Sir Andrew smiled and looked away. ‘I do not suppose a simple denial would suffice, would it? But no, I had no one here.’
‘You expect us to believe that?’ Simon snarled.
‘I do not care whether you do or not. I have no one here. Someone else may seek the same man, though, and may have been killed.’
‘You mean another man from Despenser?’ Coroner Richard rumbled.
‘It is possible.’
‘You will come with me now, then. I don’t like the idea of a man being buried unnamed when someone is perfectly capable of giving his details to the Coroner. If he is from your master, you may recognise him.’
‘When I have time,’ Sir Andrew said.
‘I think you have time right now. Come.’
Law was sitting at the far end of the hole, his face carefully averted, when Alred returned with a pie.
‘Oh, in God’s name, boy, will you not forgive him?’
‘Leave it, Al,’ Bill said.
‘Why should I leave it? The longer you two sit there sulking, the longer it’ll take to get the hole fixed, and that means the longer I’m losing money!’ Alred hissed sharply. ‘Christ’s blood, how can I get it into your thick skulls that this is important? We’re only being paid for the whole job, so the longer we take, the—’
‘The less we can earn elsewhere,’ said Bill. ‘I know.’
‘Then act like you do! Talk to him! I’ve done all I can,’ Alred said. ‘Look, Law, why won’t you just come here and shake his hand and make things good again? Eh? There’s no point sitting there like a …’
‘Leave me alone. If you want to keep in with a felon who likes to punch people, you do that. I don’t see I need to talk to him, though.’
‘Oh, in God’s name, I give up!’ Alred said, throwing his hands in the air with despair. ‘What is the point of trying to keep the peace when you two just want to bicker? Well, all I can say is, I don’t have to listen to you both. You get on with this hole while I go and speak to the town’s reeve to see about our pay. Not that he’ll give us anything if he’s any sense, looking at you both. Still, we’ve nothing left. You understand? We’ve no more money, and if we want to get some, we’ll need to get moving. Yes?’
‘All right, Al,’ Bill said. He took up the pick as Alred made his way down the road, still muttering bitterly to himself as he went.
Bill started scraping away at the surface in a desultory attempt to look busy, but as he worked, he could not help but glance at Law. That was fine, until he caught sight of Law shooting a look at him too, and the pair instantly turned away from each other and carried on as though nothing had happened.
The shadows were moving and growing longer by the time that Bill finally let his pick rest against the side of the hole. He stood with his head still bent. ‘Law, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you, all right?’
There was no response, but Bill could tell from the fact that there was no sound of shovelling sand that Law was listening.
‘When I was telling you about what happened to me, I lied, you see. That’s why I was so upset.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Look, she was the fuller’s daughter in my home town. I was there one afternoon after harvest, and I saw her in the river. God, I can see her now … There are some women, Law, who glow, you know? They are so lovely that they’re just like a candle-flame to a moth – a man can’t help but go and be scorched. Well, I saw her that day, and the sight of her in her shirt at the river just … I had to have her. I suppose I’d had a bellyful of ale, and seeing her there was just the last … No, that’s not it. I’d always wanted her, I think.’
‘So you did rape her?’ Law said breathlessly.
‘Dear God, yes,’ Bill whispered. ‘I thought I loved her, and I thought that if she was taken by me, she’d agree to marry me. That was all I wanted, really. She had a boy she liked, one of the cottars from the vill, but that didn’t worry me. I thought she’d accept me rather than go to another man as damaged goods. So I went to her and had her there on the river bank. And she didn’t want me, Law. Didn’t want me at all. I had to silence her screams and pleading. Kept telling her I loved her, and not to worry. Christ’s bones! I told her that!
‘The rest of the day went by in a blur. It wasn’t until next morning I remembered what I’d done, and I had a qualm, thinking she might denounce me and accuse me of rape, but then I reckoned if she did, it wouldn’t matter. I’d say she’d asked for it. Say I’d wed her. Damn, if she refused me, I’d say she’d always flaunted herself before me, and she’d been experienced. No, I wouldn’t accept all the blame. You see, I was feeling guilty, and the guilt made me want to put the blame somewhere else. Anywhere else. If there was no one else I could blame, I’d blame her. It’s what men do, Law, when they’re weak and stupid. Christ knows, I was both.’
