Bone of Contention by Roberta Gellis Page A

place,” he said in a more moderate tone. “I even thought of emptying out that house you used to rent, but the way things are, I couldn’t have done it quietly. There would have been howls of protest. It would have become known that I took the house, and I’m not sure everyone would have believed that I would go to so much effort only for a favorite whore.”
    “Then God must favor you, because it was sheer luck that Florete was afraid to rent this room to anyone. She thought she would end up with a troop of men-at-arms in there who would make merry with her whores and pay nothing.”
    He laughed. “Likely she was right.” But then his smile disappeared, and she noticed the gray in his hair, the new lines on his face, the gray tone under the weather-beaten brown of his skin, and how he blinked his eyes, as if to clear them.
    “You look tired, love,” she said. “Come, sit down.” And she led the way to the chair. “Shall I send the boy out to get some wine and food? I have had no chance yet to buy in stores.”
    He sank into the chair, put his elbows on the table, and rested his head in his hands. “Don’t bother. I have another meeting for the evening meal.” He sighed. “My spirit is tired, Magdalene, not my body. God knows, I’ve done little enough but stand around in the Court making stupid noises.”
    “Is there something I need to know to mind my tongue, William?” she asked anxiously.
    He shook his head helplessly. “I don’t even know if there is something I need to know,” he growled.
    “Will this help?” she asked, and repeated what Diccon had told her about the wagering between Waleran’s men and Surrey’s.
    “In the common room of a whorehouse,” William said softly, lifting his head. “I knew what they were saying, of course. Waleran has been whispering his warnings in the king’s ear since we all arrived and the king was kind enough—” his lips twisted “—to pass those warnings to me, since doubtless I would be the one who would have to winkle the bishops out of their castles. But I am a little surprised that the suspicions were common knowledge in the town and among the common men-at-arms. So his men are deliberately spreading the doubts to all. But why?”
    Magdalene ignored a question she knew was not for her, but she shivered. “William, what will happen to the realm if Salisbury and his son and nephews are turned out of office?”
    There was a silence and then William said softly, “Why do you think I cannot sleep at night? I don’t know, Chick, I don’t know.” He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “Except that there will be war and I will do what is necessary to save the king’s groats.”
    “Stephen is a fool!”
    “Yes. Sometimes.”
    Magdalene sighed. “Will this place be safe for you, William, if Waleran’s men and those of his blood kin come here?”
    He laughed and put out an arm to pull her close, ignoring the fact that the arm of the chair was cutting painfully into her thighs. “Sweet Chick. I think sometimes you really do care about me.”
    She dropped a kiss on the top of his head and blinked back tears. His hair was not only graying but thinning too. “Well, I do,” she said, making her voice light, “even though you don’t know your own strength and you will break my legs and cripple me if you don’t let me go.” He released her, but swatted her sharply on the buttocks, and she sighed. “Answer me, William. Will you be safe coming here? I will find another place if it will be better for you.”
    “No!” He grinned up at her. “And of course I will be safe, you silly woman. Waleran wouldn’t harm a hair on my head, especially when there is fighting coming along. Do you think he wants to risk his precious hide on the field? As long as I am alive and well, the king will send me.”
    “A fool, but he knows whom he can trust.”
    “In war…” Now William sighed, but then he smiled and gestured for Magdalene to sit down on