The Conqueror Read Online Free PDF Page B

mingled smell of dogs, smoke, and roast meats on the air. Up at the high-table the Duke sat in his great chair, and between the courses his minstrels played and sang, and Galet the Jester cut capers, and told lewd stories which made the barons about the Duke shout with laughter. The Duke smiled sometimes, and once he frowned a quick menace when Galet cracked a jest at the expense of the new King of England’s chastity. This was Edward, the son of Ethelred, until two years before a guest of Normandy, and the friend of the young Duke. But for the most part the Duke’s attention was all for his haggard, which he had taken from her perch behind his chair on to his wrist. She was a fierce bird, with talons that dug into his hand when he teased her, and bright cruel eyes above her hooked beak.
    ‘A rare hawk that, beau sire,’ Hugh de Gournay said. ‘They tell me she never misses.’
    William smoothed the hawk’s feathers with his finger. ‘Never,’ he answered, without turning his head.
    A flourish of trumpets at the end of the hall heralded the coming of the boar’s head, the same animal that had been stuck by the Duke in the Forest of Gouffers two days before. The head was carried on a great silver chargeour, and brought up to the high-table. One of the stewards began to carve it, and the servers ran with the slices on long spits to offer to the Duke’s guests.
    There was a considerable noise of talk at the far end of the hall, where the lesser people sat. The talk was all of the Duke’s projected visit to the Côtentin. He was going to Valognes to hunt bears in the forests there, and would take only a small retinue with him, since the dwelling to be set aside for his use would hardly accommodate even so meagre a Court as this held at Falaise.
    Some of his barons would go with him, and a bodyguard of knights and men-at-arms under Grimbauld du Plessis, a dark, saturnine man with a lip twisted by a scar received in some past combat. He was of the Duke’s personal retinue, and sat next to Raoul now at the table near the door. Raoul had heard of two lords only who meant to accompany the Duke, and these were Humphrey de Bohun, whose lands lay on the Côtentin border; and Guy, younger son of the House of Burgundy, who sat now at the Duke’s right hand.
    Guy was a little older than William, whose cousin he was, but he had been brought up with him at the palace of Vaudreuil. He was a handsome youth, but too much aware of his charm. Raoul thought his long-lashed eyes womanish, and found that his smile soon cloyed a man’s stomach. He was graceful and indolent, set much store by his own importance, but made it his business to be accessible to all men. Raoul preferred a sterner, less affable prince, whose favour was not so easily won. He looked away from Guy, and allowed his gaze to rest on the Duke’s face, once more pondering this silent young man to whom he had sworn allegiance.
    Although he had been in his service for three months he had scarcely come into contact with the Duke, and knew no more of him than was shown to all the world. It was impossible to guess what thoughts lurked behind William’s eyes. These were set well apart, and were not unlike the eyes of the haggard he fondled, only that they were so dark that they looked sometimes almost black. They held a hidden gleam, as though they watched even when they seemed most abstracted. Their gaze was direct, and often disconcerting. Raoul thought that whatever a man might wish to conceal from the Duke would surely be betrayed under the ordeal of that hard stare.
    Springing between the eyes the Duke’s aquiline nose was at once haughty and masterful. His mouth was clearly defined, its lips well curved, and the expression a trifle sardonic. It could smile with unexpected good humour, but in repose it had a grim look. He kept his lips firmly pressed together, as though he guarded his secrets, but in anger the corners of the mouth were observed to quiver. One saw then