The Unconventional Maiden

She hurried between the tents and, as she approached her father’s tent, thought she caught sight of a whisk of a red skirt as it vanished behind the next tent. No doubt it belonged to one of those loose women she had seen disappearing into the gloom the other night. Cautiously she drew back the flap of her father’s tent, praying that he was still talking business with his old friend in Calais.

Her prayer went unanswered.

Lying on the ground was her father with the jewelled hilt of a dagger sticking out of his back. Her heart began to pound in her chest and she felt sick as she fell on her knees beside his body. Her first instinct was to remove the dagger and see if he was breathing. But as she reached for it, there came a sound behind her. She whirled round, fearing that the murderer had returned, and saw Sir Gawain standing in the tent-opening.

For a moment she could not speak and then she cried, ‘Help me!’

Scowling, he took her by the shoulders, hoisted her to her feet and set her aside. Then, gritting his teeth, he hunkered down beside the body and searched for a pulse before looking up at her. ‘I am sorry, Mistress Llewellyn, but your father is dead.’

‘But—but he can’t be dead,’ she stammered, scarcely able to believe his words nor her own eyes.

‘Did you catch sight of anyone lurking outside as you approached?’ asked Gawain.

‘I—I thought I caught a glimpse of a woman’s scarlet skirts, but I cannot believe my father would have been—’ She fumbled for a camp stool and sat down. ‘Who could have done this?’ she asked in a bewildered voice.

Gawain remembered Master Llewellyn mentioning someone who might have wanted his son dead, but had refused to name names. Could he have confronted this person with his suspicions here in this tent and met his end at that villain’s hand? ‘Do you recognise this dagger at all?’ he asked, getting to his feet.

Beth stared at the elaborately decorated weapon and shuddered. ‘No, but I would wager that it is not the instrument of a hireling.’

Gawain agreed, frowning as he took a cloth from a pouch at his waist and wiped the blade. He wrapped the dagger in the cloth and placed it on the small table nearby. ‘Whoever did this must have been in a hurry to leave such a distinctive weapon behind. Perhaps he heard you approaching and made his escape via the back of the tent.’

Beth glanced at the canvas wall that divided the living area from the sleeping quarters. She opened her mouth to speak, but already Gawain had walked over to the dividing canvas wall and stepped through the opening. She hurried after him.

He was kneeling by the billowing outer wall of the tent; at the sound of her entry, he glanced over his shoulder. ‘The murderer most likely did make their escape this way. See how the bedding has been pushed aside and there are scuff marks on the ground and a couple of tent pegs have come loose. Perhaps the woman you caught sight of might have seen who it was and would recognise him again.’

Beth took a shaky breath. ‘Should we try to find her?’

‘Aye. Where are your servants?’ he asked abruptly. ‘You need someone with you.’

‘They were given leave to see the sights and were to return this evening.’ She swallowed the lump in her throat and added in a husky voice. ‘Jane and Sam have been with our family for years and this will be a terrible shock to them.’

Gawain rasped his unshaven jaw with a finger and his dark lashes hooded his eyes as his gaze washed over her and the froth of feminine garments sprawled on her bedding. ‘Perhaps someone tending a cooking fire nearby might have noticed whoever entered this tent. You will stay here and change your garments whilst I see if I can discover if that is so.’

She moistened her lips. ‘What if the murderer returns for the weapon?’

Gawain hesitated, then said reassuringly, ‘I will keep this tent in my sight, so I will see if anyone approaches it.’

She thanked him.

He brushed past her and vanished from her sight. For a moment she considered running after him, not wanting to be alone. Then she tilted her chin, knowing she must depend on herself for so many things from now on. With her father dead, she would now inherit his business. Even so it made sense to obey Sir Gawain’s order and change her clothing. Swiftly she stripped and donned a cream-coloured high-necked chemise, stockings, garters and a long-sleeved dark blue gown that fastened at the waist to reveal the underskirt of the chemise. The front of the gown was cut to an arch over her bosom and the neckline was fashionably square. She searched for the shoes with buckles that her father had insisted on having made for her in London before they came away. He had never bothered much about her appearance and she guessed that he had only done so recently because he was determined that she should attract a suitor. Well, his plan would come to naught. She would not marry, but run his business herself and make her mother proud of her. God grant that she was in heaven and able to look down on her. Father, too, now, she added forlornly.

