A Knight Of Honour Part 1

A Knight Of Honour.

Anne Herries.

Chapter One.

'My lady, have a care!'

Elona, daughter of Lord John de Barre, glanced back at her companion, the light of laughter in her eyes. Her long red hair streamed out in the breeze behind her for she wore no head covering. She was a beautiful girl and had the delicate colouring of her mother, a Scotswoman who had married at seventeen, given birth to a son and then a daughter and died, leaving her husband distraught. Elona also had her mother's temper, which could flare easily and disappear as swiftly as if it had never been. But she was undoubtedly a woman of compa.s.sion, loving and loyal to those she cared for, and the person she cared for most in the world was her father. Lord John de Barre.

'Catch me if you can,' she called to her squire in a spirit of defiance.

This past year had been hard to bear, for first the shocking murder of her beloved brother Pierre, and then the natural death of her kind and loving stepmother Elizabeth, had left her saddened and concerned for her ailing father.

The lady Elizabeth had been English, a good kind woman who had seen to Elona's welfare and loved her as a mother. Both Elona and her father had mourned her sincerely when she'd died earlier that year, but Pierre's death had broken Lord de Barre's spirit, leaving him aged and ill. Elona had feared for him these past months.

Now, however, she glanced over her shoulder at the young man, bending over her horse's neck as she recklessly urged it to go faster. She had always ridden fearlessly, taught by both her father and brother who were proud of the lovely girl.

'You should have been a boy!' Pierre had teased her unmercifully as a young girl, but he had loved her. She missed him terribly and had turned in her loneliness to the young squire, William de Grenville, who was accompanying her that morning.

Seeing that he had no hope of catching her on his horse, which was a sluggard compared to her own, Elona slowed, allowing him to come up with her.

'One day you will take a tumble and break your neck,' Will said, giving her a stern look. 'And your father will blame me for not taking better care of you.'

'Poor Will,' Elona said, her eyes sparkling. 'That would be unfair since I do as I please and you have no power to compel me.' Yet she sighed, knowing he was right to urge caution. 'You do well to chide me, sir. My father suffers enough as it is. He would be alone if I died.'

'He would not be the only one to mourn for you, my lady.'

Will's dark eyes seemed to smoulder with pa.s.sion as he looked at her and Elona smiled. She was well aware that he loved her and sometimes she was sure that she loved him. Of course, he was not a knight and, unless he earned his spurs, could not expect to marry the daughter of John de Barre. Yet there was time enough. She was but seventeen and in no hurry to wed.

A frown wrinkled her smooth forehead. Elona knew that her father had recently received an offer for her hand. He had refused it at once, for it came from Baron Danewold, a man both she and her father disliked intensely. They knew that the Baron coveted the rich lands that marched side by side with those belonging to his first wife, and the two men had argued over boundaries before now. Although there could be no proof, Lord de Barre believed that the Baron was behind the brutal murder of his son, possibly in the expectation that he would die and leave his daughter unprotected. However, despite increasingly frail health, Elona's father had clung to life and hoped to continue until his daughter was safely married.

They had reached her father's fortified manor house and Will came to help her down from her mount, his hands lingering a little longer than necessary about her waist and bringing a flush to her cheeks. She smiled at him, but said nothing; she was not yet certain of her own feelings regarding the young man. It might suit her to wed him and yet it might not.

'Thank you, Will,' she told him. 'If it is fine, we shall ride again tomorrow.'

'Yes, my lady. You know I wait only to serve you.'

The look he gave her burned so deep that Elona felt an odd sensation low in her abdomen. He had a soft kissable mouth and she had oft wondered what it might be like to be held in Will's strong arms. If only he had earned his spurs, she might then look upon him with favour without fear of her father's reproach.

She ran into the house, her fine leather slippers making no sound on the flagstones in the great hall where a fire was kept burning, even in the heat of summer, for the house was never truly warm. Today it struck cold, though outside it had been a warm spring day. In this northerly region of France the spring might be as warm as summer or cold, but today was somewhere between the two.

