Heartstone (66 page)

THERE WERE no servants working in the gardens of Hoyland Priory when we rode through the gates. Already Abigail's flower beds were starting to look neglected. To my surprise, I saw Hugh practising at the butts on his own. He looked at us but made no acknowledgement, bending to string a new arrow to his bow.

As we dismounted, Fulstowe came round the front of the house, neat as ever, with his beard freshly trimmed. His manner was even more proprietorial. He bowed briefly. I asked if there had been any letters.

‘None, sir. But the coroner has got here. He wishes to see you.'

‘Thank you. Could a servant take the horses to the stables for us?'

‘I fear everyone is too busy just now,' Fulstowe said with a little smile. ‘And now, if you will excuse me.' He walked away.

‘That fellow's getting too big for his boots,' Barak said, then added angrily, ‘Damn it, I need to know how Tamasin fares.'

‘If the King has arrived at Portchester, maybe the roads will be clearer tomorrow.'

He shook his head angrily. ‘I'll take the horses round to the stables, since nobody else will.'

I went into the great hall. I stopped and stared as I saw the tapestries of the hunting scenes had been removed, leaving the walls blank. Then to my astonishment I saw that old Sir Quintin Priddis was again sitting in the chair by the empty fireplace. He raised the half of his face that was not paralysed in that sinister, sardonic half-smile.

‘We meet again, Master Shardlake. I hear you have been over to Sussex.'

‘I have, sir.'

His blue eyes narrowed. ‘A successful journey?'

I took a deep breath. But he would find out soon enough. ‘I was at Rolfswood, where the Fettiplace family came from. A body has been found in the mill pond there, weighted down, and it seems to be the late William Fettiplace. It appears he was murdered. There will be a new inquest,' I added.

Sir Quintin's self-control was remarkable. His sharp gaze did not flinch. I wished Edward had been there too, so I could have seen his reaction. ‘Well, well,' the old man said. ‘Death seems to follow you about, sir.' He changed the subject. ‘I trust my son was helpful when you went to visit Master Curteys' woodlands.'

‘Indeed.'

‘And have you decided to abandon the silly nonsense? I am sure this poor family would be relieved to have one less thing to worry about.'

‘I am still considering. I did not expect to see you here again, Sir Quintin.'

He laughed, that strange rusty sound. ‘A matter I was due to deal with in Winchester has been cancelled. An assessment of a young ward's lands, but the boy has died. The fellow who took the wardship made a bad investment, and thus we are not required in Winchester till next week. So I decided to stop here on the way, to see the outcome of Mistress Hobbey's inquest. And the local Hampshire coroner is a useless fellow, I may be able to render him some assistance.' He winced and adjusted his body to a more comfortable position. It crossed my mind that he might have come back to discover more about my connection to Rolfswood.

A door opened and Edward entered, dressed like his father in sober black, and accompanied by a small, cross-looking fellow of around sixty in a lawyer's robe. Edward's cold blue eyes narrowed when he saw me. As I bowed I wondered whether this self-contained man could be capable of rape, and reflected that those who keep themselves most under control can be the most dangerous when they lose it.

Sir Quintin raised his good arm and gestured to me. ‘This man and his clerk are the first finders of the body, Sir Harold. Serjeant Matthew Shardlake. Serjeant Shardlake, this is Sir Harold Trevelyan, coroner of Hampshire.'

Sir Harold looked at us peevishly. ‘So you have returned. As first finders you should have stayed till my arrival. A lawyer should know that. I want to start the inquest tomorrow afternoon. I have enough to do in Portsmouth with these deaths in the galleasses. I don't know what the King was thinking of, filling them with the drunken refuse of London. Still, hopefully this inquest should be quick enough, with a suspect in custody.'

‘You may find there are one or two problems with evidence,' I answered sharply.

Sir Harold looked offended. ‘Master Dyrick says this Ettis is a rebellious fellow with a grudge against the family. His only alibi is his servant. Well, I'll see for myself later.'

‘Has a jury been selected?'

‘It has. I authorized Master Hobbey's steward to select some villagers.'

‘But loyalties in this village are divided,' I replied forcefully. ‘Fulstowe will choose only villagers loyal to Master Hobbey.'

‘It is established procedure to use the steward to select jurors. And might I ask, sir, what business it is of yours? I am told you are here to conduct an enquiry into the ward Hugh Curteys' lands. But I am also told you are one of the serjeants at the Court of Requests, so perhaps you have some bias against landowners.'

Sir Quintin cackled from his chair. ‘Sir Harold is a major landowner up near Winchester.' I cursed silently. There could be few worse men to conduct this inquest.

Sir Quintin looked at me. ‘There is a surfeit of inquests these days. Master Shardlake says there is to be another one, at the town he has just visited in Sussex. Though that one, I fancy, will be slower, with an uncertain outcome. A body found after near twenty years.'

Sir Harold nodded in agreement. ‘That will not be a priority for the Sussex coroner.' Priddis exchanged a glance with Edward, who had been watching silently.

‘If you will excuse me,' I said, ‘I should pay my respects to Master Hobbey.'

HOBBEY WAS IN his study again, with Dyrick, but now it was Dyrick who sat at the big desk, while Hobbey sat in a chair with the picture of the former abbess on his knee, staring at it. He barely looked up as I entered. His face was grey and sunken.

