World Without End

84

Caris was in tears as Sam was taken away, but Merthin could not pretend to be grief-stricken. It was a tragedy for Gwenda, and he felt desperately sorry for Wulfric. However, it was no bad thing, for the rest of the world, that Sam should be hanged. Jonno Reeve had been carrying out the law. It might well be a bad law, an unjust law, an oppressive law - but that did not give Sam the right to kill Jonno. After all, Nate Reeve was also bereaved. The fact that nobody liked Nate made no difference.

A thief was brought up before the bench, and Merthin and Caris left the courtroom and went into the parlor of the tavern. Merthin got some wine and poured a cup for Caris. A moment later, Gwenda came up to where they sat. 'It's noon,' she said. 'We have eighteen hours to save Sam.'

Merthin looked up at her in surprise. 'What do you propose?' he said.

'We must get Ralph to ask the king to pardon him.'

That seemed highly unlikely. 'How would you persuade him to do that?'

'I can't, obviously,' Gwenda said. 'But you can.'

Merthin felt trapped. He did not believe Sam deserved a pardon. On the other hand, it was hard to refuse a pleading mother. He said: 'I intervened with my brother on your behalf once before - do you remember?'

'Of course,' Gwenda said. 'Over Wulfric not inheriting his father's land.'

'He turned me down flat.'

'I know,' she said. 'But you have to try.'

'I'm not sure I'm the best person.'

'Who else would he even listen to?'

That was right. Merthin had little chance of success, but no one else had any.

Caris could see that he was reluctant, and she threw her weight in on Gwenda's side. 'Please, Merthin,' she said. 'Think how you would feel if it was Lolla.'

He was about to say that girls don't get into fights, then he realized that in Lolla's case it was all too likely. He sighed. 'I think this is a doomed enterprise,' he said. He looked at Caris. 'But, for your sake, I'll try.'

Gwenda said: 'Why don't you go now?'

'Because Ralph is still in court.'

'It's almost dinnertime. They'll be finished soon. You could wait in the private chamber.'

He had to admire her resolve. 'All right,' he said.

He left the parlor and walked around to the back of the tavern. A guard was standing outside the judge's private room. 'I'm the earl's brother,' Merthin said to the sentry. 'Alderman Merthin of Kingsbridge.'

'Yes, Alderman, I know you,' the guard said. 'I'm sure it will be all right for you to wait inside.'

Merthin went into the little room and sat down. He felt uncomfortable asking his brother for a favor. The two of them had not been close for decades. Ralph had long ago turned into something Merthin did not recognize. Merthin did not know the man who could rape Annet and murder Tilly. It seemed impossible that such a one could have grown from the boy Merthin had called his brother. Since their parents had died, they had not met except on formal occasions, and even then they spoke little. It was presumptuous of him to use their relationship as justification for asking for a privilege. He would not have done it for Gwenda. But for Caris, he had to.

He did not wait long. After a few minutes the judge and the earl came in. Merthin noticed that his brother's limp - the result of a wound suffered in the French wars - was getting worse as he aged.

Sir Lewis recognized Merthin and shook hands. Ralph did the same and said ironically: 'A visit from my brother is a rare pleasure.'

It was not an unfair jibe, and Merthin acknowledged it with a nod. 'On the other hand,' he said, 'I suppose that if anyone is entitled to plead with you for mercy, I am.'

'What need do you have of mercy? Did you kill someone?'

'Not yet.'

Sir Lewis chuckled.

Ralph said: 'What, then?'

'You and I have known Gwenda since we were all children together.'

Ralph nodded. 'I shot her dog with that bow you made.'

Merthin had forgotten that incident. It was an early sign of how Ralph was going to turn out, he realized with hindsight. 'Perhaps you owe her mercy on that account.'

'I think Nate Reeve's son is worth more than a damn dog, don't you?'

'I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. Just that you might balance cruelty then with kindness now.'

'Balance?' Ralph said, with anger rising in his voice, and Merthin knew then that his cause was lost. 'Balance?' He tapped his broken nose. 'What should I balance against this?' He pointed a finger aggressively at Merthin. 'I'll tell you why I won't give Sam a pardon. Because I looked at Wulfric's face in the courtroom today, as his son was declared guilty of murder, and do you know what I saw there? Fear. That insolent peasant is afraid of me, at last. He has been tamed.'

'He means so much to you?'

