Catherine barely looked up to nod dismissal. Morach was whispering something behind her hand.

'And then he did what?' Catherine asked incredulously. 'I did not know that men could do that. What did his wife say – in heaven's name?'

Alys shut the door behind her and leaned back against it and closed her eyes. She could hear the ripple of laughter even through the massive wood. She turned wearily and went down the stairs, through the lobby and up the winding narrow staircase of the round tower to Lord Hugh's chamber.

Hugo was there. He was sitting on a stool at his father's feet as Alys walked into the room and he sprang up to greet her. Alys staggered and her face went white and then blushed red.

'I did not think to see you for days yet,' she said. 'Hugo, oh Hugo!'

He took her hand and squeezed it tight to warn her to be silent. The old lord looked from Alys' thin flushed face to his son's bright smile.

'I came home early,' Hugo said levelly. 'I have a great scheme to lay before my father and I wanted to see you all again. How is my wife? Is her pregnancy going safely?'

'She is well,' Alys said. She could hardly speak for breathlessness and she did not want to speak of Catherine. She wanted to hold him, to touch his face, the soft skin around his eyes, to kiss his merry smile. She wanted to feel his arms around her as he had held her that one night, that first night, and his kisses on her hair.

'What is this scheme of yours, Hugo?' the old lord asked. He beckoned to Alys to stand behind his chair and she crossed the room to his side and watched Hugo's animated face as he talked.

'It's Van Esselin,' he said. 'He has plans to fit a ship for the longest voyage they have ever undertaken -around Africa, even as far as the Japans. He has the ship's log from a Dutch pilot that shows a clear passage. I have seen it, it is true. And he plans to take goods and baubles to trade all along the way and to come back with a cargo of spices and silks and all the rich trade. It's a great opportunity for us, Father. I am certain of its success.' Trade?'

'It's not huckstering in the butter-market,' Hugo said quickly. 'It's honourable trade. It's a great adventure, as exciting as a war, as distant as a crusade. The world is changing, Father, and we have to change with it.'

'And what if this great ship sinks?' the old lord asked cynically.

Hugo shrugged. 'Then we have lost the wager,' he said. 'Van Esselin asks us only for a thousand pounds to back him. We can gamble a thousand pounds for the rewards this promises to bring.'

'A thousand pounds?' Lord Hugh repeated incredulously. 'One thousand!'

'But think of the return, Father!' Hugo said urgently. 'We would get it back twenty, maybe fifty times over. If they bring back spices and silks they can sail into London and make a fortune in a sale on the quayside itself. Or they can bring it back to Newcastle, or even take it up to Scotland. People are desperate for spices -think of the prices we pay in the kitchen! This is the way for us to make our fortune, not struggling to get our rents from snow-bound farmers!'

Lord Hugh shook his head. 'No,' he said slowly. 'Not while I am lord here.'

Hugo's face grew dark with one of his sudden rages. 'Will you explain to me why?' he asked, his voice shaking.

'Because we are lords, not traders,' Lord Hugh said with disdain. 'Because we know nothing of the sea and the trade your friend does. Because our family's wealth and success has been founded on land, getting and keeping land. That's the way to a lasting fortune, the rest is mere usury in one shape or another.'

'This is a new world and things are different now,' Hugo said passionately. 'Van Esselin says we do not even know what lands the ship may find! What riches it might bring back! There are tales of countries where they use gold and precious stones as playthings! Where they desire our goods above anything else!'

The old lord shook his head. 'You're a young man with a young man's ambitions, Hugo,' he said. 'But I am an old man with an old man's love for order. And while I am alive we will do things in the old way. When I am dead you may do as you please. But I imagine that when you have a son of your own you will be as unwilling to gamble with his inheritance as I am unwilling to gamble with yours.'

Hugo made an impatient noise and flung himself towards the door. 'I have as much power here as a woman!' he shouted. 'I am thirty-two years old, Father, and you treat me like a child. I cannot bear it! Van Esselin is a year younger than me and he runs his father's company. Charles de Vere's father has given him his own house and retainers. I cannot be your lapdog, Sire, I warn you.'

Lord Hugh nodded. Alys glanced at him, expecting him to fire up, but he was sitting very still in thought. 'I understand that,' he said levelly. 'Tell me, Hugo. When does this Van Esselin want the money?'

'This time next year,' Hugo said. He came back towards his father in his eagerness. 'But he needs to have the firm promise of it by the autumn.'

