To Defy a King (12 page)

'He will have no nest left if the King has his way,' Mahelt snapped. 'He's constantly encroaching on our lands and taking bites out of our rights and privileges. Why shouldn't my father go to Ireland? Leinster belongs to my mother. He's not stealing it from anyone. John is the one who takes what does not belong to him!'

'Your father is a strong man, well able to take care of himself, even against the King,' Hugh replied evenly. 'And you are well protected here because we have a similar strength. We'll not let anything happen to you.'

Mahelt bristled at the humouring patience in his voice. She was not a child and she resented his cozening. 'What of my brothers? Who will protect them?'

He shook his head. 'I do not believe they are in any danger. Your father is not without allies; there are men who will keep an eye on them at court.

Baldwin de Bethune for one, my brother William Longespee for another. He is your kin by marriage and mine by blood.'

As Mahelt considered this, her agitation diminished to a dull ache but the pain did not go away. 'They should be with their family, not hostages to a King's whim. Would you say the same if it was your brothers who were held captive?'

Hugh rubbed his chin. 'I would take such things into consideration, but perhaps you are right; I would think on it more.'

She shivered. 'A monster doesn't go away even if you have walls to guard yourself against it.'

'Indeed, but knowing what kind of monster you are dealing with helps when it comes to defending yourself against it. I know you thought I was belittling your cares, but truly, I want you to feel safe at Framlingham.'

'I do feel safe.' She thawed enough to give him a look through her lashes.

'Good.' He smiled at her and Mahelt felt a glow in her solar plexus. She wondered what it would be like to be a wife in all senses of the word rather than a wife in waiting. The glow spread upwards from the feeling and became a blush. Suddenly she needed to be in motion. Disengaging from him, she picked up a stick from one of the soil beds and threw it as hard as she could for Tripes. As the dog scampered off to retrieve it, she ran after him, encouraging him in a bright voice.

Watching her play with her pet, Hugh smiled at her mercurial change of mood. He appreciated her coordination and lithe grace with a physical surge in his gut and the pleasure of an artistic eye. He felt compassion too. She was having to mature quickly and the growing pains must be difficult. He made a silent promise to protect her as best he could and smooth the transition. And with that decision came a warm feeling of possession too.

Not only was the responsibility his, but so too would be the reward.

12

Framlingham, May 1207

It was a sewing day. Mahelt sat over her embroidery, pecking away at the stitches with determination but little enthusiasm. It was time-consuming and there was so little to show for it, but in loyalty to Ida and in the interests of being a good daughter-in-law, she was applying herself. One of the few advantages to the task was that it gave her time to dwell on thoughts of Hugh and daydream about his smile and his vivid sea-blue eyes.

She had been enjoying his company these last three months and felt deprived when he had to be elsewhere. She went out riding with him most days, and although servants or companions were inevitably present in the background, there were still moments when they managed to be alone; indeed it had become a kind of game. Sometimes he would hold her hand when they went for walks with the dogs, playfully swinging her arm and his in unison, and he had not minded when Tripes had chewed his best kidskin shoes.

He talked to her of music and poetry. Often he would read to her from the family's collection of books: fables of Aesop, tales of King Arthur, the romances of Marie de France. She loved to listen to him read for the dual pleasures of hearing the story and the richness of his voice embracing the words and giving them life.

Today he had been closeted with his father and brothers for most of the morning, discussing a matter pertaining to the earldom. The atmosphere had been tense, although nothing had been said in front of the women. When Mahelt tried to speculate to Ida about what was worrying the men, her mother-in-law shook her head in warning. 'Let be,' she said. 'They will deal with it; they know what's for the best.' Mahelt wasn't so sure about that. Her mother was always saying that men thought they knew what was for the best, which wasn't the same thing.

She had stilled her needle and was gazing out of Ida's chamber window as the meeting broke up. Hugh's brothers Roger and William emerged into the ward and headed purposefully towards the stables. So did a messenger, already slinging his satchel at his shoulder and breaking into a run. Moments later, Hugh himself entered the room with brisk intent. The startled serving women curtseyed. Ida set down her sewing. 'What's wrong?'

Mahelt tensed. When the lord closeted his retainers and sons together for a meeting, and when a man entered the women's sewing chamber in a hurry, it always meant trouble.

