Crown in Darkness

Aberdour. You know little about Scotland, Master Corbett, or about the sea. By the time we crossed the Forth, it was early morning, the tide was out, so we did not take the cliff-top path but rode along the beach. The storm had petered out, it was a good morning and our horses were fresh. We galloped along the sand, and I knew what had happened long before we reached the rocks where the King lay. I saw the white of Tamesin, the dead King's horse, as well as Alexander's purple cloak blowing in the wind. The King was lying amongst the rocks and it was apparent he was dead. He had fallen between two sharp jagged-edge boulders and the angry tide had battered his body between them. His face was a mass of wounds, his neck completely broken. If it had not been for his clothes and the rings on his fingers I would have scarcely recognised him.' 'And the horse?' Corbett queried. 'Not worth looking at,' Selkirk replied. 'Again, a mass of wounds, two of its legs broken, the head fully twisted round. We removed the harness from the horse and made a rough bier for the King's corpse. After which we returned to Aberdour where a royal barge later brought the King's body across the Firth of Forth.' 'So,' Corbett enquired, 'you never went along to Kinghorn Ness or examined the place where the King may have fallen?' 'No,' Selkirk replied slowly. 'Though we knew by the place where he had fallen that it must have been at the very summit just as the path runs down the cliff to Kinghorn Manor.' Corbett smiled tactfully. 'Then I owe you the most sincere apologies, Sir James,' he commented. 'I always thought you went along Kinghorn Ness and found the body below you and then had it raised by ropes.' Selkirk snorted with laughter. 'Why should I do that? I have already told you that the tide was out. Any traveller would have taken the same route as I did. You only use the path along the cliff in bad weather or if there is a possibility you might be trapped by the tide. But your question about ropes and tackle lifting the body is pure nonsense, man!'
    Corbett nodded his acceptance. 'There is one further favour, your Lordship,' Corbett said slowly. 'But it needs to be done, even though it may give offence to the French.' 'Go on,' said Wishart wearily. 'I have been to Kinghorn Manor,' Corbett continued. 'I have attempted to see Queen Yolande to ask her why she did not send out a search-party for the King when he failed to arrive at Kinghorn Manor. I find it strange that a wife, a queen, a princess with responsibilities, who had been informed in no uncertain fashion that her husband was to join her, fails to do anything when he does not arrive. Any woman with commonsense would immediately become alarmed and send out some of her household to find the King. After all, he could have been thrown from his horse and been lying injured on the moors in the middle of a fierce storm. I must ask Queen Yolande why she acted as she did.' Corbett watched the old Bishop carefully. On the one hand he saw his own suspicions mirrored in the Bishop's eyes, on the other Wishart realised that such an interview might alienate the French and cause more trouble than it was worth. Corbett decided to press the point. 'For all we know, your Lordship, it is possible that Queen Yolande was involved in her husband's death. For her sake, for France's sake, for Scotland's sake, such suspicions must be cleared!' Wishart nodded slowly. 'Queen Yolande,' he replied, 'is to leave on tomorrow's tide just after dawn. A French galley will pick her up off the coast of the Forth and take her out to the sea where other ships are waiting to escort her back to France. I understand that the French envoy, de Craon, will be seeing her off.' The Bishop heaved a sigh. 'If the French ship leaves the Forth,' he continued, 'there is little chance that they will stop to answer your questions, Master Clerk. So you must stop her before her ship leaves the Forth.' The Bishop suddenly stirred himself. 'Do we have a ship, Sir James?' the Bishop asked. 'Of course,' Selkirk replied. 'I mean,' the Bishop retorted brusquely, 'is there a ship in the port of Leith we can use?' Selkirk rubbed his mouth with his hand. 'There is the "St. Andrew",' he said, 'a cog we often use to protect our ships from English pirates.' He looked sideways at Corbett. 'It has a full complement, a crew, an armoury and is good for putting to sea at a moment's notice.' 'Ah well,' Wishart smiled. 'Sir James, take our English visitor to