they cannot rob and murder without expecting to be punished. Where would we be if these men were allowed to escape? Being poor is no excuse – if it was, we’d soon have all villeins going over to the trail bastons. No, we must catch them and punish them. If a man has been an outlaw, he must be caught and made an example of. There’s no other way to prevent others from following in his steps.”
“But what if the actual crime was not significant? What if the guilty man could still be useful to his lord?”
“Ha!” Simon gave a short harsh bark of a laugh. “If he could be useful to his lord he would be unlikely to be charged!” To his surprise, although Baldwin nodded, it was not with conviction – his head moved only slowly, as if in automatic response. The bailiff knew that it was only right that the law should be upheld – if he didn’t believe that, he would never have been able to accept the position at Lydford – but Baldwin’s contemplative silence made him consider. Being a fair man, he began to wonder how he himself would react if he found it impossible to live, if his livelihood was taken away and he still had to find a way of getting food for his wife and daughter. If Margaret and Edith were hungry and he could not provide for them, what would he not do? If they did not have the small farm and its food, what would he do to survive? He had the uncomfortable suspicion that he too could be tempted to join a band of outlaws and try to survive that way.
