Rory Clements - Holy Spy

Shakespeare spoke first. ‘You married Nicholas Giltspur. And now he is dead, murdered by one Will Cane, who is himself now dead. I saw him die.’

‘Hanged already?’ She seemed shocked.

‘His dying words were that you had offered him a hundred pounds to kill your husband. That is compelling evidence for any jury or judge. I am sure you will not be surprised to hear that the crowd did not appear to wish you well.’

‘You do not need to tell me that. Do you think I sleep at night, knowing what is said of me? I believe myself as reviled as a Salome or Jezebel.’

‘Then what do you say to me , Kat? Did Will Cane speak true?’

‘Do you need to ask me that, John?’

‘Yes.’

‘No, the man did not speak true. Nor do I know why he should lie. I have never met him. I loved my husband and never wished him harm. You know you can believe me.’

Shakespeare shook his head. ‘No, Kat, I know nothing of the sort. I know that you are posssessed by great ambition, which is like the devil’s talons to the human soul. I know that Nicholas Giltspur was among the wealthiest of men and that his death must have left you heiress to a fortune beyond most men’s dreams. So what I want from you now – with nothing held back – is your story, from the moment you walked out on me until this day. If you dissemble or omit detail, I will know and I will walk away without a backward glance.’

Kat leant forward and put her hands to her head. He spotted the small mole on the underside of her wrist. Another of her perfect imperfections. He had kissed it often enough. He believed he knew every inch of her body: her breasts like exotic fruit, her welcoming thighs of smoothest, softest silk, her lips . . . he had kissed all these portions and more. Many times.

‘Kat?’

‘I will tell you everything. I left you because . . . John, surely you know why I left you. My letter explained it. Surely we need not go over this again. It is long gone.’

‘If it is so long gone, why did you think to call on me?’

Shakespeare had never truly understood why she left him, but the truth was he did not really want to hear it. ‘Just tell me what happened next. Where did you go? How did it lead to the marriage bed of Nicholas Giltspur?’

Kat clasped his hands. ‘You are a good man, John – I am certain there is none better in this world – but your goodness was not enough. I should never have lived with you. Those nights in Stratford and on the road north, we should have left it at that. Somewhere in your mind there was always a future marriage, but it could never have been me. I could not fit your plan, never be the goodwife to give you children and keep your house.’

‘Perhaps.’ His voice was a little sharp. ‘Now tell your story.’

She paused, weighing up her words. Her eyes did not stray from his. ‘The truth, then. There was another man.’

‘Oswald Redd?’

She nodded. ‘Yes.’ Her voice was quiet but clear. ‘I met him one day when I came with you to the Curtain. I cannot recall the play, but there was a time while we were waiting when you went to find some ale. I think you met someone. Oswald saw his chance and approached me. He had already caught my eye. There was some spark and it grew from there . . . I am sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise. I did not come here for that.’ Shakespeare did not believe she was sorry, or that she had regrets. He knew that she felt no shame; but nor would she have wanted to hurt him.

He looked around the room. It was pleasant enough, but plain, with no sign of the affluence of which she had always dreamt. ‘Did you live here with him?’

She nodded again.

‘Like man and wife, as we had lived?’

‘John . . .’

‘No, I should not have said that. I never had any right to expect anything of you.’ He took a deep breath and forced a smile. ‘And then you left him for Nicholas Giltspur.’

She nodded again.

‘It seems it is becoming a custom with you.’ He did not wait for her to protest, but pressed on. ‘How did you meet Mr Giltspur?’

‘I will come to that.’

‘No. Tell me now. Go straight to the heart of the matter.’

‘Very well. I met my husband through Henry Lanman, the chief sharer of the Curtain. Nicholas was entertaining a great party of merchants from France and the Low Countries and he brought them to see a play. I was at the playhouse helping Oswald with the wardrobe.

‘After the play, when the audience had mostly departed, the whole company of players joined Nicholas and his party in drinking and feasting on the stage. Lanman introduced me to him. Much wine and spirit was taken. Men will call me what they will, but I confess I left Oswald that night and went to Nick’s city house in Aldermanbury. I was in love.’

He snorted with derision. ‘The Curtain has much to answer for. Perhaps the playhouses are indeed the sinks of iniquity that the city fathers and the Puritans would have us believe.’ He immediately regretted his words, spoken only to torment her. He was glad when she ignored him and continued her tale.

‘Within six weeks, we were wed. And though you will scoff, it is true that I loved him.’

‘Not his money.’

She managed a small laugh. ‘Your suspicions are correct: I would not have married him had he been poor and lame.’

‘You have always been honest in that.’ Her avarice had been a source of amusement to him; she had spoken with innocent candour of her desire to be the wealthiest woman in the land, richer even than the Countess of Shrewsbury and the Queen of England.

‘He attired me in fine dresses with pearls and emeralds. Our house had thirty servants and I had my own lady’s maid. Nicholas was besotted with me and I believe I did well by him in return, treating him with a wife’s tender caresses and holding court for him when he so wished. I would have remained his loving and faithful wife. But . . .’

‘But he was murdered.’

‘Six days ago, his steward Sorbus came home, stricken with horror, and said that his master had been struck down in the street, stabbed in an unprovoked attack. He told me the killer had been apprehended.’

‘Did you then hasten to the scene of the crime?’

She shook her head. ‘I had fears . . .’

‘Any wife would have rushed to her husband’s side. Surely this is so?’

‘Mr Sorbus told me that the killer was implicating me. He told me Justice Young was at the scene of the murder and would be along presently with guards to take me into custody. I told Mr Sorbus that I had best dress suitably and went to my chamber. My mind was in a whirl of sorrow, horror and bewilderment. I could not understand what had been said or why, but I have an instinct for survival as strong as any animal’s, and so I slipped from the back of the house.’

‘What then?’

‘I took horse and came here to Shoreditch directly and have not moved from the care of Oswald since. Without him I fear I would now be dead. They are searching high and low for me. The justice, Richard Young, is leading the chase and I am told he will not relent until I am hanged.’

Yes, Shakespeare knew Richard Young. He was a hard man, a defender of the new Church and the rule of law.

‘You surely knew that in fleeing you immediately made yourself appear guilty.’

‘I had no choice. The rabble would have torn me apart. Even if I had got to court, the testimony of Mr Cane would have hanged me.’

Shakespeare listened to her voice. The soft northern burr had an edge to it that he had never noted before. She was clearly under strain, but that did not mean anything. She could be lying; she could be telling the truth. There was no way of knowing.

‘And now Mr Redd is helping you to stay hidden, putting his own life in peril for the harbouring of a fugitive. And you wish me to work for you, too.’ He snorted with laughter. ‘You could forgive a man for thinking he is but one of a collection, kept concealed in a closet until his services are required by Kat Whetstone.’