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and perhaps interview the townhouse staff as well? The information will be useful to whoever is finally given the responsibility of apprehending the culprit, whether it is the Templar or some other. And there is always the chance that Gianni may uncover a vital fact that will enable this mystery to be solved quickly.”
    â€œGianni?” John said thoughtfully. “Is he not the servant that the Templar wished to adopt before he decided to rejoin the Order?”
    â€œThe very same, sire,” she replied. “After de Marins left my service, I had the lad trained as a clerk and he has shown great talent, so much so in fact that I brought him with me to Canterbury to act as my
secretarius
during the visit.”
    Neither of them spoke of the one and only occasion when the king had met Bascot and which she was certain John recalled. Due to Nicolaa mentioning in the king’s presence some three years before that she had tried, and failed, to persuade the Templar to join her retinue on a permanent basis, John, as a favour to her, had tried to tempt him away from his expressed purpose of rejoining the Order. The king had made the generous offer of restoring the fief of the Templar’s dead father to him if he would renounce his vows, and also that he would arrange for Gianni to be made Bascot’s heir. The proffered bribe had caused de Marins much soul-searching as he had tried to choose between his love for the boy and his desire to serve Christ. Finally it had been Gianni himself who, in a flood of self-sacrifice, had convinced his master to follow the dictates of his heart and rejoin the Templars, but Bascot had only done so after Nicolaa had assured him she would place the boy under her personal protection. And she had never been sorry for her agreement to the request. Gianni had proved his worth many times over, and she had come to value him almost as much as the Templar had done.
    â€œBut if I recall correctly, is not the lad a mute?” John had asked with a frown. “How will he be able to question the staff?”
    â€œI shall send one of my household knights, Miles de Laxton, with him. Miles has some literacy and is intelligent. Gianni can instruct him in the questions that are to be asked by writing them down, and then recording the replies. He and the Templar worked together in just such a fashion.”
    â€œVery well,” John had said. “It is a step forward, at least, and one that can be taken immediately. Have the lad make a written copy of all the information he gathers and send it to me for scrutiny.”
    Now, as they neared the townhouse, Nicolaa glanced behind her to where Gianni was riding alongside Clare. She knew he would be pleased to hear that the Templar might join them, and would also, she hoped, rise to the challenge she was about to set him. With a wry smile she remembered how, shortly after Bascot had arrived in Lincoln, she had tested the Templar’s mettle in a similar manner and not found him wanting. Indeed, he had greatly surpassed her expectations. It was time to see whether or not Gianni could follow in his former master’s footsteps.
    At the Watling Street townhouse an elderly manservant was waiting for them outside the door, alerted to Nicolaa’s arrival by a man-at-arms that Criel had sent on ahead. As they dismounted, two grooms came running to take their horses, and the manservant, a slightly plump individual with a pleasant smile, came forward and introduced himself as Dauton, steward for the property, and then led her and the rest of the party inside.
    â€œA fire has been lighted in here, lady,” he said, pushing open a door just inside the entryway to show them a small hall containing comfortable chairs and a high-backed settle in front of a capacious fireplace, “and I have ordered heated wine to be brought for your comfort until a meal has been made ready. The main sleeping chamber is