The Unconventional Maiden. June Francis

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СКАЧАТЬ Beth’s hand and hurrying her towards the outer door.

      Beth thought he looked grim and her heart sank. ‘What—what happened? Did the Cardinal suspect that I am responsible for my father’s death and will not agree to my leaving France?’

      ‘Why do you think I should have put such thoughts into his head?’ said Gawain, glancing down at her pale face. ‘Is it that you overheard my conversation with your father that day we met in London?’

      ‘No!’ she cried, tripping over her hem in an attempt to keep up with him. ‘Please, of your courtesy, Sir Gawain, if you would just slow down! Your legs are so much longer than mine and I cannot keep up with you.’

      Gawain begged her pardon and attempted to set his pace to match hers. It was not easy and he was impatient to reach his tent, hoping he would find his man, Tom Cobtree, there. He must not be alone with her.

      ‘Why do you ask about your conversation with my father and where are you taking me?’ she demanded.

      ‘To my tent. If fortune is with me, then my man will have returned and we will have something to eat and drink.’

      ‘What of my servants?’ asked Beth. ‘And will you tell me exactly what passed between you and the Cardinal, as well as my father?’

      ‘I told the Cardinal the facts and deemed it necessary to inform him of my suspicions concerning your brother’s so-called accident.’

      Beth took a deep breath. ‘My brother’s so-called accident! Are you saying that Jonathan’s accident was no accident?’

      ‘Did your father not speak of it to you? Despite his reluctance to do so, I had hoped that he might have done,’ said Gawain.

      Beth stopped in her tracks. ‘He has not spoken of it to me. Are you telling me now that my brother was murdered?’

      ‘I suspect it was so,’ said Gawain.

      ‘I don’t understand,’ she cried. ‘And how is it that my father should have involved you in the matter?’

      ‘If you’ll allow me to answer one question at a time, Mistress Llewellyn, instead of throwing them at me like spears, I will endeavour to do so.’

      ‘Likening my questions to spears is an odd way of referring to two simple questions,’ she retorted.

      ‘I felt you were suddenly beginning to regard me as your enemy. Your voice was getting shrill.’

      ‘My voice is not shrill,’ she denied.

      A smile eased up the corners of his mouth. ‘It was certainly not dovelike, but let us not quarrel, Mistress Llewellyn.’

      That unexpected smile did strange things to her and she found herself answering it with one of her own. ‘All right, I will calm down, but you must understand how difficult all this is for me.’

      ‘Of course I understand,’ said Gawain, his smile fading. ‘I will answer your first question. I had the boat your brother purchased raised and dragged ashore at low tide. Holes had been drilled into the hull.’

      ‘What!’ She was aghast. ‘Who would do this and how did Jonathan not spot the damage?’

      ‘I can only believe that the plugs were loosely put back into place; once it was afloat, the water forced them out. I had recently taken charge of the yard where the boat was built and your father came to me in great distress, searching for answers to why a newly made boat should sink.’

      Beth was hurt that her father had kept such important information from her. When he had introduced her to Sir Gawain back in London, she had believed him to be just a new customer. ‘So you are a boat builder, as well as a knight,’ she said.

      ‘I am no boat builder. I own land in Kent where I rear sheep, as well as a whole swathe of forest on the Weald. I supply timber to several ship- and boat-building yards at Smallhythe and Greenwich.’

      ‘Does the king not have a palace at Greenwich?’

      ‘Aye. He takes a great interest in shipbuilding, as did his father. He is building a navy and that is how I came to Henry’s notice,’ said Gawain. ‘But we are digressing. Your brother …’ He paused.

      ‘I don’t understand. Why should a boat builder hold a grudge against Jonathan?’ Her voice shook.

      Gawain raised an eyebrow. ‘We have no reason to suspect that the craftsman who built the boat killed your brother. Anyone with a knowledge of boats would be quite capable of drilling holes in the bottom. Maybe your brother wronged a shipwright’s wife and he was intent on revenge.’

      ‘Jonathan could be very cavalier in his treatment of my sex, but he would not seduce another man’s wife,’ she said firmly.

      Gawain stared at her thoughtfully. ‘How can you be so sure?’

      She returned his stare. ‘I knew him well and it was not in his nature to seduce a married woman. You will just have to take my word for it.’

      He nodded slowly. ‘I will do so unless I discover you are wrong.’

      She hesitated. ‘All right, I accept that because you didn’t know him. Anyway this is not helping us discover who killed my father.’

      ‘It could be that he had an inkling of who might have done away with Jonathan and he made the mistake of confronting the person he suspected.’

      ‘I—I see.’ She was silent a moment and then her eyes widened suddenly. ‘Do you think my father could have been killed by a religious fanatic?’

      He marvelled at the way her mind so quickly grasped hold of possibilities. ‘It has occurred to me that he might have been involved in printing some of the teachings of the heretic Martin Luther,’ he said cautiously.

      ‘Father was religious, but Jonathan was not. And I cannot believe that Father would be so foolish as to become involved in such a dangerous activity.’

      ‘People can behave out of character when they strongly believe in something. Especially when they are grieving and deeply disturbed in their minds.’

      She had a strange feeling that he was not only referring to her father, but someone else he knew, and wondered who it could be. ‘That could easily apply to the murderer, too,’ she said, moistening her lips that suddenly felt dry. ‘If so, they could have a grudge against my family and I could be their next target.’

      Gawain hesitated before saying, ‘It is possible, but I gave my word to your father that I would take care of you if aught were to happen to him and I will do so.’

      She gasped. ‘Why should you make such a promise to my father when you were barely acquainted? What did he offer you?’ she demanded suspiciously.

      Gawain knew that the moment had come to tell her the truth. ‘Shares in his business, but that is neither here nor there as I am not a poor man, Mistress Llewellyn. No doubt what I am about to say will vex you, but on your father’s death I became your legal guardian.’

      She was taken aback. ‘Why should he ask you to do that? There were other people he could have СКАЧАТЬ