Heartstone

'They're not. They never were. I think I see what happened now. But tell me, Jack, do you think David was of sound mind when he killed Abigail? Do you think his being put on trial and either certified as mad or hanged will do anyone any good? Who will it benefit?'

'He may shoot someone else.'

'That he never will,' Hobbey said. 'He may never even walk properly again. And I told you, from now on I will watch after him day and night—'

I raised a hand. 'I have three conditions, Master Hobbey.'

'Anything—'

'First, you will ensure—I care not how—that Ettis is released. If he has to stand trial for murder in due course, very well, so long as I am there to ensure that justice takes its course and he is found innocent. And I want to let him know now, in confidence, that that will be the outcome.'

Hobbey looked at Dyrick. 'We can arrange that, Vincent, I am sure. Sir Luke—'

Dyrick said, 'What are your other conditions?'

'The second, Master Hobbey, is that you do as you said, sell Hoyland—having confirmed the villagers' title to the woodland—and take David to a place where you can keep him safe and watched.'

'Yes,' he answered at once. 'Yes.'

Barak looked at me and shook his head. And though I doubted David would be a danger to anyone again, I knew I was taking a risk. But I believed Hobbey would do as he promised.

'My last condition concerns Emma. I will ride back to Portsmouth, and if I find her there and trying to join the army I will get her out.'

'No—' Barak started.

'He'd need to expose her as a girl,' Dyrick said. 'Nicholas, if he does that we could be done for after all. If she gets a lift on a supply cart she could be there already.'

'If she has joined my friend's company, or another, I do not need to tell them the whole story. Merely that a patriotic girl is impersonating a boy.'

'I agree,' Hobbey said. 'I agree to everything.'

'But I will not bring Emma back here. I will take her to London. And you, Master Hobbey, will sell Hugh's wardship to me, as wardships are constantly bought and sold. Though, of course, the transaction will only be a paper one, I will give you no money. Master Dyrick here will organize it.'

Even now, after all the death and ruin, Dyrick took the chance to score a point. 'You will make a profit for yourself—'

'I will see the Curteys lands sold for a fair price, and the money kept safe till Emma, as Hugh, comes of age. That will mean continuing the deception, so far as the Court of Wards at least is concerned. But there are a hundred deceptions there, though maybe none so dramatic as this. Again you will have to cooperate, Dyrick.'

'But Emma just tried to kill David, and nearly killed us!' Barak was proving hard to persuade.

'She didn't kill us, though she easily could have. And I don't think she meant to kill David. She could have shot him through the heart as easily as she could us, but she didn't. My guess is she will be desperately regretting what she did. I learned enough of his—her—nature when we were here before to understand that.'

'Him—her—God's nails!' Barak shouted. 'Are you going to take her home? Will you dress her in tunics or frocks?'

'I will help her to find somewhere to live in London. What she makes of her future then will be up to her. This is the one chance I have of fulfilling my promise to the Queen and Mistress Calfhill, whose son died because he felt he had to help her. We owe something to Michael, too.'

Dyrick looked at Hobbey. 'I can negotiate a better deal than that for you.'

'Don't be a fool, Vincent,' Hobbey said dismissively. He reached out a hand to me. 'Again, I agree to it all. Everything. Thank you, Master Shardlake, thank you.'

I could not take his hand. I looked him in the eye. 'I am not doing this for you, Master Hobbey. It is for Emma, and David, to try and bring some future for them out of all this ruination.'

* * *

BARAK AND I left the house an hour later. It was early afternoon now, the sun high and hot. We pulled the horses to a halt outside the priory gate.

'You're stark mad,' Barak told me.

'Perhaps I am. But mad or no, it is time for you to go home. No more words now. With hard riding you might make Petersfield tonight. I will try to find Emma, then follow you. If I do not catch up with you tonight, ride on tomorrow and I will meet you on the road.'

'How can you trust Hobbey and Dyrick?'

'Hobbey is a broken man now, you saw that. All he has left is David. And Dyrick knows what is good for him.'

'So much for Dyrick believing his clients were always in the right. He was as corrupt as Hobbey.'

'I still think he believed Hobbey was in the right, at least until he discovered Emma's identity. Some lawyers need to believe that. But yes, after the discovery his only concern was to save his own position. And as for what he would have done to the villagers—'

Barak looked back through the gates at the untended flower beds. 'Poor old Abigail. She'll get no justice out of this, you realize that.'