Who could have killed him and why? She wiped her face with a drying cloth and then, with a shiver of apprehension and praying that Sir Gawain was keeping his promise, hastily coiled her braids beneath her headdress, the front of which was shaped like the gable of a house. Then from a box, inlaid with different kinds of woods, she took the simple cross of amethyst on a silver chain that had belonged to her mother and placed it about her neck. She smoothed down the conical-shaped skirts of her gown before picking up a blanket and leaving the sleeping quarters.

She gazed down at her father and then kissed his cheek. With trembling fingers she covered him with the blanket and then shot to her feet at the sound of footsteps outside. She gazed towards the tent opening with a racing heart and then sagged with relief as the flap lifted and Sir Gawain ducked his dark head and entered the tent.

‘Thank God, it is you! Did you discover anything?’ she asked.

‘A woman was seen entering this tent,’ he said curtly.

Beth was stunned. ‘I—I don’t believe it!’

Sir Gawain’s frown deepened. ‘She was wearing scarlet, so it seems likely that it was the woman of whom you caught a glimpse. Apparently she was tall for a female, so she could stand out in a crowd and be easily recognisable.’

‘I—I still don’t believe my father would entertain a woman alone in this tent,’ she said fiercely. ‘Maybe it was a man in disguise?’

‘I suppose that is possible,’ said Gawain slowly.

‘It’s also possible that it could have been just an opportunist thief who made the mistake of entering the tent, not realising Father was here.’ She seized on that idea because it was less frightening. ‘It could even have been an accident.’

Gawain did not look convinced and she guessed that he thought she was deceiving herself. ‘You’ll have to go through your possessions to see if aught is missing,’ he said.

Beth reached for the cross at her throat. ‘This was not taken.’

He stared at the lovely column of her neck and felt an unexpected urge to press kisses on her white skin and was stunned that he could feel such thoughts at such a moment. He had a need to clear his throat before saying, ‘Whoever it was must be found. I have initiated a search, but the men are also seeking the youth that one saw enter this tent shortly before I did. They gave me your description,’ said Gawain tersely.

‘You—you mean they think I could be responsible?’ gasped Beth.

‘Hush, woman, keep your voice down,’ growled Gawain. ‘We do not want folk knowing that you dress up as a youth. I told them that he must have escaped by crawling beneath the back of the tent as soon as he heard me enter.’

She sank on to a stool and chewed on her lip. ‘They will wonder why I did not see this youth and scream.’

‘Most likely they will believe that you returned while they were elsewhere. I asked another man to find a physician.’ He paused, ‘You’ll need to get rid of the male clothes you wore. Best give them to me to dispose of. Go, fetch them now.’

Beth hesitated.

He glowered at her. ‘Mistress Llewellyn, if you still have it in mind to continue with this charade, then forget it. You will never again don that costume while I am responsible for you.’

Beth’s head shot up. ‘But I am not your responsibility.’

Gawain hesitated, uncertain why he felt so reluctant to tell her that her father had made him her legal guardian. ‘Someone has to take care of you,’ he muttered.

‘I am able to bear the responsibility for myself,’ said Beth, squaring her shoulders.

Gawain scrutinised her pale, tear-stained but proud face. ‘I would not dispute that you are an extremely capable young woman. Having said that, I deem the circumstances in which you find yourself in right now would prove difficult for anyone. You will need my help to deal with the rigmarole involved in a suspicious death. This will have to be reported to the proper authorities and I will need to hand over the weapon. If fortune is with us, then someone will recognise it.’

They both looked towards the table where he had left the dagger wrapped in its cloth. It was not there! ‘The murderer must have come in and taken it whilst I was changing and you were outside!’ cried Beth.

Gawain frowned. ‘They’d have to be invisible or hellish quick.’

‘Of—of course,’ stammered Beth. ‘Perhaps it is on the ground!’ She dropped to her knees and Gawain hunkered down beside her. They bumped heads, both winced and hastily drew back.

‘Did I hurt you?’ asked Gawain, reaching forwards and straightening her headdress.

