of all classes dreamed about, but he did not know whether Sam was one of them. Life in the castle was luxurious and exciting, by comparison with breaking your back in the fields; but, on the other hand, men-at-arms died young, or - worse than that - came home crippled, to live the rest of their miserable days begging outside taverns.
However, as soon as Ralph saw Sam's face he knew the truth. Sam was smiling broadly, and his eyes gleamed with eagerness. He could hardly wait to go.
Gwenda found her voice. "Don't do it, Sam!" she said. "Don't be tempted. Don't let your mother see you blinded by an arrow, or mutilated by the swords of French knights, or crippled by the hooves of their warhorses!"
Wulfric said: "Don't go, son. Stay in Wigleigh and live a long life."
Sam began to look doubtful.
Ralph said: "All right, lad. You've listened to your mother, and to the peasant father who raised you. But the decision is yours. What will you do? Live out your life here in Wigleigh, tilling the fields alongside your brother? Or escape?"
Sam paused only for a moment. He looked guiltily at Wulfric and Gwenda, then turned to Ralph. "I'll do it," he said. "I'll be a squire, and thank you, my lord!"
"Good lad," Ralph said.
Gwenda began to cry. Wulfric put his arm around her. Looking up at Ralph, he said: "When shall he go?"
"Today," Ralph said. "He can ride back to Earlscastle with me and Alan after dinner."
"Not so soon!" Gwenda cried.
No one took any notice of her.
Ralph said to Sam: "Go home and fetch anything you want to bring with you. Have dinner with your mother. Come back and wait for me in the stables. Meanwhile, Nate can requisition a mount to carry you to Earlscastle." He turned away, having finished with Sam and his family. "Now, where's my dinner?"
Wulfric and Gwenda went out with Sam, but Davey stayed behind. Had he already found out that his crop had been trampled? Or was it something else? "What do you want?" Ralph said.
"Lord, I have a boon to ask."
This was almost too good to be true. The insolent peasant who had planted madder in the woods without permission was now a supplicant. What a satisfying day this was turning out to be. "You can't be a squire, you've got your mother's build," Ralph told him, and Alan laughed.
"I want to marry Amabel, the daughter of Annet," said the young man.
"That won't please your mother."
"I will be of age in less than a year."
Ralph knew all about Annet, of course. He had nearly been hanged for her sake. His history was entwined with hers almost as much as with Gwenda's. He recalled that all her family had died in the plague. "Annet still has some of the lands her father held."
"Yes, lord, and she is willing for them to be transferred to me when I marry her daughter."
Such a request would not normally have been refused, although all lords would charge a tax, called an entry fee, on the transfer. However, there was no obligation on a lord to consent. The right of lords to refuse such requests on a whim, and blight the course of a serf's life, was one of the peasants' greatest gripes. But it provided the ruler with a means of discipline that could be extraordinarily effective.
"No," said Ralph. "I will not transfer the land to you." He grinned. "You and your bride can eat madder."
Chapter 87
Caris had to prevent Philemon becoming bishop. This was his boldest move yet, but he had made his preparations carefully, and he had a chance. If he succeeded, he would have control of the hospital again, giving him the power to destroy her life's work. But he could do worse than that. He would revive the blind orthodoxy of the past. He would appoint hard-hearted priests like himself in the villages, close schools for girls and preach sermons against dancing.
She had no say in the choice of a bishop, but there were ways to exert pressure.
She began with Bishop Henri.
She and Merthin travelled to Shiring to see the bishop in his palace. On the way, Merthin stared at every dark-haired girl that came into view, and when there was no one he scanned the woods at the side of the road. He was looking for Lolla, but they reached Shiring without seeing any sign of her.
The bishop's palace was on the main square, opposite the