It was too noisy to sit and think, so I walked quietly out again. I returned to the Maid’s Head, my back aching. Feeling suddenly exhausted, I lay down on the comfortable feather bed. At once I fell asleep, and when I was woken by Nicholas knocking at the door, I was surprised to see the sun low in the sky. ‘What time is it?’ I asked.
‘Near six.’
‘I have been asleep five hours,’ I said wonderingly.
‘I think perhaps you needed it, sir.’
‘Yes. This case – and the atmosphere in the city –’
He shook his head. ‘I know. Somehow one is always – on edge. I have had success,’ he said. ‘The subpoena ordering Marcus Snockstobe to appear at the trial. It took Barak and I half the afternoon to find a justice of the peace and get him to sign it, but we did.’
‘Did you mention the Lady Elizabeth’s involvement?’
‘No, I said only that I was working for Boleyn.’
‘Well done.’
Nicholas produced a folded paper from his knapsack and handed it over. I examined it closely.
‘This is what we need,’ I said with satisfaction. ‘A surety of two pounds for his attendance, plus the threat of contempt of court if he does not. Damn, his shop will be shut now. We’ll go first thing tomorrow. Have you seen Toby?’
‘He’s waiting to take us to the judges’ procession into Norwich. They’ll be riding up from St Stephen’s Gate to the market square; the city fathers will meet them at the Guildhall. They’ll be here in an hour.’
‘Did he have any luck with tracing Grace Bone’s family?’
‘I fear not. He says he has been working on it all afternoon, but has found nothing.’
I sighed. ‘I’m not surprised, after nine years.’
‘He will try again tomorrow morning.’
‘Good. If anyone can find them, it is Toby. He is a persistent fellow.’
‘Rough in manner, but certainly a good worker. I fear we got into a little argument downstairs.’
‘Again?’ I asked.
‘He said he hoped the peasant risings would force the commissioners to take serious action against the landlords’ and officials’ abuses. I told him it was a disgrace to rise against the government while we are at war. He said the war in Scotland was a barbaric invasion, and everyone knew it had failed.’
I smiled wryly. ‘Well, there at least I agree with him.’
‘I’m glad the Protector is preparing a new army against them. It is a matter of England’s honour.’
‘Honour can sometimes just be another word for prestige and status. Between, and within, nations.’ He opened his mouth to protest, but I said, ‘No antrums, Nick, remember? Now, let us go and see what these judges look like.’
WE MET TOBY outside. His round face was sunburned now with all the outside errands he had run, the blueness of his eyes more marked than ever. We walked to the bottom of the market square. I was grateful the heat of the day was ebbing, and envied Nicholas’s and Toby’s apparent tirelessness. Men with swords, the city badge on their coats, were positioned around the square. The crowd that had turned out to watch the processional entry was sparse given the size of the city, no more than one or two deep. We took places outside the church of St Peter Mancroft at the side of the square. At the top, outside the Guildhall, stood a group of men in brightly coloured robes. Toby pointed to a small stout man in robes with white silk sleeves. ‘That’s this year’s mayor, Thomas Codd.’
‘I heard him called a wet fish this morning.’
‘He’s better than some of them. Organized the parish collection for the poor earlier this year. That tall fellow by his side is Augustine Steward, one of the wealthiest men in the city. It’s just a few merchant families who run this place, and have for years. They’ve cornered the processes of turning wool into cloth. And sometimes selling it abroad illegally, too.’ The bitterness I had heard before had returned to his voice.