Dispensation of Death: (Knights Templar 23) by Michael Jecks Read Free Book Online Page B

country was too unsettled to leave his wife and children there without someone to rally defence.
    The palace gate was guarded, which was normal enough, but Simon was a little surprised to see that there were more guards behind the gateway, and all were well-armed. He received some cold, suspicious stares as he let his horse wander slowly inside the court and climbed down, rubbing his arse. The way had not been arduous, but recently his backside was less used to the rigours of saddle-wear.
    ‘Simon! Old friend! It is good to see you!’
    Baldwin had his arm in a firm grip almost before Simon had turned, and the Bailiff was struck by his friend’s evident joy to see him arrive. ‘Didn’t you know Iwas being sent too?’ he asked, clapping him on the back.
    ‘I had heard, but I hardly dared to think you would be allowed to join us. Meg is well?’
    ‘Very. I left Hugh to guard her and Edith, although whether or not she’ll find that a comfort, God knows. The poor fellow’s still not recovered.’
    ‘Hardly likely that he would be. He lost his all in that fire. He is only fortunate that he could return to your service,’ Baldwin noted.
    Simon nodded. In the last year, a fire had taken Hugh’s wife and her child, and although Simon had done all in his power to ease his old servant’s mind, there was little any man could do in the face of such a disaster.
    ‘How much have you been told?’ Baldwin asked after a few moments.
    Simon looked down at Rob and told him to see to the horses, before casting a glance at the palace. ‘Little enough. I heard that the Bishop wanted me to join him on this journey, and to be honest I saw only an escape from the in-fighting at Tavistock.’
    ‘You have heard then?’
    Simon tilted his head to one side.
    Baldwin smiled. ‘John de Courtenay has already demanded that the election be set aside and that there be a full hearing into the whole matter of Busse’s abbacy. He has alleged that Busse is unsuited for the post, that he used necromancy to win it, that he’s already selling off the Abbey’s silver, that he’s … goodness knows what else. I feel sure that you are much better off being away.’
    ‘And what of Jeanne?’
    A cloud passed over Baldwin’s face. ‘She was terriblysad to hear that we were being asked to go so far. In God’s time, I hope we shall return safely, but I am worried for her, Simon. It was a hard birthing. Very hard.’
    ‘The child is all right?’
    ‘Yes. I have called him Baldwin,’ the knight admitted self-consciously. ‘It was not my own choice, but Jeanne was insistent. I should have liked to call him after my father, or my brother.’
    Simon nodded. Baldwin had left England to sail to Acre during the final defence of the city against the heathen hordes, and when he finally returned to his home, both his father and brother were dead. It was a curious thought, that he might have been gone for so long that his family ceased to exist. Simon had no brothers, so he could only guess at the effect such a loss might have upon a man. To change the subject, he shrugged. ‘I don’t know how much help I am supposed to be to the Bishop.’
    ‘Nor me,’ Baldwin agreed. ‘But the good Bishop appears determined to have me with him for the benefit of my advice. I suppose I am reluctant to refuse to help him, and yet it is such a bad time.’
    In his mind’s eye he saw again his wife. She had been determined not to weep before him, both because Jeanne had always been a proud woman, and because she knew it would only leave Baldwin feeling miserable too. She had clung to him when he hugged her before going, and it was only later, on the ride from Fursdon to the ford, that he had felt his shoulder and realised that it was wet from her tears.
    ‘It is one thing for you, a knight and well-travelledman who has seen much of the world,’ Simon muttered, ‘but I fail to see what a mere Bailiff from the moors can do to help him discuss matters of great