Lamentation (The Shardlake Series Book 6) (45 page)

‘I have pondered that. It may be that Leeman thought, given he worked at Whitehall Palace, that he was safe. He has quarters there. He stayed till he found he was under investigation, and only then disappeared. As for the apprentice Elias, remember times are hard, and he provided the only income for his widowed mother and his sisters.’ I sighed. ‘He was obstinate, and probably rejected the advice of the others to join them in fleeing. He seemed, when I met him, to think Greening was the murderers’ only target. And given his youth, and perhaps limited experience, it may well be that the others did not trust him with the knowledge that they had possession of the
Lamentation
. Though I believe he knew that Greening had been given Anne Askew’s writings.’

Cecil said, ‘Because he said “killed for Anne Askew” before he died.’

‘Exactly.’

‘The poor boy,’ the Queen muttered. ‘He stayed for the sake of his mother and sisters, and died for it.’ She walked abruptly to the window and stood looking out over the little courtyard below, her head bowed.

Lord Parr said, ‘So these other four? Are they still alive?’

‘I do not know. The fact Elias was murdered, too, makes me think the killers were after the whole group. Whether they found them or not we do not know.’

Lord Parr stroked his white beard. ‘And whoever killed Greening and Elias is likely to have both Anne Askew’s writings and the Queen’s.’

Cecil asked. ‘Could someone powerful – Wriothesley or Gardiner, Rich or Paget – have an agent inside the group? One of the missing four? How else could anyone outside have come to know that Greening had the
Lamentation
?’

I said, ‘Yes, someone within that group could have been working for an enemy. I think we can rule out Leeman – if he was acting for Gardiner, the last people he would take the
Lamentation
to is Greening’s group. That leaves Curdy, Vandersteyn and McKendrick; three of them. But if one of them was a spy working for Gardiner or anyone else, and murdered Greening and took the
Lamentation
, Anne Askew’s work too, why has nothing been heard of either book since? Anne Askew’s work they might destroy, for it incriminates Wriothesley and Rich, but surely the spy, if there is one, would take the
Lamentation
straight to the King?’

Cranmer nodded. ‘Yes. Norfolk and Gardiner knew that Lord Hertford and Lord Lisle are about to return to the Privy Council, and that the heresy hunt had failed. It has only been recently that I have felt it prudent to return to the council myself. The sensible thing for them would have been to act at once, so far as the
Lamentation
was concerned.’

I said, ‘Yes, my Lord Archbishop, I agree.’

The Queen turned and looked at me, a spark of hope flashing in her eyes. ‘So you think it may not be Gardiner’s agents who killed Greening and took the
Lamentation
?’

‘Possibly. Though Master Cecil’s logic about an informer within the group is persuasive.’

She shook her head, mystified. ‘Someone working against a group of the godly from within? Pretending to be one of them? How could anyone bear such a betrayal of their souls?’

Lord Parr spoke with sudden impatience. ‘In God’s name, niece, when will you realize not all are as pure in mind as you?’

The Queen stared back at him, then laughed bitterly. ‘I am not pure. If I were, I would never have needed to write a book called
Lamentation of a Sinner
– nor failed, after my Lord Archbishop’s good advice, to destroy it through my sinful pride, and hence caused all of this. And deceived my husband in the process,’ she added bitterly.

I glanced at her. In other tones the words might have sounded self-pitying, but the Queen spoke with a sad, honest intensity. There was silence for a moment. Then Cecil turned to me. ‘The way Greening and Elias were killed, and your description of the two killers – that speaks to me of the involvement of someone powerful, someone who can afford to hire experienced assassins.’

I looked at him. Cecil was young indeed to be included in a council such as this, but his cleverness was as great as his calm. Lord Parr had chosen well. ‘I agree,’ I said. ‘But that does not get round the problem of why the book is still kept hidden.’ I shifted my stance, for I had been standing a long time and my back was hurting. ‘Lord Parr, my Lord Archbishop, your majesty: with your leave I would show you what I have written on the reverse of this paper. It is a chronology, and may illustrate matters further.’ The Queen nodded, touching Catherine Howard’s pearl again. I had never seen her so subdued. But she leaned across the table with the others as I turned the paper over:

They studied the chronology. I said, ‘This timetable allows that there could be two different sets of people involved. One that was after Anne Askew’s writings, and another that wanted the
Lamentation
.’

Cecil shook his head. ‘But there can only have been one informer, surely. Is it not more likely the informer told Gardiner – or Norfolk, or Rich, or Wriothesley, or whoever – about Anne Askew’s
Examinations
first, after Myldmore took them to Greening on the twenty-ninth of June, and agents were then sent to take it, but were interrupted by Elias? Then, on the sixth or seventh of July the
Lamentation
comes into Greening’s hands, and two different men, also under the authority of whoever is behind this, are sent to kill him and seize both books – succeeding, apart from the torn page Greening held on to?’

‘Possibly. But surely it would have been more sensible to send the original two men on the second visit?’ I mused.

Lord Parr burst out, in sudden anger, ‘When will we get
any
certainty?’

