Candace Robb - The Riddle Of St Leonard's

‘You waste your time trying to connect the thefts with the deaths of Hotter, Warrene and Taverner.’

Ravenser’s uncle would have given it some thought.

‘So much trouble erupting independently seems too much of a coincidence, Sir Richard. Not that I am at all certain one follows from the other, or which came first, or why. But so much trouble in so short a time in one establishment …’

A tilt of the head, a nod, as if seeing the point at last. Then a sharper nod. A decision. ‘I trust you, Captain. I shall try to stay out of your way. You are most welcome, I assure you. But then I asked for your assistance, you know. His Grace was not keen when I approached him. He had other plans for you.’

So it was true. Ravenser had requested his help. Still, ‘His Grace takes great pleasure in ordering my life.’

Ravenser gave a surprised laugh. ‘You-’ He shook his head. ‘I am not accustomed to hearing my uncle spoken of in such a way.’

‘I meant no disrespect. He is a great man.’

‘But difficult when in a foul temper. Which he is of late.’

‘He tells me the Queen is failing.’

Ravenser bowed his head. ‘The realm will be the worse for the loss of Queen Phillippa.’

‘His Grace particularly.’

‘And adding gall to his wound, Mistress Alice Perrers gave birth to a daughter.’

‘Has our King sired another bastard?’

‘Perhaps not. Much is made of the fact that she is christened Blanche. They are quite certain she was named for the fair Blanche of Lancaster.’ John of Gaunt’s beloved wife had died the previous autumn. ‘And if so, why? Might Lancaster be the father?’

Owen grinned. ‘Mistress Perrers has a taste for power.’

Ravenser did not smile. ‘And Lancaster a taste for beautiful women. I think it unlikely he would bed Perrers.’

‘But His Grace thinks it possible?’ Owen did. He thought there were few women in the kingdom who wove a more attractive web than Alice Perrers.

‘He thinks it possible indeed. And he is furious. He hoped to enlist the duke’s aid in ridding court of Perrers …’

‘I should think that with Death reaching out for the Queen, the King would depend on Mistress Perrers more than ever.’

Ravenser massaged his temples. ‘God might do better purging court than purging the city of York. Such petty jealousies.’

So he did not approve of Thoresby’s interest in the matter. Owen thought it time to return to the matter at hand. ‘How many know that I am assisting you in this?’

‘Don Cuthbert, the cellarer. Have you been introduced?’

‘We have met.’

Ravenser winced. ‘He is a good man, I assure you, and he has agreed to assist you in any way you request. Within the rule of the hospital, of course.’

‘Of course.’

‘Don Erkenwald also knows. In fact it was he who alerted me to the problems.’

‘He is a good man. So they are the only ones who know my purpose here?’

A sigh. ‘And without the hospital, Mistress Merchet. I thought to reassure her that I did not disregard her uncle’s claim that he was poisoned.’

‘An appropriate gesture. Just the three, yourself and me, then?’

‘Yes. And I should prefer to keep it from the others.’

Was the man a simpleton? ‘I do not see how, Sir Richard. They will notice that I am about. Secrecy will make my task doubly hard.’ He could see that Ravenser did not consider it his problem but Owen’s. In that he was like his uncle.

‘Perhaps if you spoke only of the thefts,’ Ravenser suggested.

‘And when I ask whether anyone remembers anything out of joint the day of the fire? Or whether Walter de Hotter argued with someone?’

Ravenser drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair as he considered that. ‘Might we invent more thefts? Something missing from Laurence de Warrene’s house? And something from Hotter’s?’

‘I do not advise a lie. Besides, there is the matter of Warrene’s house being so thoroughly burned.’

Ravenser flushed, but attempted to hide his embarrassment with a brusque tone. ‘I understand you spoke to Mistress Staines.’

Owen had wondered why Ravenser did not mention her. ‘I did. And I am curious. Why confine her at night, but let her go about freely during the day?’

‘I thought we might learn something by watching her — where she goes, to whom she speaks.’

‘And if she is dangerous?’

‘She cannot leave the hospital.’

‘Some have died within St Leonard’s, Sir Richard.’

A sharp intake of breath. ‘I am aware of that, Captain. But neither you nor I believe Mistress Staines is a murderer, do we? She covets her neighbours’ riches. How does she explain the goblets?’

‘She says Julian Taverner presented them to her at her wedding four years ago. But he was dead before I could ask him whether she spoke the truth.’

‘Why would she hide them if they were hers?’

‘She says she heard about the missing goblets and feared she would not be believed. Dame Constance, for one, thinks Mistress Staines quite cunning.’

‘What do you think?’

‘Have you learned aught by watching her movements these past days?’

‘As far as I know, no. Would you have me release her?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Ah.’ Ravenser nodded. ‘Good. As I said, I shall retreat into the shadows and allow you to proceed as you see fit. But I pray you, resolve this quickly and with as little information reaching the city as possible, or St Leonard’s reputation may be destroyed. And without the goodwill of the people …’

‘I have not yet begun and you are urging me to finish, Sir Richard? Then I ask you to pray for me.’

‘I express myself awkwardly. But I think it advisable to be frank with you. It is an honour to be master of this hospital. Are you aware that it is the largest such institution in this realm outside London?’

‘I have heard that claim.’

Ravenser drew himself up. ‘It is not an idle claim. It is true. And to be the master of such a hospital, which gives solace to the ill, the elderly, the abandoned … I doubt that I need tell you that it lends a man a certain respectability. But where there is much to gain there is also much to lose. Were the hospital to fail …’ Ravenser turned to the window and allowed silence to emphasise his last words.

Owen considered the man, trying to decide why he wished it were Thoresby sitting in that chair, not Ravenser. Perhaps it was because he sensed a secretiveness in Ravenser with which Thoresby did not bother. Even with his blunt acknowledgement of his ambitious motive in saving the hospital, the man still hid much.

He also exaggerated.

‘Why should the hospital fail because of the thefts and, related or not, the odd deaths of several corrodians, Sir Richard?’

Ravenser reached for his cup of wine, sipped while studying Owen over the rim. A trick of his uncle’s. Had he studied his uncle’s techniques? ‘Debt, Captain. And debt requires donors. I had been promised the receipts from the Lammas Fair this summer, but alas …’ Ravenser set the cup down, leaned forward. ‘Don Cuthbert has insulted the goldsmiths, a guild from whom I might have hoped for generous gifts; rumours are rampant in the city, which destroys my chances with other wealthy citizens; the late mayor and I quarrelled and the present mayor seems to know something of it. If this continues, we shall be ruined. It is that simple.’

‘What of the possibility that there is a murderer in your midst? Does that not worry you at all?’

Journeys were seldom direct for the Riverwoman. Folk passing would mention a sick friend, a peculiar plant growing in the wood or on the riverbank, an animal lying injured on a track, and she would reorganise her day. Those awaiting her call knew not to expect her at a particular time, but they also knew that she would come, even if it were long after sunset. It was said she had better night vision than a cat.