Her next was mortifying.

'If he is your son …'

He reached past her and closed the door.

'Mother. How can you say such a thing? Our entire case rests upon William's unquestionable legitimacy. It would only require one witness to testify to what you have just said and all would be lost.'

'That's not going to happen, Harald.'

'How can you be so sure?'

'Sir Hugh would never allow it.'

'He might not be able to stop it.'

Harald tried to say more but his mother's attention was distracted by the arrival of John Baret's party. William was with them. She gathered up her skirt and hurried down the stairs to greet him.

***

Dinner was served in the hall. Harald sat at the high table. His mother occupied the central position as lady of the manor. He sat on her right with William. Sir Hugh and an officer of his guard sat on her left. To Harald's immense annoyance, John Baret was assigned to an inferior position at the end of the table. The guard occupied the tables below. There were twenty of them. Fit young men wearing the uniforms of the Earl of Huntingdon. Harald guessed that their purpose was to intimidate rather than protect.

His mother's chaplain said grace. Sir Peter de Trent had been with the family for many years and was employed for his administrative ability and unswerving loyalty. His religious qualifications failed to meet the standards of the church but his right to the tonsure had never been questioned. Harald's father was in continual correspondence with him. Their letters could take as little as a week to travel between England and France or several months, depending on conditions at sea and the progress of the war. The weather had been unseasonably calm. Harald guessed his father had instructed Peter to engage Hugh Orpington's services and hire a guard to accompany them to Dorchester.

Peter broke bread and eyes turned to the fire burning on the flagstones below the high table. A pig was roasting there, attended by two servants. The animal had an orange in its mouth and its sides had been slashed and rubbed with spices. Harald wondered if this unexpected touch of refinement had been done for Sir Hugh's benefit.

As guest of honour, Hugh was served first. A keg of wine was tapped and a silver pitcher filled. Peter de Trent had arranged everything. Harald concluded that the Gascoigne fortunes had taken a turn for the better. The arrival of the Duke of York with a new army had clearly made a big difference to the war effort in France. A few months earlier he had sold the family silver. Now they were dining off silver again. He examined the coats of arms and wondered about the previous owners.




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