C. Sansom - Lamentation

‘So was I. It makes no sense. I am no heretic.’

Philip sat on the bed, wiping his brow. ‘I know. Yet I — ’ he lowered his voice — ‘I have had reason to fear. But I have been careful not to speak heresy in public. Edward, too.’

‘And your vicar? Has he spoken carelessly?’

‘Not to my knowledge. If he had, surely he would have been arrested, too.’

I nodded at the sense of this. ‘The only thing that connects the three of us is that wretched case.’

Edward, from his bed, spoke softly. ‘Isabel has undone us all.’ Then to my surprise he curled up his legs and lay hunched on the bed, like a child. It was a strange thing to see in a grown man.

Philip shook his head. ‘I fear you have been caught up in this because of suspicions against me and Edward.’

‘But Isabel’s conspiracy charge is ridiculous, easily disproved! Surely we would not be hauled before the council on Isabel’s word alone. Unless,’ I took a deep breath, ‘unless her complaint is being used by someone else, someone who wishes to see me undone.’

Philip frowned. ‘Who?’

‘I do not know. But Philip, I have been involved, perhaps against my better judgement, in matters of state. I could have enemies on the Privy Council. But friends, too, powerful friends. Why would I be attacked now?’ My mind was in a whirl. Could this be the moment after all when whoever was the holder of the Lamentation had decided to expose it? And question me about the hunt to find it? I had never spoken with the Queen or Lord Parr about what we would do with the Lamentation should we recover it; but I knew Lord Parr would almost certainly have the book destroyed. To ensure the King never saw it.

‘Listen.’ I grasped his arm. ‘Have you ever specifically denied the Real Presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Mass to someone who might have reported it?’ I spoke quietly, lest a guard be listening at the door.

Philip spread his arms wide. ‘Given what has happened this summer? Of course not.’

‘And you, sir — ’ I turned to Edward, still curled up on his bed — ‘have you said anything that could be dangerous? Have you kept forbidden books?’

He looked at me. ‘I have spoken no heresy, and I handed in my books last month.’ He spoke wearily, as though it did not matter.

I turned to Philip. ‘Then we must cleave to that, and tell the council the accusations against us are false. If someone is trying to use Isabel’s accusations to get at me, we must show them up as nonsense.’ I remembered, my heart sinking, how Treasurer Rowland had avoided making an early appointment with me to discuss Isabel’s accusations further. Had someone got to him?

Edward sat up, and with great weariness, as though his body were made of lead, leaned back against the stone-flagged wall. He said, ‘This is the vengeance of the Lord. Isabel is his instrument. It was all foreordained. Given what I have done, I cannot be saved. I am damned. All my life has been a fraud. I have lived in pride and ignorance — ’

I looked at Philip. ‘What does he mean?’

Philip spoke quietly, ‘Two days ago I confronted him with what the servant Vowell told us. He thinks this is a judgement on him. He told me that he did indeed kill his father.’

‘So it was true.’

Philip nodded despairingly.

Then we all jumped at the sound of keys in the door. The guard held it open. I was overjoyed to see Barak step inside. Beside him, carrying a large bundle, was Josephine. She looked terrified. With them came Coleswyn’s wife, Ethelreda, with whom I had dined that fateful evening when Isabel surprised us. She, too, was clutching a bundle. Her face looked ghastly, her hood askew. ‘Ten minutes,’ the guard said, and slammed the door on us.

Barak spoke, his gruff tone belying the worry on his face. ‘So, you’ve landed yourself here again. Josephine insisted on coming. Nicholas wanted to come too, but I wouldn’t let him. State he’s been in, he’d probably break down and start crying like a big girl.’

‘He’d come at you with his sword if he heard that,’ I said. In the midst of this horror, Barak had made me laugh for a second. I turned to Josephine. ‘Thank you for coming, my dear.’

She gulped. ‘I–I wanted to.’

‘I am grateful.’

‘She insisted,’ Barak said. ‘Brought a great pile of food for you.’

‘Does Tamasin know what has happened?’

‘In her condition? You must be fucking joking. Thank God when Josephine came to the house she had the sense to ask to speak to me on her own; Tammy thinks there’s some crisis on at chambers. What the hell’s happening?’

‘I don’t know. Isabel — ’

I broke off at the sound of an angry voice. Ethelreda was leaning over Edward Cotterstoke, berating him angrily. ‘Answer me, sir. Why did you tell the Tower authorities your wife and children were not to be admitted under any circumstances? I have had your good lady at my house; she weeps and weeps, it is cruel.’

Edward answered in a miserable voice. ‘It is best my wife and the children never see me again. I am an unclean thing.’

Ethelreda stared at him, then at her husband. ‘Has he gone mad?’

Philip looked at his client sorrowfully. ‘Leave him, my love.’ He sat on the bed and pulled her down to sit beside him. They clung together.

I spoke to Barak, urgently. ‘Listen, I want you to go to Whitehall Palace, get a message to Lord Parr.’

He answered impatiently, ‘I’ve just come from there. I got a wherry as soon as Josephine brought the news. I knew that was what you’d want. But they wouldn’t let me in. It’s chaos at the Common Stairs, stuff being moved out by the boatload, to Greenwich for when the King meets the admiral, and to Hampton Court where they’re all moving afterwards. They wouldn’t even tell me whether Lord Parr was there.’

‘The Queen — ’

‘I tried that one, too. The guards didn’t want to know. All I got was, “The Queen is not here. The Queen is going to Hampton Court.”’ He took a deep breath. ‘It strikes me your friends in high places have abandoned you.’

‘No!’ I answered fiercely. ‘Lord Parr perhaps, but never the Queen. Besides, this matter could have implications for them. There’s no rumour of anything having happened to the Queen, is there?’ I asked anxiously.

‘No.’

‘Listen, I will write a message. Get it to the Queen’s servant, Mary Odell.’ I spoke feverishly. ‘Find out whether she is at Whitehall still or Hampton Court, and get it to her. Tell the guards they will be in trouble with the Queen if the message does not reach her.’

Barak had brought quill and ink, anticipating my request. I scribbled a note explaining what had happened and addressed it to Mary Odell. ‘Seal it at chambers,’ I told Barak. ‘They like a seal. But for God’s sake, hurry.’

‘I’ll try,’ he said, but his tone was not hopeful.

The guard opened the door again. ‘Time’s up,’ he said brusquely. Barak and Josephine went out with Ethelreda; she was weeping, and Josephine, though trembling herself, supported her. The door slammed shut again.

I sat beside Philip on his bed and looked at Edward. I feared the state he was in, what he might blurt out when brought before the council. He was sitting up now, his head bowed. I whispered to Philip, ‘He told you he killed his stepfather?’

Philip nodded sadly. Edward had heard me, despite my lowered voice, and looked up, still with that expression of despair. ‘Yes, I killed him, a man who was guilty of nothing, and I must answer to God for it. I have hidden the truth from myself and the world for forty years, blamed Isabel for everything, but now the secret is discovered I must answer for it along with her. Somewhere in my heart I always knew this time would come.’