‘Not yet, my Lord. And there is another possibility.’ I took a deep breath before continuing. ‘What if, after the first attempted attack, the group held divided opinions about what to do next? Perhaps some wanted to send the books abroad for publication, while others, more sensible, realized publication of the
Lamentation
could only damage the Queen? Remember that in terms of their understanding of politics, these people are very naive. What if the majority of the group decided not to publish the
Lamentation
, and those who attacked Greening that night were working for someone within the group who
did
want it published?’

Cranmer said, ‘We know the extreme sects are ever prone to splitting and quarrelling with each other.’

‘To the extent of murdering one another too?’ Cecil asked.

‘If enough were at stake,’ Cranmer replied sadly. ‘We should at least consider it as a possibility.’

The others were silent. Then the Queen nodded wearily. ‘At least I know who the traitor within my own household was: the guard Leeman.’ She gave me a sad little smile. ‘You were wrong, Matthew, to suspect Jane Fool and the Lady Mary.’

‘I know, your majesty. But it was my duty to interview all the possible suspects.’

She nodded again.

‘Where do we go now?’ Cranmer asked.

I turned to Cecil. ‘First, as I said, we cannot discount the possibility that one of the missing three men took the books, as part of a quarrel over strategy. If so, they may try to smuggle them out of the country. What sort of watch have you been able to put at the docks?’

‘I have arranged discreetly at the customs house for outgoing cargoes to be searched thoroughly. Of course, the customs officials’ main effort goes into searching goods coming
into
the country, particularly for forbidden literature. Books hidden in bales of cloth, tied in oilskin inside casks of wine—’

‘And if they find them?’ I cut in.

‘They are to be delivered to me.’ Cecil touched one of the moles on his face. ‘Lord Parr has graciously allowed me much gold to grease those wheels.’

The Queen said, ‘But what if the books go from Bristol, or Ipswich, or even on a small boat launched secretly from a creek?’

‘Then there is nothing we can do,’ Lord Parr answered flatly. He turned to me. ‘I can see a radical group sending Anne Askew’s writings abroad for Bale or someone like him to print and smuggle back to England. But the
Lamentation
? Surely it is obvious, with even a little thought, that printing and distributing it would do nothing but harm the Queen.’

‘I have dealt with the outer fringes of fanaticism before,’ I said. ‘These people may have actively sought to recruit people in places where secret information could be had, precisely so it could be publicized. They may even realize that harm could come to her majesty, but not care if they had it in their heads that their actions could stir people to revolt.’

Again there was a silence in the room. I continued quietly, ‘We still have two leads which have not been followed to the end, both crucial. Two people. Who is Stice, the man with the torn ear, and who is he working for? And who in God’s name is Gurone Bertano?’

‘Bertano’s name is quite unknown,’ Cranmer replied. ‘Though, as you know, there is something, some initiative, going on involving only the religious traditionalists close to the King. Whether this man could be involved I have no idea. But it could be that Greening’s group somehow got hold of a third secret, this man’s name and purpose. But from whom?’

‘The name certainly terrified Elias.’

‘We dare not question too openly, my Lord Archbishop,’ Lord Parr said. ‘If this Bertano is involved in some secret machinations of the conservatives, and I come out with the name, they will demand to know where we heard it.’

Cecil said, ‘The other man, the one with the torn ear. We know from the page that he works for someone at court, someone who was seeking information against the Queen, and who was involved in the first attempt on Greening.’

‘If only he could be found, he might be the key to the whole conspiracy,’ I said.

Lord Parr began pacing up and down, his body tensed with frustration. ‘All the great men of the realm have large households, and spies.’

Cecil said, ‘I still find it odd that Myldmore was not arrested directly after it was discovered he had spoken of Anne Askew’s torture.’

The Queen spoke up, her voice strained. ‘From what you told my uncle, Matthew, I understand Sir Anthony Knevet was unhappy about the illegality of that poor woman’s torture, and said he would report it to the King?’

‘Yes, your majesty.’

She took a deep breath. ‘I remember dining with the King one evening, about three weeks ago. We were interrupted by a messenger telling him Sir Anthony begged to see him urgently, on a confidential matter. The King was angry, said he wanted to dine in peace, but the messenger insisted it was important. I left the room and Sir Anthony was shown in – the King was not fit to walk at all that night.’ She took another calming breath. ‘They were together some time and then he left and his majesty called me back. He said nothing about the meeting but he seemed – disturbed, a little upset.’

Lord Parr said, ‘The dates certainly tally. And what else could Knevet have wished to discuss so urgently?’

The Queen continued, ‘I can tell you this. If Rich and Wriothesley tortured Anne Askew on their own initiative, or on the orders of someone higher – Gardiner or Norfolk – if they had done such a brutal and illegal thing against a woman, the King’s sense of honour would have been outraged. They would have smarted for it. Indeed, it was shortly after this that the King came up with his plan of false charges against me being brought by Wriothesley, so that he could humiliate him.’

She held herself stiffly, as though struggling to contain remembered fear. I had long known she looked on Henry with a loving, indulgent eye, though to me he was a monster of cruelty. Nonetheless, it was also known the King placed great store by traditional, chivalric values; such a mind could be shocked by a gentlewoman’s torture, while seeing nothing amiss in burning her alive. ‘That could explain why nothing has been done to Myldmore,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘And I remember Rich had a worried, preoccupied look at the burning.’ I smiled wryly. ‘Perhaps it was not only Wriothesley who felt the King’s wrath.’