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a breath. “They were my lord’s
foster brothers or mercenaries who attached themselves. I knew them not at all
well.”
    “So you wouldn’t know if the men’s families had heard any
word from them?”
    “Nay, my lord.” The man let out a breath in a sigh that
sounded relieved. Thomas wondered what question he had feared would be asked.
    “Know you the names of those men?”
    John stiffened and drew a sharp breath. “Sir Robert of… I
know not where, my lord. There was a Sir Wilfred and Lord Adam of…Exeter, was
it? Forgive me, my lord, but I am poor with names.”
    So poor he couldn’t give a single name specific enough to
let him trace the person. But then the man was a cook. He had no reason to be
concerned with the names of noble visitors, save that they were normally the
subject of much gossip.
    Thomas sighed himself. “Thank you for your help, John.” He
started to leave, then stopped and turned around as thought of another
question. “Lady Juliana and Lord Groswick were wed near three years past. How
did Lord Groswick feel about the lady?”
    “My lord!” John said sharply. “‘Tis not my place to talk
about my lord and his lady that way.” He drew a couple of breaths. “But you
know Lady Juliana. She is a lady both sweet and wise beyond her years. How
could anyone fail to love her?”
    “How indeed?” he asked. Thomas thanked the man and took his
leave.
    He stopped to ask a young man passing by if he knew where
the housekeeper might be found and followed the directions given. On the way he
mused that this might be the oddest keep he’d ever been in.

Chapter Three
     
    Juliana made it through her remaining morning chores. She
only dropped one cup, shattering it, a piece of marking charcoal in the main
storeroom, and a loaf of bread in the kitchen. Not bad, she decided,
considering how badly she was shaking. Just after midday, she talked to John,
the head cook, concerning food plans for the next few days, and managed it with
only a slight tremor or two.
    Unfortunately, the cook, a grizzled older man with thick
body and huge hands, noticed her shaken condition.
    “My lady, forgive my impertinence, but is all well with
you?” he asked.
    “Aye, of course.”
    The man nodded. “I feared that Sir Thomas’ arrival might
have discomposed you. He is asking questions.”
    She drew a deep breath. “Aye, I know.”
    “He asked a number of questions about my lord and his men.
He also asked about yourself and Lord Groswick and how he regarded you. None
here will betray you, my lady.”
    “I know that. And I do appreciate your loyalty, considering
that I am not native here.”
    The cook’s homely face broke into a grin. “Ye may not have
been born here, my lady, but it has been clear since shortly after you arrived
that ye belonged here.”
    Remembering her husband’s treatment of her, Juliana sighed.
“Clear, perhaps, to some, but certainly not all.”
    “Now, my lady, fret ye not. All will be well.”
    She summoned a smile for his benefit. “I thank you, John.”
    When she stopped briefly in the great hall for a midday
meal, she learned that Sir Thomas had questioned several of the household staff
about Lord Groswick. The two who spoke to her directly stressed that they’d
said nothing to him beyond the fact that their lord had left some time ago and
they’d heard nothing from him since.
    By the time she returned to her solar for a quick afternoon
rest, her nerves were strung tight. Finding someone already waiting for her
there didn’t improve her state of mind.
    “Mother?”
    Lady Ardsley rose from the bench where she’d been resting.
“You spoke with Sir Thomas earlier. What does he know?”
    “He knows little, but he suspects much. He knows Groswick
didn’t meet the Prince in France, and he’s been able to find no evidence that
he ever made the journey. He seems to have checked quite thoroughly.”
    “Tell me all.”
    Juliana related as much as she could remember of