‘If you know anything about me, Hugh, you’ll know that I, too, never do anything lightly.’
‘And neither do I, Eleanor.’ He sighed. ‘I have fought all my life for what this kingdom stands for...for our anointed King, for our liberty, and more importantly for the law of the land. Without those foundations holding the country together there will only be madness and chaos.’
‘But what if the root of that foundation is rotten?’
‘Then you mend it. Listen to me, Eleanor. Whilst I appreciate, now more than ever, the real hardships people face, there are other ways.’
‘How? Through careful negotiations? The law? Why, even now the Rebels are trying to compel John to sign this Great Charter, to keep him to his word, but he won’t do it.’
Hugh exhaled through his teeth. ‘Can you not see what would happen if lines were drawn between King John and the Rebel Barons?’
‘They already have been.’
He shook his head slowly. ‘This is just the beginning—the situation could get much, much worse. It could come to the country tearing itself up, brother against brother. We have to move to broker peace, rather than to full-scale combat. We do not need a hot-headed king and equally hot-headed reactionary behaviour from the Rebels. It would spell disaster for us all—and especially the ordinary people of this kingdom.’
She rubbed her forehead, pondering on everything her husband had said. It was certainly a different view on a complicated situation which was far more volatile than she had believed. Its implications far wider.
Hugh turned and folded his hands on either side of her shoulders. ‘Promise me something, Eleanor. Promise me that you will not be meeting with the outlaws. That you’ll stop.’
‘Hugh, I wasn’t going to.’
‘Look what happened in Winchester. And the King doesn’t even know about your involvement...for now. Next time I might not be there.’
‘I’ll manage.’
‘That is not enough. I don’t want you to just “manage”. We’ll talk on my return, but I want your word, Eleanor.’
She met his eyes and saw the concern there. ‘Very well.’ She swallowed. ‘You have it.’
‘Thank you.’ Hugh exhaled slowly. ‘Come, let’s get back to the others.’
‘Wait... Tell me, why didn’t you tell the King of my involvement?’
‘I could never do that,’ he said softly. ‘It is and always will be my duty to protect you.’
‘Despite what I have done?’
‘Despite everything,’ he murmured.
Eleanor turned away, not meeting his eyes. ‘And you really must leave so soon?’
‘I must. The King demands it of me.’
‘I know, but is that...? Well, is that the only reason?’ Eleanor wasn’t sure what had possessed her to ask, nor whether she really wanted to know.
He stopped and clasped her elbow. ‘You and I could do with some time apart,’ he muttered. ‘Who knows? It might be a good thing for both of us.’
He was right. Mayhap they did need time apart. But how was she to make things right between them if he wasn’t there? Not that she knew how to...
Eleanor realised with a heavy heart that nothing would ever be the same. Everything had changed irrevocably and they could never go back. It had always been going to end this way once Hugh found out about her involvement, had it not?
They were on different sides and always would be. He would always believe the outlaws to be nothing more than criminals, whilst Eleanor knew that, despite breaking the law, they were a force for good. If only she could make Hugh understand that...
But that was just futile. Everything else might have changed, but that never would.
Chapter Twenty
It had been over a month since Eleanor had arrived back home in Tallany and over a month since she had set eyes on Hugh. But it felt so much longer than that. Her husband had left immediately, once they had arrived back and ‘set everything to rights’, as he had called it. But everything had not been right...
Since Hugh’s departure every disastrous misfortune had befallen her and her people. There had been much lawlessness in Tallany, with looting, thieving, as well as women, the elderly and the frail being accosted.
The culpable group of men who had committed all the lawlessness dressed in a similar way to Eleanor’s outlaws, and even wore marks and hoods. Of course it wasn’t them. They were trying to pass their crimes off as those of the outlaws—not that anyone in Tallany believed it to be their work, although it had caused much confusion and chaos.
The new steward and Hugh’s loyal men hadn’t been able to pin the crimes on the outlaws, but why was this happening? Why go to all the trouble of framing the outlaws when they were wanted men anyway?
Eleanor didn’t know the reason for that, but couldn’t help but think that Lord Balvoire was behind all this and somehow involved. The man was so deplorable that he would certainly stoop this low. And she couldn’t help but remember that awful exchange in King John’s solar at Winchester, when he’d said that he would employ ‘the element of surprise’ to catch the outlaws. Was this what he had meant? That he would create havoc in Tallany?
Again, she could not think how this would achieve the capture of the real outlaws—unless, of course, some of them came out of hiding to retaliate.
She was once again in the inner bailey of the castle, pacing back and forth, waiting for news from Gilbert Claymore, who had gone to survey these new troubles that had been reported with Eustace Le Moyne, the new steward, and others.
If only Hugh was here.
Hugh...
Her thoughts were never far from her husband, even after all this time, and even with all the problems that she had faced constantly since he’d been gone. She hadn’t heard a single thing from Hugh since he’d left and didn’t know when he would return. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep properly, and the truth was that she missed him