‘N-n-no!’ She felt breathless. ‘Did I hurt you?’

He smiled grimly. ‘I have a hard head.’

‘You’d need to have with all the fighting you do,’ she said, without thinking.

‘My fighting days are mostly over,’ he muttered, getting to his feet.

‘It must be here somewhere,’ she said, continuing to search whilst wondering what he meant by his words.

‘I’ll have the servants make a thorough search.’ He held a hand out to her and pulled her to her feet.

Beth saw him wince. ‘What is it? Are you hurt?’

‘It is nothing!’ He was not about to explain that he was suffering for his foolish behaviour in accepting the challenge to wrestle earlier. Why did he feel this need to prove his manhood just because Mary had been seen with another man? Especially when he knew it could result in more than a few bruises and strained muscles? It was not the same sense of rightness and pride that had resulted in him resigning his position in Henry’s Gentlemen of the Spears, whose duty it was to look to the king’s safety on the field of battle, at court and on ceremonial occasions such as this one.

‘I don’t believe you,’ blurted Beth. ‘You are obviously in pain.’

‘It is nothing,’ he repeated through clenched teeth. ‘I will need to report your father’s murder to Cardinal Wolsey.’

‘No! Father—’ She paused to swallow the tightness in her throat. ‘He—he did not like Cardinal Wolsey,’ she added weakly. ‘Could you not investigate my father’s murder instead?’

Gawain hesitated. ‘It wouldn’t be right. I could be a suspect.’

‘Why should you be?’ She was aware of a sense of unreality and felt sick, then added faintly, ‘I cannot believe this is all happening. It is as if I was taking part in a masque.’

‘You’re not about to swoon, are you?’ he asked, taking her arm and lowering her on to the stool, praying that she would soon recover her composure. ‘Come, you showed such strength earlier,’ he said encouragingly. ‘I did not mean that I really was a suspect. You can trust me.’

‘Then why say what you did? You might as well say I could be a suspect, too. I have much to gain by my father’s death,’ said Beth, shivering.

He realised that what she said was true, but surely she would not have killed her own father? There came the sound of voices outside the tent. ‘Go into your sleeping quarters and remain silent,’ he hissed. ‘I’d rather you left this to me.’

Beth hesitated, but then, still suffering from that sense of unreality, she decided she had to trust him and wasted no time in doing as he bid. She gathered together the clothes she had worn earlier and stuffed them inside her pallet of straw and lay down. She could hear the murmur of voices, but could not make out the words. She wished she could leave this tent now and never return. Yet somewhere outside lurked her father’s killer.

Beth did not know how long she lay on her pallet, waiting for Sir Gawain to call her. It seemed an age before the voices trailed off and she heard him call her name. Then she rose and went out to him and saw that her father’s body had been removed. ‘Where have they taken him?’ she asked.

‘To the village church until he can buried in the morning,’ said Gawain.

‘So soon,’ murmured Beth. Yet she understood that it was the only sensible action to take in such heat. ‘I—I will go there later and speak to the priest about having masses said for his soul.’

‘If that is what you wish, but in the meantime I must inform Wolsey what has happened.’ Gawain’s voice brooked no argument. ‘He organised this whole event. He would think there was something amiss if I did not report the matter to him.’

‘You know him well?’

‘We are acquainted due to my having spent time at court,’ said Gawain.

The colour in Beth’s cheeks ebbed and she thought how there would definitely be an enquiry now by the Cardinal. She hated the idea.

‘Did your father not have a business meeting this morning in Calais?’ asked Gawain.

She hesitated. ‘Aye, but what has that to do with this? Monsieur Le Brun is but a master printer and he and my father have done business together for as long as I can remember. He would never hurt him.’

‘Your father wouldn’t have considered him a suitable husband for you?’

‘What!’ She stared at him incredulously. ‘He is an old man. Besides, he has a wife and three sons.’

Gawain was relieved. ‘It was just a thought. Yet his conversation with your father earlier today might provide some clue to his murderer. With his being an old friend he might have spoken to him about matters he would not have told others. Do you know his whereabouts in Calais?’

Beth mentioned the name of a street.

‘Then I will go there,’ said Gawain. ‘But first I must speak to Wolsey.’

