Brother Cadfael 02: One Corpse Too Many

man who threw away the knife?'
    'No, my lord, I don't know his name. But I know him well enough when I see him.'
    'And do you see him? Here in this hail with us now?'
    'Yes, my lord,' said the child readily, and pointed a finger straight at Adam Courcelle. 'That was the man.'
    All eyes turned upon Courcelle, the king's most dourly and thoughtfully of all, and there was a silence that lasted no more than a long-drawn breath, but seemed to shake the foundations of the hall, and stop every heart within its walls. Then Courcelle said, with arduous and angry calm:
    'Your Grace, this is utterly false. I never had the dagger, I could not well toss it into the river. I deny that ever I had the thing in my possession, or ever saw it until now.'
    'Are you saying,' asked the king dryly, 'that the child lies? At whose instigation? Not Beringar's - it seems to me that he was as taken aback by this witness as I myself, or you. Am I to think the Benedictine order has procured the boy to put up such a story? And for what end?'
    'I am saying, your Grace, that this is a foolish error. The boy may have seen what he says he saw, and got the dagger as he claims he got it, but he is mistaken in saying he saw me. I am not the man. I deny all that has been said against me.'
    'And I maintain it,' said Hugh Beringar. 'And I ask that it be put to the proof.'
    The king crashed a fist upon the table so that the boards danced, and cups rocked and spilled wine. 'There is something here to be probed, and I cannot let it pass now without probing it.' He turned again to the boy, and reined in his exasperation to ask more gently: 'Think and look carefully, now, and say again: are you certain this is the man you saw? If you have any doubt, say so. It is no sin to be mistaken. You may have seen some other man of like build or colour. But if you are sure, say that also, without fear.'
    'I am sure,' said the boy, trembling but adamant. 'I know what I saw.'
    The king leaned back in his great chair, and thumped his closed fists on the arms, and pondered. He looked at Hugh Beringar with grim displeasure: 'It seems you have hung a millstone round my neck, when most I need to be free and to move fast. I cannot now wipe out what has been said, I must delve deeper. Either this case goes to the long processes of court law - no, not for you nor any will I now delay my going one day beyond the morrow's morrow! I have made my plans, I cannot afford to change them.'
    'There need be no delay,' said Beringar, 'if your Grace countenances trial by combat. I have appealed Adam Courcelle of murder, I repeat that charge. If he accepts, I am ready to meet him without any ceremony or preparations. Your Grace may see the outcome tomorrow, and march on the following day, freed of this burden.'
    Cadfael, during these exchanges, had not taken his eyes from Courcelle's face, and marked with foreboding the signs of gradually recovered assurance. The faint sweat that had broken on his lip and brow dried, the stare of desperation cooled into calculation; he even began to smile. Since he was now cornered, and there were two ways out, one by long examination and questioning, one by simple battle, he was beginning to see in this alternative his own salvation. Cadfael could follow the measuring, narrowed glance that studied Hugh Beringar from head to foot, and understood the thoughts behind the eyes. Here was a younger man, lighter in weight, half a head shorter, much less in reach, inexperienced, over-confident, an easy victim. It should not be any problem to put him out of the world; and that done, Courcelle had nothing to fear. The judgment of heaven would have spoken, no one thereafter would point a finger at him, and Aline would be still within his reach, innocent of his dealings with her brother, and effectively separated from a too-engaging rival, without any blame to Courcelle, the wrongly accused. Oh, no, it was not so grim a situation, after all. It should work out very well.
    He reached out along the table, picked up the topaz, and rolled it contemptuously back towards Beringar, to be retrieved and retained.
    'Let it be so, your Grace. I accept battle, tomorrow, without formality, without need for practice. Your Grace shall march the following day.' And I with you, his confident countenance completed.
    'So be it!' said the king grimly. 'Since you're bent on robbing me of one good man, between you, I suppose I may as well find and keep the better of the two. Tomorrow, then, at