to be guardian of a shire which had changed hands but once, andsettled down doggedly thereafter to keep King Stephen’s titleunchallenged and the tide of unrest at bay from its borders,whether the threat came from the empress’s forces, theunpredictable cantrips of the wild Welshmen of Powys to the west,or the calculating ambition of the earl of Chester in the north.Hugh had balanced his relationships with all these perilousneighbours for some years now with fair success, it would have beenfolly to consider handing over Eaton to another tenant, whateverthe possible drawbacks of allowing the succession to pass unbrokento a child. Why upset a family which had remained submissive andloyal, and dug in its heels sturdily to await events when itsoverlord fled to France? Recent rumour had it that William FitzAlan was back in England, and had joined the empress in Oxford, andthe sense of his presence, even at that distance, might stir olderloyalties among his former tenants, but that was a risk to be metwhen it showed signs of arising. To give Eaton to another tenantmight well be to rouse the old allegiance needlessly from itsprudent slumber. No, Ludel’s son should have his rights. Butit would be well to have a look at the steward, and make sure hecould be trusted, both to keep to his late lord’s policiesand to take good care of his new lord’s interests andlands.

Hugh rode out unhurriedly through the town, in the finemid-morning-after the early mist had lifted, gently uphill to theHigh Cross, steeply downhill again by the winding Wyle to theeastward gate, and across the stone bridge towards the Foregate,where the crossing tower of the abbey church loomed solidly againsta pale blue sky. The Severn ran rapid but tranquil under the archesof the bridge, still at its mild summer level, its two small,grassy islands rimmed with a narrow edging of bleached brown whichwould be covered again when the first heavy rain brought