30 - King's Gold (56 page)

They could have forced her, perhaps, but as Luke said to them, what was the point? She could feed herself, she could see to her own animals – she had done so, much of the time already in her short life – and it was surely better that when she truly needed help, the vill would support her.

He would always be there for her, in any case.

Oxford Road

Benedetto was glad to have left the charnelhouse that was Berkeley Castle behind him. He had managed to pack his belongings, and with his guards about him, had been pleased to ride away.

The journey was to be a lengthy one, but it was good to be moving at last. His horse had a comforting gait, rolling gently from side to side as Benedetto recalled the horrors of the last weeks. His own injury was nothing compared with those of Alured and others, and yet it did not prevent him from missing his younger brother. If only there had been something he could have done for poor Matteo.

Still, there was one good thing about Matteo’s death yesterday. Benedetto had been able to bring his brother’s body with him. He would ensure that Matteo was given a good funeral at Oxford.

And it did save the family’s honour. Matteo had died, so all would hear, from wounds earned while trying to protect Berkeley Castle from attackers. Benedetto would make sure that Queen Isabella and the Regent heard that story, he promised himself.

It should help the bank. And Matteo would be glad to know that his death had helped it.

Dolwyn too was relieved to be away from the castle.

He found it hard to believe how drastically his life had changed in recent weeks. From being a loyal servant of Matteo, he had managed to risk his all to take a message to Sir Edward at Kenilworth, and then there had been all the deaths, the fighting, and the ignominy of arrest and the gaols.

Never again, he swore, would he spend time in a gaol. If there was any risk, he would prefer to fight to the death. He had seen too much of Newgate and Berkeley’s prisons in the last year.

Matteo had lost his mind – a fortunate development. Dolwyn wouldn’t have wanted people to hear about his own part in Matteo’s affairs. Benedetto would disembowel him alive if he learned that Dolwyn had been responsible for Manuele’s death. Dolwyn had gone to the mob and given them the money Matteo had paid so that Manuele should be killed. It had been Dolwyn’s task to pay and point out their man, and he had done so without trouble. But then, when they had pulled Manuele from his horse and cut off his head, many of them, drunk with bloodlust, had run on and grabbed Matteo.

There was nothing underhand about his stabbing. It was just the London mob acting in character. Dolwyn had tried to make him see that, but Matteo was always busy looking for secrets, assuming that there was an undercurrent to everything. He just could not believe that his own injury could have been committed on the whim of a crowd.

Road to Gloucester

They rode side by side, and every so often Senchet turned and gazed behind him at the road going back towards Berkeley Castle.

‘Is anyone there?’ Harry said.

‘No. No one.’

‘Oh.’

They rode on again in silence.

Then Senchet said, ‘It wasn’t really theirs.’

‘You tell that to the men with the swords.’

‘They took it.’

‘Aha.’

‘It was Despenser’s, really.’

‘Aye.’

‘And he’s dead.’

Harry made no comment.

Senchet looked down at the bag that hung over his belly. Inside it were a number of little leather pouches. In each, fistfuls of gold coins. He looked across at Harry. Harry had a similar bag at his stomach. Senchet looked up into Harry’s face, and Harry looked back at him.

Their laughter could be heard by a peasant called Martin at the farm a half-mile from the road.

His wife came out and gestured towards the roadway. ‘What’s so funny, you reckon?’

‘God knows,’ he muttered dourly. But his eyes were on the two riders as they continued on their way, laughing uproariously as they increased the distance between themselves and the castle.

1
. ‘The Unreliablity of Royal Household Knights’, by Michael Prestwich, in Fourteenth Century England II, edited by Chris Given-Wilson, Boydell Press, 2002.

2
. Ibid.

3
. 15 October 1326

4
. Lombard Street

5
. pieces of shit; lit. ‘turds’

6
. 24 October 1326

7
. Holborn.

8
. The Strand.

9
. 17 November 1326

10
. 25 November 1326

11
. 26 November 1326

12
. 3 February 1327

13
. 14 March 1327

14
. 15 March 1327

15
. 16 March 1327

16
. present name Leek Wootton

17
. yard-long arrows

18
. half-wit, imbecile

19
. 17 March 1327

20
. 18 March 1327

21
. 19 March 1327

22
. 20 March 1327

23
. 21 March 1327

24
. 23 March 1327

25
. 24 March 1327

26
. simpleton

27
. fool

28
. 25 March 1327

29
. 26 March 1327

30
. 27 March 1327

31
. 29 March 1327

32
. 31 March 1327

33
. 1 April 1327

34
. 2 April 1327

35
. 3 April 1327

36
. 5 April 1327

37
. 6 April 1327

38
. 7 April 1327

39
. 8 April 1327

40
. 9 April 1327

41
. 10 April 1327

42
. git

43
. 11 April 1327

44
. fool, worthless man

45
. distilled cider to make a strong spirit

46
. 13 April 1327

47
. 14 April 1327

48
. 15 April 1327

49
. 16 April 1327

50
. 18 April 1327

51
. 20 April 1327

52
. 21 April 1327

53
. 22 April 1327

54
. 23 April 1327

55
. 18 May 1327

56
. 24 April 1327

57
. 25 April 1327

58
. 29 April 1327

59
. Minchinhampton

60
. 6 May 1327

61
. 8 May 1327

62
. 12 May 1327

63
. 14 May 1327

64
. 20 May 1327

65
. 21 May 1327

66
. 25 May 1327

67
. 26 May 1327

68
. 27 May 1327

69
. 29 May 1327

70
. 31 May 1327

71
. 2 June 1327

72
. 8 June 1327

73
. 11 June 1327

74
. 24 June 1327

75
. 25 June 1327

76
. 26 June 1327