A FEW DAYS LATER, as I took my evening meal, Bette the cook winked and drew me aside. There's a way, she said. If you still want to see the Tavern.

How? I asked, leaning in close. And how soon?

It's not exactly a state secret, jester. People have to eat, don't they? Guards, soldiers... even prisoners. Every day my kitchen brings the evening meal to the dungeon. Who would mind if it was brought by the fool?

My eyes lit up. The fool doing errands for the cook. It could work.

I will give it a try, Bette said. The rest is up to you. If your wife is there, Hugh, it will take more than luck to get her out. Just don't bring the duke's awful wrath down on me.

I took her hand and squeezed it. I would bring nothing down upon you except my gratitude. I owe you much, Bette.

I told you, I owe you my cousins' lives.

But somehow, I think it is more than what I did for Geoffrey, Isabel, and Thomas on the road here.

She smiled and tossed a turnip into the pot. Baldwin is our liege. She sniffed. But he can never rule our ............