He drew back the tent flap and ushered her outside. Immediately the strong wind caught her and almost blew her off her feet. She clung to his arm as her skirts were whipped about her legs and she felt him stiffen. Obviously he did not want her touching him, so she released her hold on him and was aware of curious glances as they made their way past the tents.

‘I wish we had never come here,’ she said in a low voice. ‘But Father was adamant that I should see some of the places that he had visited with the king’s father when he was a penniless fugitive.’

‘Perhaps it will be worth mentioning the link between the Tudors and your family to Wolsey.’

‘I do not doubt he already knows of it,’ said Beth. ‘My Welsh great-grandfather fought beside the king’s great-grandfather, Owain ap Twydr, at Agincourt, but that did not mean much to Wolsey. He and Father met and they disagreed on matters of religion.’

‘I see,’ said Gawain, wondering if the Llewellyn menfolk had been involved in the printing of illegal religious tracts at any time and, if so, maybe that could have had something to do with their deaths? ‘Anyway, I am hopeful that when I explain the situation to the Cardinal, he will speak with the king and he will allow me to escort you back to England as soon as possible.’

‘Why should you want to do so?’ asked Beth, surprised. ‘Would you rather not stay here?’

‘I deem it my duty to see you safely home,’ he said firmly.

‘I still do not understand why you should feel responsible for me,’ said Beth. ‘I have my servants to accompany me.’

Gawain frowned. ‘Do not allow your pride to get in the way of common sense. Because of my position your passage will be more comfortable. Besides, you will be safer with me. Allow me to help you, Mistress Llewellyn.’

Beth did feel safer knowing that he was at her side, despite his overbearing and disapproving manner earlier. ‘I will do so for now, Sir Gawain, but do not feel that I will acquiesce so easily another time,’ she murmured.

‘I am not such a fool that I have forgotten our earlier exchange, Mistress Llewellyn,’ he said, then changed the subject. ‘Now, tell me your opinion of our king’s temporary palace.’

Beth saw that they were heading through the crowds to that edifice and could not help but marvel at what the old king’s money had built here in Balinghem. The palace was in four blocks with a central courtyard. The only solid part was the brick base and above that were thirty-foot-high walls made of cloth on timber frames, painted to look like stone or brick. The slanting roof was made of grey oiled cloth and gave the illusion of slates. There were huge expanses of expensive glass windows.

‘One cannot accuse our king of tightfistedness,’ said Gawain drily.

‘Do you like him?’ asked Beth in a low voice.

‘What is there not to like?’ parried Gawain.

Beth would have argued that was not a proper answer, but Gawain had turned away now and was talking to one of the guards. Once inside, it struck her that he knew a lot of people as he spoke to several of those there. ‘How will you find the Cardinal in this great edifice?’ she asked, glancing about her at the luxurious fittings and the profusion of golden ornaments.

‘A messenger has been sent to inform him that I seek an audience with him.’

‘Then you know for certain that Wolsey is here,’ she said, her fingers reaching for Gawain’s sleeve as he led the way to a bench, flanked by flowering shrubs in pots.

‘Aye, it is not unusual for him to work from dawn to dusk on the king’s behalf whilst his Majesty and his court enjoy themselves.’

She nodded, having heard it was so from Jonathan, who’d had acquaintances at court.

Gawain was soon summoned to the Cardinal’s presence. His dark blue eyes held Beth’s for a moment. ‘Do not fret. You are safer here than alone in your father’s tent. Only a lackwit would risk harming you with so many witnesses present.’

Beth nodded, wondering why he should think anyone should want to harm her. She carefully arranged her skirts as she sat down and watched him cross the sunlit space with a loose-limbed stride until he was out of sight. Then she freed a pent-up breath and prepared for what she guessed could be a long wait.

The time passed slowly and she was seized again by that sense of unreality. She felt set apart from the folk who came and went in colourful costumes, like so many peacocks, jays and magpies, chattering and shrieking with laughter. Now and then she was aware of glances being cast her way and wished that Sir Gawain would return. There were questions she wanted to ask him, such as why he should have even mentioned his being considered a suspect? Could it be possible that he had cause to want her left all alone in the world so that she might depend on him? Well, he was mistaken if he thought that was so because she could look after herself. She rose and crossed to one of the windows and gazed out on the courtyard where the fountains of wine flowed freely. Some people had already imbibed too much and were staggering about and carousing in voices that made her wince.

