Chapter 2

I signaled to my companions to follow my lead, using our private battlefield signs. They both acknowledged me, so I breathed a little easier. I pretended that I did not notice the change in attitude and went up to the main door. I started to walk in as I had done for years, but this time, my way was blocked. "What is your business, My Lord?"

What in the Hell!?! I never expected this kind of reception from Blakeslee Keep. "I am Geoffrey Armbrewster, son of Agard Armbrewster of Springfeld Keep, here on business with the lord of Blakeslee Keep."

"Very well. Please wait here, and I will see if Lady Bushton will see you."

Talk about pissed off. This was no way to treat the son of an old friend even if you were about to go to war with him. Then it dawned on me: "I will see if Lady Bushton will see you." What the Hell was that all about?

The guard returned and said, "Lady Bushton will see you. Please come this way, but your companions will have to wait where they are."

More insults! There is something serious afoot! I have got to know what it is. I was led into the receiving hall, and Lady Mary Bushton was seated on a dais. Her daughter, Gwendolyn, was sitting beside her. I walked up to the dais and bowed. "My Lady Bushton, please tell me what I have done to offend you. I cannot imagine what could have happened to cause this ill feeling. Your husband and my father have been friends for 30 years or more. What has turned you against us?"

"Yesterday, Lord Bushton was attacked by soldiers wearing Armbrewster colors! At this moment, he lies on his bed nearer to death than to life. Why would your father do this to him?"

"My Lady Bushton, my father had nothing to do with what has happened to Lord Bushton. Yesterday, I was attacked and nearly killed by solders dressed in the Bushton colors. I am here today to report to Lord Bushton what has happened and to tell him that my father knows that he had nothing to do with the attack.

"My Lady Bushton, someone is trying to foment a feud between our houses. I cannot know or even imagine who it might be, but I assure you that we want nothing but friendship with you. One of the brigands who attacked me said that he was hired in a tavern to attack me. Eight men set upon me and my two friends yesterday while we were out riding a circuit of our fief. He said that he did not know why he was hired to kill me, but this sounds very much like what happened to Lord Bushton.

"Please read this message from my Father. In it, he assures you that he wants peace with your house and will do everything that he can to make it happen!"

"Very well, I believe you for now, Sir Geoffrey. Please give me the letter so that I may read it." I handed the scroll to Lady Bushton. She unrolled it and had hardly focused her eyes on it when the parchment burst into flame. Naturally, she dropped the scroll into her lap, and her clothes caught fire.

Fortunately, I was standing very close to her, so I was able to sweep the burning parchment from her lap. Then I snatched the robe from her shoulders and threw it to the stone floor. I saw that I had all of the burning cloth off her, so I turned to stamp out the flaming parchment. I hoped to examine it to try to determine where it had come from. It certainly was not the message that my father had written last night.

Before I could do anything of the sort, I was attacked by the guards that were standing around Lady Bushton. I received a solid knock on the head that caused me to fall to the floor on top of the burning parchment. That was fortunate because my body smothered the flames.

Suddenly, there was a shout, "GUARDS! HOLD FAST! DO NOT HARM SIR GEOFFREY!" That was Gwendolyn, and she rushed down from her seat to embrace me and protect me from further attack. The guards were now completely befuddled. They could not attack me without risking harm to their master's daughter, and no man in his right mind would do that. On the other hand, they thought that I had attacked their master's wife, and that warranted beating me to death.

Luckily for me, Lady Bushton finally got her wits about her and ordered the guards to leave me alone. At last, the guards had a firm order from someone in charge and they could go back to doing what they did best: following orders. Lady Bushton said, "Sir Geoffrey, please forgive me for being such a foolish old woman. Now that you have forced me to think about the situation, I can see that someone has tried to split our houses into feuding neighbors. We cannot allow that to happen, but how will we stop it?"

"I do not know, My Lady. May I see Lord Bushton before I return home? My father will want a full report from me as to his condition, and I can get that best by seeing him for myself."

"Certainly, Sir Geoffrey. I will take you to see him right away." Lady Bushton led Gwendolyn and me through the halls and up the stairs of the Keep to a bedroom at the top of the Keep. It was a large room, and there was a large bed. On it was a man who surely looked to be on his last legs. He had a wound in his side that was obviously festering. Anybody who had ever been on a battlefield after a major battle would have seen such a wound many times, and the victim never recovered. I almost cried when I saw Lord Bushton lying there in that state. In fact, a few tears did escape my eyes. Both Lady Bushton and Gwendolyn saw those tears and knew what they meant. Both women gasped, and Lady Bushton fainted. Who could blame her?

Blakeslee Keep was in serious trouble! Lord Bushton had no living sons who could take over running the estate when he died. Undoubtedly, the King would allocate Blakeslee Keep to someone else: a man capable of managing the fief and commanding troops in battle. The Bushtons had no one who could do that for them. The two women would become wards of the King and would be forever at his tender mercies. Or, the new man appointed by the King to take over Blakeslee Keep could take the women in to look after himself, but now they would be at the mercy of a strange man, and one they knew nothing about.

There was only one solution that I could think of: Gwendolyn and I would have to marry before Lord Bushton died. I estimated that he had no more than a week to live, so we had to act quickly. If I were Gwendolyn's husband, I would automatically inherit Blakeslee Keep at the death of her father. That would solve a number of problems, but it would require unseemly haste to get the marriage accomplished. Could we do it? Would the women agree? Would my Father agree? All I knew for sure that we had no time to waste.

I helped to revive Lady Bushton, and virtually carried her to another room where we could talk privately. When we got there, the first thing that I asked was for Rolf and Elbert to be treated as honored guests. Both women blanched: they had completely forgotten my friends. She rang for a page to invite the men into the informal dining room where they could drink wine and eat a snack while they waited for me.

I explained to the women my plan to save them from destitution and abject poverty. Gwendolyn was all for the idea as soon as I voiced it, but Lady Bushton was afraid to take such a major step without her husband's approval. I finally got her to agree by reminding her that Gwendolyn would be at the mercy of the King to find a suitable husband for her, and suitable would be defined by the King's wishes, not Gwendolyn's. It was noon by this time, so I went to find my friends and eat a quick meal with them before riding back to Springfeld.

On the way home, I told them of my plan, and they both thought that it was an excellent idea. Both knew that Gwendolyn and I wished to be married because of affection for each other and not for economic reasons, and that struck a romantic note within the two men.

We got home as soon as possible and I rushed to see my father. I told him the situation at Blakeslee Keep and my solution to the problem. At first, he laughed at my plan, but he did give it serious consideration. It took him less than five minutes to come around to my side. He approved, and now all we had to do was to sell the idea to my mother. She hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, maybe actually less than my father had before she agreed to help expedite my plan.