Read Online The Death of Robin Hood by Angus Donald - Free Book Online Page B

square face was flushed with drink, although it was not yet noon. He looked strained and exhausted, too, with bags under each eye.
    ‘He comes with promises of aid from King Philip?’ I said.
    ‘Empty promises most likely. And after that disgusting display with the kitten, I am inclined to send him straight back to Paris without giving him a moment of my time. But enough of him. What news of Rochester, Sir Alan?’ he said. ‘The castle cannot have fallen already. Why are you here? Have you deserted your post?’
    I bristled at the implication. ‘I have not,’ I said. ‘I come at the command of William d’Aubigny, with a personal message for you.’
    ‘Very well,’ said Fitzwalter, and he waved over a servant with a wine jug and sat on the bench. When we had both been served with brimming cups of red wine, had sipped and pledged each other’s health, he asked me to deliver my message.
    ‘King Johnhas come to Rochester in great force – with at least two and maybe as many as three thousand men.’
    ‘This is as we expected,’ said Fitzwalter. ‘Continue.’
    ‘They will have almost certainly taken the town by now and I expect they are besetting the castle walls. With such numbers, it cannot be long before Rochester Castle falls. D’Aubigny is well prepared to withstand them but he urges you to come with all speed, with as much strength as you can muster to its relief. Time is of the essence. You must ride to the relief of Rochester as soon as you possibly can.’
    ‘When last I looked,’ said Fitzwalter, draining his goblet and setting it on the window ledge, ‘I was in command of the Army of God, not d’Aubigny, nor your master Locksley. I – and I alone – will decide what we do and when.’
    I was taken aback. ‘I meant no disrespect, my lord, but each day will cost us dearly in the blood of good men. The sooner we can come to their relief the better.’
    ‘Rochester is a mighty bastion,’ he said. ‘If d’Aubigny cannot hold for a day or two without me then I don’t know why I entrusted the castle to him in the first place.’
    I stared at Fitzwalter. What possible reason could there be for his delay?
    He lowered his shoulders and attempted to smile charmingly.
    ‘You must trust me, Sir Alan,’ he said. ‘I have matters in hand – but we cannot leave London for some days yet. There are important affairs that must be discussed here first, vital concerns that are of greater import than the fate of a single castle.’
    I started to protest once more that men were most probably fighting against overwhelming numbers of enemies as we spoke, but Fitzwalter stopped me, almost rudely. ‘We cannot leave London now. That is final.’
    Then he smiled again. ‘Take your ease, my dear Alan, have something to eat; another glass or two of wine will take the edge off yoururgency. We will discuss this further tomorrow. Do you have somewhere to stay?’
    I said that I would be staying with a friend of my lord’s, a wealthy wine importer who had a huge house at Queen’s Hythe, on the river.
    ‘Excellent, I know the place well,’ he said, slapping my shoulder. ‘Now that I come to think of it, tomorrow may be a little difficult for me, but no matter – I will send for you when we are ready to ride. Have faith in me, have faith in our cause, Sir Alan, for God is on our side. It may appear that we are in difficulties at present but I promise you that we shall triumph in the end.’
    In the event, I spent a full week kicking my heels in the merchant’s house in Queen’s Hythe – my host was absent on business in Bordeaux, I was told, but, as Robin’s honoured representative, a chamber had been prepared for me and my every comfort was, if not anticipated, then swiftly fulfilled by the dozens of richly dressed servants in the house. After three days I sent a page to the Tower with a message for Fitzwalter, reminding him that with every passing day, it was likely the garrison of Rochester was being