‘Mistress Llewellyn,’ said a voice behind her.

She turned swiftly, surprised by the strength in the surge of relief she felt, collided into Sir Gawain and was knocked off balance.

‘Careful,’ he murmured, fighting against the sensations caused by the swell of her breasts against him. He found himself imagining their pale softness with their rosy peaks and forced himself to hold her off at arm’s length. Beth Llewellyn’s father had deemed him her protector; until he found her a husband, that meant he must keep faith, whatever temptation she put in his path.

Chapter Two

‘Let’s get out of here,’ said Gawain, seizing Beth’s hand and hurrying her towards the outer door.

Beth thought he looked grim and her heart sank. ‘What—what happened? Did the Cardinal suspect that I am responsible for my father’s death and will not agree to my leaving France?’

‘Why do you think I should have put such thoughts into his head?’ said Gawain, glancing down at her pale face. ‘Is it that you overheard my conversation with your father that day we met in London?’

‘No!’ she cried, tripping over her hem in an attempt to keep up with him. ‘Please, of your courtesy, Sir Gawain, if you would just slow down! Your legs are so much longer than mine and I cannot keep up with you.’

Gawain begged her pardon and attempted to set his pace to match hers. It was not easy and he was impatient to reach his tent, hoping he would find his man, Tom Cobtree, there. He must not be alone with her.

‘Why do you ask about your conversation with my father and where are you taking me?’ she demanded.

‘To my tent. If fortune is with me, then my man will have returned and we will have something to eat and drink.’

‘What of my servants?’ asked Beth. ‘And will you tell me exactly what passed between you and the Cardinal, as well as my father?’

‘I told the Cardinal the facts and deemed it necessary to inform him of my suspicions concerning your brother’s so-called accident.’

Beth took a deep breath. ‘My brother’s so-called accident! Are you saying that Jonathan’s accident was no accident?’

‘Did your father not speak of it to you? Despite his reluctance to do so, I had hoped that he might have done,’ said Gawain.

Beth stopped in her tracks. ‘He has not spoken of it to me. Are you telling me now that my brother was murdered?’

‘I suspect it was so,’ said Gawain.

‘I don’t understand,’ she cried. ‘And how is it that my father should have involved you in the matter?’

‘If you’ll allow me to answer one question at a time, Mistress Llewellyn, instead of throwing them at me like spears, I will endeavour to do so.’

‘Likening my questions to spears is an odd way of referring to two simple questions,’ she retorted.

‘I felt you were suddenly beginning to regard me as your enemy. Your voice was getting shrill.’

‘My voice is not shrill,’ she denied.

A smile eased up the corners of his mouth. ‘It was certainly not dovelike, but let us not quarrel, Mistress Llewellyn.’

That unexpected smile did strange things to her and she found herself answering it with one of her own. ‘All right, I will calm down, but you must understand how difficult all this is for me.’

‘Of course I understand,’ said Gawain, his smile fading. ‘I will answer your first question. I had the boat your brother purchased raised and dragged ashore at low tide. Holes had been drilled into the hull.’

‘What!’ She was aghast. ‘Who would do this and how did Jonathan not spot the damage?’

‘I can only believe that the plugs were loosely put back into place; once it was afloat, the water forced them out. I had recently taken charge of the yard where the boat was built and your father came to me in great distress, searching for answers to why a newly made boat should sink.’

Beth was hurt that her father had kept such important information from her. When he had introduced her to Sir Gawain back in London, she had believed him to be just a new customer. ‘So you are a boat builder, as well as a knight,’ she said.

‘I am no boat builder. I own land in Kent where I rear sheep, as well as a whole swathe of forest on the Weald. I supply timber to several ship- and boat-building yards at Smallhythe and Greenwich.’

‘Does the king not have a palace at Greenwich?’

‘Aye. He takes a great interest in shipbuilding, as did his father. He is building a navy and that is how I came to Henry’s notice,’ said Gawain. ‘But we are digressing. Your brother …’ He paused.