No Dark Place (27 page)

Then he saw her coming with the knife.

He screamed.

No, Mama. Don’t!

She said hysterically,
You’ll never touch him again!

The presence swung around to face her, and she struck.

His father fell to the ground.

Except for the sound of Hugh’s labored breathing, the chapel was deadly silent. He stared with horror into his mother’s eyes. She was crying.

“I didn’t want you to know, Hugh. I didn’t ever want you to have to live with the knowledge that your mother was the one who killed your father.”

He felt tears sting behind his own eyes. He began to shiver.

“It’s all right, Mama,” he said. “It’s all right.”

She took a step toward him, and he lifted his arms. In a moment she was in them, sobbing brokenheartedly against his shoulder.

“I didn’t want you to know, but I couldn’t let you go on thinking that it was you.”

He cradled his mother’s slim, shaking body in the shelter of his arms. Her warmth made him stop shivering.

“It’s all right, Mama,” he repeated. He patted her narrow back gently. “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right.”

I
t was Guy who stepped forward and said, “I think we had all better repair to someplace where we can discuss this matter privately.”

In silence, the rest of the party followed Guy down the chapel stairs, across the landing, and then up a narrow spiral staircase that ascended to one of the towers. The room at the top of the stairs was well furnished and comfortable and adjoined a small bedroom. Guy told them all to sit down, then went around the room lighting the candles.

It was little wonder that Hugh had lost his memory, Philip thought, as he took a stool at a little distance from the rest of the group. His mind had been trying to protect itself from an almost unbearable knowledge.

Hugh and Isabel had seated themselves side by side upon the wide window seat, and the closed wooden shutters acted as a frame for their elegant dark heads.

Guy finished lighting the candles and took his own chair.

They all looked at each other.

It was Hugh who finally broke the silence.

“So.” His voice sounded composed, although his face was still very pale. He said to the priest, “When did you decide to place the blame on Walter Crespin?”

Father Anselm’s eyes were urgent as he looked back at Hugh. “It was never my plan to blame Walter,” he returned. “After it happened, Walter and I decided that the best thing would be to follow Lady Isabel’s original plan and get you away from Chippenham. You were understandably shocked, and we did not want you to have to answer questions. So we all agreed that Walter would escort you to Evesham.”

Philip glanced at Isabel. She was looking at Hugh with naked longing in her eyes.

Father Anselm continued speaking to Hugh. “I don’t know what happened on that journey except that you must have been set upon by outlaws. The following day, instead of hearing from Lord Simon that you were safe, we learned that Walter had been killed and you were missing.”

Isabel suddenly lowered her head.

Father Anselm said, “You can imagine how your mother felt when she heard that news.”

My God
, Philip thought in horror.
What a tragic sequence of events
.

Isabel said, “Do you have any memory at all of what happened on the road, Hugh?”

A flash of something glinted in Hugh’s gray eyes, and then the familiar shutters came down. He shook his head and said regretfully, “I remember nothing of what happened to me until I met Ralf.”

He remembers, all right, but he is not going to tell her
, Philip thought.

The priest went on with his story. “I gave Walter a few hours’ start and then I pretended to discover Lord Roger’s body. I am being honest when I tell you, Hugh, that it never occurred to me, and I’m sure it never occurred to your mother, to cast the blame on Walter.”

Silently, Isabel shook her head.

“It was the knights at the gate who had let Walter and you out who first raised the cry against him. I persuaded Lady Isabel to keep silent until we were certain that the two of you had arrived safely at Evesham.”

For the first time, Guy spoke, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “Just who
were
you going to blame for Roger’s death? I presume that Isabel was not going to confess.”

“I would have confessed to the crime myself,” the priest said quietly. “I knew that I was greatly to blame. I should have sent for Lord Simon months before.”

Philip stared at the priest’s tortured face as he looked at Isabel and made a discovery.
He loves her
.

“I would never have let you do that, Father Anselm,” Isabel said firmly. She gave Guy a level look. “I would have confessed rather than stand by and see an innocent person blamed.”

Guy looked skeptical. He opened his mouth as if he would speak, but Father Anselm was before him.

“Our first priority was to get Hugh under the protection of his uncle. I know that I, at any rate, was hoping that Lord Simon would tell us what we should do next.”

