Simon Scarrow - Sword and Scimitar

‘I have known about it for years. Ever since Sir Peter brought it to Malta. He knew exactly how dangerous the will would be if it fell into the wrong hands. He suspected that he might have been followed from England so he entrusted me with its secret, in case anything happened to him. Alas, it was a simple accident that did for him. Afterwards I arranged for the will to be placed in the chest and stored in the archive where it would be quite safe, and from where it could be retrieved if there was ever a need to use it. When it was taken, I knew at once where I might find it. I searched Richard’s cell while the two of you were on duty. I have to say that I am not very impressed with his choice of hiding place, but then I knew exactly what I was looking for and the space required to hide it. The will is safe again. No one knows where it is but me. There it shall stay. One day it may be discovered but perhaps it is better that it is lost.’ Stokely paused. ‘I take it that Walsingham told you about the will before you left England.’

Thomas hesitated. ‘He discussed it.’

Stokely stared at Thomas. ‘You don’t know the contents of the will, do you?’

‘Walsingham said that it would cause great loss of life if it was misused.’

Stokely laughed bitterly. ‘He only said that? My poor Thomas, you have been little more than their tool.’ He glanced over Thomas’s shoulder at a figure approaching them. He smiled faintly. ‘Why don’t you join us, Richard?’

Thomas turned swiftly and saw the young man watching them with a cold, detached expression. He stood still for a moment before he picked up a stool and positioned it at the end of the table, between the two knights.

Stokely smiled thinly. ‘We were just discussing the will. It seems that you, and your superiors back in England, have not deigned to apprise Thomas of the full details. That hardly seems fair, given that he is soon to die because of it. So, why don’t you tell him, or shall I?’

Richard did not reply.

Stokely nodded. ‘Very well.’

He folded his hands together and collected his thoughts quickly before he began. ‘We were both young men, and you, Richard, were not even born, when King Henry dissolved the monasteries in England and sold, or gave away, their vast landholdings as well as their gold and silver. Many noblemen garnered great fortunes as a result of the dissolution. Another effect was to deepen the division between Catholics and the growing numbers of Protestants, a division that has led to the deaths of hundreds in England and tens of thousands across Europe. It seems that at the end of his life Henry recognised the damage that he had done and sought to return both himself and his kingdom to the Church of Rome. After the great hurt he had done to papal authority the Vatican decided that it would exact a price for its absolution of the King. They would accept England back only if all the property that had once belonged to the monasteries was returned to the Church.

‘All those nobles who had gained so much from Henry’s largesse would be stripped of their fortunes. They would surely revolt against their King and plunge England into civil war. Henry was dying, and his only priority was that he be admitted to heaven. He no longer cared for worldly affairs. But his courtiers did and would have been horrified if they had discovered his intentions. So he wrote his last will and testament in secret. Only his closest advisers knew about it. The will was entrusted to Sir Peter de Launcey to carry to Rome.

‘He duly set off, aware that as soon as he was missed the King’s closest advisers, some of whom would suffer great loss if the dissolution was reversed, would send agents after him to retrieve the will. Knowing that the routes to Rome would be closely watched, he travelled via Spain to Malta where the Order would protect him. By then he had begun to have reservations about his mission. He understood the implications of the will and was torn between the needs of his country and those of his faith. That was when he confided in me and asked my advice. Before I could come to a decision he was drowned.’ Stokely paused. ‘I had Henry’s will in my hand and could easily have turned it over to the Grand Master of the day. But I chose not to. I would not have the blood of tens of thousands of Englishmen on my conscience. So I put the will in Sir Peter’s chest and had it placed in the archive.’

‘Why didn’t you just destroy it?’ asked Thomas.

‘It was too powerful a thing to destroy. As long as it was safe, no harm could befall the heirs of the King. And I was content to leave it be. But since then, I have watched the number of Protestants swell in England, and the persecution of the Catholics increase every year of Elizabeth’s reign. I resolved that if necessary I would find a way to use the will to stay the hand of the Protestants.’ Thomas was astonished. ‘You would blackmail the Queen?’

‘I sincerely hoped that I would never have cause to.’

Richard finally spoke. ‘And you think the will is safe in your hands?’

‘Safer in mine than in Walsingham or Cecil’s. They would use it to protect their position at Elizabeth’s court. She would hardly defy the will of men who could threaten to make public the dying wishes of her father.’

‘Better that my masters have the will than it should remain in the hands of a Catholic or fall to the Muslims, as now seems likely,’ Richard responded bitterly.

‘A Catholic I may be but I am an Englishman before that,’ Stokely countered.

For the first time Thomas’s heart warmed slightly towards Stokely. Then he recalled that this was the man who had made Maria his wife, and done all in his power to prevent them meeting again.

‘One thing puzzles me,’ he said. ‘Why was it necessary for you to threaten Maria with my arrest? She told me that she could not leave you. She said it was too late to change the past. She was your wife now and that was how it would remain.’

Stokely stared at him with a stricken expression. ‘She said that?’

‘Yes.’

Stokely closed his eyes and his face twisted in pain. ‘Dear God, I spoke too hastily. I was angry. After I saw you leave the house I confronted her and said I knew you had been there. I said I knew that she had been unfaithful to me.’

‘No. She was not,’ said Thomas. ‘I would have given anything for that, but she refused me.’

‘She refused you?’ Stokely slowly shook his head. ‘What have I done? Dear God, what have I done? I raged at her. I accused her of faithlessness, of harlotry. She stood there and took it all in silence. Then she said she did not love me. That she had only ever loved you.’ Stokely swallowed. ‘I lost my temper. I struck her. So help me God, for the first time in my life I struck her.’

Thomas clenched his fist and fought to control the rage that welled up inside.

‘She fell back on the chair.’ Stokely trembled as he recalled the moment. ‘There was blood on her lip, and then I saw fear in her eyes. And worse, disgust and pity. I wish she had struck me back, screamed at me. Instead she just looked at me. I walked out and went to the cathedral to pray for forgiveness. When I returned to the house she and her maid had gone. There was no note. She just disappeared. I searched Birgu for the next two days before I realised I would not find her again, and even if I did she would not have me back at her side.’ Stokely smiled weakly. ‘She was all that ever mattered to me. That was when I resolved to come here, and die along with you. Not for any affection I bear you, but for hate. You are the cause of my misery, Thomas. If providence is kind I shall see you die before I fall.’

‘Then I had better guard my back,’ Thomas responded. ‘It seems I have enemies on both sides.’