[Roger the Chapman 02] - The Plymouth Cloak by Kate Sedley Page B

have been on the road for several days and were looking to rest for a while at Trenowth, but in the circumstances . . .' He completed the sentence with an eloquent little shrug and lapsed into silence.
    'Wait there, sir,' the second obliging fellow instructed. ‘I’ll fetch Alwyn Steward to you directly.'
    He hurried off, returning after some four or five minutes with the steward, a tall, thin, slightly balding man who stooped, as though permanently bent to listen to other people's inquiries. His watery blue eyes passed over me to rest on Philip, thereby demonstrating how right my companion had been to designate us man and master.
    Philip repeated his story with even more confidence, now that he was absolutely certain there was no chance of Sir Peveril returning home to gainsay it. The steward frowned a little in an effort to recall his name. 'You say, sir, you're a friend of my master's?'
    'In London. He and Lady Trenowth have often urged me to stay with them if ever I found myself in this part of Cornwall.' He dismounted and drew Alwyn to one side. I saw the flash of silver as, presumably, he showed the man his own token of credence, such as the one Simon Whitehead had been carrying, and heard him mutter the words, 'King's business.'
    The steward looked impressed and, I guessed, would be even more so later, when Philip swore him to secrecy.
    'You must come in, sir, and rest here as many days as you wish. My master and mistress would never forgive me if I failed to offer hospitality to their friends. Sir Peveril will be sorry to have missed you.'
    He led the way beneath the arch of the gatehouse, the horse's hoofs echoing hollowly on the cobbles, and requested us to wait while he went in search of the housekeeper. During his absence, I took stock of my surroundings.
    Two sides of the quadrangle, the one facing us and to our left, were the family living quarters, demonstrated by the fact that the buildings were two-storeyed. There was ample room for a large brood of children, but I learned later from the housekeeper that Sir Peveril and Lady Trenowth had not been so blessed. The laundry and dairy lay to one side of the gateway, the bakehouse to the other, the doors standing open to reveal the inmates hard at work. There seemed to be no slacking because the master and mistress were from home, a fact which argued for contented and well treated servants. The savoury and mouth-watering smells drifting out of an open doorway in the right-hand comer of the courtyard told me that the kitchens could not be far away.
    And they were probably, as is usual, flanked by the buttery.
    The low building to our right must therefore be the servants' quarters.
    The steward came fussing back, with apologies for keeping us waiting. In the absence of Sir Peveril and Lady Trenowth he was assuming full responsibility for the day-to-day running of the manor.
    'I have spoken to Janet Overy,' he said, 'and she will prepare beds for you. You will have the guest chamber next to Sir Peveril's, Master Underdown, and a truckle-bed will be set up for your man. Unless, of course, you wish him to sleep in the servants' quarters or the kitchen.'
    I sent Philip a warning glance which dared him to choose either of the latter. I could see that he was tempted, and had he not been so shaken by recent events, he might have done so out of a perverted sense of humour. As it was, he said quietly: 'My man will sleep with me.'
    Alwyn nodded. 'So Mistress Overy and I expected.' A door opened from the servants' quarters and he turned his head. 'Ah! Here is Mistress Overy now. For the present, I will leave you in her capable hands. When you are settled just send for me. I must go. With the master and Lady Trenowth away, there is much to see to.'
    He bustled importantly about his business, hurrying across the courtyard, the hem of his gown clinging around his thin ankles, and disappeared through the main door at the top of a shallow flight of steps which spanned the