Lamentation

‘Yes, my Lady.’ I thought suddenly of the Slanning case. The inspection of the wall painting was due to take place tomorrow. Was fighting that case virtuous?

‘But it seems to me,’ Lady Elizabeth continued, ‘for that to be so, there must be at least some virtue in the case.’

‘Yes, my Lady, you are right.’ And in the Slanning case, I realized there was no virtue on either side, only hatred. Young though she was, Elizabeth had nailed a central point.

‘Elizabeth,’ the Queen said gently, ‘will you not go back to Master Scrots? You know the portrait is almost done. And there is business I must conduct here. Come back in an hour, perhaps.’

Elizabeth nodded and gave her stepmother an affectionate smile. ‘Very well. And I am sorry for shouting at Jane Fool, but I fear that, unlike you and my sister, I do not find her amusing.’ She gave me a brief nod. ‘Master Shardlake. My Lord Parr.’

We bowed again as she left by the inner door. The Queen closed her eyes for a second. ‘I am sorry for that scene. It appears I cannot even control the people in my own privy quarters.’ I noticed the strain and tension writ large on her face.

Lord Parr addressed her. ‘I told you what Master Shardlake said about Jane Fool. About her having been in your chambers that night, about her closeness to the Lady Mary.’

The Queen shook her head firmly. ‘No. Jane Fool knew nothing of my book, and would not have had the wit to steal it.’

‘Perhaps the Lady Mary would.’

‘Never. Mary is my friend.’ She frowned sadly, then said, ‘Or at least not my enemy. The trouble over her mother, Catherine of Aragon, is long over.’

‘Well, we may have some answers soon.’ Lord Parr smiled at me, rubbing his thin hands together. ‘The Captain of the Guard spoke to the man who was on duty guarding the Queen’s lodgings on the night the book was stolen. And mark this, it was not Zachary Gawger, whose odd behaviour Mary Odell reported. It was another man entirely, called Michael Leeman. It seems there was a substitution. The captain has had Gawger placed in custody, though on my instructions has asked no questions of him yet. And Leeman was to be taken when he came on duty this morning. That was at six; he will have him under guard now. I ordered both to be held for you to question, Master Shardlake.’ He smiled triumphantly at the Queen. ‘I think we are about to find the answer.’

‘I hope so.’ But she spoke doubtfully. Lord Parr gave a quick frown of impatience. The Queen turned to me.

‘First, Master Shardlake, may we go over the other developments? My uncle has told me, but I would like to hear first-hand from you.’

‘Quickly,’ her uncle murmured.

Rapidly, I summarized everything that had happened since we last met: Elias’s murder, the disappearance of Greening’s three friends, Bealknap’s strange last words, my suspicion that all was not quite right with Barwic the carpenter. I added that the mysterious name Bertano was Italian in origin, and suggested that perhaps we could find out whether the name was known among the Italian merchants in the city.

‘I will arrange that,’ Lord Parr said. ‘Discreetly. First, though, let us see what these guards have to say. And if after that there remains any question of the carpenter’s involvement, I will come with you to Baynard’s Castle and speak to the man myself.’

‘But Lord Parr, I thought you wanted to keep your involvement in the enquiries to a minimum.’

‘I do. But those at Baynard’s Castle are household staff, responsible to me, and therefore frightened of me.’ He smiled tightly. ‘As for the docks, Cecil has persuaded one of the customs house officials to inform us if any of Greening’s three friends are spotted and try to flee on a ship. All goods and persons entering or leaving the country have to go through there. And Cecil has also got one of the dockers to keep an eye on everything that happens on the waterfront. With a promise of a goodly sum in gold if these jewel thieves are captured.’ He smiled wryly.

‘That poor apprentice boy,’ the Queen said. ‘I cannot understand why he should say he was killed for Anne Askew. I made sure she and I never met.’ She looked sadly at her uncle. ‘At least there I was properly careful.’

Lord Parr nodded. ‘I have spoken to my old friend Sir Edmund Walsingham,’ he said. ‘I am going to the Tower tomorrow. I have invented a piece of household business to justify the visit.’ He turned to me. ‘You will come too. We shall see what we can dig out about the news of Mistress Askew’s torture being leaked. But now — the guard.’

The Queen, however, seemed reluctant to let me go. ‘This man Bealknap?’ she asked. ‘Which side did he follow in religion?’

‘Neither. But he was associated with Richard Rich.’

‘Those words of his. Did they sound like a warning, or a threat?’

‘Neither, your majesty. Merely a last gloating, a hope to see me charged with heresy, and you.’

Lord Parr said firmly, ‘That’s surely what it was.’

‘Bealknap could not have been involved with the theft,’ I said. ‘He has been ill in his room for many weeks.’