A Dishonorable Knight

Chapter 31

"And you've no idea when you were set upon by these two large men?" Sir Jasper asked the bleary-eyed Osgood.

"I told ye, sir, I was on watch since dawn this morning. Since there's no windows down there, I've no idea if it was morning or evening, day or night. All I knows is that these two men came down and knocked me over the head. I only came to when my relief came on duty and that was not more than an hour ago. If ye look here," Osgood said, bending his head and pointing to the top of his head. "I've got the knot on my head to prove my story."

Sir Jasper scrutinized the increasing bump beneath the guard's greasy hair and asked, "Where, then, did this tankard, which smells like it had good wine in it, come from?"

Osgood swallowed visibly and shrugged his beefy shoulders. "I guess one of the men who attacked me brung it with them."

"So you didn't have even a sip?"

"Well, uh--"

Sir Jasper held up a hand and said, "Before you answer, Osgood, you should know that the guard who found you smelled spirits on your breath and spilled wine on your shirt. Are you sure you didn't merely pass out from drink allowing the prisoner to escape on his own?"

"No sir! I was knocked unconscious! See? Here's the bump I got. It still hurts, too."

"Yes, I've already examined it, Osgood. I'm sure it does hurt. But you did drink the wine, did you not?"

Not overly keen even when sober, Osgood's befuddled mind succumbed to Sir Jasper's gentle but insistent questioning. "Yes, sir, I did. I'd been on watch since dawn and I hadn't had a bite or drink all day."

"I understand. Where did you get the wine from?"

Clearly, Osgood had not thought of a response to this question, but one look at Sir Jasper's set face told him the man would accept nothing but the truth. "A lady."

"What lady? A serving maid?"

"No sir. She was a lady. She smelled real good and she didn't talk like a wench."

"Did this belong to her?" Sir Jasper held up the delicate necklace Osgood had pulled off of Elena with his drunken clumsiness.

"I don't recall." Belatedly seeing a way to shift some of the guilt, he changed his story and embroidered it as well as his feeble imagination would allow. "Actually, I think I broke that when I was fighting her for the keys. Ye see, she gave me this wine and said food was on the way. I thought she was just a wench bringing me my dinner so I started to drink it. There must have been witchcraft in it because it was stronger than any wine I've ever drunk. Anyhow, when she saw it was affecting me, she grabs for my keys, but I tried to fend her off. That's when I must have broke her necklace. Then she pounds me on the head and knocks me out."

"I see," Sir Jasper said with a frown. "And I don't suppose you've seen her before or know who she might be?"

Osgood shook his head gingerly for it still throbbed. "I thought she was a new servin' wench bringing me my supper."

"I thought you said she was definitely a lady."

Osgood licked his lips. "Well, lady, wench, not much difference, eh?"

Sir Jasper pressed against his temples with the thumb and midfinger of his right hand. Dropping his hand, he returned his weary gaze to Osgood. "Do you remember what she looked like?"

"She was real pretty."

Sir Jasper waited for more information. When none was forthcoming, he prodded, "Her hair? Her eyes? Do you remember their color? How about the color of her gown? Surely you must remember more than that she was pretty."

"It's real dark down there and she did trick me into drinking that wine. But it seems..." Sir Jasper felt he could see Osgood's mind struggling to remember. "It seems she told me her name. It was Clarice." Osgood shook his head. "No, but something like that."

Sir Jasper's patience clearly shortening, he said, "Oh very well. She's pretty and her name is something like Clarice."

The strain in the knight's voice was not lost on Osgood and fearing for life and limb--no one allowed a prisoner to escape in King Richard's guard--Osgood kept babbling. "No, it wasn't Clarice, it was...Catherine! That's it! I swear it on the grave of my father, whoever he may be. Her name was Catherine. She told me right before she hit me with the tankard. Her name was Catherine and she was real pretty and she smelled good. I think her dress was red and she had long silky hair," Osgood was obviously making up things now, so worried was he that Sir Jasper would have him flogged. "She was real fair, too."

