Oliver grinned. 'Well, I confess to measuring your finger with a piece of string while you slept.
Catrin sniffed and turned her head to wipe her tears. The new gold shone in the winter sunlight. 'I can give you nothing so perfect in return, she said, her throat tight with emotion.
'You've already given me more than perfection, Oliver said. 'My pleasure is in your promise to be my wife. He leaned across his horse to kiss her. Their lips met, tingling with cold, and their breath mingled in a single cloud.
Her step so light that they scarcely heard her, a doe pattered through the trees and leaped past them on to the crown of the ridge. Her thick, winter coat was shot with glorious hues of red and gold. Beneath the thick pelt, her flanks heaved with effort. The noise of hounds in full cry belled the air and there was terror in the doe's huge brown eyes.
Catrin gasped and broke from Oliver to gaze at the deer. She loved the rich flavour of venison but, watching the animal flee for its life, she found herself willing it to escape.
The doe poised on the ridge, cloven hooves dancing, ears flickering, then she gathered her haunches and took off in a series of enormous bounds, her legs showering spangles of snow with each leap. At the foot she did not stop but sprang straight into the grey water and began swimming strongly.
Catrin clenched her fist upon her new ring and silently urged the doe on. Ripples arrowing her breast, head carried high, the deer reached the opposite bank, scrambled from the river, and shook the water from her coat. Then she was away, fleeting across the fields towards the bank of woodland in the distance.
'She's free. Oliver's taut expression relaxed and there was a sudden cloud of vapour as he let out the breath he had been holding. 'The hunters will never chance the hounds, or themselves, in that freezing water. He too was fond of venison, but today his soul was with the deer, not her flesh.
As the huntsmen and dogs swirled around them, then ranged the top of the ridge in frustration, Oliver and Catrin turned for home in the pleasure of their own company.
The only item that marred the joy of the season was the continuing absence of Rohese de Bayvel, who had not been seen since the early hours of Christmas morning. A search had proved fruitless. She had left her gowns and all her personal effects, even the double-thickness cloak that had been a Christmas gift from the Countess. The guards on duty had seen nothing. It was as if she had been swallowed off the face of the earth in a single gulp.
Gawin spent three days hiding in a drunken stupor, but when finally he sobered he was filled with guilt, if not remorse.
He confessed his sins to a priest, who gave him a penance of twenty days on bread and water and absolved him. But he remained ill-at-ease. He searched the town, the wharves, the leper hospital and convents, all to no avail.
'She cannot just vanish, someone must have seen her, he said, with a frustrated shake of his head. He was sitting in the hall with Oliver, a January wind whistling at the shutters and sending occasional gusts of chimney smoke belching into the room.
Oliver considered the younger man. There were dark circles of late nights and heavy drinking pouched beneath his eyes, and a slight tremor to his hands. 'No one in the keep or the city has seen her. Catrin has asked on all her rounds. I think you must accept that you are not going to find her.
'Say what you mean. You believe she's dead, don't you? Gawin picked up the flagon they had been sharing and tipped the dregs into his empty cup. It would be his fourth to Oliver's two.
Oliver rested his chin on his hand. 'I think it likely. All you can do now is pray.
'Pray! Gawin snorted. 'Do you think if I kneel down here and now that she'll walk back into the hall as if she had never left? He tipped the wine down his throat.
Oliver shook his head in disgust and started to rise from the table. 'You are drinking yourself into a state of idiocy, he said tightly.
'It gives me pleasure. Gawin filtered the sludgy dregs through his teeth. 'And it helps me forget how much more trouble the bitch has been than she is worth.
Oliver was saved another session of grabbing his adjutant by the scruff, as Richard appeared before the two knights, his dark blue eyes agleam. Lord Oliver, you're summoned to Earl Robert's presence immediately, he announced, hopping from foot to foot with excitement.
