Paul Doherty: Song of a Dark Angel

'This must be it,' Ranulf murmured.

They walked forward, the pool of light from the tallow candles going before them. They separated, Corbett going to the right, Ranulf moving over to the far corner. Corbett's heart sank. Would there be anything here? Ranulf's shouts answered his question. 'Master, it's here!'

Corbett went over to where his manservant stood. At first he could see nothing but a pool of candlelight but Ranulf crouched, pushing the candle before him. Against the rock face were four or five large sacks. The cloth was beginning to crumble and Corbett glimpsed the precious objects they contained.

'The royal treasure!' Ranulf exclaimed. He moved his candle and Corbett saw the outstretched arm of a skeleton, head drunkenly flung to one side. 'And its guardian, Father James!'

Corbett went across and studied the skeleton carefully. The flesh had long decayed, the bones were yellow and brittle. The man's leather boots and belt and a few scattered scraps of cloth were all that remained. He pointed to the back of the skull, where the bone had been shattered.

'I think,' he said, 'that Alan of the Marsh and Holcombe divided the treasure. This is Alan's portion. A smuggler, he would know about this cave. He needed another person to help him so he called on his parish priest. They brought the treasure here, climbing down to it in the same way as we did. After which Alan killed the priest, striking him on the back of the head with a rock.'

Ranulf listened impatiently. He pulled one of the weather-beaten sacks over. The fabric, thin with age, ripped and the precious contents – silver plate, golden ewers, jewelled hanapers, diamond-studded goblets – cascaded out, clattering and clanging on the cavern floor.

'Hell's teeth!' Ranulf knelt down. He picked up a silver plate and glanced up at his master, his eyes shining. 'Must we take it all back?'

Corbett prised the silver plate from his hand and tossed it to the ground.

'What else can we do? Steal a portion? Sell it on the market in London?'

Ranulf stared back.

'Can't you see?' Corbett explained. 'We would be drawn into the same circle of deceit and murder as all those who've died for this. No, all the treasure will be brought out. Ranulf, I'll leave you here. Fresh bags will be sent down. You will fill them with every item. They will be sealed and placed in some chamber at Mortlake Manor until the exchequer sends officials north.'

With Ranulf's help, Corbett climbed back to the cliff top, where he spent the rest of the day, freezing and cursing in the icy, bitter wind. One by one, Ranulf filled new bags with the treasure. They were pulled up and placed in the waiting cart. At last the task was finished. Corbett bound and sealed each bag. He was uneasy as he glimpsed the greedy look of some of his companions, recognizing in the wetting of the lips, the narrowing of the eyes, an itchiness to grasp something precious and keep it for oneself. At Mortlake Manor the treasure was transported to an upper room. The door was locked and Corbett took the key. Two of Gurney's retainers were placed on guard. Maltote was ordered to take a change of horses and ride as swiftly as possible to Walsingham with the news.

'The sooner the king has his hands on this,' Corbett muttered, 'the better!'

Later the same day, Corbett and Ranulf attended the burial of Monck's corpse in the village churchyard. Then Father Augustine's sheeted corpse was placed into an elm-wood coffin and swiftly interred. Gurney promised that, as soon as a new priest arrived, Masses would be offered for the repose of both men's souls. After the burials, Corbett walked through the priest's deserted house. Rumours about Father Augustine had swept through the village and, as was customary, the peasants had swarmed into the house to take anything precious which caught their eye – mattresses, bolsters and candlesticks. Gurney followed Corbett and stared grimly around.

'The place should be purged, cleansed!' he said. 'Thank God the treasure's found and the chaos of the last few months will disappear!'

Corbett made his farewells and left the churchyard. He rode back to Mortlake Manor, leaving Gurney to confer with the verger about how the church should be administered until a replacement priest was found. Whilst Ranulf packed their belongings, Corbett paid a courtesy visit to a white-faced and rather nervous Alice, still resting in her own chambers. Gurney returned in the evening, insisting that Corbett and Ranulf be his guests at a small informal banquet. The meal turned out to be a desultory affair. A taciturn Gurney and his household tried to hide their relief at Corbett's impending departure. Ranulf, though, had no inhibitions – he drank deeply and declared loudly that, no offence to present company, it would be a long time before he returned to Norfolk.

'The exchequer officials will be here soon?' Gurney asked, yet again.

'If I know the king,' Corbett told him, 'he'll probably come here himself. They'll take the treasure as well as your two prisoners in the dungeons, the Pastoureaux. Both will probably be sent to London to stand trial. I'll pay for the cross above Monck's grave,' he added. Gurney demurred. 'No, no.'

Corbett, however, insisted and took several coins out of his purse. 'A stone for Monck, a cross for the priest and Masses for their souls.'

The meal ended shortly afterwards. Corbett and Ranulf went back to their own chamber, the latter chattering like a squirrel about what he would do once they were back in London.

Corbett listened with half an ear. He lay down on his bed and pulled the blankets over him. For some reason he couldn't forget Amelia Culpeper. He recalled that lonely scaffold on the cliff top, and pictured Amelia Culpeper, with her arms around her lover, failing to notice the noose being slipped over her head. Or had she, he wondered, in the last few seconds of her life, realized – and submitted.

The next morning Corbett hurriedly dressed. He broke his fast and took his farewell of Gurney and of Alice. Followed by a rather silent Ranulf, who was still suffering from the effects of last night's drinking, he rode along the cliff top. The morning was calm, the clouds had broken and pale sunlight glinted on the sea. At the scaffold Corbett reined in. He stared up at the jutting beams with their ugly, rusting hooks.

'What's the matter, Master?' Ranulf asked crossly. 'And why are we going to Bishop's Lynn?'

'Just think, Ranulf, all those deaths, all that violent intrigue. Do you know whom I pity most? The baker's wife, Amelia. She didn't care for any of this. She loved that evil bastard Augustine to distraction.' Corbett stared over his shoulder at Ranulf. 'He had a treasure few of us will ever have but he rejected it for bags, coffers of plate and sacks of coins.'

The wind agitated his horse and Corbett patted his mount gently, though his eyes never left the scaffold.

'I have asked Sir Simon to burn the scaffold,' he said quietly. 'He's agreed. He'll put a cross up in its place, asking travellers to pray for the repose of the soul of Amelia Culpeper.'

'I wager he's sad about losing the treasure,' Ranulf said, pushing his horse alongside. 'That fat physician looked as if he had lost a groat and found a farthing!'

'Oh, they'll get their just reward,' Corbett replied. 'Sir Simon knows the law. The treasure was found on his land. He's also promised to keep quiet about the chalice at the convent.'

'And that's the end of it,' Ranulf announced.

'Is it?' Corbett asked. 'Do you really think that, Ranulf? No, no, we are just like judges who have risen from the bench after delivering sentence. Alice will never be the same, nor will the villagers. They won't forget the priest. Fulke the tanner will never forget Marina, his daughter. Poor Fourbour will never forget his wife. Poor, simple Gilbert will spend the rest of his life wondering why the people who drowned his mother now pat him on the back and buy him stoups of ale. Dame Cecily will count the cost of all this as will Sir Simon. Finally, of course, they have all smelt the lure of gold.'