Free St. Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters Page A

to answer the charges later. But for Philip Corviser, I greatly doubt it. He
will need to have better answers than he was able to give when they took him.”
    “This
afternoon!” echoed Emma. “Then I should also attend. I was a witness when this
turmoil began. The sheriff should hear my testimony, too, especially if my
uncle’s death is in question. There were others—Master Corbière, and the
brother of the abbey, the one you know well…”
    “They
will be attending, and others besides. Certainly your witness would be
valuable, but to ask it of you at such a time…”
    “I
would rather!” she said firmly. “I want my uncle’s murderer caught, if indeed
he was murdered, but I pray no innocent man may be too hurriedly blamed. I
don’t know—I would not have thought he looked like a murderer… I
should like to tell what I do know, it is my duty.”
    Beringar
cast a brief glance at his wife for enlightenment, and Aline gave him a smile
and the faintest of nods.
    “If
you are resolved on that,” he said, reassured, “I will ask Brother Cadfael to
escort you. And for the rest, you need have no anxieties about your own
situation. It will be necessary for you to stay here until this matter is
looked into, but naturally you will remain here in Aline’s company, and you
shall have every possible help in whatever dispositions you need to make.”
    “I
should like,” said Emma, “to take my uncle’s body back by the barge to Bristol
for burial.” She had not considered, until then, that there would be no
protector for her on the boat this time, only Roger Dod, whose mute but
watchful and jealous devotion was more than she could bear, Warin who would
take care to notice nothing that might cause him trouble, and poor Gregory, who
was strong and able of body but very dull of wit. She drew in breath sharply,
and bit an uncertain lip, and the shadow came back to her eyes. “At least, to
send him back… His man of law there will take care of his affairs and mine.”
    “I
have spoken to the prior. Abbot Radulfus sanctions the use of an abbey chapel,
your uncle’s body can lie there when he is brought from the castle, and all due
preparations will be made for his decent coffining. Ask for anything you want,
it shall be at your disposal. I must summon your journeyman to attend at the
castle this afternoon, too. How would you wish him to deal, concerning the
fair? I will give him whatever instructions you care to send.”
    She
nodded understanding, visibly bracing herself again towards a world of shrewd
daily business which had not ceased with the ending of a life. “Be so kind as
to tell him,” she said, “to continue trading for the three days of the fair, as
though his master still presided. My uncle would scorn to go aside from his
regular ways for any danger or loss, and so will I in his name.” And suddenly,
as freely and as simply as a small child, she burst into tears at last.
    When
Hugh was gone about his business, and Constance had withdrawn at Aline’s nod,
the two women sat quietly untilEmma had ceased to weep, which
she did as suddenly as she had begun. She wept, as some women have the gift of
doing, without in the least defacing her own prettiness and without caring
whether she did or no. Most lose the faculty, after the end of childhood. She
dried her eyes, and looked up straightly at Aline, who was looking back at her
just as steadily, with a serenity which offered comfort without pressing it.
    “You
must think,” said Emma, “that I had no deep affection for my uncle. And indeed
I don’t know myself that you would be wrong. And yet I did love him, it has not
been only loyalty and gratitude, though those came easier. He was a hard man,
people said, hard to satisfy, and hard in his business dealings. But he was not
hard to me. Only hard to come near. It was not his fault, or mine.”
    “I
think,” said Aline mildly, since she was being