Chapter 20 #2
Galeran remembered to suck in a breath. Coming out of his shock, he noticed that FitzRoger had entered and was standing just behind the king's throne as if waiting to speak.
"...Brother Garth agreed with me that such deaths do occur, with no reason being obvious.
Generally the child is younger than Gallot, but all particulars of Gallot's death match cases he has known.
It seems it must be put down to an act of God, that He in His wisdom decided to take the sweet child to His bosom. "
"So be it," said the king shortly. "I see no cause to look longer at such an insoluble mystery, and it is surely wrong to cast stones when there is no certainty of guilt. If anyone has sinned, God in His wisdom will act."
Henry looked at Lord William as he spoke, and it was almost as if he spoke of the suspicions about himself and his brother's death.
Speaking briskly, the king continued. "It seems to me, also, that there is grave doubt about this betrothal document.
Grave enough doubt for me to dismiss it unless some evidence can be brought forward to support it.
Since all the formal witnesses are dead, this will prove difficult.
" He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm sure you, my lord Bishop of Durham, took the document's validity on trust. But Raymond of Lowick must have known he was party to a deliberate deception. "
At this swift change of focus, Lowick turned pale. He stood. "With all due respect, sire, I maintain the validity of that document, and claim the right to prove it in battle."
Henry looked nothing so much as exasperated, and Galeran suspected it was true that he saw such court battles as a waste of good fighting men. Galeran felt much the same way, and any desire he'd had to kill Lowick had drained away. The man had been used by Jehanne and duped by Flambard.
And he had spoken up to save Jehanne from harm.
FitzRoger stepped forward at this point to lean close to Henry and murmur in his ear. The king's expression changed again.
What now? Galeran wondered with a twist in his gut.
He wanted to leap up. Act. Do any crazy thing to end this sneaking through truth toward safety. Jehanne was probably safe from the worst punishment, and the Bishop of London had provided the compromise that would leave Donata with Galeran and Jehanne.
If their marriage could be preserved.
That marriage hung in the balance, however, if the king permitted an ordeal by sword. If Galeran died on Lowick's blade, God would have become substitute for all those dead witnesses and Jehanne would be Lowick's wife.
Galeran watched the king and his champion, wondering if they were arranging the details of a court battle. Then FitzRoger straightened and Henry's perceptive eyes scanned the people in front of him.
"Lord Galeran," he said, "would you not agree that an adulterous wife must be punished?"
Shocked by this turn, Galeran had to rearrange his mind before he could answer. "Sire, a lecherous one, perhaps. But not one briefly demented by grief."
"But as the Bishop of Durham says, repentance can be faked, as can madness, and it is often necessary to make a public example of sinners. What if I were to command you to whip your wife, to show the world that such infidelity is not to be tolerated?"
Galeran stared at the king, who had had so many lovers. Many married. Many of whom had borne him bastard children. As far as he knew, not one had been punished for her sin. "If it were your judgment, sire," he said slowly, "then I would have to obey."
He hoped Henry heard the message that by such a judgment he would lose a loyal subject. He hoped FitzRoger had passed on his veiled warning the other day.
Henry showed no reaction, and turned to Lowick. "Sir Raymond, by your account you could lay claim to the right to punish the Lady Jehanne for her seduction of you, to the peril of your immortal soul. Would you claim such a right?"
Lowick flushed. "Nay, sire! I have no wish to see Jehanne hurt in any way. When I left Heywood, I begged her to accompany me to a safe haven I wanted to save her from just such a punishment. I have only ever wanted to protect her and my child."
And that, thought Galeran with surprise, was probably the truth, allowing for the fact that Lowick desperately wanted Heywood too.
Henry turned last to Flambard. "My lord bishop, what is your view of this?"
The bishop's eyes flickered uncertainly for a moment. "I gave judgment, my liege, and the Lady Jehanne deliberately evaded it."
"So you feel she deserves to be whipped for that evasion?"
Again Flambard's eyes searched the room as if seeking missing information. Galeran glanced at FitzRoger, wondering what news he had brought to start this new line of questions.
"Well, my lord bishop?" the king prompted.
"Yes, sire. Apart from her sin of adultery, the lady has demonstrated that she is willful and eaten by pride. She needs physical penance to help her see the error of her ways so that she may find salvation. If she could but be brought to submit herself to it."
