C Sansom - Sovereign

Cranmer frowned with distaste. ‘I did not sanction that.’ He hesitated. ‘Sir Richard Rich came to see me, told me you knew the Queen was having a – a relationship with Dereham. He knew I was following up other information already, information that came to me while the Progress was away. An old servant of the Queen from before she was married, who said Catherine had had carnal relations with Dereham when she was younger, that there could be a precontract of marriage. They persuaded me to put you in the Tower, said you would be readier to confess if you were held in there.’ He looked at me severely for a moment. ‘I felt betrayed by you. That you had not told what you knew, but I did not sanction torture.’

‘For Rich having me tortured was probably a matter of sport. I imagine the order to the warden came from him.’

‘Maleverer brought me a deposition from a servant of Master Craike. That servant has now disappeared. And Craike came to see me this morning. He says Sir William Maleverer came to him, asked in Rich’s name if he had a servant who would swear falsely for money. He told me he provided a man reluctantly. He did not know the victim of this deceit was to be you. When he heard you were in the Tower, he came to me.’ Cranmer looked down at me. ‘Craike told me, too, about the hold Rich has over him. He said he could bear it no more, realizing he had had a part in sending you falsely to the Tower.’

‘Will he lose his position?’

‘I fear so. These visits to the stews -’ the Archbishop wrinkled his nose in distaste – ‘are one thing, but he should not have let Rich blackmail him. That at least will stop. Maleverer is in Rich’s pay. He seeks some of Robert Aske’s lands.’ Cranmer’s lips set hard. ‘He will lose his place on the Council of the North. I shall see to that.’

‘Rich has won against me, your grace,’ I said quietly. ‘That case Barak told your secretary about – the Guildhall has dropped it.’ I found I did care about that after all.

‘Then I am sorry. But you must understand, Rich is too powerful, too useful for the King, for me to intervene against him.’

‘So he has truly won.’

He looked at me seriously. ‘You worked for Lord Cromwell, Master Shardlake. You know how much latitude the great men of the realm are allowed.’

I did not reply.

‘So,’ Cranmer went on quietly, ‘you truly knew nothing of Dereham’s relations with the Queen?’

‘Nothing, my lord. I swear.’

He sighed. ‘Dereham is in the Tower now. They will use harsh methods on him.’ He bit his lip. ‘But it must be.’

‘I saw him brought in as we came out. And the Queen’s ladies.’

‘I have been set to question the Queen herself. There is more to come out, other men are mentioned already.’ Culpeper, I thought. I looked at Cranmer, fearing more questions, but he only shook his head. ‘That she could have behaved so…’ He sighed again. ‘The King will be exposed to public ridicule. He does not yet believe the Queen has deceived him. But he will. God help her then.’

I looked at him. ‘If the Queen falls the Duke of Norfolk will be in dire straits. The head of the traditionalist faction. The Queen’s uncle.’

Cranmer nodded. I thought, he cavils at the means but will use them for his ends. All the time the Progress was away he has been working towards this.

‘This will be the end of the Howards,’ he said neutrally. ‘There are other families waiting in the wings, more favourable to reform, they will have the King’s ear now. The Seymours, the Dudleys, the Parrs.’ He nodded thoughtfully. ‘Yes, the Parrs.’

‘Will the Queen die?’ I asked him.

He looked at me with those unreadable blue eyes. ‘I think she must. But for now it is not to be spoken of outside Hampton Court. Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’

I saw his eyes move to my wrist. My sleeve had ridden up, exposing the gyve and the raw skin. Cranmer gave an unhappy little sigh. ‘I am sorry for what happened to you, Master Shardlake,’ he said quietly. ‘You will receive more pay than your strict due, I will see to that.’

‘Broderick-’ I said.

He waved a hand. ‘I do not blame you for failing to save him. You were not to know Radwinter was mad.’ He frowned.

‘I think he was never quite normal in his mind.’

‘I thought his – his cruelty – was in a way being used by God, harnessed in the service of truth, the destruction of heresy. I hope that may save his soul.’ He looked out of the window at the teeming rain, the bare trees, and again I heard that unhappy sigh.

‘Your grace,’ I said. ‘I do not think Radwinter killed Broderick. I think Maleverer was wrong.’

He looked at me in surprise. ‘He seemed sure.’

‘I knew Radwinter, your grace. In his mind, even at the end, to him such an act would have been wrong.’ I met the Archbishop’s gaze. ‘He was loyal to you till the end.’

‘Then who did kill Broderick?’

‘I think someone helped him kill himself, as he had tried to do before. And I believe that person may also have stolen the papers in that casket.’ Cranmer looked at me keenly as I told him of my suspicions. ‘Sir William would not believe me,’ I added.

Cranmer thought a moment. ‘He seemed certain. If Maleverer ignored that possibility he is indeed a man of poor judgement. So someone stole the papers and stayed with the Progress, all the way to the ship. But who?’

I took a deep breath. ‘The soldier who guarded Broderick on the boat: Sergeant Leacon. He was part of the guard at St Mary’s too. A Kentishman. I saw him out in the yard just now.’

‘Yes. I believe he has been dismissed.’ He nodded slowly. ‘It would do no harm to have him questioned.’

‘But my lord, I am not sure,’ I said. ‘May I ask…’

‘Yes?’

‘That he be just questioned? Be put to no harsh measures. The evidence is only circumstantial as yet.’

‘I will question him myself.’ The archbishop frowned. ‘If the conspirators have those papers it could make – difficulties. Some are still at large. Some of the papist sympathizers at Gray’s Inn have already been questioned following Bernard Locke’s confession, but we uncovered nothing about who his contact there was.’

‘I saw Locke briefly, in the Tower. Before he was executed. He was in a grim state.’

‘God receive his soul.’ Cranmer gave another unhappy sigh. ‘But he deserved to die, he was a traitor and conspirator to murder.’ He waved a beringed hand. ‘Go home now, Master Shardlake, rest. I will send word if we find new information.’

‘Yes, your grace.’ I thought, should I mention Blaybourne, the legend I discovered from the old lawyer in Hull? But he would know it, all those in power would know. And better they were left unaware that I knew too. I rose, wincing. ‘Your grace?’

‘Yes.’

‘May I request that I be not asked to work in the service of politics again. Now, especially after what has befallen me, I desire only a peaceful life for such time as God allows me.’ I reached for the seal and held it out to him. He looked at it, and then at me.

‘You could be a useful man to me, Master Shardlake. Your old master Thomas Cromwell thought so.’

I did not reply. I continued holding out the seal. He looked at my ravaged face. ‘Very well,’ he said, and took it reluctantly. I rose painfully to my feet and bowed. I turned to the door but he called me back. ‘Master Shardlake.’

‘Your grace.’

‘The harsh measures the King takes are necessary. Do not forget he is chosen by God, appointed by Him to guide England into the paths of wisdom and truth.’

I would have liked to tell him that was what Radwinter used to say, but I only nodded, bowed again and left the room. The soldier took me back down the corridors, across the lawn and down to the river stage. Barak was waiting there.