Free Sapphire - Book 2 by Elizabeth Rose Page A

something about my
uncle I have never liked.”
    “I married him at the death of your father to
secure our holdings in the family name,” she told him.
    “But part of it was already yours upon
inheritance.”
    “Only a third, son, and I didn’t want to lose
the rest that your father worked so hard to keep. But now that you
have returned, it doesn’t matter. You are the heir to Rye and its
holdings. And I know you will protect it, as well as everyone
within the castle walls and your demesne.”
    “I will, mother, I assure you
that.”
    Just then, several of the dockmen rushed in,
conversing quickly with the guards. Curious to know what had them
so upset, Roe headed in their direction. His uncle and the baron
followed.
    “Godfrey,” he said, greeting his old friend.
“What is it that has you so upset?”
    “My lords,” he said, bowing his head to all
three of them. The men with him did the same but stayed silent.
“There is trouble and deceit, my lord, and I know not what to think
of it.”
    “How so?” asked Henry.
    “Aye,” mimicked the baron, “how
so?”
    “The merchants are complaining, my lords, as
well as the sheepherders. They say that fifty tuns of wool has gone
missing.”
    “Missing?” asked Roe. “What do you
mean?”
    “The sheepherders of Dungeness have approached
the merchants personally, saying they need their pay for the goods
delivered. However, the merchants say they have never received the
wool. This is the second time a shipment has been lost in the past
four months, my lord.”
    “I’m sure they’ve just handled their ledgers
poorly,” said Henry.
    “Aye,” added the baron. “I have overseen the
Romney Marshes personally, as Castle Lydd is not far from there and
those are my lands. Actually, the sheepherders are always falling
asleep, while part of their flocks wander off. They’ve probably
just misplaced them.”
    “Misplaced fifty tuns of wool?” asked Roe.
“Nay, this sounds suspicious to me.”
    “There’s plenty wool in all of England,” said
Henry. “Since the plague and the lack of people, the task of sheep
herding which requires only a scant number of workers has increased
and it infiltrates the land.”
    “Perhaps too much,” agreed Roe. “And with the
king’s new taxes and trying to control the price by strengthening
the demand for our fine wool overseas, it opens the door to
smuggling.”
    “Smuggling?” asked Godfrey. “Do you really
think so, my lord?”
    “I do. Have you seen any suspicious ships
leaving port lately?” Roe asked.
    “They’ve all been accounted for, my
lord.”
    “And has the dockmaster been collecting the
taxes from the ships that come and go transporting goods across the
channel?”
    “I believe so, my lord.”
    “Then there must be someone we’re overlooking.
Someone everyone trusts who is pulling the wool over everyone’s
eyes so to speak.”
    “Sexton, enough with your feeble humor,” said
the baron. “This is preposterous. There is no way smugglers could
get fifty tuns through the streets without anyone seeing them being
moved.”
    “Unless they’re smuggling it with the help of
some of the merchants. Perhaps secret tunnels or passageways
beneath some of the buildings in town,” explained Roe.
    “That’s ridiculous,” said Henry.
    “It’s not out of the question,” said Roe with
a shake of his head.
    “I’ll look into this matter myself,” said
Baron Lydd. “After all, it is from my lands that the wool is
disappearing. I’ll go to the marshes of Dungeness myself on the
morrow and see how the sheepherders are faring.”
    “I’ll come with you,” said Roe, which evoked a
distinct reaction from the baron.
    “Nay,” said the baron. “I am capable of
handling it, Sexton, and want you nowhere near my
lands.”
    Roe had never meant to go with him, but wanted
to see if the man would react, which he did. This told him that
something was amiss, and the baron was most likely
involved.
    “Fine,” said Roe.