The Forest - Edward Rutherfurd [52]
At the end of their brief meal, Cola spoke: ‘You are both to remain here at the manor tomorrow. Nobody is to leave.’
‘But Father …’ Edgar looked startled. ‘Surely I am to accompany you on the king’s hunt?’
‘No. You’ll remain here. You are not to leave Adela.’
They both stared in horror. Whether Edgar wanted her company at present Adela did not know. She certainly knew what it meant for a young man in his position to hunt with the king. As for herself, the last thing she needed was to be confined there with him tomorrow. ‘May he not accompany you?’ she ventured. ‘He would see the king.’
But if she hoped to help matters, she only provoked a storm. ‘He will do no such thing, Madam,’ the old man roared. ‘He will obey his father. And you will do as you are told, too!’ He banged his hand on the table and rose to his feet. ‘Those are my orders and you, Sir’ – he glared at Edgar with blazing blue eyes – ‘will obey them.’
He stood there, bristling, a magnificent old man who could still be frightening and the two young people wisely remained silent.
As she retired, later that evening, Adela could only wonder how she was going to get away in the morning. For disobey him she must.
The noise that woke her, a little before dawn, was of human voices. They were not loud, though it seemed to her that in her dreams she might have heard the sound of quarrelling.
Softly she got up and stole towards them. She came to the doorway of the hall. She looked in.
Cola and Edgar were sitting at the table upon which a taper gave just enough light to see their faces. The old man was already fully dressed to go hunting; Edgar was wearing only a long undershirt. It was evident that they had been in conversation for some time and at this moment Edgar was looking questioningly at his father who in turn was staring down at the table. He looked tired.
Finally, without looking up, the old man spoke: ‘Don’t you think that if I tell you not to come into the Forest, I might have a reason?’
‘Yes, but I think you should tell me what it is.’
‘It might be safer, don’t you see, if you didn’t know.’
‘I think you should trust me.’
The old man was thoughtful for a while. ‘If anything happens to me,’ he said slowly, ‘I suppose it might be better if you understood a little more. The world is a dangerous place and perhaps I shouldn’t shelter you. You’re a grown man.’
‘I think so.’
‘Tell me, have you ever thought how many people would like to see Rufus disappear?’
‘Many.’
‘Yes. In a good few quarters. And never more than at present.’ He paused. ‘And so if Rufus were to have an accident in the Forest, those people, whoever they are, would think it convenient.’
‘An accident to the king?’
‘You forget. The royal family are rather prone to accidents in the Forest.’
It was true. Years ago a fourth son of the Conqueror, Richard, had been killed as a young man by riding into a tree in the New Forest. And one of Rufus’s nephews, a bastard son of his brother Robert, had been killed by a stray arrow in the Forest even more recently.
Even so. A king! Edgar was thunderstruck. ‘You mean Rufus is to have an accident?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘When?’
‘Perhaps this afternoon.’
‘And you know?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘And if you know, you must have some part in it.’
‘I did not say that.’
‘You could not refuse? To know, I mean.’
‘These are powerful people, Edgar. Very powerful. Our position – mine, one day yours – is difficult.’
‘But you know who is behind it?’
‘No. I’m not sure that I do. Powerful people have spoken to me. But things are not always what they seem.’
‘It’s to happen today?’
‘Perhaps. But perhaps not. Remember, Rufus was to be killed in a wood once before, but one of the Clares changed his mind at the last moment. Nothing is ever certain. It may happen. It may not.’
‘But Father …’ Edgar was gazing at him with concern now. ‘I won’t ask you what your part in this may be, but are you sure that, whatever happens,