‘Well, Master Shardlake,' Dyrick said, ‘so you are back. The coroner was quite agitated to find you absent.'

‘I have spoken to him. I hear Master Fulstowe has selected a jury from the villagers. Ettis's enemies, I imagine.'

‘That is up to the steward. Now, tell me, Brother, have you decided to accept our proposals on costs?'

‘I am still considering it,' I answered shortly. ‘If the inquest finds that Ettis committed the murder, he will be committed for trial at Winchester. They will have to find a jury of townsmen there. I will be called to give evidence as first finder, and I promise you I will ensure that any trial is fair.'

Dyrick turned to Hobbey. ‘You hear him, sir? Now he thinks he can interfere with the trial of your wife's murderer. Was there ever such a fellow?'

Hobbey looked up. He seemed barely interested, sunk in melancholy. ‘What will happen will happen, Vincent.' He turned the picture round on his lap, showing us the old abbess, the dark veil and white wimple, the enigmatic face in the centre. ‘Look how she smiles,' he said, ‘as though she knew something. Perhaps those who say we who have turned monastic buildings into houses are cursed are right. And if the French invade, who knows, they may even burn this house to the ground.'

‘Nicholas -' Dyrick said impatiently.

‘Perhaps that is why she is smiling.' He turned to me with a strange look. ‘What do you think, Master Shardlake?'

‘I think that is superstition, sir.'

Hobbey did not answer. I realized he had retreated completely into himself. Dyrick and Fulstowe were in charge here now. And if it took hanging Ettis to end opposition to the enclosure of the village, they would do it, whether he was guilty or not.

SUPPER THAT EVENING was one of the most melancholy meals I have ever attended. Hobbey sat slumped at the end of the table, picking listlessly at his food. Fulstowe stood watchfully behind him, and several times exchanged glances with Dyrick. Hugh sat staring at his plate, oblivious of everyone, including David, who sat next to him. David was unkempt, his doublet stained with food, his pale face furred with black stubble and his protuberant eyes red from crying. Occasionally, he would stare wildly into space, like someone trying to awaken from a horrible dream. Hugh, though, was as neatly dressed as ever, and had even had a shave.

I tried to engage Hugh in conversation, but he made only monosyllabic replies. He was, I guessed, still angry after our conversation about his words over Abigail's corpse. I looked round the table: those sitting there were all men. I wondered if a woman would ever sit here again, in this place which a decade before had housed only women. I stared up at the great west window and remembered my first evening - the hundreds of moths that had come in. There were few this evening; I wondered what had become of them all.

I glanced again at the bare walls. Dyrick said, ‘Master Hobbey had the tapestries taken down yesterday. He cannot bear to look at them now.'

‘That is understandable.' Hobbey, next to Dyrick, had taken no notice.

Edward Priddis was next to me. He spoke quietly. ‘My father says there has been a discovery at Rolfswood. That William Fettiplace did not die in that fire, but ended in the mill pond.' His tone, as always, was quiet and even.

‘That is true. I was there when the body was found.' I told him how the body had been exposed when the mill pond dam burst. I saw that on Edward's other side his father was listening intently, ignoring Sir Harold's tale of how some villagers along the coast had accidentally lit one of the beacons while practising what to do if the French landed.

‘I suppose the Sussex coroner will have to be brought in to conduct a fresh inquest?' Edward asked.

‘Yes. Do you know him?'

‘No. But Father does.' Edward leaned across and said loudly, ‘Master Shardlake is asking about the Sussex coroner.'

Priddis inclined his head. ‘Samuel Pakenham will let such an old matter lie. As I would. He'll get round to it in time.'

‘They will want to call you, sir,' I told him, ‘as you conducted the first inquest.'

‘I dare say. But they won't find anything new, not after twenty years. Maybe Fettiplace killed his workman and then himself. There's insanity in the family, you know: his daughter went mad.' He fixed me with his keen eyes. ‘I remember now that I helped arrange for her to be sent to relatives in London. I've forgotten who they were. You forget things, Master Shardlake, after twenty years, when you are old and crippled.' He gave his wicked-looking half-smile.

More determined than ever to be at the Sussex inquest, I turned back to Edward, forcing a disarming smile. I said, ‘They will also want to call the young man who was connected to Mistress Fettiplace at the time. Philip West, who comes from the local family I mentioned to you.'

‘I remember the name. Father, did he not go to the King's court?'

‘Yes.' Sir Quintin nodded. ‘His mother was a proud woman, full of herself.' He cackled again. ‘Everyone knew from her that Philip West went hunting with the King.'

‘You did not go to court yourself when you were young?' I asked Edward.

‘No, sir. My time in London was spent at Gray's Inn. Working like a dog to become qualified. My father kept my nose to the grindstone.'

The old man answered sharply, ‘Law students should work like dogs, that is what they are there for, to learn how to snap and bite.' He leaned across, supporting his weight on his good arm, and said to Dyrick, ‘Something you seem to have learned well, sir.' He laughed again, like old hinges creaking.

‘I will take that as a compliment,' Dyrick answered stiffly.

‘Of course.'

There was silence round the table. Edward and his father flicked looks at me from two pairs of hard blue eyes. Then Sir Quintin said, ‘You seem very interested in matters at Rolfswood, sir, going there twice and digging up all this information.'