Imogen Robertson - Circle of Shadows

Michaels slowly took a coin from his pocket and put it out towards her, but she stepped away as if he’d held out something foul. ‘They’ll only beat me for it.’

He put it back into his pocket then swung himself onto his horse. She watched him.

‘He’ll have to go away now.’

He turned and looked at her with a frown. ‘The blacksmith?’ She nodded. ‘That any hurt to you?’

‘No.’ She was chewing her finger again.

‘By the waterfall, you say?’

‘I think maybe I’d like to be a witch.’

‘Even though you see what happens to them? Better learn your prayers.’ She wrinkled her nose and made a tsking note in her throat.

‘Do you know where she was going? When she first came through the village?’

‘Westways,’ she said, then turned to walk off, now dragging her feet.

Michaels gently pressed his horse’s flanks with his heels. An hour later he was back with the egg-seller in Oberbach. He tipped his hat to her. ‘What’s your priest like here, sister?’ he asked quietly.

Harriet delivered the warrant for Clode’s release to Rachel and Graves while they drank their coffee. They were delighted to have it, then shocked into silence by her news of the murder of Countess Dieth. When she explained the symbol to them, Graves mentioned that he had met the gentleman in charge of the library, and offered to accompany her there and give her an introduction before leaving for Castle Grenzhow.

‘If you can wait, Rachel,’ he added gently to her. Rachel had taken the order for Clode’s release from the table where Harriet had placed it, and held it tightly between her white hands. She gave a quick nod.

‘I think I have a little courage left. Go. I can wait a while longer.’

Harriet went round the table to sit by her sister and covered her hands with her own. Rachel did not loosen her grip around the order. ‘Rachel. We can leave. We can go now and leave all this behind us. Return to Hartswood. Ask and we shall follow you without question.’

‘That letter from the Ambassador. The King of England has asked you to assist Maulberg.’

‘Damn the King,’ Harriet replied with a smile and her sister flinched.

‘Harriet …’ Rachel closed her eyes for a second. ‘No, Crowther is right. Daniel’s best chance of leaving these horrors lies in finding out the truth. If we run now, they will follow him.’

‘They might follow him in any case, my love.’

She nodded again. ‘They might, but we must try. Work it out, Harry. I know you can, but please, try and work it out as fast as you can. Now go to the library. I shall rest until you are at liberty, Graves.’ She stood and left the room rather quickly. Harriet watched her go.

The library was not housed in the palace but, to demonstrate that it was available to all respectable people, had been built on one side of the town square. Graves and Harriet left the palace, and found themselves amongst the preparations for the reception of the new Duchess. The stands for the nobility had been completed and were now being dressed. Great bolts of cloth in blue and green hung from their sides, swagged layers of it separated the levels of the stands, and along the upper level ran a forest of flagpoles. Everything glittered.

‘What must that material have cost?’ Harriet said, her brightness rather forced. ‘I hope they donate it to the poor afterwards. You could make a new coat for every man in Pulborough with that material.’

‘I was thinking the same, though the effect might be a bit strange, don’t you think?’ Graves replied. Harriet smiled, mentally repopulating the market town with blue damask. ‘And now we have shown ourselves to be what we are.’

‘What is that?’

‘Not Nobility, Mrs Westerman. We have thought about what things cost and shown ourselves up terribly as a result.’

‘It doesn’t seem to bother you greatly, Graves.’

‘I’ve never been prouder of being the owner of a shop. And of course, my friend is about to be released. I am ready to forgive myself and the nobility most things.’ He frowned. ‘Lord, should I be so light-hearted with that poor woman lying dead? How quickly we can forget what we don’t wish to think of. Earth in the mouth …’

‘Crowther told me not to think about the manner of death more than I have to, and I think I shall do as he suggests, Graves. Our repulsion does her no good.’

‘And it is given out she is only sick …’

‘I wonder if it will be believed.’

‘Most likely people will think she has decided to remove herself from court while the new bride settles herself at the palace, and will praise her delicacy.’ He looked at Harriet with steady attention. ‘I fear, Mrs Westerman, you are on the trail of someone very dangerous. He has killed and covered his tracks with repeated success, and now he has murdered in the palace itself. Part of me feels I should insist we leave for England at once.’

Harriet saw the Countess’s face in front of her again. ‘Rachel has told us what she thinks, and she can be just as stubborn as I. Nor do I think Clode will be persuaded to leave until we find who made the attempt on him.’

‘I understand. Here, we are arrived.’

‘It’s a handsome building,’ Harriet said, looking up at the portico.

‘And open to every subject of the Duke, whatever their station. Now let us see if we can find Mr Zeller.’

In fact, Mr Zeller found them almost as soon as they had entered the building. He was a rather round man whose dress would have been regarded as old-fashioned when the library was first built. He walked with his head held forward and tilted down to some degree, and swung it from side to side as he spoke. Harriet was reminded of a turtle in search of green shoots. His eyes were squeezed half-shut throughout their conversation, and he kept his shoulders hunched. Harriet was not sure if it was the atmosphere of the library, or the carriage of the man, but she fell naturally into a low whisper.

He led them through the main hall of the library into an office lined with books in locked cases and invited them to sit at the library table.

‘Our reserved collection,’ he whispered, glancing round as if he feared the books themselves might be listening. ‘The more … rare, esoteric volumes of our collection are held here so we may study those who wish to study them . No one is allowed to consult them without a letter of recommendation from their priest, and one of the Faculty at the university at Leuchtenstadt.’ He shuddered as if delighted. ‘A fascinating collection of texts claiming magical knowledge among them. My friend Adolphus Glucke would say they should all be burned, but then he’s a rationalist. He says they lead men down false paths, and of course, some men do disappear into their shadows. For myself, I value them as history. A record of the attempts of great minds to try to understand our world. Now what is it you have to ask me?’

Harriet put a piece of paper in front of him. ‘My friend Mr Graves has spoken to me of your erudition, sir. What can you tell me of this symbol — it’s derivation and uses? And also …’ she presented another list, the books taken from the Alchemist’s laboratory, ‘do you have copies of any of these works to hand?’

He took the sheets from her and gave a satisfied snort. ‘Ah, Mrs Westerman! Fate must have prompted me to lead you into this room! I hope you have some little time at your disposal.’

Crowther had never performed an examination of this kind under guard before. Krall sat on one of the pews at a safe distance, puffing his pipe and with his back turned. Outside, the two guards remained. Crowther wondered what they had thought of Harriet’s distress. Crowther did not normally cover the face of the corpse as he worked, yet this time he did so. Did the horror of her death mean she merited this particular attention? He wondered who would prepare the body for burial and who would scoop the earth from between her jaws. With a sort of weary acceptance he decided to make that task his own.