Tombland

‘My home, Gunville Manor. You will remain here tonight.’ He considered a moment, then said, ‘You fell off the scaffold at Norwich, didn’t you? I heard about the hanging.’

‘John Boleyn is my client,’ I answered quietly. ‘A pardon request had been entered, executing him would have been illegal.’

Kett grunted. ‘His Boleyn kin in Norfolk came nowhere near him, I believe. Such are the Norfolk gentlemen. But what of you, Master Shardlake? How came you to be involved in that case?’

‘I was instructed by the Lady Elizabeth. Then, as I told you, Flowerdew evicted his wife illegally, I came to Hethersett to stop him.’

‘He is no friend of yours, then.’

‘No. He is a rogue.’

‘I believe that, like him, you are a serjeant-at-law. Strong words about one lawyer from another.’ He smiled, then said softly, ‘You wouldn’t be givin’ me sweet lawyer’s talk, would you, with poison breath beneath?’

‘No, Master Kett. I speak the truth.’

He cast an eye to the purse hanging from my belt. ‘I heard that a-chinking on the way here. If that’s gold, it must be a mighty sum. Did Flowerdew give it you?’

I took a deep breath. ‘As well as evicting Isabella Boleyn, he took some money her husband had given her to support herself while he remains in Norwich Castle. I got it back from him, and shall return it when I can.’

‘How much?’ Kett asked bluntly.

‘Twenty gold sovereigns.’

He whistled. ‘A very goodly sum. We are going to need money.’

I took a deep breath, then put my hand over my purse. I was Kett’s prisoner, but I had to take a stand. ‘This is the property of a helpless, innocent woman. If you want it, you will have to take it from me.’

‘That would be easy enough.’ He made no move, though, to take it. He leaned back, resting his hands on the arms of his chair, trying to gauge what manner of creature I was. At length he said, ‘So, you worked at Requests, and call commoners like the Browns friends. Unusual. Have you represented many Norfolk clients?’

‘Over the years, a good number. They have always been tenacious, with a sound knowledge of the law.’

Kett leaned forward. ‘Are you a Commonwealth man, then, Master Shardlake?’

I spoke carefully. ‘Yes. In that I believe the common people of England are subject to great wrongs, which have grown worse these last years.’

‘You support the Protector, then, and the enclosure commissions?’

His gaze was one of the most intent I had ever encountered. I sensed he was a man who wanted the truth above all. I answered calmly. ‘Yes, entirely. But I fear they may not work. Enclosure commissions have been tried before, under Wolsey and Cromwell, but always their findings were overturned in the courts or ignored by the old king. And the task they have been set this year is – impossible. It seems a few commissioners will be asked in each part of the country to overturn illegal enclosures since 1485. I do not think the Protector has begun to think through the practicalities, for him everything comes second to his war against the Scots, which, with the debasement, has caused half the present trouble.’

Kett shook his head. ‘No, he is with the godly men, those who wish to build a new and Christian Commonwealth. You make a lawyer’s answer.’

‘Whatever you might want, the gentleman class will never allow such a reform of landholding to be implemented.’

Kett slapped a hand smartly on his desk, and smiled. ‘Exactly! That is why we have risen now. To provide muscle for the commissioners’ decisions, and to ensure our needs are met. That is why camps are being set up across the country, why they are armed, why they are bringing down the gentlemen and sending petitions about our grievances to the Protector. We are helping him. God’s death, man, he has already agreed to the demands of the Essex men.’

So they would dictate to the commissioners, not support them, I thought, but did not say. Kett raised his eyebrows, waiting for me to speak. I took a deep breath. ‘I do not believe the Protector, still less the Council to which he is answerable, will allow the common people a say in government.’

‘Do you think they should?’

I sighed. ‘Yes. In theory.’

‘Yet you do not believe it will happen?’

‘No. I fear this will end in violence.’

‘We shall kill nobody, unless attacked first. If the men rough up some of the landowners, it’s nothing to what they’ve done to us in the past. We have former soldiers with us, and officials of town and village government. They will ensure everything is orderly. Thus we shall show the Protector we can govern ourselves.’

‘Soldiers. You mean deserters from the Scottish wars?’

His voice grew harsh. ‘Men who went to serve and went unpaid, starving in rat-holes. They were betrayed, and are angry, but they are soldiers of courage and experience in organizing men.’

‘I am no supporter of the Scottish war,’ I said. ‘It has been a brutal disaster.’

Kett nodded. His look was determined, fierce. ‘We shall win. This is God’s will.’

I paused. ‘What do you intend to do?’ I asked eventually.