Free The Poisoned Serpent by Joan Wolf Page A

house.
    “What are you planning to do today, Hugh?” Gervase asked as the men ate their bread and drank their morning ale.
    Hugh planned to try to catch John Rye before he left Lincoln, but he did not wish to impart this fact to Gervase. He said instead, “I thought I would talk to the garrison guards.”
    “I have already questioned them thoroughly,” Gervase said. “They don’t believe Bernard is guilty, but they have nothing substantial to advance that would advocate in his favor.”
    “Well,” Hugh said mildly, “at least talking to them will give me a chance to renew old acquaintances.”
    There was a moment of tense silence.
    Then Gervase shrugged. “Oh, talk to the guards if you will. Just make certain that you let me know if you unearth some important fact that I might have missed.” There was the faintest trace of sarcasm in his voice.
    “Of course,” Hugh replied gravely.
    “When do you plan to meet with the Lady Elizabeth?” Richard said.
    Hugh had been reaching for his ale cup, but now stilled his hand. “Why should I wish to meet with the Lady Elizabeth?”
    Richard’s blue eyes regarded him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “Good heavens, Hugh, the girl thinks she is betrothed to you! Surely, under the circumstances, she deserves that you at least meet with her.”
    A sharp line appeared between Hugh’s black brows.“I was never betrothed to her. No marriage settlements were drawn up. Nothing was signed. There was no betrothal.”
    “That may be so,” Richard agreed, “but the intention of a betrothal had certainly been announced. Lady Elizabeth had every expectation that you and she would be wed. Now her father is dead and her world has been thrown into chaos. It would be most unkind of you to ignore her.”
    Hugh scowled furiously. He knew that Adela would have agreed with Richard, and that thought annoyed him intensely.
    “Oh, all right,” he snapped. “I shall go to see the girl. But I am going to make it very clear that I never had any intention of marrying her.”
    Richard’s squire, who had been in the process of refilling his master’s ale cup, jerked his arm and spilled some liquid on the well-scoured wood.
    “I am sorry, my lord,” he said to Richard, hastily snatching up a napkin to blot up the spill.
    Hugh’s eyes, wearing a noticeably ironic expression, moved from Alan to Richard.
    “How many times have I told you that I am not a lord, Alan?” Richard said tranquilly.
    The look of idolatry in the squire’s eyes as he gazed at Richard was unmistakable.
    Hugh said, “In his heart, you are always a lord, Richard.”
    Alan flushed. It was what he felt, but Hugh’s tone of voice had made the sentiment sound ridiculous.
    For a moment, the two young knights stared at each other. Hostility showed clearly in Hugh’s cold eyes, but Richard only looked sad.
    Gervase said, “There is no need to humiliate the girl by saying that you were going to refuse her, Hugh. Obviously the whole situation has changed with the death of her father. She will be in the wardship of the king now, and he may very well decide to bestow her elsewhere. Under the circumstances no one will expect your betrothal to go forward.”
    Hugh removed his gaze from Richard and looked at his host. Then he sighed. “All right, sir. I will go to see the Lady Elizabeth.”
    “Good lad.” Gervase nodded his approval.
    “Who is in charge of her household?” Hugh asked.
    “The knight in charge is a man called Gaspar Meriot. There are nine knights in all that make up the household, and several ladies to attend the Lady Elizabeth. Not to mention the grooms and the body servants.” Gervase made a comical face. “Thank God Meriot had the sense to send home the hounds and the falcons.”
    “All of these people are housed in the sheriff’s apartment?” Hugh asked with amazement.
    “The ladies have the apartment,” Gervase said. “The knights are living in the guard room of the castle.”
    Hugh