April Munday (16 page)

“What is it?”

“Please do not hold it against us that Robert is trying to make his mark.”

“Why should I not do so?”

“He is a fool, my lady, and new to the office. He has persuaded my colleagues to be stupid.”

Thomas gave a barking laugh. “That he has.”

William frowned.

“I do not hold it against you, William. I know that you take the office seriously and do not seek to take advantage from it.”

William bowed again. “But,” continued Rosamunde, “You fail to control him and allow him to criticise my decisions.”

“I gave him his head, my lady, and we will all suffer for him to learn his lesson.”

“No,” she shook her head, “You do not all suffer. I could have ordered the whole town put on garrison rations.”

“But… my lady…”

“Do not protest. You should have controlled him better. Do not give me cause to regret my decision this morning.”

William bowed and stepped back to allow her to pass.

Rosamunde was angry and Richard and Thomas said little to her that morning and were quick to obey her commands.

She knew that they did not act out of fear, but respect and she was encouraged. They walked the castle walls together, trying to see if anything had changed in the way the enemy was behaving. Sir Walter had seemed to fall into a routine in much the same way that the people in the castle had. Sir Walter had moved his troops into a number of empty houses close to the castle.

The houses provided cover from Rosamunde’s archers. Nonetheless, Sir Walter seemed to be served by men who were as stupid as he was clever and they often put themselves within the archers’ range. The archers were constantly on the alert and took advantage of these mistakes. During the daytime it seemed that the air was often alive with the sound of arrows in flight and the screams of men as they were hit. These small successes raised the spirits of those in the castle as the siege continued into winter.

That night the sky was lit up as Sir Walter set light to one of the houses in the centre of the town. There were cries and wails from the townspeople as they began to realise what Sir Walter must be intending for their homes.

“Be calm,” ordered Rosamunde in the hall later. “We have all that is important within the castle. We can rebuild the houses.”

Robert Tyler did not wait to consult with the burgesses but jumped up to shout at her, “At whose expense?”

Thomas and Guy moved to stand in front of him and Richard stood just behind Rosamunde’s right shoulder.

“At Sir Walter’s, of course. And the next time you forget your manners with me, Robert Tyler, I shall allow Sir Thomas to punish you as he sees fit.”

William Archer pulled Robert back to his seat and urged caution, but not before he had been heard to say how it would be impossible to make Sir Walter pay for the damage he had done.

Rosamunde knew that this was the case. Sir Walter was poor. Nonetheless, her father would ensure that the people received due recompense, whatever the outcome of the siege.

As the days of the siege wore on, Rosamunde came to believe that it was not the enemy outside the walls who was the biggest threat to her security but her friends within the castle walls. The tension between the town and the garrison could be overlooked when they did not come into such close contact with one another. Once they were all together within the castle walls, it seemed to cause small disagreements and large fights almost constantly. Before the siege the main contact between the two had been in the tavern. And although girls from the town often married men from the garrison and boys from the town joined the garrison, once they were inside the castle they seemed to be cut off from the town. Rosamunde found herself in constant demand as a peacemaker and finally understood some of the difficulties her father had had over the years in governing this small number of people. She no longer had time to spend in the still-room with Margaret and Richard and now missed the easy familiarity that had grown up between them. She had no support from the burgesses who were manoeuvring events for their own political advantage and although she had the unwavering support of Thomas, Guy and Richard and everyone within the castle, she felt increasingly that she was becoming identified as being of the castle rather than having equal responsibility for everyone. The situation could not even be managed by declaring certain parts of the castle off limits to either of the parties. The castle was too small and the number of people too large for it to be effective. She almost wished that she was willing to go down to Sir Walter and surrender, just to put an end to the bickering, but she was not.

As the siege wore on, many days saw the loss of one of Sir Walter’s men to the archers stationed on the castle walls as they moved between the buildings just below the castle walls.  Each day Sir Walter set fire to a different part of the town to the increasingly great grief of those within the castle and tempers became increasingly frayed.

After one particularly vicious fight in which one of the townspeople had attempted to stab one of the gatehouse guards after a quarrel over food, Rosamunde decided that she could no longer afford to distinguish between townspeople and garrison. They would both have to live under the same rule and receive the same rations. She called the burgesses to her and told them what she was about to do. Their faces fell and she wondered whether they had now persuaded the townspeople that the only reason they had the greater share of the rations was because they had talked her into it. Once the burgesses had become aware that the garrison rations were smaller than those of the townspeople it had quickly become common knowledge. Rather than allow the burgesses to interpret her orders, she decided to make her own announcement that evening in the hall.

After the evening meal she stood in her place and quiet fell across the hall.

“There have been many disturbances in the past few days,” she announced, “And I fear that they give comfort to our enemy when he should be afraid of us. We should not be fighting among ourselves.  We should be fighting him. Therefore I have decided that since we are all inside the castle walls we shall all follow the castle rules. I appreciate this will not be easy for everyone, but it is necessary for you to see that there are no favourites and everyone is treated equally and that we all depend on one another.” The silence grew heavy. “From tomorrow,” she continued, “The young men will join the garrison. They will work when the garrison works and sleep when the garrison sleeps. The young women will be assigned to various tasks in the castle as befits their station and we will all have the same rations.”

There was some dismay at that, but Rosamunde did not allow herself to be distracted. She paused, hoping that no one would see her hesitation before she announced, “And because they no longer have any responsibilities I am disbanding the burgesses.”

There were gasps and three of the burgesses leapt to their feet. They had not been expecting this. But Rosamunde had decided that the burgesses were causing more trouble than anyone else, so she thought she had no alternative.