Henry smiled. "But she has submitted to correction, and willingly. Hasn't she?"
"Willingly?" Flambard's alarmed query was drowned by Galeran's "What correction?"
His father threw out an arm to block him, and Raoul clamped a hand on his shoulder, so that with difficulty he was kept in his seat.
"Lord FitzRoger has something to report," said Henry.
The king's champion stepped forward. "By his majesty's orders, the Lady Jehanne, her cousin, her babe, and the babe's nurse were taken to St. Hilda's convent here in the city.
Since the lady and her child were a source of contention, his majesty felt that they would be safer in custody there.
In case the lady had any improper intentions, such as fleeing with her lover before judgment could be made, it was ordered that they all be kept in locked quarters until this hearing was over.
That was the extent of the king's orders. "
Galeran looked around the room again, seeking what lay beneath all this. He did remember that when he visited her, Jehanne was being kept apart.
Lowick looked puzzled.
Flambard was sweating.
"The mother superior of St. Hilda's is very strict," continued FitzRoger, "and a firm believer in physical chastisement to drive out sin.
When she heard the full story of the Lady Jehanne's wrongdoing, and was told that the lady had refused to accept the penance laid on her by a bishop, she needed little encouragement to lay on the rod. "
"Dear God..." Galeran whispered, again kept on his bench only by his father and Raoul.
"Steady, lad," murmured his father. "Steady."
"The lady has been beaten?" asked the king.
"The lady has been given ten strokes at each of the five canonical hours since she arrived at the convent. I intervened before the full measure could be delivered at terce today."
Galeran would not be restrained this time. He surged to his feet. "Who ordered this?"
"Why, Bishop Flambard, of course."
Galeran grabbed the front of the bishop's robe before anyone could stop him. "Then I think the bishop should meet my sword."
"Hold Lord Galeran!" Henry's hand settled over Galeran's fist, which still gripped Flambard's silk robe. The king had left his throne.
"I believe I have a prior claim," said Henry softly, squeezing Galeran's hand with remarkable strength and in clear command. But it was the cold menace in the king's voice that made Galeran release his grip.
Menace directed not at him, but at the bishop.
"Mine is the power," said Henry softly. "Mine is the judgment. By what right, my lord bishop, do you overrule my orders?"
Flambard's now-pasty skin was running with sweat. It was not surprising. He was facing the man who had bare-handedly tossed a man off the battlements of Rouen for opposing him.
"I did not overrule your orders, sire. But I have the right as a prince of the Church to impose penance for sin."
"What penance would you ordain, then, for the forgery of a betrothal document?"
Flambard actually stepped back until he bumped up against the bench. "If it is a forgery, sire, I had no part of it!"
"Did you not? Careful inquiries in the north will reveal the truth." The king turned suddenly to Lowick. "Well, Sir Raymond? Speak the truth! Was there a prior betrothal?"
Raymond, equally white, dropped to his knees under the blast of the king's rage. "No, sire! There was talk of it. But Jehanne's brothers died before it was arranged."
"But you loved the lady and thought her yours by right?" Henry was speaking more calmly now. "You thought, perhaps, that you were betrothed in spirit." The king was offering Lowick escape if he had wit to take it.
He had.
He bowed his head. "Yes, sire. And when the Lady Jehanne bore me a child, I sought only to secure their safety with me. I most humbly beg your mercy."
Henry went so far as to raise Lowick with his own hands, smiling, though his color was still high. "And it was Bishop Flambard who devised the plan of pretending that the betrothal had really taken place?"
"Yes, sire."
"And it was he who provided the document?"
"Yes, sire."
Having obtained the testimony he needed, Henry turned from Lowick to look at Flambard.
"What was the bishop's purpose, I wonder?
Can we believe that he was so stirred by your lovelorn state, by the danger to your leman and her child, that he felt obliged to risk his position, his very life, to assist you? "
Again, stillness settled on the room, for they had come to the crux of it, and Flambard's terror was stamped on his face.
"Well, Sir Raymond?" asked the king almost sweetly, never taking his eyes off Flambard. "Tell us what explanation the bishop gave for helping you try to gain control of Heywood Castle."
Lowick stared around, and Galeran felt genuinely sorry for him. He was teetering on the edge of treasonous matters, and knew it.