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deserve the pain of losing her beloved husband at such a tender age. How long has she been married to the baron?”
    “She’s been his wife for over three years. Lady Johanna was little more than a child when she was wed. Father, please come with me to the chapel.”
    “Certainly.”
    The two men walked side by side. Kelmet’s voice was halting when he next spoke. “I know I won’t have the proper words. I’m not certain . . . how to say . . .”
    “Be direct,” the priest advised. “She’ll appreciate that. Don’t make her guess by giving her hints. Perhaps it would do us well to fetch a woman to help comfort your mistress. Lady Johanna will surely need another woman’s compassion as well as our own.”
    “I don’t know who I would ask,” Kelmet admitted. “Just the day before Baron Raulf left, he replaced the entire household staff yet again. My lady barely knows the servants’ names. There have been so many of them. My mistress keeps to herself these days,” he added. “She’s very kind, Father, but distant from her staff, and she has learned to hold her own council. ’Tis the truth she has no confidantes we could bring along with us now.”
    “How long has Baron Raulf been away?”
    “Near to six months now.”
    “Yet in all that while, Lady Johanna hasn’t come to depend upon anyone?”
    “Nay, Father. She confides in no one, not even her steward,” Kelmet said, referring to himself. “The baron told us he would only be away for a week or two, and we’ve been living with the expectation of his arrival home each and every day.”
    “How did he die?”
    “He lost his footing and fell from a cliff.” The steward shook his head. “I’m certain there’s more to the explanation than I’ve been told, for Baron Raulf wasn’t an awkward man. Perhaps the king will tell Lady Johanna more.”
    “A freak accident then,” the priest decided. “God’s will be done,” he added almost as an afterthought.
    “It might have been the devil’s work,” Kelmet muttered.
    MacKechnie didn’t remark on that possibility. “Lady Johanna will surely marry again,” he announced with a nod. “She’ll inherit a sizable amount, won’t she?”
    “She’ll gain a third of her husband’s holdings. I’ve heard they’re vast,” Kelmet explained.
    “Might one of those holdings be the Maclaurin land your King John stole away from Scotland’s king and gave to Baron Raulf?”
    “Perhaps,” Kelmet allowed.
    MacKechnie filed that information away for future use. “With your lady’s golden-colored hair and handsome blue eyes, I would imagine every unattached baron in England will want to marry her. She’s very beautiful, and though it’s probably sinful of me to admit. I’ll tell you I was quite affected by the sight of her. Her appearance could easily bewitch a man, even without the estate she’ll have to offer. ”
    They reached the narrow steps leading up to the chapel doors when the priest finished his remarks.
    “She is beautiful,” the steward agreed. “I’ve seen grown men openly gawk at her. Barons will certainly want her,” he added, “but not in marriage.”
    “What nonsense is this?”
    “She’s barren,” Kelmet said.
    The priest’s eyes widened. “Dear God,” he whispered. He lowered his head, made the sign of the cross, and said a prayer for the dear lady’s burden.
    Lady Johanna was also in prayer. She stood behind the altar and said a prayer for guidance. She was determined to do the right thing. She held a parchment scroll in her hands, and when she finished her plea to God, she wrapped the scroll in linen cloths she had already spread on top of the marble surface.
    She once again considered destroying the damning evidence against her king. Then she shook her head. Someday, someone might find the scroll, and if only one man learned the truth about the evil king who once ruled England, then perhaps a thread of justice might be served.
    Johanna placed the scroll between the