Elona turned towards the curving stone staircase that led to her solar and bedchamber, but her father's steward called to her as she put her foot upon the first stair.

'Ah, well met, my lady,' Griffin said and smiled at his lord's daughter. He found her a lovely woman, spirited and sometimes reckless, but generous and caring towards her father, who, though fond of her, had often neglected her in favour of her brother. Daughters were not sons, after all, and, while he lived, Pierre had been his father's favourite. 'Lord de Barre requests the pleasure of your company in his private chamber. I was about to come in search of you, but you have saved me a journey.'

'Then I am glad of it,' she replied with a smile. Like her father, the steward was well past his youth and suffered with aching joints, particularly in the wet weather. 'I shall come at once. I know my father has been expecting news. Perhaps it has arrived.'

'He will tell you himself, lady,' the steward said, wondering how the lady would take the news that her father had decided upon a marriage for her. It was the custom for a father to make these arrangements, but the Lady Elona did not always take kindly to being told that something was signed and sealed without her consent. Griffin had advised caution, but his lord was in truth of much the same temperament as his fiery daughter. 'I dare say 'tis best that he does.'

'That means I shan't like it,' Elona said and pulled a wry face. She did not waste time in answering her father's summons, however, for that would avail her nothing. She must listen first and then plead her case if need be. She was well aware of what the probable news would be, but did not yet have any idea of who might have been chosen to be her husband.

Griffin did not reply. He was ever the diplomat, she thought and did not press him. It was not his decision, after all, but her father's.

John de Barre smiled at his daughter as she entered the small room that served as his private chamber. Situated just off the great hall it allowed him to be aware of what was going on, and yet seek the solitude he needed more and more these days.

'The ride has done you good, child,' he said as she went to kiss his cheek. 'You look beautiful-but then you always do, just like your mother.' A sigh escaped him. He had never ceased to mourn his first wife, though he had never blamed Elona for her death. A child must be born by her parents' consent and could not be blamed if the mother died.

'Are you unwell, Father? You look tired?'

As well he might, since the letter from England had arrived the previous evening, keeping him awake throughout the dark hours. Yet he had wrestled with the selfish emotions that told him to keep his daughter by him and won. It was for her sake that he had written, for he sensed that his time was near and she must be protected from the evil that he feared might come to her if he were dead.

'I am a little tired, but my health is the same as always,' he replied and took her hand, leading her to the solid bench beside his fire. Cushions sewn by Elona herself for his comfort were piled against the hard back, but he chose to remain standing, motioning her to sit down. 'Please rest, my dear. I have something to tell you. Shall I send for wine and biscuits to refresh you before I begin?'

A slight smile touched her mouth. 'Do you hope to sweeten the taste, Father? Was your letter to my kinswoman successful?'

'Yes, indeed. Lady Alayne de Banewulf was everything that is kind and generous in her letter. She was sorry to hear of your stepmother's death and. . .of other things.' The Lord de Barre paused as he fought his grief, which shook his thin body and threatened to overcome him. He recovered and looked at his daughter, standing there so young and proud, and wilful as her mother before her. Her husband must be a man he could trust, otherwise she would find life too harsh outside the protecting walls of her home. He loved her dearly, though he knew that he had neglected her in the past. 'I told her why I wanted to arrange a match for you and she asked me to send you to her, Elona.'

'Shall you come with me, Father?'

He shook his head. 'I fear the journey might be the death of me, Elona. I shall send your ladies and Will de Grenville with you, but I shall stay here. You will be safer with your kinswoman until I have set up certain precautionary measures here. I intend to make you a ward of Duke Richard until your marriage. He will know how to act if anything happens to me-if, for instance, I should be murdered like your brother. He will control your lands then, Elona, and none may gainsay him and escape with their life. But that will take time and until it is done I fear that you may suffer some harm.'

