“I need you to go down to the center of the labyrinth,” I said. I pointed to the checkerboard turf lawn that was the centerpiece of the garden. It lay at the quiet center of the chaos, a square of darkness surrounded by flame. I thought of the symbol of the Knights Hospitallers on the grass and of the secret Thomas had all but admitted that the garden concealed. The obvious place to look for the Knights’ treasure would be beneath their emblem, in the very heart of the garden, just as the resting place of the Order’s treasure had once been in the heart of their church.

“In the center of the labyrinth you will find an obelisk,” I said. “There may be a trapdoor in the base, though it will probably be concealed. Beneath it I think you will find a small chamber built out of the rock. I want you to bring me whatever it is that you find inside.”

“And what might that be?” Byram asked, head cocked like an inquisitive spaniel. I could see the orange flicker of the fire reflected in his eyes.

“I do not know,” I said truthfully. “I do not know whether you will find a hiding place, or indeed whether anything is concealed there or not. I am only guessing. But if there is, it must be saved from the flames for it is a holy trust.”

Byram nodded. Like the rest of us he was well versed in secrecy and sacred pledges.

“Oh, and, Byram—” I laid a hand on his arm. “Try not to be seen.”

He grinned. “Anything else, ma’am?” he said.

“Yes,” I said. “Do not set yourself on fire in the process.”

He asked no further questions but took the horses and made for the stables whilst I walked softly through the loggia toward the house. Here on the terrace none of the garden had been damaged. The last of the late roses still bloomed, their night scent entangled in the air along with the heavy smoke. The knot garden with its neat box hedges and gillyflowers was quiet. For a moment I paused to draw breath and try to still my racing heart. I wondered whether I was wrong to try to find the treasure and to remove it from its hiding place. Was I really doing this to keep it safe and honor Thomas’s pledge to his grandfather and the Knights? Or did I have a less honorable motive, a need to prove to Thomas I was as clever as he, to take the treasure from beneath his nose and to keep it safe from both his designs and Robert’s ambitions?

I shrugged the questions away. There would be time later to think about the treasure; for now my urgent need was to find my son and my grandson.

There were no lights in the house. Where were the servants, I wondered; where were the villagers? I raised my hand and knocked. Silence. But no—I heard a step. The door opened and Robert stood in the aperture, a candle in his hand. He looked almost unrecognizable, eyes wild with grief, his hair and coat singed and smelling of smoke, his hand shaking so that the candle flame wavered madly, sending shadows spinning across the walls.