With a loud sigh, Sir Jasper said, "You are dismissed, Osgood. Return to the barracks and do not leave until I grant you permission. If you remember anything else, send word to me immediately."

Osgood bowed awkwardly and backed out of the room, congratulating himself for having so cleverly gotten out of that mess.

In the small antechamber where he had questioned the simple-minded guard, Sir Jasper wondered what in all of England would have possessed Lady Catherine to assist Gareth in escaping. Had she taken a fancy to the young knight? Sir Jasper didn't see how the two would have even come in contact with each other, but there was no accounting for the fancies of the young. What the king would do to the chit, he knew not. Shaking his head in pity for the no-doubt love struck lass, Sir Jasper rose and left the room to search out the king.

***

"Lady Catherine."

"Your Majesty," Catherine said with a deep curtsey. This was it, she thought. He was now going to tell her that she would become a countess as soon as her wedding trousseau could be prepared. She had been nothing but honeyed sweetness to Earl Brackley and she had no doubt he was well taken with her. She had even thought of a way to convince her new husband to allow her to remain at court for a while so she could lord her exalted position over the other ladies who had thought her a ninny since she first came to court, nine months before. Smoothing her face into a pleasant expression that could instantly pinken with surprised pleasure at the news the king was sure to impart, she looked up into Richard's narrowed gaze. What she heard made her mouth drop open in an unbecoming gape.

"Lady Catherine, how is it that you came to help Gareth ap Morgan escape from Our prison this day? Do you not know that you have committed an act of most heinous treason?"

"What? Gareth who? Your Majesty, I--"

Richard slammed his hand down on the arm of his chair. "Do not toy with Us, lady. We are well enraged at your betrayal as it is. Where is Gareth ap Morgan? Has he left for France to meet up with the dog Tudor or is he headed for Wales?"

Though her legs were quaking with the effort to remain standing, Catherine cleared her throat and said, "Your Majesty, I humbly beg your forgiveness, for I do not know of what you speak. Who has escaped? What have I done?"

"That is what We would like to know." Richard's voice was hoarse with anger.

Sir Jasper stepped forward and without the king's permission, addressed Catherine. "Good Lady, were you in the lower chambers anytime today?"

"Heaven forbid, no! It's horribly nasty down there. Why on earth should I go there?"

"Would you mind telling us where you spent the day?"

"I was with His Majesty's entourage as he hunted! Remember Your Majesty? I rode with the Earl of Brackley? I was wearing a blue gown."

Sir Jasper turned to Richard for confirmation. Grudgingly, the king answered, "I do not remember seeing you with Us, but I did authorize your presence with Us."

Turning back to the nervous Catherine, Sir Jasper asked, "And what did you do upon returning to the castle?"

"I went upstairs to bathe and dress for the evening meal. Margaret was in the room, you can ask her."

"That won't be necessary." Pulling the broken necklace from his pocket, Sir Jasper asked Catherine, "Is this yours, my lady? A guard found it and thought he had seen it round your neck."

Catherine recognized the expensive piece as Elena's and was tempted to claim it since Elena would never be back for it. Her lingering fear over being barked at by the king stopped her. "No, Sir Knight. That necklace belongs to Ele--Lady Elena."

King Richard stood so abruptly and forcefully that his chair tipped backwards, crashing loudly against the stone floor. "Of course it does," he bellowed. "Why have you wasted Our time, Jasper? By now that conniving bitch could be anywhere. She's probably met up with Morgan by now and they are on their way to tell Tudor all they can about my troops!"

Catherine's eyes were wide with fear and surprise at seeing Richard nearly mad with rage. Bowing quickly, she backed out of the room as fast as she could. Once outside the room, she leaned against the cold damp wall and tried to stop her trembling. For an instant in there, she had thought to visit the executioner at dawn. Now that she was safely out of Richard's sight, she realized that his rage was directed at Elena and she smiled. Straightening from the wall, she began humming a tuneless song as she walked upstairs. Perhaps it does help to tell the truth, she thought.