"If the Lord Chancellor were to make a public declaration that the lady is his daughter… Perhaps the result of an affair from many years ago." The Archbishop went on carefully. "Your Majesty, being called a bastard is considerably easier to survive than being called a witch. And if those spreading this rumour should somehow produce evidence or manufacture something convincing enough to appear as evidence, I fear the Church may eventually be forced to act."
The Archbishop lowered his voice. "If accusations grow, if objects are produced and sworn to have been found among her possessions, there may come a point where the Church has no choice but to recommend the gravest punishment."
"What you suggest brings the Lord Chancellor's integrity into question."
The Archbishop spread his hands. "Noblemen take mistresses all the time."
"And Geoffrey is known throughout England for not being that sort of nobleman."
