К Сэнсом - Revelation

‘She won’t be any trouble.’ The woman curtsied and left me with Cissy, who began sewing, never looking up at me. So not all the keepers are brutes, I thought. Shortly after, the Kites returned. I rose and told them of my conversation with Shawms.

‘So Adam must stay here?’ Minnie asked.

‘This is the safest place for him, until he can be brought to his right mind.’

‘Perhaps this is meant,’ Daniel Kite said. He looked at me with sudden defiance. ‘Sometimes God visits the most terrible trials on those he loves most, like Job, Reverend Meaphon says. This may be a warning, to remind folk the end-time is coming, that they must give up their sinful ways. Perhaps that is why Adam frightens folk, he reminds them that they too should pray for salvation.’

‘No!’ Minnie rounded on her husband. ‘God would not try a poor believer so.’

‘Who are you to say what God may do in His wisdom?’ he snapped. ‘If this is not God’s work, it is Satan’s, and he is possessed as some people say.’

They were both at breaking point, I saw. ‘He is ill,’ I said gently.

‘You would say so,’ Daniel Kite replied. ‘You are not a right believer!’ He looked between his wife and me, then turned and went out.

‘Do not be angry with him, sir,’ Minnie said. ‘He casts around in desperation for answers. He loves our boy.’

‘I understand, mistress. I promise I will do all I can. Adam will be looked after now and I will see what can be done for his poor mind. I will be in touch again very soon. And tell me at once if his care does not improve.’

‘I will. We visit every day.’ She curtsied, and went out after her husband. I turned to see Cissy looking at me, a spark of curiosity in her dull eyes, but when I met her gaze she dropped her head to her sewing. I heard footsteps, and the woman keeper came in, looking concerned.

‘I heard raised voices,’ she said. ‘Is Cissy all right?’

‘Yes.’ I smiled ruefully. ‘It was only my clients.’

She went and looked at Cissy’s sewing. ‘This is good work, t’will be as good as new.’ She was rewarded by a fleeting smile from the old woman. She turned to me again.

‘You have been visiting Adam Kite, sir?’

‘Ay.’

‘His poor parents.’ She hesitated, glancing at the open door. Then she said quietly, ‘Many here are afraid of Adam, fear he is possessed. And Keeper Shawms hopes that without care he will waste away and die.’ She frowned. ‘He is a bad man.’

‘I have just given Keeper Shawms a warning. He will find himself in trouble with the courts if he does not give Adam proper care. Thank you for your information.’ I smiled at her. ‘What is your name?’

‘Ellen Fettiplace, sir.’ She hesitated, then added, ‘What ails poor young Adam, sir? I have never heard of a case like his.’

‘Nor I. I am having a doctor come to look at him. A good man.’

‘Dr Frith is no use.’

‘I am glad to see at least one keeper here cares for her patients.’

She blushed. ‘You are kind, sir.’

‘How did you come to work here, Ellen?’

She looked at me, then smiled sadly. ‘I used to be a patient.’

‘Oh,’ I said, taken aback. She had seemed the sanest person I had met there today.

‘They offered me a position as an under-keeper when I was – was better.’

‘You did not want to leave?’

The sad smile again. ‘I can never leave here, sir,’ she said. ‘I have not been outside in ten years. I will die in the Bedlam.’

IWAS BUSY in court over the next two days, but Thursday afternoon was free and I had arranged to take Roger to see Guy. It was Maundy Thursday, the day before Easter, and as I walked back from the court at Westminster to Lincoln’s Inn I saw the churches were again full. Tomorrow the great veil that shrouded the chancels during Lent would be removed, and those who cleaved to the old traditions would creep to the Cross on their knees. After Mass the altars would be stripped of their vestments in commemoration of Christ’s betrayal after the Last Supper, while down at Whitehall the King would wash the feet of twelve poor men. I felt sad at how little any of it meant to me now. There were four days’ holidays to come, but to me they would be empty and dull. At least when Lent was over Joan, my housekeeper, had promised me roast saddle of beef.

The weather was still cold, the sky iron-grey although there had been no more snow. I called in at my chambers before going to fetch Roger, and was pleased to see that a large fire had been lit. Barak and my junior clerk, Skelly, were both busy at their desks. Barak looked up as I took off my fur-edged coat and warmed my hands before the fire. He had had a shave on Sunday, but I noticed his brown doublet had a button missing, and there was what looked like a beer stain on the chest. I wondered if he had been out all night, and thought again about Tamasin. The two lived quite near Guy’s shop, and I resolved that on the way back from taking Roger I would call in on them, as though by chance.

‘I called at the court office,’ Barak said. ‘They’re going to hear Adam Kite’s application next Tuesday, at the same time as the Collins case.’

‘Good.’ I was tempted to tell him to get his doublet cleaned up, but did not want to sound like an old woman. And he knew enough not to come carelessly dressed to court. I looked quickly through a couple of new briefs that had come in, then donned my coat again.

‘I am going to take Master Elliard to Guy,’ I said.

Barak had risen and was looking out of the window. ‘What’s wrong with that rogue Bealknap?’ he said curiously.

‘Bealknap?’ I rose and joined him.

‘Looks like he’s about to peg out.’

Through the window I saw my old rival sitting on a bench next to the still-frozen fountain. A knapsack lay on the snow beside him. Even at this distance, his lean face looked an unhealthy white.

‘What’s the matter with him?’ I said.

‘They say he’s been faint and ill for weeks,’ Skelly said, looking at us earnestly from his table.

‘I thought he looked under the weather at the play.’

‘Let’s hope it’s nothing minor,’ Barak said.

I smiled enigmatically. ‘I must go.’

I left them and walked back into Gatehouse Court. I had to pass the fountain to get to Roger’s rooms. Bealknap had not moved. His thin form was swathed in an expensive coat lined with marten, but even so this was not weather to be sitting outside. I hesitated as I passed him.

‘Brother Bealknap,’ I asked. ‘Are you all right?’

He looked at me quickly, then glanced away. He could never meet anyone’s eye. ‘Perfectly, brother,’ he snapped. ‘I just sat down for a moment.’

‘You have dropped your knapsack. It will get wet.’

He bent and picked it up. I saw his hand trembled. ‘Go away!’ he said.

I was surprised to see that he looked frightened. ‘I only wished to help,’ I said stiffly.

‘You, help me!’ He gave a snort of mocking laughter, then forced himself to his feet and stumbled off towards his lodgings. I shook my head and passed on.

ROGER WAS in his outer office. A candle had been lit against the gloomy afternoon and he stood before it, an affidavit in his long fingers.

‘A moment, Matthew,’ he said with a smile. His head moved rapidly, scanning the document, then he passed it to the clerk with a nod. ‘Well done, Bartlett,’ he said. ‘A very fair draft. Now, Matthew, let us go and see this leech.’ He smiled nervously. ‘I see you have your riding boots. Sensible. I will get mine, these shoes would be ruined in the slush.’

He collected his boots, strong old leather ones he often wore, and we walked to the stables. ‘No more sudden falls?’ I asked him quietly.