The Lord Bishop's Clerk Read Free Page A

chiefly around Defford, but he had inherited a manor adjacent to the caput of Hamo d’Achelie’s honour some four years previously. His first visit had been one of courtesy, but he had found the lady d’Achelie fascinating, and had found excuses to visit his outlying manor more and more frequently. He had become good friends with Hamo, and never overstepped the line with Isabelle in word or deed, but she had seen the way he looked at her when her husband was not attending. She was used to admiration, but not blatant desire, and it oozed from every pore of the man. Three years since, Hamo had been struck down by a seizure, which left him without the use of one side of his body. He had been pathetically touched by her devotion and attention to the wreck he knew himself to be, and openly discussed his wife’s future with his friend. She was deserving, he said, of a husband who could love and treasure her as he had become unable to do.
    What neither Hamo nor his beautiful wife realised was that Waleran de Grismont liked things on his own terms, and was conscious of feeling his hand forced. He had resolved to distance himself from the d’Achelies for a while, and sought sanctuary in the ranks of King Stephen’s army. He was not, in truth, very particular whose claim was most just, but since Stephen was the crowned king, it seemed a greater risk to ally oneself to the cause of an imperious and unforgiving woman, which the Empress Maud was known to be. The king’s army was heading north to ward off the threat of the disaffected Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and it was not long after that de Grismont found himself fighting for his life in the battle of Lincoln. He was no coward, and fought hard, but, like his king, was captured, and held pending ransom.
    In Worcestershire, as months passed, Isabelle d’Achelie had shed tears of grief and frustration, and even contemplated asking her ailing husband if there were any way of assisting in the raising of the required sum. Thankfully, such a desperate measure proved unnecessary, as she received news of de Grismont’s release. He sent a message, full of soft words and aspirations, but did not return to see her. She had been hurt, then worried. Had he cooled towards her, found another? When next she had news, he was among those besieging the empress at Oxford. Only when Hamo d’Achelie was shrouded for burial did he come to her again.
    Absence had certainly made the heart grow fonder, at least as far as the lady was concerned. Waleran looked thinner, and, thankfully, hungrier for her. His feral quality stirred her. For his own part, he was relieved to find that his absence had achieved its aim, for there had been low times when he had regretted his abandonment of the hunt. Now all that was necessary was to obtain the king’s permission to wed the wealthy widow. It should not prove difficult to obtain, for had he not suffered imprisonment and financial hardship for Stephen, who, having been shackled in a cell in Bristow, well knew how harsh such confinement could be.
    Isabelle was less sanguine. She had heard how variable the king’s moods could be. He had allowed the defeated garrison of one town to march out under arms, and then proceeded to hang the defenders of another from their own battlements. He was known, however, to have a gallant and impressionable streak when it came to women. The fair widow believed she would have no difficulty in persuading her sovereign to permit her wedding de Grismont, and had set out for that purpose, delighted at having her future in her own hands for the first time in her existence.

    She was surprised when Waleran de Grismont fell into step beside her. Her pulse raced, but a furrow of annoyance appeared briefly between her finely arched brows. She did not look at him, and spoke softly.
    ‘I do not suppose you are here by chance, my lord.’
    There was an edge to the tone, which he noted. He smiled. ‘But how could I keep away, when I knew you to