‘What did she do, then? Accuse you?’
‘I wish she had. You don’t know how often I’ve prayed that she had. But she didn’t, no,’ Bill sighed. He slumped down to sit on the road’s edge. ‘No, instead she stayed there by the river that evening. Some time that night she took her little knife and opened both her wrists. I’ve seen some women and men commit self-murder, you know, and always they try to kill themselves several times.’ He held up his wrists. ‘Both wrists will have parallel lines of cuts from slashes, as though they need to test their resolve before they can cut deep enough. Not her. She cut both wrists to the bone. She must have died quite quickly. God, I hope so.’
‘So you weren’t found?’
Bill swallowed. ‘Someone had seen her with her lover, Law. It wasn’t me, I swear, but the lad was accused of raping her. She loved him, and I think he loved her. If he’d taken her, she’d not have argued. Instead, I took her and she killed herself. I might as well have killed her with my own knife.’
‘What happened to him?’
‘He was a poor cottar. What could he do? He ran to the church and claimed sanctuary, and when the Coroner arrived he abjured the realm. Me? I stayed there like an innocent, until sour self-loathing forced me to leave. I’ve never been back again.
‘So when you hear someone say that a man is plainly innocent or guilty, Law, you remember that. The man here – me – is guilty. The man who bolted and I hope who’s alive now in a better land, he was innocent. But he’s the one who could have been hanged, because of the way he had been seen with the girl. And I was safe.’
‘Bill, I’m sorry. I didn’t know, though, did I?’
‘No. You couldn’t have known,’ Bill agreed. And then he put his hands to his face and sat very still until the need to sob had subsided.
Law wanted to go to him and show him some compassion, but Law was only half Bill’s age, if that. He didn’t know how to help. Instead he took the next best alternative to a show of sympathy, and carefully looked everywhere but at his friend.
Then: ‘Sweet Jesus, Bill! Look over there!’ he hissed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
‘Come, we should return to the ship, or at the least find Gil and he’ll tell us when we can,’ Pierre said.
There was nothing to be learned from the house. The two had loitered cautiously outside, but from the street there was nothing to be heard, and when they tried to wander down the alley at the side, there was no access to the house from there either, or at least, none that appeared to help them.
He led the way back up the street, and the two of them were in time to see the Coroner and Sir Andrew leave Simon’s house and make their way along the street down towards the mill.
‘Should we follow them?’ Hamund asked as Pierre stopped and stared after them.
It was tempting; in God’s name, it was tempting. To see Sir Andrew swaggering happily away in the company of the Coroner – it was intolerable! The man deserved to have his mouth silenced for ever for what he had said about Pierre, dishonouring him just when he was trying to reestablish some modicum of honour. He wanted to draw steel and stab the liar and traitor
in the back for what he had done.
But if he did, it would cost him his life, and it would mean the messages must become known, and that must itself harm his lady. Dear God, what a man must do to remain loyal!
He said quietly, swallowing his pride, ‘For what purpose? If we go across that bridge and they hear us, they may see us. You have been behind that man almost half day, and if he sees me, he will remember me, I am sure. No, I think we should forget them and get back to safety. At least I achieved what I needed to this day: I paid my respects to Master Pyckard.’
‘I wonder where Gil will be now?’
‘In the tavern if he is not already at the ship,’ Pierre guessed. He stared over towards the haven. ‘I only hope he hasn’t decided to leave without us.’
‘He can’t without more sailors,’ Hamund said with confidence he didn’t feel. ‘He needs us.’
Pierre did not respond to that. So far as he was concerned, the shipmaster would be happy to leave without embarrassing supercargo like them, and now that the reason for Pierre’s berth had been removed, because surely it was only Pyckard’s insistence which had persuaded Gil to take him in the first place, Pierre was uncertain of his reception at the ship.
