Tyrrell seemed to have recovered a bit now. 'You said you were looking for me, that you sent a message,' he said quietly. 'What was that?'

She told him the whole story, the behaviour of Cola, what she had heard and how she had searched, with Pride's help.

He listened carefully, then was silent for a few moments. 'Did you realize that you might have been risking your life for me, my dear cousin?' he said at last. He had never called her his dear cousin before.

'I didn't really think of it,' she replied honestly.

'This Pride - he knows nothing except the message you gave him, from the Lady Maud?'

'Nothing.'

'Let's hope he is discreet, then.' He stayed lost in thought for a while. Then, gazing ahead he said quietly: 'You must forget everything you heard, everything you saw. If anyone asks, if Cola asks, you went for a ride in the Forest. Is there any reason why you should have done so?'

'Actually,' she confessed, 'I had an assignation with Hugh de Martell. But I missed it.'

'Aha!' Despite everything, he laughed out loud. 'He's incorrigible, you know. Be warned. But it couldn't be better. Stick to that if you must. Say you panicked and fled to find me if further pressed. But', he became very serious, 'if you value your life, Adela, forget everything else.'

'What really happened?' she asked.

He paused for some time before he spoke and, when he did, he chose his words carefully. 'I don't know. We'd split up. One of my Clare kinsmen came racing up to me and said there'd been an accident. "And as you were alone with the king," he said, "you'll take the blame." I told him I hadn't been with the king, but I got the message, if you see what I mean. He promised me they'd keep the hue and cry off my trail for a day or two if I made myself scarce and got across the sea. No point in arguing.'

'Was it an accident?'

'Who knows? Accidents happen.'

She wondered if he were telling the truth, and realized she could not know. She also realized that it was irrelevant. What mattered most - a hidden truth or a series of fleeting appearances? Or what men chose to say, or chose to believe?

'I'm afraid, my poor little cousin, there's nothing much I can do for you at present. I did have a possible suitor for you, but nobody will be wanting an alliance with a poor cousin of mine for a while. And you certainly can't come with me to Normandy now. What's to be done?'

'I'll go back to Cola's first,' she replied. 'Then we'll see. They tell me' - she smiled - 'that I'm going to be very happy.'