The Traitor’s Mark (29 page)

‘You had every reason to be angry. I'm only glad we have discovered the right person now. Presumably you will be arresting him immediately.'

‘I'm afraid it's not that simple. We would have to convince a King's Bench jury.'

‘But we have proof – Holbein's notes.'

‘Brooke will deny them and he will be supported by his extremely powerful accomplices. They will know we can't produce the artist to back up his testimony.'

‘Surely the law is not so stupid!' I stood up and paced across to the window. ‘It cannot be that all we have been through was in vain.'

‘No, we still have the advantage of surprise. Brooke doesn't know we've discovered him.'

‘So what is the plan?'

‘I haven't worked that out yet.'

‘Well, we don't have much time. Brooke's ruffians are increasingly active.' I told Morice about the latest attacks. ‘They're obviously seizing men they can frighten into giving false testimony against the archbishop. If they can bring him down they'll have achieved their objective.'

‘I know. And they will also have the support of his grace's enemies in Canterbury. The anti-Cranmer faction among the senior clergy is becoming more confident. You can sense it. They don't have the respect for his grace that they should have and they're beginning to be more open with their criticisms. Germain Gardiner's visits have become more frequent and he always brings letters from his uncle, the bishop. We have tried to intercept this correspondence, so far without success.'

I returned to the table and stood, staring down at Morice. ‘Then 'tis becoming a race,' I suggested, ‘between those intent on discrediting the archbishop and those determined to expose his grace's enemies. Success will go to those who can present to the king a case that persuades him to take action.'

‘His majesty has complete trust in his grace.' Morice seemed remarkably placid.

‘His majesty had complete trust in Thomas Cromwell,' I said.

*

When James returned I prepared to take my leave.

‘Dr Legh wants you to stay,' he said. ‘He says we need to pool our knowledge if we are to draw up a comprehensive list of potential troublemakers.'

‘I am loyal to the archbishop,' I said, ‘and I grant that we must do all we can to protect him from subtle schemers and violent foes. Yet I like not this making of lists, dividing all our neighbours into sheep and goats. A man may be uneasy about some of the changes being made in Church and state without being guilty of treason.'

Morice nodded. ‘In normal times I would agree with you, Thomas, but these are not normal times. You have seen for yourself the violence of those who oppose us. We are, as his grace has pointed out to you, at war. In war it does not pay to yield a single yard of ground to the enemy. Therefore we have to fight force with force and subtlety with subtlety.'

‘In the name of the Gospel?'

Morice sighed. ‘Even in the name of the Gospel.'

A heavy step on the stair warned of Legh's approach. He came in and lowered himself on to a chair, which creaked as he did so. ‘Right, to business, to business. Sir James we will require paper, pens and ink.'

When these had been supplied, he allocated them to each of us seated round the table.

‘We will need two lists,' he said, ‘one for clergy and one for the leaders of shire society. Please write down the names
of everyone who, in your opinion, merits investigation. Be sure not to omit anyone. If you are in doubt set down the name. My questioning will determine who is innocent and who guilty.'

When we had written down all the names that we could think of, we compared notes and Ralph Morice drew up a master list. It comprised more than twenty parish clergy, gentlemen and townsmen. Legh ran his eyes over the list approvingly. ‘This largely agrees with the catalogue of villainy we have already produced,' he said. ‘But there are a few more here. Tomorrow I will send for them also. We will make an early start on Saturday. Master Treviot, I look forward to seeing you then.'

Thus dismissed, I made my way home, saddened by the dividing walls now appearing in our rural society but saddened much more by the fact that events were manoeuvring me into the role of informant against county neighbours I had known for years.

During my absence Francis Stumgood had arrived. I explained that he would have two more members in his class. ‘I know not what schooling they have had until now,' I said, ‘but they are intelligent boys and, I think, apt to learn. The elder, Carl, seems mature for his age. His brother is more excitable, energetic, restless. He may need harder discipline. But I counsel you to be easy on them until you have got to know them. These last days have been very hard for them.'

