âpoor childâââ
âI left her fast asleep,â Justin interrupted, âbut I am sure it would do her good if you would visit her later in the day.â
Adela nodded and murmured that Justin would be a most welcome guest. He doubted he would be, but with a glance at Goscelin, she left the room. Justin began to protest the invitation to stay, mentioning his need to discover if any carts had been stopped at the gates. Goscelin waved the protest away, saying he would send a messenger to make a round of the gates, whereupon Justin confessed that he had little hope of finding young Peter and Edmond there.
âYou think them still in the city?â Goscelin asked.
âThat is possible,â Justin allowed, âand if they are we will find them sooner or later, but I think they might have made off by boat, in which case they could have escaped us for good, and I was too stupid to think of that.â
Goscelin shook his head. âIt would have done you no good, even if the first thing you did was send a man-at-arms down to the dock. Unfortunately the boy Madame Lissa sent did not tell my servant that Flael was dead. Perhaps he was afraid or perhaps she told him to speak only to me. In any case, my servant did not tell me the boy was waiting until I had finished breaking my fast. I will admit at once, before you can think of it yourself, that by the time I sent for you, it would have been too late to catch them.â
âPerhaps so,â Justin said wryly, âbut perhaps not. It is not so easy to get a horse and cart through those streets, and no boat would take them aboard before the catch of fish was unloaded. If I had arrived at the house with all my wits workingââ
âIn any case, I am sure the sons are not guilty,â Goscelin insisted. âYoung Peter and Edmond would not have harmed their father. In the name of God, why should you suspect them?â
âI suppose because they ran,â Justin said, moving to the chair at which Goscelin gestured, and when the alderman had seated himself too, he began to tell Goscelin about Peter de Flaelâs death.
âHe was tortured after he was dead!â Goscelin exclaimed. âAnd none of the wounds could have killed him?â
Justin shrugged and nodded. âSo I believe. I hope the brothers from Bartholomewâs Hospital will find some answer to how he died when they prepare the body for burial.â
âFlael was an old man and not a brave one,â the alderman remarked thoughtfully. âCould it be that he was not murdered at all, but died of fright?â
âThat is murder to me,â Justin stated, and after a moment, Goscelin sighed and nodded, and Justin gave him a summary of what Lissa had said and the servantsâ evidence.
âDo not let yourself be led astray by the boy Wittaâs feelings,â Goscelin said. âFlael was a good father, and his sons truly loved him. He was not ungenerous to them. I do not know why they ran away, but I would guessââ
âYou do not think they fled with the strongboxes because they feared the new wife had supplanted them in their fatherâs affections and seduced the old man into making a will that excluded them?â
âNo,â Goscelin said, his shrewd eyes hard. âI did some business with Flael just before his marriage and spoke to him after he and his wife returned from Canterbury. I do not know why he married Heloise Bowles, but it was not for love. I am certain it was some business arrangement.â
âA business arrangement with William Bowles?â Justin asked with raised brows.
âNo,â Goscelin replied, frowning, âalthough Bowles is rich, richer than he allows to show, and I think he has FitzWalterâs ear. Still, Flael was, I am sure, too clever to want any permanent connection with Bowles himself. But the girl has uncles in the Hanseââ
Before Goscelin could finish the
Anne Conley
Robert T. Jeschonek
Chris Lynch
Jessica Morrison
Sally Beauman
Debbie Macomber
Jeanne Bannon
Carla Kelly
Fiona Quinn
Paul Henke