11 Hertford, Hertfordshire, May 1340

11

Hertford, Hertfordshire, May 1340

In England, King Edward was assembling a fleet to return to Ghent, bearing troops, money and supplies for his campaign against France. Thomas had spent the last three weeks recruiting and acquiring men and provisions. His particular skill for logistics had been tested to the limit, but he had enjoyed the challenge, and risen to it. He realised how much he had been stagnating in the smaller pool of guarding the Queen and her household. He was also aware that had he been able to stretch himself, he might not have failed the test of temptation with Jeanette that had led them into a scrape that would probably sink his ambitions and perhaps end his life.

Summoned to the King's presence soon after morning mass, Thomas was as tense as a primed bowstring. He dared not speak of marrying Jeanette just now, while the business was all about their return to Ghent. The matter had to be approached delicately at the right moment. Edward had recently received bad news that his close friend William Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, had been captured by the French during a reconnaissance manoeuvre and was being held for ransom, and his mood was dour.

Thomas arrived to find the King seated at a table with a jug of wine and a loaf of bread. ‘Sire,' he said, kneeling and doffing his hat.

Edward gestured for him to rise but did not invite him to sit. ‘You have done well,' he said. ‘I am pleased with your work and how swiftly you have accomplished your tasks. It is rare to find a fighting man who can think like a clerk, a staller and a ship master all in the same parcel.'

‘Thank you, sire,' Thomas said, pleased that his skills had been noted.

‘I have more work for you before we embark, but you may see my officials for my requirements. If I have summoned you, it is to give praise where praise is due. I always pay such debts to those who serve me well. However, there is another matter that greatly concerns me.'

‘Sire?' Thomas hoped he did not look as guilty as he felt.

‘Disturbing rumours have come to my ears regarding your familiarity with my young cousin Jeanette of Kent. It is neither seemly nor suitable for you to take an interest in the young lady. She is a valuable asset to me when it comes to making alliances. Reports of untoward behaviour have been regarded with dismay by certain interested parties. Your duty is to protect the women in the Queen's care, not take advantage and compromise their integrity, no matter how delectable they are, and no matter how much they tease you. My cousin is not innocent in this I suspect, and wilful enough to create a reputation for herself in order to escape a match of which she does not herself approve. My order to you is to distance yourself forthwith, so neither she nor your career are compromised – nor your family name.' He gave Thomas a fierce stare. ‘I know you understand perfectly well what I mean.'

Thomas's stomach knotted as he wondered how much the King actually knew. If he spoke up, without a doubt he would be thrown into the sea in a sealed barrel and it would do nothing to aid Jeanette's position. He returned Edward a wide-eyed look that he hoped passed for innocence, and swallowed hard. But he did not protest the accusation.

Edward nodded curtly. ‘There are plenty of ladies at court who are not out of bounds and who I am sure will accommodate you. All men have to sow their wild oats, but they must do so appropriately, and let that be all I need to say.'

‘Yes, sire,' Thomas said. How on earth was he going to broach the subject of his marriage now? Dear Christ.

Edward waved in dismissal. ‘I leave you to your duties, and I shall hear your report in due course.'

Thomas bowed from the royal presence, cold sweat clamming his armpits, and for a man so decisive in battle and organised in logistics, he had no idea what to do.

Three days later, Thomas and Otto arrived at Castle Acre to collect a contingent of serjeants and archers who were being provided for the King's enterprise by John, Earl de Warenne. For the past year de Warenne had been conducting an affair with Otto and Thomas's sister Isabel while striving to have his loveless, long-term marriage annulled so he could offer Isabel honourable wedlock.

The brothers had known de Warenne all their lives – he had always been a family friend, even in the difficult times surrounding their father's death. Learning of his affair with their sister had been a shock, but Thomas could hardly throw stones given his own circumstances. Their mother had accepted the matter with her usual pragmatism. Isabel had always known her own mind, and if de Warenne could persuade the papal court to annul his marriage, then she stood to become a countess to one of the wealthiest men in England as well as one of the most illustrious.

Isabel was waiting to greet their arrival, and the moment the grooms had taken the horses, she ran into Thomas's arms with a glad cry and a hug, and then the same for Otto. She was tall and slim, with the same black hair and dark eyes as Thomas. Only a year separated them – she was the older, and always made certain he knew it.

John de Warenne arrived from the direction of the stables, beating dust and straw from his tunic. He was a limber man in late middle age, with a head of thick silver hair and intelligent light-brown eyes. He greeted the brothers with genuine pleasure, and not a shred of awkwardness despite his arrangement with Isabel. She was lady of the castle, even if not by official title, and when she summoned refreshments, she was obeyed with alacrity.

‘So,' the Earl said as they relaxed with wine and cinnamon wafers, ‘you are bound back to Flanders in the next few days. The French will attempt a blockade and try to capture or sink our ships. We have had the devil of a time with their attacks on English ports. Your opponent is formidable and has a large fleet.'

‘That is why the King wants experienced fighting men aboard every one of our vessels,' Thomas replied. ‘He knows what we face.'

‘Does he?' John looked dubious.

‘Two hundred ships to our hundred and fifty, most of them bigger, with at least ten thousand fighting men – more than three times our numbers.'

