"Which question was that?"

"I wondered who had actually placed the poison in your cup. Katherine said Eduard told her how it was done.

He sent one of his men into the bailey disguised as a farmer the day all the villagers showed up to assist with repairs to the keep."

Hugh studied the flames. "That was the same day that Vincent of Rivenhall came to dine. There was much confusion in the household that afternoon. It would have been a simple matter for someone to sneak into the kitchens."

"And equally simple to identify your cup after the midday meal. 'Tis the most grand of all the drinking vessels in this household."

"Aye."

"Hugh?"

"Hmm?"

"What questions do you intend to ask Eduard?"

Hugh stared into the flames. "I'm not yet certain. I'll think of some."

But Alice understood. Hugh wanted to know exactly what had happened that night some thirty years ago when Eduard had poisoned another cup of wine.

Hugh wanted to hear Eduard tell him with his own lips that Sir Matthew had intended to wed Margaret and claim his infant son.

Chapter 21

Hugh's soft black boots made no sound as he strode swiftly along the shadowed stone corridor but his ebony cloak snapped in the air. He was furious. "Damn it to the pit. Are you certain he is dead?"

"Aye, m'lord." Dunstan angled his torch as he turned a corner in the passageway. "One of the guards found him so a short while ago."

"Why was he not searched?" Hugh followed Dunstan around the bend in the corridor.

The underground passages of Scarcliffe Keep were not very different from the tunnels and caverns of the hillside caves. They were dark, cramped, and forbidding. No natural light reached this section of the keep where spices, grains, goods, and the occasional prisoner were stored.

"He was searched," Dunstan said. "But the guards looked for blades and other such weapons." He came to a halt in front of a dank chamber sealed with an iron grate.

Hugh looked at the contorted body of Eduard of Lockton, which lay sprawled on the floor of the chamber. Frustration rose like bile within him. There had been so many questions he had intended to put to Eduard, so much he had wanted to say to this man who had murdered his parents.

Most of all there had been the prospect of savoring both justice and revenge. Hugh had anticipated the satisfaction of those rich spices for so long that it took him some time to accept that they had been yanked from his grasp.

"No one found the poison he had secreted on his person, I see," Hugh muttered.

"Nay, m'lord. Mayhap 'tis just as well." Dunstan looked at Hugh. " 'Tis truly over now."

Hugh climbed the stone steps that led upward out of the bowels of the keep. He did not pause to think about where he was headed. He crossed the great hall, where preparations for the midday meal were under way. When he reached the tower stairs, he went up two more long flights of stone steps.

He reached the upper level of the tower, turned, and went down the corridor to Alice's study chamber. He opened the door without bothering to knock.

Alice looked up in surprise when he entered the chamber. She frowned in concern when she saw the expression on his face. "My lord." She closed the book that had been open on the desk. "What is it?"

"Eduard of Lockton took poison sometime during the night. He is dead."

Alice got up from her stool and came out from behind her desk. Without a word she went to Hugh and wrapped her arms around him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and said nothing.

Alice always comprehended him so well, Hugh thought. He did not have to put things into words for her.

He held her very tightly for a long time. After a while the bleak frustration that had seized him when he had learned that Eduard had escaped into death began to retreat.

A few more minutes passed in silence. Alice felt very soft and warm and good in his arms.

Eventually a sense of quiet peace stole over Hugh. The door to the past through which the cold storm winds had so often blown had finally been closed.

One month later on a crisp, fall morning, the watchtower guard cupped a hand around his mouth and shouted his news down into the busy bailey.

"Riders approach, m'lord. A knight and five men-at-arms. Also servants and a baggage wagon."

Hugh silenced the clamor of weapons practice with a swift signal. He looked up at the guard. "What colors does the knight carry?"

"Green and yellow, m'lord."

Hugh glanced at Dunstan. "Those are the colors of Erasmus of Thornewood."

"Aye." Dunstan frowned. " 'Twill likely be one of his men come to inform us of his lord's death."

Sadness washed through Hugh. He had been expecting the news; nevertheless, it still came as an unwelcome surprise. He knew then that he had dared to hope that Alice's recipe would help Erasmus.

Hugh shaded his eyes against the morning sun and looked up at the guard again. "Are you certain of the knight's colors?"

"Aye, m'lord." The guard studied the road. "A very rich lord, from the looks of his party. And well armed. There is a lady with them."

"A lady?" Hugh wondered if Erasmus's widow, Eleanor, had come in person to bring the news of her lord's death. He motioned to Benedict. "Fetch Alice. Quickly. Tell her we will have several guests, including a lady, for the midday meal."

"Aye, my lord." Benedict handed to Dunstan the bow with which he had been practicing, grabbed his staff, and hurried toward the hall steps.

A few minutes later the party of riders halted in front of the gates of Scarcliffe Keep and politely requested permission to enter. The guard waved them into the bailey.

Alice appeared in the doorway of the keep. She glanced inquiringly at Hugh.

"Who comes, my lord?"

"Someone who no doubt brings word of the death of my liege lord," Hugh said quietly.

"What makes you think he has died?" She scowled at him. "Did you forget to give him that recipe for a soothing potion that I sent with you to London?"

"Nay."

"You did tell his wife to make certain the doctors did not continue to bleed him, did you not?"

"Aye, Alice, I gave her your instructions, but everyone, including Erasmus, felt that the end was near. A man can often feel his own impending death."

"Ridiculous. From what you told me, he suffered only from extreme excitement of the nerves."

The visitors rode through the gate before Alice could continue her lecture. Hugh looked at the knight who led the small company. He stared first in disbelief and then in growing wonder at the familiar face.

"My lord," Hugh whispered.

"Well?" Alice asked impatiently. "Who is he?"

"Erasmus of Thornewood."

"Eyes of the Saints," Alice muttered. "I was afraid of this. Julian arrived only this morning. Why did he not bring us word that Sir Erasmus intended a visit? What good is a messenger who does not bring important messages?"

Hugh started to grin. "Do not be too hard on Julian. He has his uses." He went forward to greet his liege lord.

Erasmus brought his muscled stallion to a halt in the center of the bailey. Sunlight sparkled on rich robes and polished steel.

"Welcome, my lord." Hugh reached out to catch hold of the horse's bridle. "From the look of you, I would wager that you are no longer amusing yourself with arrangements for your own funeral."

"I have discovered that funerals are not nearly so entertaining as christenings." Erasmus smiled at Eleanor, who had halted her palfrey beside him. "And I am pleased to tell you that we intend to plan one or two new ones for the future."

Eleanor's face glowed with happiness as she looked down at Hugh. "I have come to thank your lady wife for making it possible."