Kate Sedley - The Midsummer Rose

‘What will you say to Mistress Alefounder?’ I enquired.

He shrugged. ‘Nothing, unless it’s necessary. She won’t come again until the morning. She’s already brought me my evening meal.’ He grimaced, intimating that he had not enjoyed it. ‘Since yesterday and her brother’s death, she has had much to occupy her mind, as you might expect. So, Roger — am I right? Is that your name? — what makes you think you can find me a ship’s captain willing to carry me to France, when Robin Avenel and his sister have so far been unsuccessful?’

‘There’s an Irish slave trader with whom I’ve had some dealings in the past. At present, his ship is moored along the Bristol Backs. He’s an honest rogue who knew of Eamonn Malahide, but had nothing but contempt for his double-dealing. He’ll take you, I feel certain, provided you can pay him what he asks.’

‘Ah!’ The duke gave me a quizzical glance. ‘Money! I’d forgotten about money. I’m afraid I don’t have any. Do you?’

Typical! These noblemen are all the same. They never pay for anything if they can help it; they’re too busy leeching off everyone else.

‘No, I don’t,’ I answered shortly. ‘Not that sort of money, at any rate. I’m a pedlar. Don’t you have any rings or a jewelled collar or something of that sort that I could offer Briant?’

Albany sighed and shook his head. ‘Not here. I left Scotland in such a hurry, I had to leave most of my belongings behind. I did have one ring, my signet ring, but I lost it — the Virgin only knows where.’

I caught my breath. ‘A heavily chased gold band and a roundel engraved with two letter As, is that the one?’

He stared at me, nodding. ‘Two As and the Lion of Scotland.’ He shook my wrist. ‘What do you know about it? Do you know where it is?’

‘I found it lodged in the mattress of the bed at Rownham Passage when I went back there to have a look around. I think you must have slept in that bed and got your hand caught between the ticking and the feathers. The ring worked loose.’

The Scotsman clapped his hands. ‘Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? Mistress Alefounder was right on yet another count. You are a nosy fellow, Roger! God bless you for it.’ A sudden thought struck him. ‘You still have it?’ he demanded anxiously. It was my turn to nod. ‘Then we can offer it to this Irishman of yours. Tell him that when I get safely to France and my good cousin, King Louis, grants me a pension, I’ll buy it back from him at three times its price. He’ll be well recompensed for all his trouble.’

It might work. I reckoned the signet ring was of sufficient weight and value to satisfy Briant. And he was shrewd enough to see that it could have an importance in Albany’s eyes beyond its simple monetary worth.

‘Very well,’ I conceded. ‘But I’ll have to go home and fetch it.’

‘And take it to this Irishman now, this evening, without delay. If he agrees to the transaction, I’ll be aboard his ship tonight. I can return to Ireland with him, if necessary, and wait there until he’s able to carry me to France.’

I could tell he was used to issuing commands that he expected to be obeyed instantly. But there again, that’s royalty for you. Never a thought for what might be inconvenient — or dangerous or even difficult, come to that — for other people. My young lord entertained not the slightest doubt but that I would do as he bade me, in spite of the fact that he had twice tried to kill me. I guessed I was meant to be grateful that he hadn’t quite succeeded.

When I didn’t move from the bed, he gave me an imperious look.

‘We had a bargain,’ I reminded him. ‘I’ll fulfil my part of it when you’ve fulfilled yours.’

He glowered. ‘But if I do, how can I be sure you’ll do as you’ve promised?’

‘Because you have my word.’

He snorted with laughter at that. ‘The word of a pedlar! What guarantee is that?’

I rounded on him. ‘It’s as good as the word of a fugitive prince who can’t even keep friends with his own brother.’ I sprang to my feet. ‘But if you don’t agree, I’m off!’

He held out a placatory hand. ‘No, no! Don’t be so touchy! I’m sorry. Forgive me. That was unpardonably rude. Sit down again, please, and I’ll tell you what I know about Master Avenel’s murder. But, remember, I did warn you that it isn’t much.’ He patted the bed beside him.

I feigned reluctance, but eventually allowed myself to be persuaded. In any case, I had suddenly realized that I didn’t know how to open the secret door from inside the chamber.

‘So? What can you tell me?’ I asked.

He nodded towards the wall where I knew the door to be, although nothing was visible, not even the faintest hairline crack. Albany was right. Its original designer had been an engineer of genius.

‘There’s a small peephole over there, to the left. Not much good for seeing anything — it isn’t really big enough and it’s too dark on the other side — but at least you can occasionally hear things through it. Noises drift in from time to time. People come down here to store unwanted furniture, or they use it as a trysting place. Once, I came out too soon to stretch my legs and you were there, rummaging around.’

‘Yesterday morning,’ I said. ‘You were dressed as a woman. I saw you, but when I couldn’t find any trace of you, I decided you were a figment of my imagination.’

He looked slightly bemused. ‘Was that only yesterday? Time plays strange tricks on a man with no one but himself for company … Yes, yes, I remember now. I thought I’d risk going out for a while, so I put on my woman’s garb. But your presence thwarted my plans. Another time, you saw me in the street and shouted to me. You thought I was Mistress Alefounder’s maid. But I ran down here and hid myself.’ He chuckled to himself before proceeding. ‘So! To Master Avenel’s murder. It must have been … Let me see …’

‘The night before last,’ I prompted. ‘Midsummer Eve.’

He nodded. ‘The lady I was just speaking of, the lovely Rowena — ’ he smiled lasciviously — ‘had brought me my supper. Now there’s a woman ripe for the plucking, but unfortunately, something of a prude.’ He rubbed one cheek reminiscently, and I guessed Rowena had rejected his amorous advances in no uncertain fashion. After another pause he went on, ‘Well, some while after I’d finished my supper — just how long, I’ve no idea — I heard the sound of men’s voices, raised in anger, come floating through the wall. One, I immediately recognized as Robin Avenel’s, but the other I didn’t know. And yet it sounded vaguely familiar, as if I’d heard it a couple of times before. I put my ear to the hole, but I was unable to hear exactly what was being said. There was a lot of shouting and also a noise like scuffling, which suggested to me that the two men were having a fight, a suspicion that was borne out by the fact that the voices got even louder and angrier until, suddenly, they ceased. Then there was silence.’

‘And?’ I was growing impatient.

He chewed his nails for a moment before continuing. I noticed that they were bitten down to the quick.

‘Well, after waiting for what seemed like an age, I opened the secret door — with the greatest caution, I might say — and almost at once saw Robin Avenel lying in the middle of the cellar floor. I knew it was him even though his face was turned away from me, but I fetched a lighted candle just to make sure. He was dead. He’d been stabbed through the heart.’

‘What did you do?’

‘What could I do in my position but wait for Mistress Alefounder to come looking for her brother? Normally, she wouldn’t have visited me again until early the following morning, when she brought me my breakfast, but I guessed that when Master Avenel failed to return home that night, she would grow anxious and begin to look for him immediately. Which, of course, she eventually did. I don’t know what hour it was when her search finally brought her down here, but it was very late. At first, Elizabeth accused me of murdering Master Avenel — me! — and was ready to tear my eyes out. Not, it transpired, because she thought I’d killed her brother, but because I’d jeopardized my chances of remaining hidden and, in due course, of being spirited away to Brittany. By the time I’d managed to convince her of my innocence, the night was even further advanced. It must be nearly midnight, she told me. And the following morning, of course, Robin’s disappearance would become public knowledge. She would have to inform the Sheriff, who would organize an official investigation. Sooner or later, Master Avenel’s body would be found, and the last thing she wanted was for the Sheriff’s men to come nosing about down here.’