'I do not want to leave you, dearest Father. You have not been well. You need me with you, to care for you and keep you company.'

'It is for the best, child,' he said and sighed. 'I do not wish to part from you, Elona, and I shall miss you sorely, but if anything should happen to me before the Duke has agreed to this contract, you would be at the mercy of unscrupulous men. Lady Alayne has promised to send her son to fetch you and he will bring an armed escort to add to those that I am able to provide. I cannot spare my best men for my manor would then be vulnerable, and I will fight to my last drop of blood to prevent the lands of Barre from falling into Danewold's hands.'

'Oh, Father,' Elona said and held back the sob of grief that rose to her lips. If Pierre had not been so brutally killed, her father would not have had to send her away. 'Must I truly go to England to be married to a man I do not know?'

'Lady Alayne has not promised a match with her son Alain de Banewulf,' John de Barre said. 'She says that she will be your guardian and guide you in the matter of your marriage. She and her husband see no reason against the match, but she says it would be kinder to let you young people get to know each other first; then, if it seems suitable, you will wed. If not, she promises that she will arrange another match of the same worthiness for you. It is the best I can do for you, my child. Had Elizabeth lived, I could have left all to her...' Again he sighed. 'We have been unlucky this past year, Elona. I would ask that you do not add to my burdens by refusing this match for no good reason. The young man is personable and of good family. What more could you ask?'

Elona could have told him but did not, holding her tongue, though it cost her to remain silent. To refuse outright at this moment would provoke a quarrel and her father looked very tired. She was afraid that if she quarrelled with him, she might be the unwitting cause of a relapse; if she seemed to give way at first, there might yet be a chance of escape for her.

As soon as she could, she sought out her squire to ask him what he knew of the man to whom her father hoped she would be married.

'I know nothing of Alain de Banewulf,' Will told her. 'But I have heard of his brother, Sir Stefan.'

Something in his tone made Elona shiver. 'Tell me, what have you heard?'

'Some say he is a religious man,' Will said, looking thoughtful. He had heard that the English knight was a man of abstemious habits who neither drank nor sported with wenches excessively. 'He dedicated himself to the service of Duke Richard when he was but fifteen and hath won honour and fame by his deeds-though some think him dour and stem.'

Elona frowned. Alain de Banewulf's brother sounded cold and humourless to her and she was thankful that it was not he she was to marry.

'At least I shall never need to think of him,' she said. 'For, if he serves the Duke, it is unlikely that we shall ever meet...'

'We are almost there, Orlando,' Stefan said as they emerged from the great forest that edged his father's manor. He reined in his mount to look at the house. It was impressive, being well maintained and fortified in the new way, but seemed smaller than when he'd last seen it. Many years had pa.s.sed since he'd last visited his family, for until recent months he had not returned to England since taking service with Duke Richard of Aquitaine. 'Tell me what do you think of it-speak as if we meant to lay siege as we did at Taillebourg.'

Sir Orlando of Wildersham smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he recalled the siege of Taillebourg. Stefan had been just seventeen then, young, eager and one of the bravest fighters he had ever seen. Orlando owed his life to Stefan that day, and since then they had been the best of friends.

His critical eye moved over the improvements made at Banewulf; like Stefan, he was trained to a.s.sess the vulnerability of a fortress and the best way of broaching its defences. In 1179 he had seen Taillebourg raised to the ground; a fortress that had been thought impenetrable proving all too easy to subdue.

'It will do, Stefan,' he said in his low deep voice. 'In Henry's England. But if things were to change... there are more improvements that might be made.'

'Yes, you are right,' Stefan agreed. 'England has been fortunate these many years, safe and peaceful under King Henry II-but as you and I know, the King and his sons often quarrel amongst themselves.'