He led the way hurriedly after Sir Andrew as soon as he and the Coroner had disappeared at the bottom of the hill and had started to cross the mill’s dam. From here he could see the ship still sitting out in the haven, which was some relief, but he and Hamund still had to find a means of reaching it, and although he could see several small boats at the shore, he could not simply take one. That would bring yet more attention to him, and it was bad enough, so he felt, to be walking about in broad daylight like this. No, better by far that he should find a man who would be prepared to row them to the cog and then …
His ruminations were interrupted by a cheery call at his side. When he looked down at the scruffy man there, the first thing that caught his notice was the short dagger poised near his belly.
‘Now, Sir Whoever you are, me and my friend here would appreciate a few moments of your time.’
Pierre was within a twitch of pulling his sword from its scabbard, but as he stood momentarily stunned, he was astonished to see the blade taken away and sheathed.
‘We saved you once, friend. Now we’d like to know whether we were right to do so.’
Master Hawley had watched as the men from the Gudyer were brought back slowly in the boats, their guards watching over them all the way. When they reached the shore, he went down and eyed them suspiciously as they were pushed from the boats. Several stumbled, three fell, one at his feet, and when the man was grabbed by the arm and pulled up, there was a blotch of blood on the ground where stones had mashed his nose and lips. He still looked dazed as he was taken, lurching away.
Hawley felt no sympathy for them. Why should he? The fools had tried to overrun a private ship. Christ’s bones, if he’d been on the Saint Denis he’d have had every one of the bastards strung up from his mainmast as soon as blink. They were filth! Felons every one of them, they deserved to be killed for trying to steal a ship.
Cynric was with him, and as his master stood staring down at the blood, Cynric tentatively said, ‘What do you think about Strete?’
‘You saw him in the tavern, didn’t you? I don’t think you’re a liar, Cyn. You’ve been with me as long as I can remember. No, it was him who lied. In truth, if he hasn’t lost me money, it doesn’t matter if he plays at gaming. What he does with his own cash is his concern. It’s only if he takes mine that I worry. And if you’re right and he is a laughing stock for his losses, I don’t see how he can afford to pay his debts on his own. So either he took my money and hid the theft, or …’
‘He replaced it.’
‘How could he do that?’ Hawley took his mind back to the hall. In there was his sideboard, with a profusion of plate on display. ‘No, if he’d stolen from me and pawned a plate or two, I’d notice. It can’t be that. How else could he hope to gain money, though?’
Cynric grunted. He wasn’t a great creative thinker. That sort of business he left to Hawley himself.
And with good reason. Hawley’s wrinkled brow suddenly cleared. ‘The bastard could have been telling someone else about the business. Except who would pay for untested information? That would be mad. I can’t see Kena or Beauley coughing up. Pyckard would have done if it was juicy enough, but what information could Strete have sold him about me? There’s nothing that would have interested the old goat.’
While he considered the matter further, he sent Cynric to see whether anything was known of the reason for the attack on the cog.
‘They came from the new ship up there, the Gudyer,’ his man said when he’d asked on Hawley’s behalf.
‘Really? What would they be doing, trying to steal a ship like this in harbour?’
‘They said they were seeking this Frenchman who had raped a kinswoman of the Queen. He wasn’t there, though. They’ve been pulled off the ship with their tails between their legs.’
Hawley nodded absently, but his eyes were thoughtful. ‘Could they have taken the Saint John, do you think?’
‘There’s enough of them, that’s certain. But who’d know?’
‘Yeah,’ Hawley murmured. It was an interesting idea, though. ‘So they say that they’re here for the Frenchie. If he’d raped someone, though … they sent a ship that size just for one man?’
Cynric pulled a face and shrugged. ‘Hardly likely.’
‘No, not at all. Unless he’d raped the Queen herself.’ His face darkened and he stood silent for a long moment.
‘You don’t think he’d dare do that, master?’
Hawley made an attempt to shake his head, but could not quite manage it convincingly. ‘Anything is possible, but surely the Queen would have enough men-at-arms about her at all times to protect her from that.’