The priest looked again at Hugh. “Then the news came that Walter had been killed, and shortly after that his body was returned to Chippenham. He had been stabbed to death.” Father Anselm looked very tired. “As you can imagine, Lady Isabel was in no state to make any decisions at all, she was so distraught by the news of your disappearance. When Lord Simon arrived, I told him the whole, and he and I deemed it best to allow Walter to take the blame. He would not have minded. He would have been glad he could do something to protect Lady Isabel.”

Isabel made a small sound, like an animal in pain.

Hugh’s face was like stone.

“A convenient conclusion,” Guy said with heavy irony. “There is only one part of this story that has never made sense to me. What reason would this Walter have for wanting to kill my brother and kidnap his son?”

The room was utterly silent.

Then Isabel said quietly, “A year before, I had had a love affair with Walter’s brother, and when Roger found out about it, he had Ivo castrated. Then Ivo killed himself. So you see, Guy, Walter had good reason to wish Roger dead.”

The look of horror on Guy’s face echoed the horror that Philip knew must be engraved on his own features.

Castrated. Dear God. What kind of man had Roger de Leon been?

Isabel clasped her arms even more tightly around
herself. Hugh appeared to be staring intently at his boots.

“Who knew about this?” Guy said harshly.

“All of the castle knights knew,” Isabel replied. “That is why they were so quick to point a finger at Walter. They all knew that he had a reason to wish Roger dead.”

“I cannot believe that I never heard a word of this,” Guy said.

“The household wished to protect Lady Isabel,” Father Anselm said. “No one wanted to see her suffer any more than she already had. The knights all held their tongues.”

Guy shifted his heavy frame in his chair. “Unfortunately, the result of all of this concern for Isabel’s reputation led to blame being cast on me. You are aware, I presume, that for years I have been suspected of having paid Walter Crespin to kill Roger so that I could assume my brother’s honors?”

“Perhaps there was suspicion, but there was no proof,” the priest said. “We knew there never would be proof, because there was none to be found.”

The candles in the room all flickered at once, as a chill breeze came into the room from under the closed door.

For the first time in a long while, Hugh spoke. “It seems to me that you came out of this tragedy the best of us all, Uncle. You became the Earl of Wiltshire, one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. On
the other hand, my mother locked herself away in a convent for fourteen years, and I lived for most of my life without knowing who I was. I cannot find it in my heart to feel sorry for you.”

His voice had an edge that could cut glass.

Guy’s head jerked up and the two pairs of gray eyes met and held.

“I am still the Earl of Wiltshire,” Guy said grimly. “And I intend to remain so.”

Hugh’s eyes were cold as the winter sky. He looked back at Guy and did not reply.

Philip, staring at Hugh’s still, dangerous face, thought,
After all, he is his father’s son
.

He shivered at the thought.

Suddenly Philip remembered another death.

“You may not have been responsible for the murder of your brother, my lord, but what of the knight who was killed at your tournament?”

Guy swung around to stare at Philip. “I had naught to do with that. It was a mêlée, for God’s sake. Men get killed in mêlées all the time.”

“I saw it happen,” Philip said. “Geoffrey was pushed from behind.”

Guy’s face flushed red with anger. “Well, I was not responsible!”

Philip’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.

Hugh said, “I believe I might be able to clear this particular matter up, my lord, if you will send for Aubrey d’Abrille.”

All eyes swung toward Hugh.

“Who the devil is Aubrey d’Abrille?” Philip demanded.

Guy answered without removing his gaze from Hugh’s face. “He is one of my household knights. What does he have to do with this matter, Hugh?”

“Send for him and we shall see,” Hugh returned calmly.

Guy swung around to face Philip. “Go down to the hall and ask a page to fetch me Aubrey d’Abrille.”

Philip unfolded his considerable length from the stool upon which he was sitting and left the room.

The household was still at supper when he arrived in the Great Hall. Guy’s place of honor at the head table was conspicuously empty. Philip beckoned to one of the pages who was carrying a platter of meat and relayed Guy’s order. The boy took his platter over to a table of knights and said something.

A tall man with distinctive chestnut-colored hair rose and accompanied the page back to Philip.

“Lord Guy wishes to see you,” Philip said abruptly. “Come with me, if you please.”

The knight’s face was very still. He didn’t say a word. He merely nodded.

The two men climbed the spiral stairs that led to the tower room where Guy and Hugh awaited them.

The room was silent when Philip reentered.

“My lord,” he said to Guy. “Here is Aubrey d’Abrille.”