Sir Orlando gave a wry smile. The Plantagenet brood were an unruly mob, father against sons, brother against brother. More than once the brothers had rebelled against the King, and there was a dispute between Henry and Richard even now. Who could tell what would happen if the old King died?

'My father, Sir Ralph de Banewulf, has ever been loyal to Henry,' Stefan said. 'But on whose side would he stand if there were a dispute between the King's sons-a struggle to take the throne that Henry's death would leave vacant?'

'Surely on that of the rightful heir-Duke Richard.'

'Perhaps...'

Stefan frowned as he realised he had no idea of his father's loyalties. How should he when he'd been sent away to his kinsman's house at the tender age of five years? Harald of Wotten was a good man, who had seen to his education in all the ways necessary, but Stefan had been devastated at his exile from the father and home he had loved. His father's remarriage to a beautiful lady and the birth of first a half- brother, then a half-sister, had made his hurt all the sharper.

However, he had learned to conquer his bitterness over the years. He had won both fame as a mighty warrior and great wealth in the service of Duke Richard, and, since his return to England some three months earlier, had purchased the rich manor of Sans...o...b.. for himself. Duke Richard had knighted him after Taillebourg, but he was also ent.i.tled to call himself Baron Sans...o...b.. by reason of t.i.tle to the manor.

'Does your father expect you?'

'I sent word a few days ago,' Stefan replied. He smiled ruefully at his friend. 'They will scarce remember me.'

'I doubt they will forget you next time,' Orlando said and was rewarded by a soft laugh from his companion. Some thought Stefan dour, but those who knew him were aware of lurking humour in those grey eyes. Though he could not be called a handsome man, he had something about him that drew others to him, and, it was oft said, the strength of a bear.

'I have certainly grown these past years.'

'What made you decide to return?'

Stefan looked at him thoughtfully. In truth, he was not sure what had drawn him back to England after ten years of soldiering abroad. Was it a desire to see his family? His father was no longer a young man, his half-brother must be grown to manhood by now, and Marguerite almost a woman at fifteen.

'If I speak honestly, I do not know. I had thought never to return.'

Stefan lapsed into silence as he and his companions clattered over the drawbridge. Just what had drawn him back to Banewulf in the spring of 1187? His father had cast him out because his birth had killed his mother. He knew that from his nurse, who had told him when he could scarce understand the significance of her words.

What would it avail him to return now?

Yet deep within himself Stefan felt a need he could not identify. The desire to visit Banewulf had grown too strong to resist.

'It has been too long, Stefan.' Alayne went to greet her stepson with a smile, her hands outstretched. 'We are delighted to have you with us and hope you will stay for as long as it suits you.'

She seemed hardly to have changed in the last ten years, Stefan thought, lifting her right hand to salute it with a chaste kiss.

'You are kind to welcome me so warmly, lady,' he said. 'May I introduce Sir Orlando of Wildersham-a good friend who is on his way to London and was pleased to accompany me thus far. I hope it will not inconvenience you to give him shelter for the night?'

'How should it?' Lady Alayne said. 'A friend of yours must always be welcome in my house, Stefan.'

'I thank you, lady,' Orlando said and swept her an elegant bow, his eyes moving to the face of the girl standing a little behind her. How beautiful she was!

'How often we have all talked of you, Stefan,' Alayne cried. 'You were but a lad when you left us and now you are grown to a fine, strong man.' Her eyes went over him appreciatively. His tunic and gown were plain and of sober hue compared to that favoured by most men of wealth, but in that he was much like his father. Both men chose black or grey rather than the peac.o.c.k colours so beloved of the courtiers. 'Your fame has spread, Stefan. We know of your brave deeds in battle and as a trusted counsellor to Duke Richard.'

'Aye, and I can vouch for it that he deserves every word of the praise heaped upon him, lady,' Orlando said.

