The Poisoned Serpent Read Online Free PDF Page B

I had better wait to hear what you have to tell me, John, before I say that I am glad to see you,” Hugh replied austerely.
    The knight grimaced. Then he glanced around the hall at the listening household.
    “I wonder if we might speak somewhere in private,” he said to Hugh.
    “Go into the solar, lad,” Nigel recommended in a voice that had almost fully regained its strength. “You will be undisturbed there.”
    Hugh hesitated, then rose slowly to his feet. He did not look happy.
    “Very well, sir,” he said to Nigel. Then to John Melan, “Come with me.”
    There was utter silence in the hall as the two men began to cross the floor in the direction of the solar. Finally Cristen said gently, “Will you continue with your song, Reginald?”
    “Aye, my lady.” Reginald cleared his throat and picked up his place in the French love song he had been singing. After a moment, Thomas once more acompanied him on the lute.
    In the solar, Hugh looked with narrowed eyes at the knight from Lincoln and, dispensing with pleasantries, said, “So, John, what is it that you have to tell me?”
    The stocky knight planted his feet, looked steadilyback at Hugh, and said, “I thought you should know that Gilbert de Beauté has been murdered and Bernard Radvers stands accused of doing the deed.”
    He had the satisfaction of seeing Hugh’s eyes widen with shock. “Gilbert de Beauté has been murdered?”
    “Aye, my lord. He was found in the Minster, stabbed to death. Unfortunately, Bernard was found there with him, a knife in his hand.”
    “Bernard would never stab a man to death in a church,” Hugh said immediately.
    At that response, John’s facial muscles relaxed. Obviously he had not been prepared for the seeming hostility with which Hugh had greeted him.
    “Of course he wouldn’t,” the knight agreed. “But there is no denying the fact that he was found in a very suspicious situation. As there are no other suspects, the sheriff was obliged to arrest Bernard.”
    Hugh looked puzzled. “What motive could Bernard possibly have for wanting to kill Gilbert de Beauté?”
    John said, “He was supposed to have done it in order to help you.”
    The line between Hugh’s slim brows sharpened. “That is ridiculous. How could the death of the Earl of Lincoln possibly help me?”
    John replied stoically, “You see, my lord, it is known in Lincoln that you are betrothed to Lord Gilbert’s daughter. The thinking is that Bernard killed Lord Gilbert so that, when you marry the Lady Elizabeth, you will automatically become the new earl.”
    There was absolute silence in the room. The afternoon light coming in the partially shuttered window glinted off Hugh’s black hair. The brazier in the solar was unlit and the room was cold.
    John shifted from one foot to the other, waiting for Hugh to reply.
    At last Hugh said in a constricted voice, “That is ridiculous.”
    “Aye, my lord. It is ridiculous to anyone who knows Bernard. But you see, there are…other…circumstances.”
    Hugh looked grim. He gestured the knight toward Nigel’s chair. “Sit down, John.”
    John Melan gratefully subsided into the large, high-backed chair with the lion’s paw armrests that belonged to the lord of the castle. Hugh slowly took the smaller chair directly opposite that was Cristen’s usual seat. “You had better tell me all,” he said.
    John was happy to comply. “As you know, my lord, de Beauté was only recently appointed earl, and he had come to Lincoln Castle to meet with the sheriff. However, instead of approving the sheriff’s very competent defense dispositions for the shire—which all expected him to do—the earl ordered changes.” His eyes flashed with anger. “If I may say so, my lord, the changes were very ill-advised. We all knew it. De Beauté may be good at bringing lawsuits, but he knows nothing about military matters.”
    Hugh nodded, his face expressionless.
    “It made us all angry—all of us in the castle guard, that