Drop of the Dice by Philippa Carr Page B

be are determined that this shall be an interesting journey for all concerned.’
    ‘What does my great-uncle say?’
    ‘He is resigned. He has some business to do here, in any case. So he said to me, “Will you look after my little niece for an hour or so, Clavering?” I replied, “Indeed I will, sir. Nothing would give me greater pleasure, sir. If you have no objection, your little niece and I will visit the fair.” He gave his willing consent to this excursion.’
    ‘Are you always so exuberant and talkative?’
    ‘Only when I have an appreciative audience.’
    ‘You find me appreciative?’
    ‘I find you everything I would wish you to be at the precise moment I would wish it. Now that, my dear Clarissa, is the definition of an attractive woman.’
    ‘I suspect that you do not mean all the flattering things you say.’
    ‘A statement of fact is not flattery, is it? One eulogizes because the spirit moves one to do so. One speaks as one finds and if there is a flow of words… well, that is useful, but it is not flattery. To you I speak the truth and if it seems overfulsome that is because modesty is yet another of your excellent virtues.’
    ‘Have you ever been at a loss for words?’
    ‘There have been times. At the gaming table, perhaps, when I have lost more than I could afford.’
    ‘That must be alarming.’
    ‘Well, it is part of the gamble. If a man won every time there would be no excitement, would there? But I must not talk to you of gambling. Your family would heartily disapprove of that. Well, what say you to a visit to the fair?’
    ‘I should love it.’
    ‘Then break your fast early, and we’ll set off. I promise you an exciting morning.’
    ‘I will be as quick as I can.’
    I turned from the window, pulled the bell-rope and asked for hot water. I washed and went down. While I was eating hot crisp bacon on crusty bread and drinking a mug of ale, the man in the frieze coat came in. He was dressed for departure. He talked to the landlord about his horse. He was obviously rather anxious to be on his way.
    When I left the dining room Lance was waiting for me and he told me we had a couple of hours before we need be back at the inn. As we walked into the village we heard sounds of merriment. The fair was set up in a field where there were brightly-coloured booths and such crowds that I guessed many people had some in from the neighbouring countryside.
    Lance took my arm. ‘Keep close to me,’ he said. ‘At fairs like this robbers abound. Keep your hands on your purse and if anyone attempts to snatch it, shout and I’ll prevent the robbery. Above all, keep close and don’t stray from your protector.’
    ‘Who is you… Sir Lancelot!’
    ‘I have a confession to make to you. That is my real name. As soon as I became aware of its implications—that was when I was seven years old, for I was a very intelligent child, as you have gathered, and the quality has stayed with me in later life—I changed it. Lancelot! Imagine. Lance is so much more suitable. There is something rather aggressive about a lance. A weapon of war.’
    ‘Lancelot was aggressive at times, I believe. And then there was all that trouble over Guinevere.’
    ‘All the same, I should hate to go through life with the label of knighthood attached to me.’
    I laughed.
    ‘You are amused?’ he asked.
    ‘We seem to get into discussions about matters which are of no real importance.’
    ‘My name is of the utmost importance to me… and I hope it will be to you. As for those Spanish leather shoes you were so anxious about, I think I learned something about you through your attitude to the Earl’s lady and that is what interests me, my dear Clarissa.’
    ‘I fancy you might be a little like Sir Lancelot after all,’ I said. ‘What is that smell?’
    ‘An ox… roasting. A necessary feature of such occasions. They’ll be selling it at so much a slice.’
    ‘I don’t think I should want any of it.’
    ‘But you’ll