12 - Nine Men Dancing (33 page)

‘What happened when you told Eris the truth?’ I asked.

Maud grimaced. ‘At first, of course, she refused to believe me. Said I was making it up to stop her marrying Nathaniel. But I convinced her in the end, and then she went mad. She seized a knife that I’d been slicing bread with and attacked me. She was like an avenging Fury. I was sure she was going to kill me. There was a pot of water boiling on the fire. I picked it up and threw it at her.’ Maud began to sob and it seemed for a moment as though she would be unable to continue. But, eventually, she managed to control her emotion and went on, ‘It missed Eris, but she slipped in the puddle of water. She fell awkwardly and hit her head on the hearth stones. I heard her skull crack.’ Maud shivered. ‘It was horrible. I prayed that she was only stunned, but she wasn’t. She was dead.’

I looked at Ned. ‘Then you arrived.’

He nodded, speaking for the first time since our return to the cottage. ‘Maud was hysterical, in a terrible state. But at last I managed to calm her down and then we had to decide what to do. I told Maud to wait an hour or so, then come up to the farm and say that Eris had still not come home. I would dress and return here and then …’ He broke off, reluctant to say what I had no compunction in saying for him.

‘You spent the remainder of the night burying Eris’s body.’

He didn’t answer at once, then he released his hand from Maud’s, rose slowly from his stool and stood, looking down on me for a few moments. Finally, he said, ‘You can’t prove anything. If asked, Maud and I will deny everything you’ve heard here this afternoon. There’s no proof. You have no idea where Eris is buried.’

‘You’re forgetting Dame Theresa,’ I pointed out.

Ned Rawbone laughed. ‘Oh, I doubt she’ll say anything. After all, what good would it do? I repeat, there’s no proof. But if there were, she won’t want to see Maud arrested and tried for Eris’s death, any more than she can want to reveal her son, her precious Gilbert, as a credulous cuckold. You just make sure that you’re on your way tomorrow, chapman, otherwise, next time, you cross my path, you might not be so lucky.’

Maud said quietly, ‘No, Ned. We can’t spend the rest of our lives running away from the truth. We’ve done that for far too long. If Eris had known about her parentage, none of this sorry mess would have happened. And the chances are that if we’d admitted that I was carrying your child in the beginning, if we’d had the courage to face up to your father and take the consequences, Nathaniel might have relented and let us marry.’

‘You know my father better than that,’ Ned interrupted her roughly. ‘I’d have lost the farm.’

‘Perhaps.’ Maud left fussing over me and sat down on one of the stools, hugging her knees with her arms. ‘But nothing could have been worse than all these years of concealment, of deceiving both Gilbert and Petronelle …’

‘I feel certain Dame Petronelle knows.’ It was my turn to interrupt. ‘Otherwise, that night, why was she so insistent that Eris came home to tell you of her plans? Surely it must have been because she thought that she could rely on you to tell your daughter the truth.’

Maud raised her eyebrows at Ned. ‘Well?’ she asked. ‘Does Petronelle know that you were Eris’s father?’

He nodded, adding quickly, ‘I didn’t tell her. She guessed. As Eris grew up, she could see the likeness, not so much between her and the twins, as between her and Nathaniel. And there
was
a likeness, quite a striking one, if you looked for it. But no one did, of course, except a jealous woman. Maybe Petronelle had her suspicions when she married me. I don’t know. And it doesn’t matter now.’

Maud answered steadily, ‘You’re wrong, Ned. It does matter. As I told you a minute or two ago, I can’t continue with this life of deceit any longer. I’m going to see the village elders first thing tomorrow morning and tell them the truth. What they do about it is up to them.’

‘No!’ Ned’s roar made both Theresa and myself jump violently, but Maud didn’t even flinch.

‘Yes,’ she insisted in the same level tone as before. ‘For one thing, there’s Tom to be considered. I won’t have him on my conscience, as well as everything else. I don’t like what’s happening to you, Ned. I feel I’ve lost you. You’re not the same kind and gentle man I’ve been in love with all these years. That man would never have beaten up two innocent people just to throw suspicion on his brother, nor would he have tried to murder anyone, as you tried to murder the chapman this afternoon.’

‘I was just warning him to keep his nose out of my affairs, that’s all,’ Ned blustered angrily.

