that could have hurt him, he was beyond that already.’
‘Tell us what happened.’
Edmund sniffed, his attention apparently fixed on his worn-out boots. I told you I’d been up to Oakhampton, and after I’d sold what I could, I’d gone to the tavern. God only knows, there wasn’t much money, not from the few eggs and chickens I could sell, but I needed something to refresh me. The last few months have been so hard, sir, and what with being told that we were to be evicted, and then that I’m to be servile again… well, I needed a drink.
‘I was there a while, long enough to swallow two quarts of strong ale, before setting off for home. I came down past the Sticklepath, and out onto the moor road, then cut through the woods to the lane where I could turn off to Throwleigh. That was when I saw Master Thomas on the road, and chose to walk this way instead.’
Simon glanced up at Thomas. The Master of Throwleigh gripped his switch tightly and took a short step forward. ‘You dare to try to implicate me? By God’s blood, I’ll see you flayed for this!
Baldwin took hold of his arm, remonstrating gently. ‘There’s little point in asking questions if you’re going to thrash him when he gives you an answer. All right, Edmund – why did you decide to pass by the manor?’
Edmund looked exhausted. ‘I told you the truth before, Sir Baldwin. I found a small cony, and wasn’t going to leave it to the rooks, so I picked it up, but when I came to the fork, I saw Master Thomas on the road to Throwleigh, and thought I’d better not go past him; he might realise I had something with me.’
Thomas gave him a filthy look and spat at his foot. ‘Liar!’
Simon and Baldwin ignored him. There was a silence for some moments, and then Thomas threw out his hand passionately. ‘Look at him! I ask you! What would I have been doing down there, eh?’ Emboldened by his own rhetoric, Thomas spun round to face Edmund. ‘Well? What was I doing, then?’
Edmund sighed, and glanced hopelessly up at the grille in the window far above, paying no heed to Thomas, who hurled his crop away from him and began pacing up and down.
It was not the first time Baldwin had seen such a look on a man’s face: it showed complete despair, the realisation that whatever Edmund might attempt, he was already doomed. That look of complete submission to fate was commonplace on the faces of men and women whom Baldwin had been forced to accuse in the past, especially when a Coroner was present and the court could demand the highest penalty; that of death. It invariably meant that the prisoner knew that the forces of authority had already decreed his end. Baldwin knew that he must remove Thomas if they were to discover more.
‘You want food?’ he asked, and when Edmund gave a surly shrug, he called Wat inside. Wat passed the tray to the prisoner, and then glanced at the knight.
Simon could have sworn that as Wat met his master’s eye, Baldwin gave a fleeting wink. Wat nodded, and hurried from the room while Baldwin leaned both elbows on his knees and surveyed the farmer.
For his part, Edmund lifted the jug of ale and sniffed at the contents, then prodded his bread and dipped a finger into the bowl of pottage – but nothing excited his appetite.
‘If you don’t want to eat, put the tray aside,’ Thomas snarled, and was about to kick it away when there came a loud shout from outside. ‘What’s that?’
Baldwin cocked an ear, an expression of vague surprise on his face. ‘It sounds as if someone is calling for you, Thomas. It’s all right – you go and we’ll remain for a little longer.’
‘I’m staying right here.’
Simon grinned broadly, but there was steel in his voice. ‘Why’s that, Master Thomas? Don’t you trust us alone with your prisoner? I shouldn’t worry – I am Bailiff for the Stannaries, after all.’
Thomas considered him irresolutely before glancing at Baldwin; he was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he loathed all knights. That damned Fleming had dared to stand against him and continued to pay court to Lady Katharine, and now Sir Baldwin was forcing him away so that Edmund could be questioned without him. This conjecture was reinforced by Thomas’s certainty that the voice calling so loudly for him was that of Edgar, Baldwin’s servant. ‘Of course I trust you, Bailiff,’ he growled untruthfully. ‘But I’m not happy that a serf of mine should be interrogated in my absence.’
‘I assure you I will not harm him,’ Baldwin said, in a tone that made Thomas blanch with anger.
Meanwhile Simon had crossed his arms and leaned against the wall well within Thomas’s field of vision. He was not close enough for Thomas to consider him threatening, but he was closer than was necessary, or strictly polite.
The knight sighed and held up both hands in a gesture of resignation. ‘Do you wish us to leave our questioning and follow you? We may be able to discover something here which could have some bearing on the murder of your nephew, but if you really insist…’
‘No… no, you remain here,’ Thomas said, his manners returning at last. Casting a last suspicious glance at Simon, he walked from the room.
Instantly Baldwin was on his feet. He took the tray from the farmer’s lap and passed it to Simon. ‘Now listen very carefully, Edmund,’ he said urgently. You are to be accused of murdering Master Herbert – you understand me? If that happens, you will be tried as a felon, and will almost certainly be found guilty. You comprehend your problem? You are a villein under the court of the Master of Throwleigh-‘
‘I’m no villein, I’m a free man,’ Edmund declared, and there was real anger in his eyes, undimmed by fear of retribution.
It was true, he thought. He was a free man, with a certificate to prove it. His mistress might try to assert that she owned his body, but his father had been given that crucial document by her husband – what right did she have to rescind it?
The response was enough to satisfy Baldwin, and he slapped the farmer’s shoulder. ‘Then behave like one! Now – did you see Thomas on the road that day?’
‘Yes.’
‘What was he doing?’
‘He was searching for something – I don’t know what.’
‘Was he on his horse?’
‘No, his mare was held by that man of his. Thomas was on his feet, prodding and poking with a stick in among the ferns and furze.’
Baldwin nodded. ‘So you took this road, up past the manor?’
‘Yes. I didn’t want to meet up with that fat bastard again. He’s never liked me, and I didn’t fancy any more of his insults.’
Daniel stirred himself at last. ‘Edmund, you be careful what you-’
‘Be quiet, Steward!’ Baldwin thundered. ‘Hold your tongue or leave this room. I’ll not have you prejudicing this man’s evidence! Now, Edmund, Thomas wasn’t yet your master, was he? You thought that your Lady Katharine was still the executor of Squire Roger’s will, and the legal guardian of Master Herbert, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, sir, but there were rumours.’ He leaned back, and his face took on a sneer. ‘Like how Master Thomas was keen to be the next squire, like he wasn’t happy to find that there was another one, Master Herbert, between him and his inheritance.’
Baldwin heard a gasp and swift intake of breath. Without turning, he knew from the expression on Daniel’s face that Thomas was back. He made no sign that he had heard anything, but instead held Edmund’s attention. The farmer looked back with a kind of arrogance. He had witnessed Thomas’s return, Baldwin realised, and had made his statement with the intention of denouncing his new master.
There was a new courage flashing in his features. Baldwin had heard that some of his comrades, brother Templars, had been the same: they had accepted the most appalling accusations for a period, but when still more hideous allegations were added, they were finally stirred into defiance. Even the most broken, tortured men preferred to declare the truth; those who could have saved themselves by simply pronouncing one single lie chose to damn their tormentors instead.
‘Did he see you?’
‘Yes, Sir Baldwin. Both did. They looked up as I came near. I saw Master Thomas recognise me. He just stood there, while I took the right-hand fork to avoid him. Never said anything, just watched me until the bend of the road took me out of his sight.’
‘What then?’
Edmund’s gaze dropped, and Baldwin knew instinctively that this was the core of his evidence.