“You cannot do this,” said Robert Tyler, “You do not have the authority.”

“I can and I do,” she replied, coolly. “What need is there for burgesses at the moment? To all intents and purposes there is no town.”

“But we protect the townspeople,” he protested.

“No,” she responded, “I protect them. They are my responsibility and I take it very seriously. I will not have you causing dissent. William Archer can join my advisors and may meet with us each morning, but I have no need of the rest of you.

Robert rose from his place and came to stand before Rosamunde. “You cannot disband the burgesses,” he repeated.

“Are you threatening Lady Rosamunde?” asked Thomas, standing up.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he is threatening her,” said Richard and before Robert could respond Richard had drawn his sword and had the blade at Robert’s throat. Richard appeared not to notice that the blade had nicked Robert’s skin so that a small red line of blood trickled down under his tunic.

“I will put you somewhere where you cannot cause trouble,” he said, looking pointedly at Rosamunde for her permission. She inclined her head. Robert’s hand went to his knife, but he was too slow for Richard who caught it and brought the wrist down on his knee so that Robert dropped the knife. Rosamunde held her breath, but the time Richard had spent with Margaret had not been wasted and he retained his balance. Robert sagged into submission and allowed Richard to lead him from the room. Rosamunde wished she had done something similar long ago, for she knew that she would not have much trouble from the burgesses from now on. She knew that Robert had allies among the townspeople and she knew that they could cause trouble, but she had made it more difficult for them to do that without anyone noticing.  She had also demonstrated that retribution would be swift where there was transgression and that would also help her to maintain order.

The weeks dragged on with no resolution to the siege. Christmas came and went with little to celebrate. The twelve days of Christmas were even more miserable than they had been the previous year when Rosamunde had felt the loss of her father most keenly.

The first snow of winter fell the week after Christmas and it cheered the castle’s defenders, for they knew their besiegers would be uncomfortable. They had destroyed so many houses that there were no longer any structures strong enough to provide shelter. They would also be cold, for they could not go far to find fuel, for the men from Dorset had arrived and harried any who left the town. This group was of such a size that Sir Walter would have to send enough of his army after them to make those remaining vulnerable to an attack from the castle. They also had the advantage that their leader, who had grown up in the castle and been sent by the duke to manage his estate in Dorset,  knew the countryside and could hide easily. Sir Walter’s men would be cold and miserable. It was cold in the castle, but Rosamunde kept the fire in the hall alight so that there was somewhere that the old people and the children would know was always warm. Now, more than ever, the life of the castle centred on the hall.

During the weeks of tedium she came to value Richard even more. He worked tirelessly with Thomas and Guy to find ways to keep the garrison busy. Instead of relaxing the men’s exercises, they increased them. Archery practice was also increased and the best boys from the town were placed around the walls with the archers the duke had left behind. Thomas reasoned that they would be keen for revenge on those who were destroying their homes.

True to his word, Richard had stayed close to her. He slept on a palliasse outside the door to her bedchamber in case Sir Walter should decide to attack during the night. While Guy escorted her to her morning meal, Richard and Thomas trained, then Richard followed Margaret’s régime for his leg. Then he was constantly at her side, whether she was working with the ladies, dealing with the burgesses or discussing supplies with the steward. Everyone knew why he was there and Rosamunde felt that people were a little dismayed when they saw them together.

Chapter Eight

It was the week before Candlemas and Rosamunde was considering how best they might celebrate it. She knew that the people within the castle needed something to raise their spirits. They had been enclosed together for almost three months and Christmas was now six weeks in the past. February promised to be as dark and cold as January had been and Easter seemed a long way off. Snow had covered the ground for more than a month.

It would be at least another six weeks before they could reasonably expect the return of the duke. This was known to everyone in the castle and, she assumed, to Sir Walter. There were still no signs of a final attack and Rosamunde began to hope that there would be none. There could hardly be time now for him to take the castle except by a full assault and he did not have the resources for that. They were surely safe now; they had enough supplies to last him out.

Rosamunde, Margaret and Thomas were discussing plans for the celebration of Candlemas when Richard found them in the duke’s solar.

“Please, Rosamunde,” he said excitedly, forgetting to bow as he usually did, “Please come up to the wall, something is happening.”

Immediately Rosamunde left the room to go with him. She was desperately afraid. Sir Walter had obviously decided to make his move after all. Their efforts had been for nothing and her father would return home to find his castle in ruins, his people dead and his daughter the wife of a man he could not respect. She became somewhat calmer, however, when Richard insisted that they stop at her bedchamber so that she could put on her warmest cloak. The need was obviously not as pressing as she had thought at first and she began to breathe again.

When Richard considered that she was warm enough they went up onto the wall. There had been another fall of snow in the night and the walls were slippery under foot. “Let me help you,” said Richard, putting an arm around her waist to steady her and she was comforted by his strong presence.

Rosamunde no longer had any fears about his ability to bear her weight should she slip. Despite her earlier prediction, Richard’s leg was healing well and it looked as if he might eventually be able to ride a horse properly, although she feared it might be some time before they could test this theory. The thought gave her some hope as she realised that she was thinking about something good that would happen after the siege.

When they got to the top of the wall Rosamunde did not have to wait for Richard to point out what had so excited him. An army was marching along the coast road from the east. It was perhaps two or three hundred men strong.

“Reinforcements,” she whispered, once again overwhelmed by a feeling of dread.

“I do not think so,” said Thomas. He smiled at Rosamunde, although she could see that he was worried. “Sir Walter surely brought with him all the men he had.”

“Then allies,” suggested Richard, doubtfully.