Tombland

‘Much the same; no better, no worse. Still gets fevers that come and go. She says she’s having to take little Tilda with her as well as George when she visits him; Mistress Marris is complaining about looking after her all the time.’ He grunted angrily. ‘In fact, the whole letter’s naught but a litany of complaints; the price rises, the number of armed men in the city, how she feels lonely at night and wishes I were back. Not that she complains at the money I bring back when I go on Assizes. Oh, and she hopes I’m not drinking too much and mixing with disreputable people. She forgets her background is as common as mine. She can’t even write; the letter’s in Guy’s assistant Francis’s hand.’

‘It can’t be easy being a woman alone with children in London now.’

‘No?’ He frowned. ‘Here’s the best bit.’ He read aloud, angrily, ‘“I expect by now you will be in Norwich, with only the Suffolk Assizes to follow. I know Master Shardlake is in Norwich, and I hope you have heeded my entreaty to have no dealings with him. If you should happen to pass each other in court, ensure that you ignore him.” Fucking cheeky mare,’ Barak said, taking a long swig of beer.

I looked at him. The marriage between these two strong personalities had not always been smooth, and more than once Barak had taken refuge in drink. ‘There’s nothing we can do about her feelings towards me,’ I said sadly.

‘It’s her attitude to me that pisses me off,’ he answered darkly. ‘Where’s Nick? I need another drink.’

‘Don’t have too much,’ I said. ‘We’ve to talk to the twins later. We’ll discuss that after the Browns have gone.’

Nicholas returned with six mugs of beer on a tray. Shortly after, Toby arrived. Barak greeted him with a smile. ‘How go things with you, Commonwealth man?’

‘Well enough.’

‘They’ve got your sword. It’s under the table.’

‘Good,’ he said with satisfaction.

‘Can you use one?’ Nicholas asked.

‘Yes. There are some kept in our church, in case the militia is raised. When I was young we lads used to pinch them and practise. I wasn’t bad.’

I said, ‘Let’s hope we don’t need to use them tonight.’

‘We’ll see. I have some news, Master Shardlake. Good and bad.’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘I called in on a friend of mine on my way out of town earlier; he has contacts among the weavers, and has managed to trace Grace Bone’s family.’

‘That is good,’ Nicholas said enthusiastically.

‘Grace lived with her brother and sister in the north of the city. The brother is a weaver, he’s fallen on hard times and only just keeps going. His sisters helped him and did some spinning. He still lives there. But the bad news is that Grace Bone and her sister Mercy both died from congestion of the lungs last spring; they all got it, but only Peter Bone, the brother, survived. Like so many, they didn’t make it through the hard winter and spring.’

‘Well,’ I said, ‘at least now we know she wasn’t killed when Edith left.’

Toby asked, ‘Any news on the examination of Snockstobe’s body?’

‘It’s to take place tomorrow morning. I didn’t want to press the coroner too hard. But he said they’d stripped the body, and there were no signs of wounds.’

‘Snockstobe is dead?’ Barak asked, astonished.

I told him about the locksmith and the apprentice. He considered. ‘Someone could have got Snockstobe blind drunk, taken him for a walk and heaved him off the bridge to drown.’

‘They could. But there’s no evidence.’ I turned to Toby. ‘Can you take me to see Grace Bone’s brother tomorrow?’

‘Certainly.’

Barak said, ‘I have a piece of news as well, though I fear it’s not good. Three new prosecution witnesses for the Boleyn trial have been added.’

‘We know. Alderman Gawen Reynolds, and Gerald and Barnabas Boleyn. They’ll testify to Boleyn’s bad character, no doubt.’

Nicholas said, ‘And perhaps Reynolds will recount his daughter telling him Boleyn had tried to force himself on her during their marriage. That’s not illegal, but it’d go down badly with the jury.’

Nicholas nudged me, and I saw Josephine and Edward walking towards us across the lawn, hand in hand. A man sitting at one of the tables hailed Edward, and he went over and shook his hand. Then they came over to us. Both looked slightly uneasy, especially Josephine, and I guessed they did not spend much time in company. I introduced them to Toby, and they sat down.

‘How is little Mousy?’ I asked.

Josephine smiled, a little wanly. ‘Grizzly these last couple of days. One of the neighbours is looking after her.’ I remembered what she had said about most children in the yard not surviving their second birthday. I had always thought that Josephine would be the best of mothers; she should be enjoying her child, not fearing she might suddenly die.

‘It is good to see you both,’ I said.

‘Ay,’ Edward said. ‘You and Master Nicholas saw us married, you gave her away.’ His manner was much friendlier tonight. He asked Toby, ‘Do you work for Master Shardlake as well?’

‘For the moment. I am a Norwich man.’

I said, ‘Toby is indefatigable in finding people. It was thanks to him that I traced you.’