‘I will, Master.' He ran a hand over his thinning hair. ‘As for young Master Raphael, I must first discover what he has remembered – or, perhaps, forgotten – since we last met.'

‘I'm afraid you may need to give me a taste of the birch on that account. I have been much away and not kept Raffy at his studies. Anyway, let's go and find them.'

The children were in the hall with Adie playing ninepins. An ‘alley' had been set up by laying benches on their sides. Within this space the rushes had been cleared to make a smooth surface for the wooden balls to roll on. Adie was helping Annie when her turn came. Together they rolled the ball from halfway along the course. The boys, as usual, were locked in noisy competition. Lizzie sat watching and feeding her baby.

I went over to the players to introduce the teacher. ‘This is Master Stumgood. He will be giving lessons to you boys from now on. You will go to him every morning at seven o'clock and study until noon.'

The three reluctant pupils pulled long faces.

The tutor responded with a frown. ‘You must start to be men. That means learning the wisdom written down for us by all the best and wisest men who have lived. You are not infants any more. Infants have nurses. Young men have teachers who can open their minds.'

I saw the shadow fall across Adie's face and hastened to introduce her. ‘This is Mistress Imray. She is guardian
to Carl and Henry. She fills the gap left by their parents – and she does so admirably.' I hoped that my words reassured Adie but sadness remained written across her features. Little Henry went over to her and held her hand. He turned and stuck out his tongue at Sturngood. Dear God, I thought, I have enough conflicts to deal with. I don't need another war in my own household.

The following morning I looked in briefly on the chamber on the top floor that had been set aside as a schoolroom. Everything seemed in order. The boys were seated on their stools, heads bent over hornbooks. Stumgood was moving between them, checking their work and commenting on their progress. I thought I would suggest later that he did not need to be constantly tapping his leg with his birch.

I went in search of Adie and found her in her accustomed kitchen corner, sitting alone and doing nothing. ‘Will you walk with me?' I asked. ‘'Tis a fine morning.'

She rose without a word and we went out, across the stable yard and over the dew-drenched lawn.

‘You must not mind Master Stumgood's manner,' I said. ‘He is a scholar. That means he understands books better than people.'

‘He has his job to do,' she replied expressionlessly.

‘I don't want you to think he has taken the boys away from you but he is right that the time has come for them to learn things that you cannot teach them.'

She sighed. ‘Then there is nothing more I can do for them.'

‘That is not true. Boys are not like blank sheets of paper on which teachers simply print Latin texts and arithmetical sums.'

We were walking on the track that ran from the house to the south gate and had reached the little bridge crossing the stream from which we took our water. It was much swollen after the recent prolonged rains. It had overflowed its banks and tore resentfully at the bridge's stonework, which forced it into a narrow channel. We paused to gaze down into the swirling current.

‘Carl and Henry need love. They think of you as their mother. Boys don't stop needing mothers as they become men.'

‘Raffy has no mother.'

The words were spoken softly but they still stung. ‘I think he also is coming to think of you as a mother.'

‘Did he know his real mother?'

‘No, she died when he was born.'

‘Lizzie told me you were deeply upset by that.'

‘Lizzie says many things she shouldn't. But, yes, I thought my world had come to an end. I convinced myself I would never know happiness again. That, of course, was foolish.'

Adie made no reply and for a while the only sound was the angry hiss of the surging water beneath us. At last she
said, staring down into the water, ‘They'll all three be grown up one day.'

‘Of course, and by then you'll be married and have boys of your own to look after – and probably girls, too.'

At that moment her whole body heaved and sobs broke forth from deep inside her. She sagged against the parapet. I grabbed her arm to pull her away but she shook me off. ‘Go, go,
go
,' she cried. ‘Leave me alone!'

I ran back to the house and found Lizzie. ‘For God's sake, go to Adie!' I shouted. ‘She's down by the bridge. I'm worried that—' But Lizzie had already rushed from the room.