'Am I now? That was interesting news. A half-hour since, as he and Gawin were sitting down, Oliver had seen a messenger out of the corner of his eye. The man had looked hard-travelled with mud spattering his garments and eyes red with fatigue. After a lull, the game, it seemed, was afoot once more.
Gawin took his cup, and lurched off in pursuit of another flagon and the company of a group of knights around a dice game. He would not spend time alone if he could help it.
Oliver followed Richard above-stairs, taking the familiar route to the Earl's solar. He was keen to know what news the messenger had brought but he refrained from asking the lad. Part of the responsibility of being a squire was learning to keep a closed mouth, and he did not want to tempt or compromise Richard when the boy was so obviously trying not to burst.
The solar door was open and the guard gestured them to enter. The Earl was already surrounded by other adjutants and knights, and two scribes were frantically writing at a trestle set off to one side. Even as Oliver stepped over the threshold, an older squire left at a trot, a sealed parchment in his hand.
Oliver approached the group surrounding the Earl and heard the tail end of a conversation involving the words 'move fast' and 'catch him while he thinks he's safe'.
'My lord, you sent for me?
Earl Robert glanced up. His eyes were bright and his complexion flushed. 'Ah, Oliver. He beckoned vigorously. 'I need you to ride out and recruit men for me. Go into Wales and along the border. Offer whatever it takes to obtain them — within reason, he added, with a jerk of his brows. 'I want them sooner than now, whatever you can get. If they have mounts and weapons, all the better, but it is not necessary. You will leave immediately. Take de Mohun with you. He's got a good eye for a likely man.
'De Mohun? Oliver recoiled and then, seeing the look in the Earl's eye, said, 'Yes, sir. May I ask the purpose?
'My son-in-law has snatched Lincoln Castle out of Stephen's hands and garrisoned it with his own men. Malde is holding it for him while he recruits troops to strengthen his position. He has asked me for aid. Without it, he cannot hold Lincoln Keep, and by law it is rightfully his. I have said I will come to him with all haste. For all that Stephen is a chivalrous man, I will not make him the gift of my daughter as a pawn.
'No, my lord. Oliver knew that the Earl doted on his eldest daughter, Malde. She was married to Rannulf, Earl of Chester, whose power on the northern marches of Wales made him almost a prince. Thus far, Rannulf had been loyal to Stephen, but it was not a cloak that had ever fitted the power-hungry Lord of Chester particularly well. Robert and Rannulf had a healthy respect for each other but were not the fondest of in-laws. Malde, and the desire to extend their mutual influence along the Welsh borders, were the ties that bound them together. But Rannulf's defection to the Empress's cause would bind them closer still. 'How long do I have?
'Ten — twelve days at the most. Stephen has the town, Rannulf the keep. Or rather, Malde has the keep, he added, with a swift hiss of anxiety. 'Rannulf is in North Wales summoning levies to march on Lincoln. I have to muster troops with all possible haste. My exchequer will equip you with funds.
'My lord. Oliver bowed out of the room and hurried down the stairs into the hall, his mind working to the swift pace of his feet. Grabbing Gawin, he commanded him to run and pack a saddle roll.
'What for? Gawin looked at him slack-mouthed over the rim of his cup.
'We're going into Wales. Stop staring, we've to ride out now!
Gawin lurched to his feet and almost over-balanced. 'Wales? he repeated.
'Yes, to recruit troops. You can sober up in the saddle. Go!
Shaking his head in bemusement, Gawin steadied himself and reached for his cloak.
Oliver collected his spare tunic and cloak from his pallet, then went to tell Ethel that he had to ride out on the Earl's business. He could not make his farewells to Catrin for she was away in the city at a childbirth.
'Will you be gone long? Ethel asked. She was huddled by the fire in her new green mantle. The hands that poked out from beneath the garment to absorb the heat shook with palsy.
'No more than ten days, but then we'll all be marching north. He stooped to help himself to a flask of mead