'I'd hang six men to see that look.'

Merthin was ready to give up, then he thought of Gwenda's grief, and he tried once more. 'If you've conquered him, your work is done, isn't it?' he argued. 'So let the boy go. Ask the king for a pardon.'

'No. I want to keep Wulfric the way he is.'

Merthin wished he had not come. Putting pressure on Ralph only brought out the worst in him. Merthin was appalled by his vengefulness and malice. He never wanted to speak to his brother again. The feeling was familiar: he had been through this with Ralph before. Somehow it always came as a shock to be reminded of what he was really like.

Merthin turned away. 'Well, I had to try,' he said. 'Good-bye.'

Ralph became cheery. 'Come up to the castle for dinner,' he said. 'The sheriff lays a good table. Bring Caris. We'll have a real talk. Philippa's with me - you like her, don't you?'

Merthin had no intention of going. 'Let me speak to Caris,' he said. Caris would rather have dinner with Lucifer, he knew.

'I may see you later, then.'

Merthin made his escape.

He returned to the parlor. Caris and Gwenda looked expectantly at him as he crossed the room. He shook his head. 'I did my best,' he said. 'I'm sorry.'

Gwenda had expected this. She was disappointed but not surprised. She had felt she had to try through Merthin. The other remedy she had at her disposal was so much more drastic.

She thanked Merthin perfunctorily and left the inn, heading for the castle on the hill. Wulfric and Davey had gone to a cheap tavern in the suburbs where they could get a filling dinner for a farthing. Wulfric was no good at this sort of thing anyway. His strength and honesty were useless in negotiations with Ralph and his kind.

Besides, Wulfric could not be allowed even to know about how she hoped to persuade Ralph.

As she was walking up the hill she heard horses behind her. She stopped and turned. It was Ralph and his entourage with the judge. She stood still and looked hard at Ralph, making sure he caught her eye as he passed. He would guess she was coming to see him.

A few minutes later she entered the courtyard of the castle, but access to the sheriff's house was barred. She made her way to the porch of the main building and spoke to the marshal of the hall. 'My name is Gwenda from Wigleigh,' she said. 'Please tell Earl Ralph I need to see him in private.'

'Yes, yes,' said the marshal. 'Look around you: all these people need to see the earl, the judge, or the sheriff.'

There were twenty or thirty people standing around the courtyard, some clutching rolls of parchment.

Gwenda was prepared to take a terrible risk to save her son from hanging - but she would not get the opportunity unless she succeeded in speaking to Ralph before dawn.

'How much?' she said to the marshal.

He looked at her with a little less disrespect. 'I can't promise he'll see you.'

'You can give him my name.'

'Two shillings. Twenty-four silver pennies.'

It was a lot of money, but Gwenda had all their savings in her purse. However, she was not yet ready to hand over the money. 'What is my name?' she said.

'I don't know.'

'I just told you. How can you give Earl Ralph my name if you can't remember it?'

He shrugged. 'Tell me again.'

'Gwenda from Wigleigh.'

'All right, I'll mention it to him.'

Gwenda slipped her hand into her purse, brought out a handful of little silver coins, and counted twenty-four. It was four weeks' wages for a laborer. She thought of the backbreaking work she had done to earn the money. Now this idle, supercilious doorkeeper was going to get it for doing next to nothing.

The marshal held out his hand.

She said: 'What's my name?'

'Gwenda.'

'Gwenda from where?'

'Wigleigh.' He added: 'That's where this morning's murderer came from, isn't it?'

She gave him the money. 'The earl will want to see me,' she said as forcefully as she could.

The marshal pocketed the coins.

Gwenda retreated into the courtyard, not knowing whether she had wasted her money.

A moment later she saw a familiar figure with a small head on wide shoulders: Alan Fernhill. That was a piece of luck. He was crossing from the stables to the hall. The other petitioners did not recognize him. Gwenda stood in his way. 'Hello, Alan,' she said.

'It's Sir Alan now.'

'Congratulations. Will you tell Ralph that I want to see him?'

'I don't need to ask you what it's about.'

'Say I want to meet him in private.'

Alan raised an eyebrow. 'No offense, but you were a girl last time. You're twenty years older today.'

'Do you think perhaps we should let him decide?'

'Of course.' He grinned insultingly. 'I know he remembers that afternoon at the Bell.'