Maud shook her head. ‘That’s a lie. You meant to kill him, and would probably have succeeded if I hadn’t arrived to prevent you. You’d have left him shut up in the well until he was dead. He would have lost consciousness and fallen off the ladder.’

‘Oh,’ I cut in vindictively, ‘Master Rawbone had already tried to speed the process by attempting to push me off the ladder with the end of my own cudgel.’ Hercules, who had hardly left my side since my return to the cottage, growled and bared his teeth at that, almost as though he understood what I was saying. I lowered a hand and fondled his ears before asking, ‘But what lucky circumstance brought you up to the ridge, Mistress Lilywhite? Whatever the reason, it was most fortuitous.’

‘It was neither lucky nor fortuitous.’ Maud gave me a wintry smile. ‘I’d gone out to see if the dogs were all right after that heavy rain. I saw you leaving Dragonswick Farm – you’re so tall I couldn’t mistake you, even at that distance – so I guessed you’d taken shelter there during the storm. Then, a little later, I went out again to shut up the geese, and that time I saw someone I thought was Ned also heading for the ridge.’ She closed her eyes for a brief moment while she fought to control her voice. ‘It occurred to me that you might have told him where you were going, and why, and I began to feel … uneasy. So I decided to follow you both.’

‘Thank God you did,’ I said fervently.

‘You’re a fool,’ Ned grated. ‘No one would have missed him. People would have thought that he’d gone home at last. We could easily have disposed of his pack and that mongrel cur.’ Once again, Hercules showed his teeth, but Ned ignored him. He put a hand on Maud’s shoulder. ‘Promise me you’re not serious about going to see the village elders in the morning?’

She glanced up and made a gesture as though she would cover his hand with one of hers. But for some reason she thought better of it, and her hand fluttered back to her lap, where it clasped its companion so hard that the knuckles of both showed bone-white.

‘I was never more serious about anything. I refuse to let you condemn Tom to a life of exile for a crime committed by you. What in God’s name,’ she cried, her voice rising suddenly like an animal in pain, ‘possessed you to do such a thing?’

Ned withdrew his hand abruptly.

‘Holy Virgin!’ he shouted. ‘Can’t you see that it was to protect
us
? People blamed Tom for Eris’s death, but they couldn’t prove anything. They couldn’t even prove that she was dead. If he’d just stayed quiet, if he’d only behaved himself, the whole affair would have blown over. Eventually it would have been forgotten. Indeed, it
was
being forgotten until this great oaf–’ he glared at me – ‘with his long, twitchy nose came blundering into our lives. I tried to frighten him away. But I very much doubt if anyone would have taken much notice of him and his questions if Tom hadn’t also started to whip up their curiosity and speculation again with his outrageous behaviour. He’s been making a right fool of himself trying to win back Rosamund Bush, and brawling with Lambert Miller. The chapman wasn’t going to stay here for more than a day or two. In fact, he kept telling us he’d promised to get home to his wife by the Feast of Saint Patrick. But Tom, once he gets an idea in that stupid noodle of his doesn’t give up easily. He was going to keep on drawing attention to us, to the family, and keep the fact of Eris’s disappearance fresh in everyone’s minds. I thought it was time to be rid of him, and his last fight with the miller gave me the opportunity that I’d been looking for.’

‘But why attack the priest, as well?’ I asked. ‘Is it because Sir Anselm knows the truth about you and Mistress Lilywhite?’

Maud raised her eyes from the contemplation of her hands, still locked together in her lap.

‘I confessed to him years ago,’ she admitted, ‘not long after Eris was born. But he would never have betrayed us.’ She glanced reproachfully at Ned. ‘He couldn’t, even had he wanted to. A priest can’t reveal what he’s learned in the confessional.’

Ned said impatiently, confirming the conclusion that I had already reached. ‘But the old idiot couldn’t conceal the fact that he knew something – at least, not from a sharpnosed, sharp-brained fellow like the pedlar here.’ I inclined my head in ironic acknowledgement of the dubious compliment. Ned ignored me and continued, ‘Sir Anselm was getting far too friendly with Master Chapman, and I thought a short, sharp warning not to pursue the acquaintance wouldn’t come amiss. Particularly as brother Tom could be foisted with the blame for that, as well.’

A sudden thought struck me. ‘You said just now that you tried to frighten me away. Were the corn dollies and the burning cage anything to do with that attempt?’

