Kate Sedley - The Midsummer Rose

I shook my head. ‘No. I love him, but I’d rather you said nothing about me. Out of sight is out of mind and I’d just as soon he forgot me.’

Timothy laughed, but I realized later — too late — that he’d made no promise not to mention me. Politely, I held open the parlour door, intimating that he should take his leave. He laughed again as he passed me. But then he turned and tapped my arm.

‘I shan’t go back to Westminster entirely empty-handed. I shall be taking the Tudor spy, Silas Witherspoon, with me as a peace offering and to prove that my time here has not been altogether wasted. It’s a pity, of course. It means Sergeant Manifold will have to be on the lookout for his replacement from Brittany, and it won’t be easy. He’ll probably suspect entirely the wrong man. But there you are. Needs must when the Devil drives. My salutations to Mistress Chapman. I won’t trouble her with them in person.’ He scratched one armpit. ‘A most unsatisfactory affair. Most unsatisfactory!’

He was gone and I drew several deep breaths, unconsciously straightening my shoulders. I hadn’t been arrested. I was free to return to my family and my life. But it wasn’t until I was in bed that night that I remembered two things.

The first was Albany’s valedictory salute. ‘You’ve been more than good to me, Roger Chapman, Sassenach though you are. I shan’t forget you. I shall know who to call upon if ever I need a friend among the English.’ At the time, it had seemed no more than the parting words of a grateful man. Now, lying in the dark, it suddenly had a sinister ring. It held the seeds of future trouble.

The second was the realization that I would never now possess the sheath that Apothecary Witherspoon had been making for me. Adela and I would have to go on relying on the old, untrustworthy methods of child prevention. And, as I snuggled up to her, I wondered if there was any cabbage in the house.