Kate Sedley - Wheel of Fate

‘Clemency and I must have missed each other,’ she muttered angrily. ‘I was out in the herb garden looking for some coriander, but there doesn’t seem to be any left. As you know, an infusion of the leaves is good for stomach cramp, and one of the maids is complaining of bellyache.’ She shrugged. ‘Oh well! It can’t be helped. But I do so hate not having dinner ready when Oswald comes in.’ Her rather austere features softened. ‘He works so hard and his sisters have never properly appreciated him.’

‘Oh, I’m sure they do,’ Adela remonstrated gently. ‘They’re all — I mean they’re both extremely fond of him.’ Her breath caught on a little sob, but she recovered her composure and went on, ‘They mother him to death.’

‘Smother him more like,’ was the embittered reply as the housekeeper stalked from the room.

‘Oh-ho! Blows the wind from that quarter?’ I said, as Mistress Rokeswood disappeared through the farther door.

‘Shush!’ Adela whispered. ‘She’ll hear you.’ But as the door closed, she nodded agreement. ‘Yes, you’re right. Poor Arbella is very much in love with Oswald, I’m afraid. Not that it will do her any good. Whatever she does for him — and she waits on him hand, foot and finger — as long as even one sister is alive she stands no chance with him whatsoever. I have never known such devoted siblings. At times, it seems positively unnatural. And I understand that when Charity was alive, it was worse. She was more maternal towards him than either Clemency or Sybilla. And that, my love, is saying something, believe me.’

I sought to put my thoughts in order.

‘This Charity,’ I said, cudgelling my brain to remember what Margaret Walker had told me, ‘was the third daughter of Morgan Godslove’s first marriage. Am I right? But now she’s dead? How did that happen?’

My wife clasped my arm. ‘That’s what I was trying to tell you when Arbella interrupted us. Charity died last year after eating mushrooms. One of them must have been poisonous. But the point is that she isn’t the only member of the family who has died. The year before that, one of the stepbrothers was killed in a tavern brawl, and in the October after Charity’s death, Martin Godslove — that’s their half-brother and Celia’s brother — was set upon by robbers late one night in Cheapside and stabbed to death. Moreover. .’ Adela paused a moment to take a breath and then continued, ‘Moreover, not long after her stepbrother was killed, Clemency became very ill and nearly died. Indeed, she was so ill that she was given the last rites, but by some miracle she recovered. No one thought anything more about it — nothing, that is, except that she had been extremely sick and that their prayers had been answered — until first Charity and then Martin died so unnaturally. Then the rest of them began to get frightened. Three deaths and one near death in just a couple of years began to make them believe that either there was a curse on the family or that someone was deliberately killing them off one by one. And now, only a few days ago, Sybilla was badly injured from a falling block of stone as she was walking by the city wall. (You must have noticed that it’s being repaired.) No one seemed to know how it happened. All the workmen swore they were nowhere near the particular stretch of scaffolding where the accident occurred. Except, of course, no one here really thinks it was an accident. And now they are in fear and trembling as to what will happen next. Oh, Roger, you will help them, won’t you? They have been so very kind to me that I feel I must do something.’

I took both her hands in mine and attempted to soothe her agitation.

‘Adela, my love,’ I said, ‘try to look at things calmly. For a start, why do your cousins believe that some unknown person is out to murder them one by one? Do they have any enemies? Have they offended somebody? Quarrelled with somebody? Injured someone?’

Adela shook her head. ‘No, they say not. But Oswald is a lawyer and a good one so I’m told. He seems to be held in high esteem in the inns of court. Since I’ve been here, I’ve met several of his fellow advocates and they all speak highly of him. Clemency and Sybilla and Celia — that’s the half-sister — think it more than likely that he has made an enemy of some felon who was sent to prison, or otherwise severely punished, thanks to his successful prosecution. Or maybe someone was executed and his family are set on revenge.’

I grimaced. ‘That’s possible, I suppose. Can Oswald recall any case in recent years where the accused made threats against him, or where Oswald himself felt the verdict to have been unsafe?’

‘My dear fellow, don’t let your wife embroil you in our affairs, I beg of you.’ I turned my head to see the lawyer descending the staircase. Reaching the bottom, he came to join us at the fire. ‘It’s all nonsense, I’m sure, dreamed up by my sisters. It’s a series of unfortunate coincidences, nothing more.’

He tried to speak nonchalantly, but I noticed that his voice jumped a little and that the corner of one eye had developed a tic.

I spread my hands. ‘If you’re satisfied. .’

‘No, he’s not satisfied. Don’t believe him,’ said yet another voice behind me, making me start. I rose hastily to my feet to find a rather pretty woman standing with one hand on the back of the settle, smiling at me, and guessed that this must be the half-sister, Celia Godslove. There was a look of her half-siblings about her, a similarity of bearing in the upright carriage, but she was taller and younger — her middle thirties I judged — and the high cheekbones, determined jaw and aquiline nose were somehow softer and rounder, making her seem more approachable and friendly than the others.

‘Hold your tongue, Cecy,’ Oswald told her, but in spite of the reproof he went forward and not only kissed her affectionately but also hugged her, holding her close against him in what seemed to me to be a most unbrotherly fashion. I felt Adela’s eyes upon me and we exchanged a fleeting glance.

The newcomer, freeing herself from her half-brother’s embrace, again turned to me, holding out one hand. ‘I don’t know who you are,’ she said, ‘but take no notice of Oswald’s protestations. He’s just as worried as the rest of us, even if he likes to pretend he isn’t.’

I took the proffered hand and bowed while Adela introduced me to this latest arrival. ‘I want him to stay and help solve this mystery,’ my wife explained.

Celia smiled and I saw that her eyes were greyish-blue, like smoke, rather than the deeper colour of her siblings’. At the moment, they were twinkling with secret amusement.

‘The. . er. . the erring husband?’ she queried, suppressing a chuckle.

‘That’s all been explained,’ Adela interposed hurriedly. ‘It was a misunderstanding on my part. Roger has come to take me and the boys home, but as I said, I think he should stay for a while if you’ll let him, and try to discover what is going on.’

‘I think that’s an excellent idea,’ Celia nodded before Oswald could register an objection. ‘An extra mind brought to bear on the subject is just what we need. And it will be the viewpoint of an outsider who is unaffected by all these accidents and deaths.’ She had quite lost her sunny smile and she pressed a trembling hand to her lips. ‘Martin was my brother, you know,’ she added.

‘Yes, I do realize that,’ I said quietly. ‘I’m sorry.’

At that moment, Clemency came back into the hall, closely followed by the housekeeper.

‘Oh, you’re home,’ she said, addressing her half-sister. ‘Was the city very crowded?’

Celia kissed Clemency’s cheek before replying. ‘Not so crowded as you’d expect on St George’s Day, and no plays or mummings, naturally. But a lot of armed bands patrolling the streets and one or two near clashes amongst a few of them. Someone told me that it’s mainly between Lord Hasting’s men and those of the Woodvilles, but I couldn’t say for certain.’