Andrew Swanston - The King's Return

‘Not in the least.’

‘Good.’ Taking Thomas’s hand she led him straight to her bedroom, where she undressed and slipped under the bed cover. ‘Make haste, Thomas, Agnes will be back in a few hours.’ With a grin, Thomas did as he was told.

Two hours later, arms and legs entwined, they spoke quietly of their friends and families. Thomas told her about his sister Margaret and his nieces Polly and Lucy, to whom he had been a father after Margaret’s husband had died in a skirmish near Marlborough. Madeleine told him about her father, the village parson, whom she had loved despite his weakness. Their intimacy was interrupted by a knock on the door.

‘Now who can that be at such an inconvenient time?’ asked Madeleine. ‘I am not expecting visitors. Perhaps they’ll go away.’

But they did not go away. A second, more insistent knock, and Madeleine reluctantly struggled out of bed and into her clothes. ‘Stay there, Thomas, and I will deal with this intruder,’ she said.

‘I shall. Call me only if you are in mortal danger.’ Madeleine stuck out her tongue and went to answer the door. Thomas buried his head in a pillow and waited for Madeleine to return. When, after a few minutes, she had not returned, he too forced himself up, put on his shirt and breeches and opened the bedroom door. He stepped into the sitting room and immediately wished that he had stayed in bed. Sitting opposite Madeleine in front of the hearth was Joseph Williamson.

‘This is a surprise. I thought you had left for Romsey, Thomas.’ Joseph’s disobedient eye squinted at him.

‘I had intended to but, er, circumstances have detained me.’

Williamson looked him up and down. ‘So I see from your dress. Perhaps a little adjustment might be in order.’ Realizing that his shirt buttons were undone and his breeches untied, Thomas retreated to the bedroom, sorted himself out and re-emerged trying to look unembarrassed.

‘Well, Thomas,’ asked Williamson, ‘am I to understand that my cousin has chosen to overlook your many faults and now entertains you in her home?’

‘Tush, Joseph,’ said Madeleine, ‘there’s no need to mince words. Thomas and I are lovers. I hope you approve, but if you don’t, we will still be lovers.’

Williamson smiled. ‘I cannot disapprove of a man who got the better of Sir Samuel Morland. But treat her with care, Thomas. Madeleine is my only cousin and I love her like a sister.’

‘Be assured that I shall, Joseph. In my hands Madeleine will be as a lamb to its ewe.’

‘Then let us hope there are no wolves about.’

‘Enough of this,’ said Madeleine briskly. ‘Would you gentlemen care to share a bottle of claret? Good. I shall fetch one.’

While she was out of the room, Thomas asked Joseph if there had been any developments.

‘Other than an uncomfortable audience with the king, very little,’ replied Joseph with a sigh. ‘Our fears that the Dutch and the French are up to something have been confirmed, but we don’t know exactly what. Our agents in France and Holland have been unable to shed any light on the matter. I have found no evidence of a traitor in the Post Office and Mottershead has unearthed not a single clue about the murders. The king thinks we should close the Post Office until we find Aurum and Argentum and force the truth out of them.’

‘Do you still think there is a spy in Cloak Lane?’

‘There are spies everywhere, as the murders and the letter confirm.’

‘Has Josiah heard nothing more about the murders at all?’

‘Nothing other than that rumour of a disfigured foreigner. It is most frustrating and I dread each audience with the king. Had you not decrypted the letter, we would not even know about Aurum and Argentum.’

‘Aurum and Argentum. Two precious metals about one base task. No wonder the king is alarmed.’

Madeleine returned with a bottle of claret and three glasses on a silver tray. She poured a glass for each of them and sat down. ‘Now what have you gentlemen been talking about behind my back?’

Joseph and Thomas exchanged a look. ‘Have you told Madeleine anything, Thomas?’

‘I most certainly have not. We found more interesting matters to discuss.’

Joseph raised an eyebrow. ‘In that case the less you know, Madeleine, the better. Suffice it to say that Thomas has performed a valuable service and that I have rather more on my plate than I had anticipated when Sir Edward left for the north.’

‘How is Sir Samuel behaving?’ asked Thomas with a grin.

Joseph waved his hand dismissively. ‘As you might expect. With bile and venom. I have told him that you are still working on the letter. He is crowing that he was right and you were wrong and is demanding to be given it. He also wants more money for the work he is doing. The wretch is always short of money although we pay him well. I have no idea what he does with it.’

‘And what of Henry Bishop?’

‘Bishop does not like the work we do and does not understand why his Post Office has not been made entirely secure. Mind you, Bishop himself was a republican, although not as ardent as Morland. And to make matters worse, he is demanding more staff. He says the volume of work is increasing and, with Squire forever away sick, he needs more men.’

‘Is Lemuel still sick?’ asked Thomas.

‘He’s sick more often than not these days. Too much rich food and too many bottles of wine, if you ask me.’ Remembering Squire’s consumption on the day he inspected the copying machine, Thomas could not but agree.

‘By the way, he has mentioned that the seal on the encrypted letter might have been tampered with. Says it slipped his mind to tell us. Clever but unreliable, that man. I may have to think seriously of replacing him.’

Madeleine wagged her finger at him. ‘Not with Thomas, Joseph, or you’ll have me to answer to. Promise me you won’t try to persuade him.’

‘Don’t worry, my dear,’ said Thomas, ‘a troop of the king’s lifeguards armed with carbines and pikes could not persuade me to go back to work for Joseph. I am much too busy.’

‘I shall have to do something soon,’ said Joseph. ‘We must remove this threat. God knows what damage has already been done.’

When Joseph had left, Thomas said to Madeleine, ‘Despite the seriousness of this affair, I find myself thinking of it as a play, with characters and scenes and a plot which will unfold in its own time. Odd, isn’t it?’

Madeleine giggled. ‘I expect it’s that French philosopher of yours who puts such ideas in your head.’

Having agreed that Madeleine would call for him at the Carringtons’ the following morning at ten o’clock, Thomas returned to Piccadilly. Delighted as he was at the thought of enjoying Madeleine’s company, Joseph’s mood had unsettled him and, as he walked back, he found his mind turning again to the play.

In his room, he took out the Dramatis Personae again, and added

Disfigured foreigner (murderer?)

Aurum and Argentum: spy ring leaders

What did he know now about the players? Williamson himself was surely above suspicion. Bishop, however, had worked for Cromwell and had been accused more than once of using his position to promote republican sympathizers. If Joseph trusted him he would have told him about the decryption. Could he be working secretly with the Dutch?

As for the ambitious and disagreeable Morland, he too had been a zealous Parliamentarian. Until, that is, he had seen the return of the monarchy coming and quietly changed his allegiance. Lemuel Squire – gluttonous, affable and often in his sickbed. Could there be even more to him than met the eye? Josiah Mottershead – Joseph’s man and a most unlikely spy.

And what of Chandle Stoner? Nothing to do with the Post Office, man of business and friend of the Carringtons, he was not really a player at all, and Thomas wondered why he had included him in the cast. Madeleine? Charles and Mary? Impossible.