'Too much is said with too little cause.' Stefan dismissed their praise carelessly. He could see the young man and girl waiting to greet him. Both were cast in the image of their mother: fair, slim, eyes of a greenish-blue shade; attractive and lissom, they seemed to radiate content to the eyes of a man who had always felt a stranger to his family. They looked at him curiously, seeming pleased to welcome him after so long, but there was no sign of his father and he felt the sting of disappointment that Sir Ralph had not bothered to be there for his return. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Alayne. 'My father is not here?'

'Unfortunately, he had business elsewhere he could not avoid. We were not certain when to expect you, but he will be here to feast with us in the hall this evening.' Alayne turned to beckon her offspring forward. 'Here are your brother and sister to greet you.'

'Alain-Marguerite,' Stefan said. He saw the eagerness in his half-brother's eyes and smiled inwardly. It was not the first time he'd seen that expression in the eyes of a young man keen to hear details of battles. The girl held back shyly, but when he smiled at her she answered him with her own. She was already bidding fair to rival her mother's beauty, he thought. 'It is good to see you both.'

'We have longed to see you,' Alain said. 'You have done and seen so much.'

'Welcome to Banewulf,' Marguerite added softly. 'We are happy to have you here.' She glanced shyly at Sir Orlando. 'And you, sir.'

'Marguerite speaks for us all,' Alayne confirmed. 'Come, Stefan. A chamber is prepared for your comfort. Alain will take you there and see that you have all you need. Sir Orlando, you will take a cup of wine with me while my servants prepare a chamber for you.' She smiled and lowered her voice. 'I would hear more of my stepson's brave deeds and we need not put him to the blush.'

Stefan did not hear his friend's reply. He allowed himself to be drawn away to the part of the house occupied by young, single men. Though most would sleep on the floor of the hail, family and honoured guests had always been provided with their own chambers at Banewulf.

'Your chamber is next to mine as it always was,' Alain told him. His pleasure in the visit was obvious. 'It means we shall be able to talk. I want to hear about all the battles you've fought, all the men you've killed.'

'I am not proud to have killed men-apart from a few who did not deserve to live,' Stefan told him. 'It is necessary in battle, for one must defeat the enemy, but wherever it is possible I show mercy. Duke Richard is the same, though he can be ruthless.' There had been times when his justice had been merciless, but it needed a strong hand to keep the unruly n.o.bles in check, otherwise there would be no law.

'They say he is fearless!'

'Yes, I have heard it said. He may be Duke and a prince of England, but his name is linked with that of kings. Some say he has the heart of a lion.'

'And that you have the strength of a bear.' Alain grinned, a boyish mischief lurking in his eyes though he was a man grown. 'Do you remember when we wrestled as boys? You could have beaten me easily, but you often let me win.'

'You were still a child. I already had a man's strength. It would have been unfair of me to use it against you.'

'We must put ourselves to the test again one day. I think you would not find it so easy to beat me now.'

Stefan a.s.sessed him quietly. His brother appeared slight compared to his own heavier build, but he suspected a wiry strength beneath that elegant exterior of fine clothes. Alain wore blue and silver with deep slashes in the full sleeves of his tunic and a girdle of leather chased with silver. He smiled inwardly. Seldom had he seen such finery except at the court of Aquitaine!

'Have you been recently to court?' he asked, avoiding the challenge, though he was not sure why. Alain looked disappointed, as if he felt himself rebuffed.

'You think me too fine a fellow to test you? Do not mistake me for a weakling, brother.'

Stefan relented, a glint of humour in his eyes. 'Well, we shall put that to the test tomorrow. Do you care to train with me, Alain?'

'Aye! Right willingly.' The younger man's sunny smile was restored at once. 'Tell me, is Duke Richard a good man to serve?'

'Yes, I have found him so. You do not think to serve him?'

'I have given it some thought.' A look of frustration pa.s.sed across Alain's face. 'I must make my way in the world somehow. I cannot remain always in my father's house.'

'You are unhappy here?'