‘Only the burning cage. The dollies are hung up by some of the villagers just before, and during, the Feast of Saint Walburga, in order to propitiate the witches and wizards and general spirits of the forest who ride the night sky around this time.’ (I should, of course, have worked that out for myself, having noticed the first corn dolly before ever I set foot in Lower Brockhurst.) ‘From what I could gather, they made you uneasy, so I hoped to play on that superstitious fear of yours.’ Ned laughed shortly. ‘I should have known better than to waste my time. Nose-twitchers like you aren’t easily discouraged. In the end, I had to resort to telling Maud to throw you out.’

‘You were her visitor last night.’

He laughed again, but there was no mirth in the sound.

‘I might have guessed that that quivering snout of yours continues to alert you, even when you’re asleep.’

I was growing tired of these constant, sneering references to my nose, which I have always considered to be one of my handsomest features. I turned to look at Maud.

‘Mistress, if you wish it, I’ll delay my departure tomorrow morning and go with you to the village elders.’

‘You needn’t trouble yourself, chapman,’ Theresa rasped, speaking for the first time in some minutes. ‘I’ll accompany Maud to make sure she doesn’t change her mind. Or have it changed for her.’ She glared defiantly at Ned Rawbone. ‘After that … After that, I shall return to Gloucester. I can’t stay here any longer, not now that I know the truth. My sister will be glad enough to share her roof with me.’

Maud turned her head quickly to look at her mother-in-law. ‘You won’t stay with me?’ she asked.

I recognized the note of fear in her voice, and guessed that after years of wishing to be free of Theresa’s company, when at last the chance was offered, she was afraid of the loneliness; of the days and nights with only herself and her thoughts for company.

Theresa demanded harshly, ‘What is there to keep me here? Eris wasn’t even my granddaughter. She wasn’t Gilbert’s child. You’ve deceived me, made a fool of me. No, I won’t stay. But I’ll make sure that everyone in this benighted village knows the truth before I go.’

‘What truth?’ Ned sneered. ‘The pair of you can go to the elders if you want, but I shall deny everything you say. It’ll be my word against those of a couple of hysterical women.’

‘And against mine,’ I said. ‘I’ll go with Dame Theresa and Mistress Lilywhite. I’ll back their story.’

‘You’re a stranger,’ Ned retorted. ‘You’ve been in the village less than a week. Why should they take your word over mine? Now, if one of you knew where Eris is buried, if you could direct the villagers where to find her body, that might be different.’

Maud smiled faintly and swivelled round on her stool to look Ned fully in the eyes.

‘I know where Eris is buried,’ she said. ‘I’ve always known. Or, at least, I’ve always had a very shrewd idea.’

There was a moment’s complete silence, broken only by the crackling of the logs on the hearth. Even Hercules seemed to be holding his breath. Then Ned Rawbone laughed uncertainly.

‘You’re lying,’ he challenged, but without any degree of certainty in his tone.

Maud replied evenly, ‘You forget that Gilbert was a weller. Do you really think that, during all the years we were married, I learned nothing about his trade? And you, Ned! You knew what was at the bottom of the well because you’d seen it as a boy, when you fell in. In fact, Gilbert told me that you’d once mentioned it to him and asked what its purpose was. So it’s no use trying to deny that you knew it was there.’

Ned’s face suddenly wore a defeated look. He sat down abruptly on another of the stools and buried his face in his hands.

‘What are you talking about, Mistress?’ I asked excitedly, recalling my conviction that Eris was somewhere in that well. And, on a more practical level, I remembered the overpowering stench of decay. But there had been nothing down there that I could see.

Maud rubbed her forehead with her hand as though trying to ease a headache. She was still extremely pale and Theresa, moved, I suppose, by some residue of affection, got up and poured her a stoup of ale.

‘Here! Drink this!’ Her tone was abrasive, but she meant well. ‘Then tell the chapman what he wants to know.’

‘Don’t
you
want to know?’ I asked her.

Theresa resumed her seat, pausing only to tuck my blanket more securely around me.

‘My daughter-in-law’s right, chapman,’ she said. ‘You can’t live with a man for years and remain totally ignorant of his trade.’ She glanced at Maud. ‘Are you saying that the Upper Brockhurst well has a “drive”?’ The younger woman nodded, an action that was echoed by Theresa. ‘Of course,’ she mused, ‘That’s why the foot or so of water that remained in the well has dried up to nothing since last September when he—’ she glared at Ned – ‘must have put Eris’s body inside and then blocked up the entrance.’