In the sudden silence the rustle of his cloak as he let it slip back from Baudouin’s body sounded as loud as the sea-waves beyond the window. Wordless, he waited, while she stood there in her shift, staring and dumb, with the bedcover held tight to her breast while breath stopped, life stopped.

Then came back, with pain like blood after frostbite. Drustan trod, softly now, towards the bed, and laid the young prince’s body down. As he did so the child in the corner stirred under his blankets, murmuring something, then slept again. But when Anna, with a cry, flung herself down by her husband’s body, Drustan gripped her by the arm, and pulled her to her feet again.

“Listen to me, lady! There’s no time now for mourning! The king – yes, of course it was the king, who else? – he was half mad and swearing to wipe out all his brother’s brood as well, and that means you, Anna, and the boy. Do you understand? You are both in danger. You must go, leave the castle, leave Cornwall, even. You must have some place to go to? For pity’s sake, lady, listen to me! There’s no time! Wake the boy –”

“How did it happen? And why?” She hardly seemed to have heard him. She was fixed, white-faced, oblivious of everything but the gashed corpse lying in its spreading stains on the bed.

“Oh, March’s way,” said Drustan harshly. “A quarrel forced, then high words, and out comes the sword. Did he ever need a reason? Or do you need to ask for one?”

“He was unarmed,” she said stonily.

Drustan leaned forward and took the sword gently from her grasp. “So I see.”

“So must March have done. Surely, even he would not be so ignoble as to draw his sword on an unarmed man?”

“He was drunk. So men will say –”

“So they will.” Her voice was bitter with contempt. “And they will hold him excused therefor. But I,” said the Princess Anna, “will not!”

“Nor should you,” said Drustan quickly. “Look, there will be time later on to think what you must do. But now you must go, and the child with you. Listen. This happened after they had supped. They were private; wine was left and the servants had been sent away. The king drank too much, and then this crime befell. But Baudouin, armed as he was only with the knife with which he had been eating, defended himself nobly, so that there was commotion, with tables and benches overturned, and the king, far gone in drink and passion, setting up such a shouting that the servants in the outer rooms were roused, and went running in. They were too late to save Baudouin, but one of them came running for me, and when I got to the supper chamber I found your lord as you see, and the king bleeding –”

“Ah,” was all she said, but he answered her.