Free The Clerk’s Tale by Margaret Frazer

turned around, too, to make her way down backward, saying aside to Frevisse as she went, “Slow but certain. That’s how I am these days.”
     
    Beyond them the hall was almost emptied and Master Christopher had given over being crowner and gone to his mother, had taken her by the hands and was speaking to her as he led her toward the door, Domina Elisabeth left behind. Over Lady Agnes’s slowly descending head, Master Haselden said, “I’m afraid her son is seeing Mistress Montfort out. The nun is coming this way, though, if that helps.”
     
    ‘Fie.“ Lady Agnes looked over her shoulder ”She won’t have visitors and she won’t stay to talk. What ails the fool woman?“
     
    ‘She’s in mourning?“ Nichola ventured.
     
    ‘For the likes of Montfort? Then she’s a fool indeed,“ Lady Agnes said. ”No, Letice,“ she added to something her woman hadn’t said yet. ”I’m not coming back up. They’ll be setting tables for dinner soon. I might as well be down and be done with it. Stephen.“
     
    Obediently, now that she was in his reach, Stephen held her by the waist, steadying her down the last few steps to the floor, where she turned and batted his hands away, saying, “Leave off, youngling. I’m not a two-year-old,” and demanded up at Master Haselden, “Hand me my staff, Philip, and get out of Dame Frevisse’s way, you silly man.”
     
    ‘My lady,“ Master Haselden said, obeying with a deep bow and a smile.
     
    They were all enjoying themselves, Frevisse realized as she made her own careful way down. That the inquest had dealt with a man’s death seemed of no matter to anyone; it might have been no more than a show put on as a pastime for them. Of course, that Montfort was the dead man probably had much to do with that. Was anyone at all sorry for his death? Even his widow? Or his son?
     
    Master Christopher and his mother were both gone now, last from the hall except for his young, sandy-haired and freckled clerk still at the table gathering up papers, pens, and ink bottle, unheeded by Lady Agnes’s servants come to ready the hall for her dinner. Lady Agnes was gone aside to question Domina Elisabeth, and Nichola was paused at the head of the stairs to gather her skirts with one hand before starting down, gripping the rope railing tightly with the other while Stephen urged her, “Just jump. I’ll catch you.” And added when she started carefully down anyway, “I’ve never dropped Grandma-dam and you weigh far less than she does.”
     
    ‘I heard that, boy,“ Lady Agnes called, ”and when you’re in reach I’m going to give you a good thump to show you I did.“
     
    Laughing, Stephen caught Nichola by the waist, swept her off the stairs, her squeal of surprise changing to laughter, too, as he swung her around in a swirl of skirts, gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, and set her down. In return and as swiftly, she caught his face between her hands and rose on tiptoe to kiss him firmly on the mouth.
     
    ‘Here, here, here!“ Lady Agnes declared in feigned indignation, rapping her staff on the floor. ”What kind of wanton carrying-on is that for servants and nuns to see? Enough!“
     
    Frevisse, drawn well aside from all of them but watching with pleasure, found suddenly the sandy-haired young clerk at her side, carrying papers, pens, and inkpot and saying in a low, hurried voice as he passed by her, for no one but her to hear, “Master Montfort hopes you’ll meet him in the church after Nones, please you, my lady,” and before she could answer had moved on to Lady Agnes, to give her the crowner’s thanks for the use of her hall this while.
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Even in the startled moment before she realized that the Master Montfort the man meant was Christopher, not his dead father, Frevisse noted that no one seemed to have seen his brief word to her. Stephen was saying something to Master Haselden intent on coming down the stairs and Nichola had moved away to join Lady