He felt the knight beside him stiffen and turned to look at him. The man was staring at Isabel.

Hugh spoke from her side. “Good evening, Aubrey. I’m afraid I entered Chippenham without your knowledge this time. I apologize for depriving you of another opportunity to try to kill me.”

Isabel’s breath caught audibly.

The red-haired knight scowled and forced his gaze to Hugh’s face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do,” Hugh replied. “You tried to kill me twice. The first time, at the tournament, you were successful in killing the man who was riding my horse. Your second attempt was less satisfactory, although you came very close.”

“What are you talking about, Hugh?” Guy demanded angrily. “Why should Aubrey want to kill you?”

Hugh’s expression was perfectly contained.

“Ask him what name he was born with,” he said.

At those words, the knight took a step backward. Philip moved to put himself in front of the door.

Hugh’s voice went on, calm and steady. “He grew up in the castle of his maternal uncle, Hubert d’Abrille, and when he came to Chippenham he took his uncle’s name. But he was born Aubrey Crespin, younger brother to Ivo and Walter.”

Isabel cried out in pain.

“Is this true?” Guy demanded of his knight.

He lifted his chin and replied defiantly, “Aye, it is true. I am Aubrey Crespin.”

“Oh my dear God,” said Isabel.

The knight stared at her. “You were the reason
both my brothers died,” he said bitterly. “I wanted to hurt you the way you hurt me.”

Isabel’s mouth was quivering.

“You’re Ivo’s brother?”

Her voice was a mere thread of sound.

“I am Ivo’s brother. And Walter’s brother as well. Don’t forget Walter, who sacrificed both his life and his reputation on your behalf.
My lady
.”

He spoke the last words as if they were a curse.

It was Hugh who answered the accusation. “It was my father, not my mother, who was responsible for the death of your brother, Ivo. And it was outlaws on the road who killed your brother, Walter. Your vengeance has been misplaced, Aubrey.”

The knight’s light green eyes burned in his pale face. “I don’t think so. You are his son as well as hers.”

“My son,” said Father Anselm in a gentle voice. “I knew both your brothers. They were brave and honorable men. They would never want you to exact this kind of revenge.”

Aubrey stared at the priest and did not reply.

“Walter gave his life trying to keep Hugh safe,” Father Anselm went on. “Do you think it would give him joy to know that his own brother was the cause of Hugh’s death?”

The knight’s breathing was harsh and audible in the quiet of the room.

“My mother has been punished enough,” Hugh said. “There is no necessity for you to add to the burden she already bears.”

Tears began to pour down Isabel’s face.

“You have Ivo’s eyes,” she said to Aubrey. Her voice caught on a sob and she pressed her lips together hard.

“Go back downstairs,” Guy said to the knight in a hard voice. “I will deal with you later.”

Without replying, Aubrey turned and strode toward the door.

Philip stepped aside and allowed him to pass.

Once the door had closed behind him, everyone looked at Hugh.

“How did you know who he was?” Guy demanded.

“I stopped at Abrille on my way to Winchester and spoke to Sir Hubert,” Hugh said. “He told me who his nephew really was.”

“But why did you even suspect him?” Philip asked. He was still standing by the door.

“It was easy enough to see that he hated me. I had never seen the man before in my life, and I could not imagine what I might have done to engender such fierce enmity. Then it occurred to me that perhaps it was not I whom Aubrey hated, that perhaps he saw me as a means of getting back at someone else.”

Hugh shrugged. “After that, it was simple enough to conclude who Aubrey might be. I went to Abrille for confirmation of my suspicion, and I got it.”

“I thought you believed that I was the one who was trying to kill you,” Guy said ironically.

“The thought did cross my mind,” said Hugh. “But I did not think you were stupid enough to kill me in your own castle.”

“Thank you,” Guy said with heavy sarcasm.

Hugh nodded coolly.

Once more the eyes of the two men who had claim to be Earl of Wiltshire locked together.

The room was thick with tension.

Guy shifted in his chair.

“What would you say if I offered to name you my heir?” he asked in an abrupt voice. “Would you promise to recognize my position as earl if you were guaranteed to succeed me after my death?”

Hugh continued to look at him and did not reply.

Guy’s voice hardened. “You would have to promise not to seek assistance from the empress or Gloucester, however.”

Hugh’s face was wearing its most shuttered look.

“And if I did that, you would recognize me as your heir?”