Isabel made a small sound, and Otto touched her shoulder.

John folded his arms and looked wry. ‘You speak as if it is of no consequence. I am assuming you have more to protect yourself than the false immortality of youth.'

‘I would be a fool to rely on that, sire,' Thomas said. ‘The French may have strength of numbers, but we have our archers, and their bows will compensate for that discrepancy. Our soldiers are more experienced, and the King is a fine strategist. The rest lies with God. If I thought we were about to sail into disaster, I would not be relaxing in your good company but trying to do something about it. Yes, we shall have to fight, but that is our task.'

John called for more wine.

‘Shall you visit our mother?' Isabel enquired.

Thomas shook his head. ‘We are under orders to sail any day and what time I have left will be spent supplying the ships. I shall write to her and hope to see her before long.' He took a drink and looked at de Warenne. Of anyone in the world, he could confide in this man about his marriage. After all, the Earl and his sister were a couple outside polite society. ‘I have some news for you both, but it is of a personal nature and I must swear you to silence. It cannot go beyond this room.'

De Warenne looked surprised, but waved his hand. ‘Of course, my boy. Whatever you say shall go no further, my oath on it.' He gestured for the servants to retire.

Thomas had to force himself to begin speaking, but then the words began to flow, and he quickened his pace, the sooner to be finished. De Warenne's face remained impassive throughout. ‘I have done a terrible thing,' Thomas concluded. ‘I know I have sinned, that I should have avoided temptation, but it is done, and now I am caught in a bind, as is Jeanette, for what should we do now? I need advice, and you are the best person to give it.'

De Warenne raked his fingers through his thatch of hair, and exhaled hard. ‘I am not sure I can tell you what to do. You have woven a tangled web with this girl, and she the King's own cousin – and very young to be certain of her own mind. You are wise to keep it to yourself for now, but it will only be a matter of time before the entire situation becomes known to all. You are certain that the King is unaware?'

‘He thinks it no more than a flirtation that must be cooled, and has warned me to keep my distance.' Thomas grimaced. ‘But how can I do that when Jeanette is lawfully my wife and will bear our child before winter's end? She cannot keep that hidden under her skirts for long, and she will be disgraced, even with a wedding ring. I have to own up to my responsibility. If I die for it, then so be it, but she must be protected. Of course, I would rather live out my life with her and our children.' He looked at Isabel, who was staring at him in shock, her hand over her mouth.

‘Indeed, I understand very well,' de Warenne said. ‘Admitting your folly does not solve your dilemma.' He folded his arms. ‘Of course I shall do everything in my power to support you and your family when the news becomes known. I shall protect you as much as I can and intercede with the King on your behalf. For now, I counsel you to hold your arrow, for once it is shot, you cannot loose it again, and something might yet turn up that none of us has considered.'

Thomas sighed bleakly. ‘If I prove myself in battle and make myself indispensable in the King's service, it might soften his wrath when he finds out.'

‘That is one way,' John agreed.

‘But you might be killed!' Isabel said with dismay. She had been silent while he told his tale, but with growing agitation.

‘Perhaps that might not be so bad a thing,' he said with a shrug. ‘I am not in a state of honour or grace – and I might die anyway for what I have done.'

She was scornful. ‘Dying will solve nothing, and will be even harder on those you leave behind – but I suppose you had not thought of that.'

‘In truth I have, and it burdens me,' he said, giving her a sharp look, ‘but you were ever the voice of my conscience, sister.'

She clenched her fists. ‘I cannot believe you have done this. That girl has played with you and seduced you because she did not wish to make that other marriage – she chose you as her way out.' Her eyes flashed with indignation.

‘It was not like that,' he retorted, caught on the raw, for Isabel's assessment had at times been part of his own thinking.

‘Then what was it like? Tell me.'

De Warenne quickly stepped between them. ‘My love, I know you would defend Thomas with your life against all comers,' he said with a flattening motion of his palm, ‘but you should reserve your judgement, as I am sure your mother would advise you to do. You might want to allow in the thought that love has a part to play in all of this. Your brother is a grown man and experienced soldier, not a child, and knows his own mind – as you know yours. It is not your choice, but his. Look at us and those who judge us. Would you make yourself one of them?'

Isabel bit her lip. ‘Of course not,' she said. ‘I should not judge – but I do because Thomas is my brother!' She moved around him to Thomas and gave him a fierce hug. ‘I am sorry for what I said – of course we will both help you all we can.'

Thomas knew that even if she was sorry, it was what she thought, but he did not hold it against her. ‘We are always friends,' he said ruefully, ‘even when we fight and disagree.'

‘Do not do anything rash, promise me.'

‘I shall try to keep body and soul together for at least a while longer,' he answered, feeling burdened and unsettled even while he tried to smile, and kissed her cheek, continuing to restore the balance between them. If they saw matters differently, it was always from a perspective of family love.

‘Do not worry, sister,' Otto said, patting her back. ‘I shall look out for him.'

‘Well, do not get yourself killed either! Sometimes I wish I had never had brothers at all, only sisters.' She looked at them severely. ‘You swore me to silence, but our mother has a right to know.'

‘Tell her if you will,' Thomas said. ‘But let it go no further than that.'