‘If she wanted to be.’
‘You can’t believe that the Queen would succumb to lusts like some draggle-tail from Sutton harbour,’ Hawley scoffed, but the thought did linger. A man who had dared to bed the Queen, willingly or no, was someone to be respected. ‘No, that’s hardly likely. It must be something else.’
‘If he was from her household,’ Cynric said slowly, ‘he could have tried to take one of her ladies-in-waiting?’
‘Shit! Yes, that’s more like it! And when his offence became known, this knight Andrew was sent to cut his balls off. That makes more sense.’ He shook his head. ‘Or it’s nothing to do with rape and we’re completely wrong. Maybe he’s a spy? Who cares? There is probably money on his head. Right! You make sure that all the fellows under our control are aware: if they see this fellow, or any other man who looks like a Frenchie, I want to know. If they can, they should take him and bring him to me. Clear?’
‘Sir.’
As Cynric trotted off to do his bidding, John Hawley made his way back to his hall. The Frenchman, the great ship in the haven and the curious matter of Strete’s money exercised his mind all the way up the hill to his front door, and when he reached it, he stood a moment, his hand on the latch, head to one side, considering.
‘What could he have sold about me?’ he wondered again. Or was it information about someone else that his clerk had been selling?
‘He gamed at the tavern,’ he whispered. ‘The sailors all drink there.’
And he had a sudden intuition. He knew what information Pyckard would pay for, and suddenly he felt sick to think of what his man must have done.
It was quiet in the storeroom, and Pierre stood in the darkness, from where he could keep an eye on the doorway. ‘What do you want with me?’
‘Just to know that you shouldn’t be in gaol and we sprang you to safety would be good,’ Bill said. ‘Ach, I’m not used to this shite. Where’s Alred when you need him, eh, Law?’
‘Law? It is a curious name.’
‘It’s just short for Lawrence.’
Pierre inclined his head. ‘You English – you have to give a nickna
me to all, do you not? What is wrong with your full name, my friend? Surely it would be easier for all if you stuck to that?’
‘I like it shorter.’
Hamund was frowning. ‘Look, we have to get off to the ship, right? If they sail without us, we’re dead.’
‘If you had been on Pyckard’s boat today you’d be dead. Come to that, if you were on his last ship, you would be too,’ Bill said. ‘Looks like you’re a very lucky fellow.’
Pierre set his jaw, but his reserves were beginning to fail him. ‘I was not here to catch the earlier ship,’ he said. ‘I only arrived in this town after the ship had sailed.’
‘Still makes you pretty fortunate, though,’ Bill said.
‘Yeah, I’d say he was lucky,’ Law said. ‘Look at him! Rich clothes, fine sword … and he’s still alive and breathing.’
‘You think this is lucky? Being held here by two fools who think they can guess my style of life just by looking at my clothing?’
‘You reckon you’re so high above us, that it?’ Law spat.
‘Who broke your nose?’ Pierre asked. ‘Perhaps I should treat with him instead of you, heh?’
‘You prefer we should call the Watch to talk to you?’ Bill threatened.
‘You look at me,’ Pierre said, his frustration overwhelming his limited patience. ‘You see a knight, yes? A noble knight, with power and men at his command? But all I am is a man like you, boy. Just like you. Except I have no household to serve, as my mistress cannot allow me to return to her. My friends have deserted me, except for one down here in this town, and he is dead. I had a passage on a ship, that one out there, but you are delaying me so I may miss her. If I do not miss her, I may be captured here by an enemy who wished to harm my lady, and he will torture me to get any information he can! You call me lucky? I am without friends, without hope, in a foreign land where all seek to kill me. This is lucky? I wish you much luck of the same sort!’
Bill sucked at his tooth. There was a hole in it that hurt like the devil every so often, and especially when cold air got to it. He eyed the Frenchman speculatively. ‘How do we know you’re not lying to us?’
The Death Ship of Dartmouth: (Knights Templar 21) Page 26