Robin stood at the end of the table and held the attention of the dinner guests. They were in Richard Vowell's house and Betty was serving fresh venison with plumb jelly. Owen Ap-Richard was there with his boys and so was the tinker.
'Sister Alice did it just right,' Robin enthused. 'She took control and made 'em look like idiots. They'd come to search her place. In the end, she had them doing what she wanted.'
Betty looked up from her cooking.
'Did they take anything away?'
'I saw the friar pick up some bits of toadstool.'
'What sort of toadstool?'
'Dunno,' Robin shrugged.
'Was it coloured?'
'Yeah … sort of.'
'What colour?'
'Sort of dried-up colour.'
Betty forgot about fungi and turned to other things.
'Did he get his hands on any of her books?'
'He took one away. It had a red cover.'
Betty knew the book. It was a manual for midwives that Alice had written. It contained nothing that could identify it as Saracen or Jewish, even if the learning came from these ancient peoples. Richard disturbed her thoughts.
'A toast to Good Duke Humphrey!'
He grabbed a wineskin and squirted the contents into the air. Blobs fell onto the napkins Betty had laid out.
'Stop that!'
'Don't you want to know why I did it?'
'You don't need any reason to behave like a monkey.'
She smacked his hand with a spoon.
'Humph's passing through in two days' time,' Richard announced. 'Owen's been speaking to his sergeant. He wants us to lay on a bit of a reception. Get together as many of the Agincourt veterans as we can.'
'Is it going to be an official visit?' John Tucker asked.
'No. Like I said, he's just passing through.'
'So we can make it our reception.'
'Right first time.' Richard reached for one of Betty's sweetmeats. 'You shall have a honey frog for that brilliant piece of deduction, Master Tucker.'
He tossed the sticky biscuit at John and licked his fingers.'
'It's going to be our reception. Jonnie Baret and Billy Bradford won't get a look in. We'll arrange it all ourselves. Get a crowd to cheer Humph as he comes up the hill. Then, when he gets to the green, we'll present the veterans.'
'Why should we welcome him?' the tinker asked.
'Because he's a good friend and companion in arms.'
'But he's one of the royals.'
'Quite right. He's the king's uncle. That's why we have to keep on side. If the Lord God calls little Harry up to heaven, Humph gets the job. It's all worked out. That way people can't fight over it.'