Hugh gripped his belt either side of the buckle. 'Nothing . . .' he said, looking round the room as if seeing it for the first time.

The 'nothing' was typical too. Next would come the 'but'.

'. . . but we've to move some things out of Framlingham for a while.' He strode to the fabric cupboard and opened the doors. 'Your silks, Mama, and the best bolts of wool and linen. Just keep what you immediately need.'

He looked round again, his manner that of a predator on a scent. 'Also we'll take down the good bed hangings and that hunting scene.' He gestured to a costly embroidery on the wall that had come from Flanders. 'William and Roger have gone to muster the carters and the sumpter men.'

'But why?' Ida stared at her son in alarm and crossed to the cupboard, her arms outstretched as if to protect a precious child.

Hugh heaved a deep sigh. 'The King has ordered a tax on a thirteenth of all moveable goods and revenues. No one is exempt and his officers are authorised to make inspections and check tallies. We've heard that Richmond Castle has been seized because its constable Ruald FitzAllan would not declare what he owned.'

Ida looked blank. 'I do not understand.'

Hugh gestured at the bolts of cloth, the silks shimmering like deeply coloured water, the linens muted and subtle. 'We need to move our valuables for safekeeping before the sheriff 's inspectors arrive. How much do you think a thirteenth of that cloth of gold is worth? Or the wall hanging?

Or those cups with the rubies and rock crystals? We always pay our dues, but this is beyond fair asking. If we don't move them now, we're going to land ourselves with a demand for thousands of marks.'

'Now?' Ida looked dismayed. 'You mean at this moment?'

He nodded. 'Yes. We don't know how much time we have before they come looking and Framlingham will be a prime target.'

'Where are you going to take them?' Mahelt was more interested than shocked. The King was always demanding taxes. Other than the usual scutage that everyone paid to provide soldiers, John had demanded a fine of a seventh on all moveable goods four years ago.

'It'll be best to spread it far and wide,' Hugh said. 'If we store it all at one location and we are caught, we may as well not have bothered and we'll receive a fine on top of a fine.' He ticked off on his fingers the names of various religious houses of which his family were patrons. 'We'll take some to Thetford, some to my grandmother's foundation at Colne. Then there's Hickling, Sibton and Walton. They'll all do their part.'

'But if Framlingham is stripped bare, surely they will become suspicious,'

Mahelt said. 'Perhaps you should "slightly" hide a few good things - but nothing too precious - just so they are easily found, and that will put them off the scent.'

Hugh's eyes gleamed with amused approval. 'Precisely. We shall place decoys, but we have to move things now.'

Mahelt wondered about her own family paying out a thirteenth part of their moveable income. Her father was bound to have contingency plans. Tintern and Cartmel could be used and he had probably taken much of his wealth to Ireland with him anyway.

'I'll help,' she said eagerly. Anything that thwarted John was to be embraced with fervour.

Hugh grinned. 'You're a true Bigod wife.'

Mahelt blushed.

She spent the rest of the morning helping to pack the baggage carts with fabrics and napery, with wall hangings, cups, silver plate and all manner of sundry items that would be considered taxable goods by the King's officers.

She revelled in the work, much to the indulgent amusement of her husband.

Even his father chuckled as she ordered the servants to arrange a casket just so in the cart to protect the inlay. The Earl was of the opinion that women should keep to the bower and mind the domestic business, but her enthusiasm and her undoubted organisational skills, not to mention her youthful spirits, made him tolerant.

Ida looked on, bemused by it all, but showed her own spark of determination when her husband wanted to take away a particular bolt of red silk, which she insisted she needed for her next project. She stood in front of the cloth, her chin up and the battle-light in her eyes, daring him to take it. The Earl grumbled about the contrariness of women and what it was going to cost him, but Ida got her way. Mahelt suspected the Earl had capitulated because he intended Ida's precious bolt of red silk to be one of the decoys if the royal agents came calling.

When the carts were finally loaded, Hugh left his groom saddling Hebon and told Mahelt to prepare for the journey too. 'What could be more natural than moving my household to Thetford and paying my respects at the tomb of my ancestors?' he asked. 'If there are women present, it will add veracity to anyone we pass on the road. Father Michael, your maid and my brothers will travel with us and bear witness that pledges of chastity are being upheld.'

Mahelt didn't need a second bidding and flew to pack a baggage chest.

