Edward Marston - The Bawdy Basket

‘Thank you. Am I forgiven, then?’

‘There is nothing to forgive.’

‘I hate to keep secrets from you.’

‘You were forced to do so.’

He nodded. ‘I fear that I was. I only confided in Lawrence Firethorn to save Frank from his rebuke. This business has haunted Frank and sullied his work onstage.’

‘That is hardly surprising.’

‘What concerns me is how the rest of the company will respond.’

‘Are they aware of the situation?’

‘All of London is aware of it today. It can be hidden no more.’

‘Westfield’s Men will surely rally behind Frank.’

‘I hope so, Anne,’ he said, pulling his hand gently away, ‘but I have my doubts. Frank and I may believe in the innocence of his father but will the others? All they will see is an actor whose father has faced the disgrace of a public execution. Some of that disgrace will rub off on Frank himself. He may come in for harsh treatment.’

As they gathered for rehearsal at the Queen’s Head in Gracechurch Street that morning, it was the sole topic of conversation. Everyone knew about the execution of Gerard Quilter and all of them had an opinion. Barnaby Gill’s was unequivocal.

‘I say that he should be banned from the company!’ he argued.

‘Do not be so hasty,’ said Lawrence Firethorn.

‘We must not have a criminal in our ranks.’

‘Frank is no criminal. It’s Gerard Quilter who goes to his death this day.’

‘Like father, like son.’

‘That’s unfair.’

‘Is it, Lawrence?’ asked Gill, jabbing a finger at him. ‘It’s what everyone else in the company feels. Frank Quilter is tainted. His father’s crime is of so heinous a nature that Frank will never outlive it.’

‘Only if the man is guilty of the murder.’

‘Why else should they hang him?’

‘Frank contends that his father is innocent.’

‘Pah!’ sneered Gill. ‘What son will ever admit that his father is a ruthless killer? The fact remains that the man was arrested, charged and convicted in a court of law. He must now pay the ultimate penalty and I, for one,’ said Gill with emphasis, ‘will shed no tears for the villain.’

‘Do you have no sympathy for Frank?’ asked Owen Elias.

‘Not a jot!’

‘Well, I do, Barnaby, and with good cause. When I talked about an execution in Frank’s hearing the other day, I had no notion of this afternoon’s event. No wonder he fled from the taproom in disgust.’ The Welshman shook his head sadly. ‘It was cruel of me to dwell on such details in front of him. My only excuse is that I did not know the truth at the time.’

‘None of us did, Owen,’ said Gill. ‘Except Nicholas, of course. He has been privy to the information from the start and should be sharply reprimanded for keeping it to himself.’

‘But he did not,’ confessed Firethorn. ‘He confided in me.’

Gill was astonished. ‘You knew , Lawrence?’

‘Only a few days ago.’

‘Yet you said nothing to the rest of us?’

‘I was asked to remain silent.’

‘To what end?’ demanded Gill. ‘The news should have been divulged to us. By delaying it, all you did was to increase the force of the blow. The company is in a state of shock to learn that it has a killer in its midst.’

‘The son of a putative killer.’

‘He must bear the sins of his father.’

‘Not if the man is falsely accused.’

‘The law does not make mistakes.’

‘I hate to say it,’ added Elias, ‘but I agree with Barnaby for once. From all accounts, the evidence against the prisoner was clear and decisive. Two witnesses saw him stab the victim repeatedly. Gerard Quilter deserves to die.’

‘And his son deserves to be expelled,’ said Gill.

‘I would not go that far, Barnaby.’

‘No more would I,’ said Firethorn. ‘Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case, Frank Quilter is a valuable member of the company. I wish to keep him with us.’

Gill was adamant. ‘Impossible!’

‘Give him the benefit of the doubt.’

‘He’ll corrupt the whole lot of us.’

‘Enough of such wild talk!’ snapped Firethorn.

‘It’s not wild, Lawrence,’ said Elias with a sigh. ‘What Barnaby says is what most of our fellows think. Actors are superstitious by nature, as you well know. They will feel uneasy at the idea of playing alongside a man with Frank’s pedigree.’

‘As an actor, his pedigree is almost faultless.’

‘We judge him first as a man.’

‘Owen speaks well,’ said Gill. ‘Put a rotten apple in the barrel and the rest will soon decay. There’s no remedy for it, Lawrence. Frank must go forthwith.’

Firethorn stiffened. ‘That’s a decision that only I will make.’

‘It has already been made by the company.’

‘I fear that it has,’ admitted Elias. ‘There’s a lot of bad feeling against Frank Quilter. I do not share it myself but I would be a liar if I denied that it was there.’

Firethorn scratched his beard. Accustomed to dominating his company, he hated to be thrown on the defensive, especially when it was Barnaby Gill who was gaining a temporary advantage over him. When he had first learnt of the execution, he had been shaken by the intelligence, afraid of the consequences of keeping Quilter in the company. What reassured him was the ardour with which Nicholas Bracewell proclaimed the innocence of the condemned man. He was tempted to accept that Gerard Quilter might, after all, be the victim of rough justice. Having taken soundings from the other actors, however, he was beginning to revise that opinion. Disapproval of Frank Quilter was widespread and vocal. Even the more compassionate members of the troupe, like Owen Elias and James Ingram, believed in the guilt of the prisoner. Unable to make up his mind, or to subdue Gill in open debate, Firethorn did what he always did in such circumstances. He summoned his book holder.

‘Nick, dear heart!’ he called. ‘A word in your ear!’

‘It is Nicholas who should have whispered a word in our ear,’ complained Gill.

‘He had his reasons,’ said Elias.

Nicholas strolled across to the three men. They were standing in the inn yard while their makeshift stage was being erected. Unable to attend during the performance itself, the book holder was there for the morning rehearsal to shepherd George Dart through the intricacies of his role as a substitute. When he saw the expressions on their faces, Nicholas knew what his fellows had been talking about.

‘Tell them what you told me, Nick,’ encouraged Firethorn.

Gill was petulant. ‘We’ve heard enough already and it comes far too late.’

‘The company is restive,’ said Elias gently. ‘We need guidance.’

‘Then do not look for it from Nicholas,’ said Gill with a dismissive gesture. ‘He is but a hired man. The decision must be left to the sharers.’

‘What decision?’ asked Nicholas.

‘The eviction of Frank Quilter from Westfield’s Men.’

‘But there’s no question of that. Frank is contracted to the company. You cannot rescind a legal document in a fit of pique.’

Gill was insulted. ‘This is no fit of pique, I promise you.’

‘Nor is it a considered judgement, Barnaby,’ said Firethorn.

‘I speak on behalf of the majority.’

‘Then you speak in ignorance,’ said Nicholas civilly. ‘If you knew the full facts of the case, you would not be so ungenerous. Nor would you show such disloyalty to one of your own. Frank Quilter has been a great asset to Westfield’s Men. We are fortunate to number him in our company.’

‘He was no great asset to us in Hannibal ,’ said Gill spitefully.

‘True enough,’ conceded Firethorn.