told you the truth. I didn’t realize Mistress Cecily would want to protect the men who had killed her father-why should I? All I knew was, someone had attacked the place and for all I knew the two men out near my wall could have been them.”
“That clears it all up,” said Baldwin.
“I only hope this leg will clear up as quickly as your mystery has, Sir Baldwin,” John muttered glumly.
“The monks here are as good as any in the realm,” Baldwin grinned. “And you have a new life to look forward to. I am sure your wife-to-be will visit you often to assist your recovery.”
The knight stood, smiling reassuringly down at the wounded man, and the bailiff also rose to his feet.
As Simon observed his friend, he mused over the knight’s affection for his dog. It led him to another thought. The incident with the dog was false; it had been manufactured by the maid. If her deception hadn’t been witnessed by Hugh, Uther would probably (Simon still wasn’t convinced that Baldwin could have seen the brute killed) be dead, and Emma would be cock-a-hoop. He was reminded of his reflection the previous day as he rode back to Baldwin’s house: appearances could be deceptive.
“My God!”
His startled expostulation made Baldwin glance up, momentarily brought out of his glum reflections. “What?”
“That leper, Quivil! What did he look like?”
“Simon, what are you on about?”
“He was wasted, wasn’t he? You recall his arms? Like sticks. Ralph told us he had lost his appetite since learning of his disease, didn’t he?”
“So?”
“Could a man in so weak a condition have crushed Godfrey’s skull like that?”
Baldwin stared. Before he could speak, John interrupted them.
“There is one thing I didn’t understand, gentlemen. While I was with Cecily, I really didn’t think Godfrey was dead. I mean, as a soldier, I’ve seen enough men who’re dead or about to be, but Godfrey didn’t look it. He was just lying there as if he was asleep, you know?”
Now Baldwin met Simon’s gaze and nodded slowly. “When you were attacked, John, why did you think your home was ransacked?”
“Oh, because they were hoping to find the plate. That’s what I thought then, and I still think so now.”
“But you couldn’t tell us?”
“Mistress Cecily wanted to keep things quiet about that night. It was her secret, not mine.”
Simon took hold of his friend’s arm. “Just as Coffyn kept his wife’s secret! He wanted to keep things quiet about her,” he said urgently.
“What are you getting at, Simon?”
“Baldwin, for some time, according to Coffyn, he has suspected that his wife has been having an affair-and yet he did little or nothing about it until now! Is it credible? Any man would take the revenge he took on John here as soon as he realized what was going on!”
John stared from one to the other. “But nothing was!” he protested.
“Not with you, no. That was why Coffyn didn’t attack you,” Simon said, and sighed as he caught sight of his friend’s expression. “Come on, Baldwin. We both know what happened, don’t we?”
The knight rose, and was about to leave the room when the infirmarer nursing John came back into the room. Baldwin hesitated, then grabbed him and muttered to him. Simon thought the monk looked surprised to be manhandled like that, but the bailiff saw him frown, head on one side while he listened, then he gave two sharp nods of agreement, and before he went to John, Simon heard him say, “Yes, I will. It would be easy to check, as you say.”
“Good. Now, come along Simon,” Baldwin called over his shoulder as he ran from the room.
The door was ajar, and Baldwin pushed it wide and entered the passage. He exchanged a glance with Simon. The house was silent. On every other occasion when they had walked in, there had been a guard at the door, servants rattling pots and pans, soldiers shouting or laughing as they played merrils or dice, yet now there was nothing.
They walked along the screens, Simon finding his hand wandering to his sword-hilt in the darkened passage. There were no candles in the sconces, no open door at the far end, and the light spilled out from the hall itself. With the absence of noise, it was oddly intimidating, and Simon found he was unwilling to step into the pool of brightness.
Baldwin felt a similar tension. He was anxious to prevent another killing. It was a relief when he recognized his quarry in the hall.
The room was almost empty. William sat on a bench near the wall, swinging his legs idly, and his master was seated near the fire. The place seemed unnaturally quiet.
“I was about to find you to confess.”
“You may do so now. It might help.”
“It will,” Coffyn said with conviction. He was a shrivelled hulk, a pallid reflection of his former self. As he spoke, he had a knuckle resting on his chin as if in preparation to chew the nails again should the pressure become too much. “I have nothing to live for now. My men have gone because they know I have no coin to pay them with. My wife has left me. I think she’s gone to her brother in Exeter. My work is finished because she cleared out my strongbox before she went. I have nothing left. God has ruined me, and yet I don’t know why!”
Baldwin sat opposite him, fixing the merchant with a serious, but compassionate stare. He waved briefly at William, who appeared to understand, and went to fetch wine for them. “God would not have been pleased with your behavior, Matthew,” Baldwin murmured.
“Eh? How dare you say that! Of course He would!” the other stated scornfully. “I destroyed a man who was breaking one of His commandments. ”Thou shalt not commit adultery,“ remember? God would have been pleased with my efforts. And all I did with the lepers was to fulfill His aim of punishing them.”
Baldwin accepted a warmed mug of wine from William, who walked to stand close to his master, although whether to support Coffyn or to hold him, the knight wasn’t sure.
“When did you first realize Godfrey had seduced your wife?” asked Baldwin.
Coffyn shot him a black look before studying his nails. “You think he seduced her? That’s charitable, Sir Baldwin. Personally I’d hesitate to jump to that conclusion. No matter! I never guessed he was interested in her until my last journey on business. Before that, we had never got on particularly well. Suddenly, about four months ago, he began to take an interest in my work. As soon as he heard that things were becoming tough, he offered me some help.
“Now it seems so obvious. It was at just the same time as Martha started preening herself. As she demanded new clothes and trinkets to show off her beauty, my neighbor offered me money. But the more I borrowed, the more he demanded in interest, and the more my wife wanted tunics and jewels. I never thought he would cuckold me, just as I never thought she would disgrace herself.”
“When did you know for certain?”
“I’d heard something in the street about John with my wife. People used to go quiet when they saw me, and some pointed and laughed, but I knew she’d not demean herself to that extent. She’s not the kind to want tender embraces from a miserable peasant like him. No, I realized who was sleeping with her when I came home early one day and heard him leaping from my roof. Some of my men were in the front garden, so whoever it was must have escaped through the back, and that meant whoever it was had got away over the fence into Godfrey’s land. It made me start to wonder about Godfrey. When I went away the next time, the night Godfrey died, I had a man stationed out here. He went to the hall and asked for Godfrey, on the pretext that I wanted to check on a loan from him. But Godfrey wasn’t there. That was when I knew for certain.”
“So you came home, you searched your house, and while you did so, you heard his cry.”
“I heard him shout, yes, but I didn’t realize it was him at the time. My man was here, and told me Godfrey wasn’t in his hall, so I searched my house. I was convinced he was here somewhere.”
“But when you went to his house?”
“I ran round there to confront him, not save the bastard! The place was in a mess. Cecily was apparently coming round, and her maid came downstairs as I walked in. William here was with me. I told him to carry Cecily to her chamber, and while they were gone Godfrey began to groan.
