The Shattered Rose Page 0,43

you think I would, and harder?"

Galeran stared into his ale. "I suspect I hit her because I wanted to. My excuse was to turn you soft toward her. I didn't think you'd beat her, no, but ... She needed someone, and I wasn't sure then that it would be me."

"And now? She has you?"

"Yes," said Galeran simply. "To death and beyond."

Lord William relaxed back. "She's explained it all, then. Rape. Was it - "

"She's explained nothing, but I very much doubt it was rape."

"Explained nothing!" exclaimed Lord William, surging to his feet. "Hell's cinders, Galeran, make her explain!"

"How?"

"But ..."

Galeran rose more slowly. "I'd better ride on if we're to reach Heywood before dark. Just promise me, Father, that you will care for her if need be."

Galeran kept his voice calm as he brought the hawk back onto his wrist. "A pretty beauty, isn't she? And sharp-eyed. It would be a shame to feed her to the dogs."

William spluttered for a moment longer, then said, "Of course I'll care for her. And I'll make sure Lowick never profits from his deeds."

"And promise me that she will keep her child."

"Who else would want it?" snorted William. "A bastard girl."

Galeran looked up from the hawk. "Lowick would want a crippled monster if he thought it could give him a toehold in Heywood."

Lord William worried his lip with his knuckle. "In that case, I've some news you'd best listen to carefully."

* * * * * A short time later, as Galeran mounted his horse, he wondered whether there had been a true purpose in visiting Brome, or whether he had just been putting off his return to his troubled home. Certainly now he was reluctant to continue the journey. He pulled himself together and gave the command to ride out. Two of his men had been left at Brome, and four of his father's most trusted men were now riding behind him.

"Why the glum face?" asked Raoul. "Did your father have bad news?"

"Not particularly. But it is sure now that Lowick is in Durham with Bishop Flambard and being received warmly. I can't imagine even Flambard trying a crude assault on a castle connected to Brome, but it's always dangerous to become tangled with the Church."

"If he won't attack Heywood, what can the bishop do?"

"Claim to have jurisdiction over the matter of Lowick and Jehanne. It is a matter of sin, and even connected to the crusade - thus a Church matter."

Raoul whistled. "Dangerous."

"Indeed. The time for drifting is over. I'm going to have to take action."

"I don't know. This bishop won't lightly take on your family. Perhaps time will heal."

"Will it? Look at that woman in the village."

"Peasants," said Raoul dismissively.

"We're not so different. When there's a wound, it must be treated. If left unattended, it will likely get worse rather than better. And a festering wound will certainly draw the attention of the local guardian of moral right."

They rode toward Heywood at a steady pace, stopping at three more hamlets. Sometimes they halted to speak to laborers in the fields or those traveling along the road. Galeran thought whimsically that he was like a dog marking his territory, making sure that everyone knew he was back, alive, well, and in charge. He was hoping by his relaxed manner also to convince his people that all was right in the world and that they need fear no unrest.

His people, however, were shrewd enough in their own way, and he could read doubt in their manner. At the last village, Hey Hamlet, which sat at a crossroads scarcely out of view of Heywood, he sensed a distinctly uneasy atmosphere. Galeran chatted of the weather and the harvest, waiting for the people to voice their concern.

Eventually the headman said, "Were you thinking to find the Lady Jehanne in the castle, Lord?"

Galeran's heart missed a beat. For a frantic moment he couldn't think what to say, but knew he couldn't avoid the truth. "Yes. Why? Has she left?"

"Aye, Lord," said the man in the blank manner the simple people always used to mask uneasiness. "Rode by not long since with a small party, including some women and a babe. Heading toward Burstock, I'd say."

One track through Hey Hamlet led toward Brome and another toward Burstock, a half day's ride away. Burstock Castle belonged to Jehanne's uncle, Aline's father.

"I see," he said, as nonchalantly as he could. "I had best follow her, then. It is late for her to be on the road."

It took almost more willpower