Alan had been there, of course. He had watched Gwenda take off her dress, and stared at her naked body. He had seen her walk to the bed and kneel on the mattress, facing away. He had laughed coarsely when Ralph said she was better looking from behind.

She hid her revulsion and shame. 'I was hoping he would remember,' she said as neutrally as she could.

The other petitioners realized Alan must be someone important. They began to crowd around, speaking to him, begging and pleading. He pushed them aside and went into the hall.

Gwenda settled down to wait.

After an hour it was clear Ralph was not going to see her before dinner. She found a patch of ground that was not too muddy and sat with her back to a stone wall, but she never took her eyes off the entrance to the hall.

A second hour passed, and a third. Noblemen's dinners often went on all afternoon. Gwenda wondered how they could keep on eating and drinking for such a long time. Why did they not burst?

She had eaten nothing all day, but she was too tense to feel hungry.

It was gray April weather, and the sky began to darken early. Gwenda shivered on the cold ground, but she stayed where she was. This was her only chance.

Servants came out and lit torches around the courtyard. Lights appeared behind the shutters in some of the windows. Night fell, and Gwenda realized there were about twelve hours left until dawn. She thought of Sam, sitting on the floor in one of the underground chambers beneath the castle, and wondered if he was cold. She fought back tears.

It's not over yet, she told herself; but her courage was weakening.

A tall figure blocked the light from the nearest torch. She looked up to see Alan. Her heart leaped.

'Come with me,' he said.

She jumped to her feet and moved toward the hall door.

'Not that way.'

She looked inquiringly at him.

'You said privately, didn't you?' Alan said. 'He's not going to see you in the chamber he shares with the countess. Come this way.'

She followed him through a small door near the stables. He led her through several rooms and up a staircase. He opened a door to a narrow bedchamber. She stepped inside. Alan did not follow her in, but closed the door from the outside.

It was a low room almost completely filled by a bedstead. Ralph stood by the window in his undershirt. His boots and outer clothing were piled on the floor. His face was flushed with drink, but his speech was clear and steady. 'Take off your dress,' he said with a smile of anticipation.

Gwenda said: 'No.'

He looked startled.

'I'm not taking my clothes off,' she said.

'Why did you tell Alan you wanted to see me in private?'

'So that you would think I was willing to have sex with you.'

'But if not...why are you here?'

'To beg you to ask the king for a pardon.'

'But you're not offering yourself to me?'

'Why would I? I did that once before, and you broke your word. You reneged on the deal. I gave you my body, but you didn't give my husband his land.' She allowed the contempt she felt to be heard in her tone of voice. 'You would do the same again. Your honor is nothing. You remind me of my father.'

Ralph colored. It was an insult to tell an earl that he could not be trusted, and even more offensive to compare him with a landless laborer who trapped squirrels in the woods. Angrily he said: 'Do you imagine this is the way to persuade me?'

'No. But you're going to get that pardon.'

'Why?'

'Because Sam is your son.'

Ralph stared at her for a moment. 'Hah,' he said contemptuously. 'As if I would believe that.'

'He is your son,' she repeated.

'You can't prove that.'

'No, I can't,' she said. 'But you know that I lay with you at the Bell in Kingsbridge nine months before Sam was born. True, I lay with Wulfric, too. So which of you is his father? Look at the boy! He has some of Wulfric's mannerisms, yes - he has learned those, in twenty-two years. But look at his features.'

She saw a thoughtful expression appear on Ralph's face, and knew that something she had said had hit the mark.

'Most of all, think about his character,' she said, pressing home. 'You heard the evidence at the trial. Sam didn't just fight Jonno off, as Wulfric would have done. He didn't knock him down then help him up again, which would have been Wulfric's way. Wulfric is strong, and quick to anger, but he's tenderhearted. Sam is not. Sam hit Jonno with a spade, a blow that would have knocked any man senseless; then, before Jonno fell, Sam hit him again, even harder, although he was already helpless; and then, before Jonno's limp form reached the ground, Sam hit him a third time. If the Oldchurch peasants hadn't jumped on Sam and restrained him, he would have continued to lash out with that bloody spade until Jonno's head was smashed to a pulp. He wanted to kill!' She realized she was crying, and wiped the tears away with her sleeve.

Ralph was staring at her with a horrified look.

'Where does the killer instinct come from, Ralph?' she said. 'Look in your own black heart. Sam is your son. And, God forgive me, he's mine.'