Read Online Hugh Corbett 11 - The Demon Archer by Paul Doherty - Free Book Online

to disappoint our guests.’
    ‘Were they ill?’
    Sir William narrowed his eyes. ‘No, now you ask it, I don’t think they were. My brother and I were too embarrassed to ask but they showed no ill effects.’
    Cantrone was still standing silently, almost like a statue, lost in his own thoughts.
    ‘Have you discussed this with your household physician?’ Corbett queried. ‘I mean, you and your brother were violently ill but, apparently, no one else was?’
    William licked his dry lips.
    ‘And you know my next question?’ Corbett insisted.
    ‘And the answer is yes,’ Sir William replied. ‘My brother and I, we shared a special flask of wine.’
    ‘Who brought it?’
    ‘I – I don’t know. It was unstoppered by one of the servants.’
    ‘And you felt no ill effects before that?’
    ‘None.’
    ‘Who else was in the lodge?’
    ‘Seigneur de Craon, members of his household, our retainers. Oh, and Verlian as well as Brother Cosmas the priest at St Oswald’s. He came to deliver warnings.’
    ‘What about?’
    ‘My brother was a harsh lord, Sir Hugh. He enforced the forest law with great vigour.’
    ‘Ah yes, I’ve heard of the steel traps laid out in the forest. Poachers who’ve had their ears cut and noses slit for the first offence then been hanged out of hand for the second.’
    ‘The lords of Savernake have the right of axe and tumbril.’
    ‘Not while I’m here!’ Corbett snapped. ‘But I’ll come to that in a moment. Do you realise what you are saying, Sir William? It would seem that someone tried to poison you and your brother. Everything becomes tangled,’ Corbett continued. ‘Some might even whisper that you were not ill though your brother was.’
    Sir William’s face suffused with rage.
    ‘What are you saying?’ His hand went to the dagger hanging from a ring on his belt.
    ‘Don’t touch it!’ Corbett warned. ‘Ranulf is of a quick disposition and may misunderstand you. Moreover, in these matters, Sir William, I must remind you that I represent the King. Look.’ Corbett sighed. ‘I merely point out what gossips might say. It would seem that someone did plot mischief against you at Beauclerc hunting lodge but facts can be twisted; people can jump to false conclusions.’
    ‘And if false conclusions can be drawn by you, Sir William,’ Ranulf intervened, ‘they can about Robert Verlian. All of Ashdown knows you hunted him through the forest, intent on his life.’
    Sir William swallowed hard. ‘He killed my brother. He fled.’
    ‘You have no proof,’ Corbett countered. ‘And while I am here, Sir William, such actions will cease forthwith. Anyway, we were talking about your whereabouts when your brother was killed.’
    ‘I went in the trees,’ Sir William blustered. ‘Quite a distance away. I undid my points, I relieved myself. When I came back my brother was dead.’
    ‘And you stayed and grieved?’
    ‘You know what I did! My brother had an arrow through his heart. He was dead, there was nothing I could do.’
    ‘So you took horse. You and your faithful retainers rode back to the manor leaving others to bring your brother’s corpse back?’
    ‘Lord Henry was dead,’ Sir William repeated. ‘It is well known, Sir Hugh, what happens when a manor lord dies suddenly. Servants turn to plundering and pilfering. Ashdown Manor houses many treasures. If you accept the courtesies of staying there you’d see that for yourself.’
    Corbett crouched down again to examine the stain on the ground.
    ‘I thank you for your courtesy, Sir William, but you know Seigneur de Craon resides with you. It would not be appropriate for us to share the same roof.’ He got to his feet and looked at the holes along the ground. ‘This is where the hunting palisade was erected?’
    ‘Yes, I’ve had it taken down.’
    But Corbett wasn’t listening. He was already striding across the dell. Ranulf looked and Sir William shrugged and they followed. On the far side Corbett was already pushing