Smiling plaintively, Ida helped her. 'It is going to seem very quiet without you.' She looked rueful. 'Especially with the fabric cupboard so empty!'

'It will only be for a few days.' Impulsively, Mahelt hugged her mother-in-law and received the embrace back twofold.

'Godspeed you,' Ida said as she watched Mahelt almost skip from the room.

She was like a leggy colt, young, vibrant and full of life. The sight made Ida sigh. How swiftly the river carried everyone downstream and far out to sea.

She went down to the courtyard to wave the carts on their way and thought how handsome Hugh looked as he boosted his smiling, excited girl-wife into the saddle. God grant them happiness, she thought, and had to wipe her eyes on her sleeve. She leaned a little closer to her husband, who was watching the entourage with his hands on his hips and his lips pursed. 'Let's hope the weather stays fine for them,' he said.

Ida glanced up at him, thinking it was rather romantic of him to say so.

He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. 'I'd hate the cart to bog down in the mud and questions to be asked.'

Sighing, Ida turned back to her devastated fabric cupboard.

At Thetford the designated goods were taken to the Prior's house. A few sacrificial pieces were concealed in such a way that a moderately determined search would discover them. Most of the treasure went into safe hiding where, without tearing the priory to rubble, it would not be found. While Hugh and his brothers dined with the Prior and delicately negotiated a fee for the safekeeping of the goods, Mahelt entertained the wives of some of Thetford's worthies at the Bigod house across the river. She had seen and helped her mother in similar circumstances so often that it came easily to her and she enjoyed the opportun - ity to have sole charge, rather than deferring to Ida.

When Hugh and his brothers returned, Mahelt's final guest had just bidden farewell and the servants were clearing away the scraps to dole out in alms.

'They don't like this thirteenth tax either,' Mahelt told Hugh as he removed his cloak and sat by the fire. 'Half of them have been hiding things or omitting to declare all that they own.'

Hugh lifted his brows in surprise. 'They told you?'

She laughed. 'In a backwards manner of speaking. There was a lot of talk about how much they
did
have - meaning that which they were prepared to put on show and declare.'

He gave an amused grunt.

'By the same light, they know we're not just at Thetford to visit your grandsire's bones. They know there's more going on than that. But they need our patronage, and they feel we are all allies against injustice, so we're safe.'

Hugh folded his arms. 'You enjoy this, don't you?'

She cast him a look filled with pride and masked her uncertainty by jutting her chin. 'I was raised to listen and watch and to sift what words and actions really mean.'

Hugh glanced over his shoulder. His brothers had drawn off to talk between themselves and share a cup of wine. The servants were all busy. Turning back to her, he stroked the side of her face with the back of his hand, and then kissed where he had stroked and lingered just a moment with the delicate rose-water taste of her skin under his lips before pulling away.

'I will not ask you what you construe from that,' he said. 'Other than approval.'

Mahelt gave him a melting, mischievous look. 'Then I am pleased to please my lord,' she answered. The look in Hugh's eyes and the feel of his lips against her cheek made her tingle all over. She half hoped he would do it again, but he drew back from the intimacy and brought her instead to join his brothers by the fire.

Following their return from Thetford, Hugh had to set off immediately for Yorkshire where more of the family assets had to be quietly stored. He had to ensure that the thirteenth did not make too large a hole in his own revenues.

Mahelt was sad to see him leave. The time they had spent travelling to Thetford, staying there for three days and riding home again had changed their relationship. She had discovered the delightful pastime of flirting with Hugh and having him reciprocate. It gave her a frisson to mesh her fingers through his as they sat by the fire, telling stories and singing songs. His hands weren't big and powerful like her father's, but there was strength in them, and grace. When they had shared a trencher at their last meal at Thetford before their return, their shoulders had touched and if she had shifted her leg just a fraction, it would have pressed against his. She hadn't, but she had wanted to. He had fed her morsels from their meal and Mahelt had been aware of how close his fingers were to her teeth, and that she could have bitten him if she had wanted. When she had reciprocated and wiped a trace of sauce off the side of his mouth and then sucked her thumb, he had flushed and she had seen his breathing quicken. On their ride home he had kept more distance between them, but even so there had been scope for jesting and laughter and more songs. Oh yes, she enjoyed the heady pleasure of flirting. Framlingham was going to be a very dull place without him, when all she had were daydreams instead.