I followed as far as the stable yard gate. There I loitered for several minutes looking anxiously towards the trees that lined the stream. At last, to my intense relief, I saw the women coming back, Lizzie supporting Adie with an arm round her waist. Adie was brought indoors and taken to her bed. Ned went to her and later he and Lizzie came to find me in the parlour.

In answer to my enquiry, Ned said, ‘I have given her a tiny dose of tincture of opium. Generally I have little liking for it. It has come only recently into England and its efficacy is not proven. However, 'tis something I carry to relieve pain and induce sleep. I find it helps to calm sufferers and makes it easier to examine them in order to get to the root of their problems.'

‘And have you determined the root of Adie's problem?' I asked.

Lizzie scowled. ‘She fancies herself to be with child.'

‘And is she?'

‘'Tis too early to be certain but I don't think so. In the whorehouse, it was always something the younger, inexperienced girls feared. That fear sometimes fired their imaginations.'

‘What matters at the moment,' Ned said, ‘is what she believes, rather than what is the reality. I can apply all the usual tests and do my best to reassure her, but if she is convinced, nothing will dispel the fear until she fails to produce a baby. That, of course, will take several months.'

‘A curse on Black Harry and his lecherous rakehells! God grant we come face to face again!'

‘I'm almost inclined to say “Amen” to that,' Ned responded,‘but, for now, we have Adie to think of.'

‘Can your nostrums keep her calm?'

Ned shook his head. ‘A long stupor can be very injurious and, in any case, it will not dispel her fears. Adie will have no peace until she faces her worries and conquers them. The Bible tells us fear is a demon that can only be cast out by love. The best cure we can administer is to show that we love and appreciate her.'

Lizzie agreed. ‘She is convinced that she is worthless. The children adore her and everyone else likes her but she cannot or will not see it.'

I said, ‘We must all keep a close watch on her. Meanwhile, I think it is time I wrote to her brother. I'll see
if he will come down to visit her. Perhaps we can discover things about her past that may help us to understand her better.'

The next morning it was almost with relief that I set out for Hadbourne to assist with the archbishop's commission.

Chapter 22

The hall had been cleared for the inquiry. A table stood on a raised dais at one end. It was covered by a Turkey carpet and a row of chairs was set behind it. High on the wall above and behind them two large images dominated the room. One was Archbishop Cranmer's coat of arms. The other was a lifelike portrait of King Henry, who seemed to survey the proceedings with a fierce gaze. A bench set crosswise halfway down the hall marked off the area where those being .examined were to stand. It seemed that Legh had modelled his commission chamber on the royal courts at Westminster Hall, where only men of the law, called ‘benchers', were permitted within the hallowed enclosure before the judge's seat. Apart from these, all furniture had been removed. Guards in the archbishop's livery stood at the doors and two more were stationed at either end of the commissioners' table. Several men were already present when I entered, standing in small clusters. It was evident that they were going to have to remain standing until Legh dismissed them. A secretary was arranging papers on the table and indicated the place at one end where I was to sit. Minutes later Legh and his entourage entered and took their places. James was seated next to me and beside the chairman. The other half of the table was occupied by Ralph Morice, two other local JPs and the commission secretary.

Legh began the proceedings with a speech. ‘This is an archiepiscopal commission convened under royal charter for the examination of alleged irregularities concerning the preaching and teaching of certain parish clergy within the dioceses of Canterbury and Rochester. When your names are called you will be sworn to give true testimony. You will answer all questions put to you by members of the commission. Anyone we deem to be guilty of holding opinions contrary to those established by the laws of this realm will be sent to Canterbury for further examination by the archbishop's court. The same will apply to anyone perjuring himself or attempting to conceal information from the commission. Those of you who preach or cause to be preached the true doctrine of the English Church by law established and who answer truthfully all questions put to them have absolutely nothing to fear from today's proceedings.'