'I'll do this for you then,' the old lord said. 'If Catherine has a son safely delivered in the October, then I'll find the thousand pounds for you. And it shall be your money and your son's money. A gift to celebrate his birth. You may do as you wish with it. Buy land in good heart and with set rents, or throw it to the winds and the seas with this venture. Let us see how your judgement is, when you have a son in your arms to be provided for, another generation to come after you.'

'If Catherine has a son, I have a thousand pounds?' Hugo asked. The old lord nodded. 'You have my word,' he said. Hugo stepped quickly towards his father, dropped to one knee and kissed his hand. 'I shall make my fortune then,' he said delightedly. 'For Catherine is certain she is carrying a boy. Isn't she, Alys? You think so, don't you?'

Alys nodded stiffly. Her neck was tight with strain. 'I'll go to her now and see how she fares,' Hugo said delightedly. He bowed to his father, nodded blithely at Alys and strode from the room. Alys did not move as the door shut behind him.

The old lord chuckled. 'I shall have some peace in this castle yet,' he observed. 'I shall set myself up as a marriage broker. Wait till you see how he cossets her now that she means an heir, a future and a thousand pounds for him!'

Alys moved her stiff lips in a smile, and took up the book she was reading to him.

Fifteen

Alys spent the evening on the other side of the ladies' gallery fireplace from Hugo and watched with an impassive face as Catherine tapped him on the shoulder in reproof at a jest, rested her hand on his shoulder and twisted one of his dark curls around her finger.

Alys was ordered to bring Hugo some more Osney wine from the sideboard. She went down on one knee to serve him. He smiled down at her.

'Are you well, Alys?' he asked under his breath, so that only she could hear. 'When I wrote to my father of all my doings I thought of you, reading the letters. I wrote to you as well as to him, you know.'

Alys' hand pouring the wine shook a little and the bottle rattled on the lip of the cup.

'When I lay with a whore I thought of you, Alys,' he said, his voice very low. 'I wondered if you were playing with me. If you have played with me all along, and with my father, and with my wife. What dark games do you have, Alys? Have you truly given up play and magic after all, as you promised?'

He glanced swiftly round. No one was watching them. 'I went away half mad for you,' he whispered. 'Everywhere I went in Newcastle the edge was off my pleasure. I kept wondering what you would think of a thing, how you would like it. And then I was angry with you, Alys. I believe you bewitched me after all. I believe you have played with me to spoil my peace.'

'I have no magic, my lord,' Alys said stiffly. 'I have a little skill with herbs, sickness and childbirth.' She shot a quick look at him from under her eyelashes, then she stood with the bottle of wine still in her hands. 'And my peace is spoiled too,' she said.

Hugo laughed up at her, his white teeth sharp in his smile. 'I'm ready to be witched,' he said. 'I'm ready to be tempted! But see how I am placed now, Alys! There can be nothing in my life till October -I get everything then. We could make merry till then, you and I. But in secret.'

'What are you saying?' Catherine interrupted. 'What are you saying to my lord, Alys? Don't you think she has grown thin, Hugo? Thin and white. I am afraid we are not feeding her well enough. She was so pretty when she first came to the castle and now she is as boney as a spinster at her distaff!'

The women laughed in an obedient chorus. Alys met Hugo's quick scrutiny with a look of blank resentment.

'Are you unwell?' he asked neutrally so that they could all hear.

'No,' Alys said in a tone as level as his. 'I am weary with being indoors so much. That is all.'

'Leave us now,' Catherine interrupted. 'One of you check that my bed is warm.' She shot a look at Hugo. 'Though I will be hot enough in a moment, I reckon,' she said in a loud whisper.

Hugo laughed and took the hand she reached out for him. 'Away to bed, my lady,' he said caressingly. 'You must rest for the health of my son. You don't know what a fortune I have riding on him!'

Eliza went into Catherine's bedroom and checked there were fresh herbs on the floor and under the pillows. Then she bobbed a half-curtsey to the two of them before the fire and she, and all the ladies, went to their rooms.

'Not so hot for you these days,' Morach commented as she and Alys stripped off their gowns and scurried into the cold bed in their shifts. 'No,' Alys said shortly. 'Why's that d'you think?' Morach pried. 'I don't know,' Alys said. 'I wonder why,' Morach said, undeterred. "The old lord has him fast,' Alys said, in sudden impatience. 'He did it today, I heard every word. He will make Hugo's fortune if Catherine bears a healthy son. He has promised him a thousand pounds for his own free use.'