Michael Jecks - The Butcher of St Peter's

Now he took a little breath and spoke quietly. ‘I feel sure that the honourable and worthy knight will be a fitting addition to our little cemetery. He has devoted his life to the Church and his death and burial in our cloister mean that his soul will be saved.’

John smiled and nodded. He was awed by the strength and purpose of this man. He always had been, ever since he first heard of the way Guibert defended this same little convent against the attack of the black-hearted devils of the cathedral.

‘Let us pray for the safe arrival of his soul in Heaven,’ said Guibert, and when he knelt, John could already feel the tears forming in his eyes. Not for the dead man — he was already fading from his memory — but at the renewal of his admiration for this wonderful man, the man who had caused the Bishop of Exeter to be excommunicated.

Guibert left John there in his cell, and John waited a while, praying happily. Later, leaving it, he saw Guibert again. He was outside, and it was a slight surprise to John to see that he was talking to a merchant, that rather unpleasantly worldly fellow, Master Jordan le Bolle. But he didn’t think much of it. He had too much to sort out with the funeral arrangements.

Agnes and Juliana were in the market for some little while, hunting down a bolt of cloth for a new dress for Juliana, and when they returned Cecily was so thrilled by the sight of the striped ray material that she quite forgot to mention the visitors at first.

‘What is this?’ Agnes asked when she saw the goblets on the table. ‘Have you been playing with your father’s best wine, child?’

Her tone was mocking, but Cecily knew that her aunt believed in strict discipline for children. ‘Oh, I forgot. The Coroner and the Keeper of the Peace were here to speak to Father,’ she said quickly.

‘And what did they want?’ Juliana asked with a smile, loosening her wimple and shaking her hair free. It had been irritating her all day. Her maid simply could not make her hair lie comfortably. She should throw the wench out and find a new one.

‘They wanted to speak about the man Father beat,’ Cecily said, her head bowed over her little rag doll. ‘And then they wanted to hear about the man who breaks into the house. They were very cross at first, but they said that they understood how angry Father must be to find a stranger in our solar, so they said he could kill the man if he came again.’

Juliana’s face darkened. ‘You are making this up, child, aren’t you? What would they want to hear about our troubles for?’

‘I’m not!’ Cecily retorted with spirit. ‘They said that if there was a man in the house, Father could kill him. It’s the law, they said.’

‘Cecily, go and play outside for a while,’ Agnes said soothingly. ‘I want to speak to your mother.’

When Cecily was gone, she sat on a bench. ‘Are you very troubled about this affair? The drunk outside the tavern?’

Juliana avoided her eye. ‘It was a shameful thing to do. Ham was no threat to anyone.’

‘He had already stabbed one man.’

‘That was an accident. I am sure he would have given Daniel the knife if Daniel had asked for it. But he didn’t. He rushed in and killed the fellow. The poor man had his head crushed.’

‘Your husband was always too prone to violence.’

‘He was not! He was ever a kindly man to me and the children!’ Juliana declared tartly. ‘But he has changed in the last few months. You must have noticed, sister!’

‘Not I! But then in the last months I have seen less of him.’

‘He did not want you to go, but you wouldn’t give up that other, would you?’

‘And why should I?’

‘That, and the pressure of his work …’ Juliana said unkindly. She felt no need to support her sister if Agnes was going to insult her husband.

Agnes looked away uncomfortably.

Juliana said no more. There was no need. They both knew Daniel had grown much more edgy when he first heard that Agnes had been visited by Jordan le Bolle. Daniel had said that Jordan was never to be allowed into his house again; Agnes was sure that Daniel simply hated the idea of adultery, and wouldn’t have Jordan in the place in case he took Agnes to her bed.

What of it if he did? She was not Daniel’s woman, even if she lived under his roof! The idea that her younger sister’s husband should dictate to her whom she could or could not see drove her to seek to seduce Jordan sooner than she otherwise might have. She told Daniel that his command was outrageous, and moved out into a smaller house within a few days. It was expensive, but she had some money saved, and Jordan offered to help, so she soon learned that a house was cheap enough for a woman who was in love, and loved by a strong man.

Daniel had no right to prevent her seeing whomsoever she wanted. She was about to state this when she noticed how exhausted her sister appeared.

Juliana had closed her eyes. She needed to rest them; they felt sore and rough from lack of sleep. If she sat still for a moment with her eyes closed like this, she knew that she must fall asleep and topple over, but it was so pleasing, so good to sit with them shut, if only for a few moments. She was so tired, she almost mentioned the threat made to them by Agnes’s lover, but luckily she managed to control herself and didn’t say anything. If she told Agnes that her man had said he would kill Juliana and all her family, Agnes would only think she was making it up and call her a liar. It would throw her more completely into Jordan’s arms, and that was one thing Juliana was determined to avoid.

In the end she said, ‘It must be this man who enters our house at night. That is why he is so unsettled.’

‘Does he not worry you as well, Juliana?’

Juliana looked at her. ‘If it is still only Est, we have no need to worry about the poor fellow. Not really.’

‘Who else could it be, though?’ Agnes asked. When she glanced at her sister, she was surprised to see a look of fear in her eyes, as though Juliana was determined not to speak. Almost as though she didn’t trust Agnes.

Jordan le Bolle left the cathedral close with a sense that all was going well.

He had seen Daniel earlier, and the man had looked distraught. Quite devastated, as though his world was collapsing about him. He hadn’t seen Jordan, which was probably no bad thing. If he’d flown off the handle and made rash accusations, it could have been difficult. As it was, Jordan could enjoy his suffering. Especially now, since he’d learned of a fresh shipment of lead. He already had a large store of it, and now he would be able to sell more to the cathedral for their rebuilding.

It was an easy way to make money. Stocks of lead, tin, iron and glass were being brought here from all over the country. Many ships arrived at the quay, and when the sailors went to the brothels intelligent women could sometimes learn what cargo was aboard. Occasionally those sailors could be bribed, too, but that was risky. Jordan had his own men at the docks, and usually it was a simple task to find the parcels or boxes which contained the most important goods, and substitute something else. Then he could sell the stolen items for a profit. Simple, effective and lucrative.

There was a better way to ensure a good profit, though, and that was to have a spy who could warn Jordan which ships were worth looking over. And that was why he was here today, to meet with his most profitable spy. It meant he could tell which were the best cargoes to be taken, which packages and bales deserved investigation without the need to bribe some unknown sailor, constantly running the risk that he might be a fool who would run to the ship’s master to warn him.

Daniel had taken to hanging about the quayside recently. Jordan was unpleasantly certain that the man had learned something. Well, he had done all he could some days ago: he’d put the fear of God into Daniel’s wife, hopefully, which would mean that there was another voice to persuade the sergeant to leave Jordan alone. If Daniel chose to ignore all the good advice he was receiving, that was his problem, not Jordan’s.