“Did you sleep well?” I asked, all innocence.
“I slept very well!”
“Good. The caravan should arrive today, and you must be rested for travel.”
During the afternoon, dressed in a cloth coat and cap, I risked a visit to the town. My clothes were such as a prosperous merchant would wear, so with the influx of people for the fair I was not likely to attract attention. However, I did a little advance work for the caravan and discovered the Hansgraf was well known here.
It was evening before I returned. The Comtesse was awaiting me. “How much longer must I be cooped up here?” she protested. “It is maddening!”
“Go now, if you wish. Count Robert may not be in the town, but I am sure he has spies here.”
“You might at least stay with me!”
“I have matters to arrange, but I thought you might prefer to be alone. It must be difficult for you to be in a room with a mere merchant.”
She did not reply to that. Today, she looked even more beautiful and had wrapped her braids about her head in a perfectly enchanting way, and she was wearing pearls. Knowing a bit about such things, I thought it was obvious they were worth more money than I had ever seen.
The Comtesse wore a clinging white gown, a close-fitting garment with tight sleeves above the elbow, falling wide and open below the elbow. With her dark hair and eyes she was astonishingly beautiful. How she managed with the small amount of clothing she brought with her, I had no idea. Yet the result was certainly worth the effort. I told her about the town, a pleasant, walled town where our arrival had been accepted without curiosity, yet I was wary. Not for a moment did I underestimate the jealousy of Count Robert, who wanted not only the castle but the girl as well. The former meant the power equal to that of a crowned king, and the loveliness of the Comtesse was answer to the second consideration.
While in town I purchased a fur-lined tunic that came to my knees, and new leather boots that pulled on over plain hose. The boots came to just above the calf and were beautifully made. Walking in the town, I carried no sword, but I had two daggers beneath the tunic that could be reached through a slit in the front just above the belt.
There was knocking at the door. It was the innkeeper. He was visibly nervous.
“There have been queries about a lady. Knowing you for a friend of the Hansgraf, I said nothing about—about your sister.”
“Who made the inquiries?”
“Soldiers of a Count Robert. He rode into town this morning with about thirty men, and I am sure they will be back.”
“Do you wish us to leave?”
“Would you? But stay until the night. The Hansgraf should be here by then.”
Taking up my sword, I placed it conveniently on the table. Glancing again at the innkeeper, I decided to trust to his discretion.
“What I have said is true. I am a merchant of the caravan led by Hansgraf Rupert von Gilderstern. As you have guessed, the lady is not my sister. She was to be forced into marriage with Count Robert. A castle is at stake as well as the happiness of the Comtesse.”
He dismissed the explanation with a gesture. “It is nothing. Count Robert comes, he goes. In a lifetime I shall not see him again, but each year the Hansgraf comes to Provins, spends much money here, brings much business. He is a good man much respected. Do not worry.”
When he had gone the Comtesse turned quickly to me. “You must go! If you are found with me, he will kill you!”
It irritated my masculine pride that she thought me so easily killed. “Madame, we Kerbouchards do not kill so easily. This blade”—I gestured to the sword—”has taken the life of one baron not long since. No doubt it can take the life of another.”
“You killed a baron?”
“After we had taken his fortress by storm. Barons, my Comtesse, bleed as easily as merchants or peasants. This one bled like the thief he was. The Baron de Tournemine—”
“Tournemine?”
“Not a relative, I hope?”
“No, but a captain at the Castle of Saone once served him, a man named Taillefeur.”
“Trust him not. I believe he betrayed my father, and he tried to rob me. He is a mercenary without their virtue of loyalty. If he is not in the pay of Count Robert, I would be surprised.”
“I trust him.”
“Others have, to their cost. Once I nearly cracked his skull, and only wish I had struck harder.”
She was frightened. “If I cannot trust my own captains, then whom can I trust?”
I bowed. “You may trust me with your castle, your wealth, your life, but not too many nights in the same room with you.”
Her eyes were amused. “You have spoken so much of that, merchant, that I wonder if you are not just a talker.”
Stung, I started to reply, but she laughed, and turned her back on me. That white dress did admirable things to her hips, which were shapely, very—
A sudden uproar in the street took me to the window. Six men-at-arms clustered there, and with them was a tall, powerfully made man with a swarthy face and thick black brows. Nobody needed to tell me this was Count Robert.
Turning swiftly, I said, “Do you remain here, and make no sound. I shall go below.” Belting on my sword, I turned to the door.
She caught my arm. “No! Please! He will kill you!” Bending my head, I kissed her lightly on the lips and regretted that I must leave.
“Wait for me. If I die, I take the memory of your lips with me.” Adding, for my own information, that I did not intend to die. Too much remained to be done.
Count Robert was approaching the steps when I appeared on them. “Stand aside,” he ordered, “I wish to mount the stairs.”
“At the head of the stairs,” I replied, “is one room. It is my room. You have no business there.”
“Stand aside, I said!” His black eyes were cold. “Or I shall spill your innards and walk over them to the room.”
“If you come up these stairs,” I said, “we shall see whose innards lie upon them.” I drew my sword. “Come, if you wish. You can bite on this steel.”
Coolly, he stepped back and motioned to the men behind him. “I do not fight with commoners. These do it for me.”
“An excuse for cowardice,” I replied. Count Robert gestured at the men-at-arms. “Kill him,” he said.
“If they advance one step,” a voice called out in a haughty tone that once heard could not be forgotten, “I shall hang the lot of them, and you higher than the rest.
“I am the Hansgraf Rupert von Gilderstern, of the White Company of traders. This man is a merchant of our company.”
“I have thirty men!” Count Robert declared. “And I have five times that number.”
The Hansgraf stood on the landing inside the door, feet apart, hands clasped behind him. “They are veterans of more than three hundred battles, Count Robert. Any five of my men would take your thirty and spit them like frogs.”
The Hansgraf put a hand on his hip. “If you have had no experience of war with a merchant caravan, Count Robert, this will be a lesson to you, a lesson you would not live to appreciate.”
The Hansgraf stepped down into the room, and a dozen of his men followed after. Months of hard riding in all kinds of weather had darkened and toughened their faces. Their armor bore dents from many conflicts. They were lean, muscular men ready for whatever must be done.
Count Robert’s men lowered their weapons, and giving them an ugly glance, Count Robert strode from the room, followed by his men.
The Hansgraf held out his hand. “You disappear, then appear again! It is good to see you, Kerbouchard!”
Then he added, “I would suggest you disguise the lady, and we will go to the market where we are known.”
The Comtesse appeared at the head of the steps. “I am ready, Hansgraf, and you have my thanks.” She came down the steps wearing the old cloak worn when we first met in the forest, the hood covering her hair.
Turning to me, she said, “From the actions of the Count I can see it is not only the rascals who have rascality.” She looked up at me. “And not only the nobles, Kerbouchard, who have nobility!”
35
The fair at Provins was one of the largest in France during the twelfth century. There was a fair in May, but the most important was that in September. Now the unseasonably cold, wet weather had disappeared, and the days were warm and sunny.