The Bloodstained Throne

The altercation had attracted the attention of several monks, Aelfwig among them.

‘Lucian is not an imposter,’ said Aelfwig, not altogether happily. ‘He may not act like one of us, but I have visited the abbey at Bath, and he is the bursar there. He is most certainly a powerful member of our Order.’

‘He may be powerful, but he is not rich,’ said Geoffrey. ‘His “gold” cross was actually painted steel, and he has been inveigling money, rings and necklaces from anyone who will part with them. And I imagine he has no intention of repaying any “loans”, either. Anything left over when he reaches Bath will go straight into his abbey’s coffers — from which there will be no return.’

Lucian looked angry. ‘So I collect funds for my abbey. What of it? There is nothing wrong with vain women parting with baubles for a worthy cause. I keep very little for myself. Ask my Bishop.’

‘He knows what you do?’ asked Aelfwig, shocked.

Lucian regarded him coldly. ‘He sanctions it.’

‘You do it to curry his favour, because you have no influential family to help you,’ surmised Roger. ‘You lied about that. You are-’

‘You forget yourself!’ snarled Lucian. ‘My family owns most of Herefordshire and my father has the ear of the King.’

Geoffrey smiled. ‘My own estates are in Herefordshire, and I know the biggest landowners. Your family is not among them. Like me, they may hold a tiny part, but they will not be wealthy.’

‘I did my best to warn you,’ said Aelfwig to Philippa. ‘I told you not to give him anything.’

Philippa scowled at Lucian, who scowled at Aelfwig. ‘So I have parted with my necklace,’ she said flatly. ‘The only thing of value I own — for a man who does not intend to marry me?’

‘There is still me,’ said Ulfrith generously. ‘I will marry you.’

‘But I do not want you,’ she sneered, making the squire take a step away, stung. ‘Boy!’

Geoffrey watched her, amazed at the risks she had taken to secure herself a safe future. He wondered what else had she done in her relentless pursuit of a man who would keep and protect her. And then answers snapped clear in his mind. Carefully, he eased back her cloak, then pointed to the purse that he had seen as she had twirled around. Protruding from the top was a strand of red ribbon.

‘You killed your friend,’ he said. ‘And your husband.’

‘I did not!’ screeched Philippa furiously. ‘Why would I kill Vitalis, when he was my provider? And Edith said she would look after me.’

‘But she could not guarantee it,’ said Geoffrey. ‘The chances are that she would have been forced to marry another wealthy suitor, and then what would have happened to you? Women are seldom allowed to control the money they inherit, and you knew Edith might not have been able to keep her promise. It was safer to kill her and try for Lucian.’

To Geoffrey’s surprise, Philippa proved quick-thinking and resourceful, quite unlike the babbling imbecile he had taken her for. She came towards him with a sly smile.

‘You are wrong,’ she said. ‘About everything. I loved Vitalis and I loved Edith. And, anyway, Edith was killed when I was with Roger — with whom I spent the night.’

‘Oh, God!’ whispered Ulfrith shakily.

‘Yes — we were here, in the church,’ said Roger, more to the listening monks than Ulfrith. ‘So you must be wrong, Geoff. She could not have killed Edith. I still think it was Lucian.’

‘Lucian was in the Lady Chapel from vespers until prime,’ said Aelfwig, although he regarded his fellow monk with deep distaste. ‘And a dozen brothers will tell you the same. We were praying that Belleme will not invade England, and he was asking God to send him some money.’

But Geoffrey now knew the truth. He continued to address Philippa. ‘Edith was strangled before you sought out Roger’s company. You used him because you knew you might need an alibi.’

‘She was alive when I left, and dead when I returned,’ said Philippa coldly. ‘And you cannot prove otherwise. It is dreadful of you to say these things when I am alone and unprotected.’

She shot a rueful glance at Lucian and drew the cloak more closely around her shoulders. As she did so, one of its pleats opened and revealed the lining underneath. The material was scarlet, but there was a corner that had been ripped away. Geoffrey stepped forward to inspect it, recalling what he had seen in Edith’s dead hand. Philippa shoved him away with considerable force and stalked out with her head held high, defiance in her every move.

‘Was that ripped when she killed Edith?’ asked Roger uneasily.

‘I imagine there was an argument between them,’ replied Geoffrey. ‘And the ribbon was to hand. It is not difficult for one woman to throttle another, if her blood is up. Then she was cunning enough to slip out and secure herself an alibi.’

‘Unfortunately, throttling Edith did nothing to affect Philippa’s situation one way or the other,’ said Lucian. ‘I read Vitalis’s will today. He bequeathed everything to sons from an earlier marriage, and Edith was to have a paltry pension until her next marriage. Philippa was not even mentioned.’

‘He is right,’ added Aelfwig. ‘She brought me the will when she first arrived, and wept bitterly when I read it to her. She snatched it back, and I assumed she intended to destroy it, perhaps with a view to composing one that was more congenial to her.’

‘Yet you did nothing to stop her?’ asked Lucian. ‘And you criticize my behaviour! Hypocrite!’

‘She is a poor Saxon lass,’ flared Aelfwig. ‘Abused by greedy Normans. Of course I kept quiet about the will in the hope that it would give her a chance to redress the injustice of her situation. I did not think she would stoop to murder. .’

‘Philippa is not Saxon,’ sneered Lucian. ‘She said she was kin to my Bihop, John de Villula — and he is as Norman as they come. She said an alliance with her would earn me untold favour in ecclesiastical courts.’

‘And you believed her?’ demanded Aelfwig archly. ‘When she is so patently poor?’

‘I am unused to liars,’ replied Lucian stiffly. ‘So yes, I believed her — until a few moments ago, when she slipped up with some insignificant fact. I might have overlooked it, had she not then promptly tried to distract me from it by screeching that the squire had assaulted her.’

‘And I never touched her,’ whispered Ulfrith, still shocked.

‘It seems we all underestimated her,’ said Geoffrey quietly. ‘She is far cleverer than we thought.’

‘What a merry dance she has led us all!’ muttered Roger, half disapproving and half admiring. He addressed Geoffrey. ‘So, is that it? Philippa killed Edith? Did she dispatch Vitalis, too?’

Geoffrey shook his head. ‘She had far too much to lose. Edith did not kill him, either, because Philippa would have stopped her.’

‘So what happens now?’ asked Roger. ‘Will she hang? It is a pity — she is a pretty wench.’

‘Not on the evidence we have,’ said Geoffrey. He lowered his voice. ‘However, I would recommend you keep Ulfrith away from her. She is bitter and vengeful, and I would not like to think of her striking at us through him.’

Thirteen

‘I shall never understand monks,’ said Roger as he packed up his salvaged possessions later that day. Ulfrith sat in the window looking miserable, while Bale sharpened his knives, humming under his breath. Geoffrey sat on the edge of the bed and took sips from Ulfrith’s water flask. Nearby, Aelfwig was folding blankets. ‘They let themselves be deceived by a pretty face.’

So, too, had Roger, by allowing Philippa to use him as her alibi, but Geoffrey said nothing.

‘Monastics are a strange breed,’ agreed Bale. ‘These notions of not bearing arms and living in peace are not normal. And Lucian is a monk, because he did not slaughter anyone after all — Philippa strangled Edith, and the shepherd’s death was an accident.’

It was peculiar logic, but Geoffrey did not feel inclined to take issue with him.