‘Two little boys lived in the cottage next to ours. Brothers, Noel and James. We used to play together. Their family had been fishermen for generations; they knew all the paths through the marsh, all the landmarks that keep you on firm ground. Their father was a smuggler as well as a fisherman. They’re all dead now, their ship was lost in a great storm five years ago.’
‘I am sorry.’
‘It’s what fishermen have to expect.’ She turned to me, a spark of animation entering her voice. ‘If folk do take treated cloth to France and bring back wine, it’s only because they’re poor.’
‘I have no interest in prosecuting anybody, Alice. I merely wonder whether some moneys that may be unaccounted for, and perhaps the lost relic, could be taken out that way.’
We arrived opposite the fish pond. A little way off some servants, supervised by a monk, were working by a little lock gate in the stream, and I saw the water level in the pond had already fallen.
‘Brother Guy told me about that poor girl,’ Alice said, wrapping her coat around her more tightly. ‘He said she did my work before I came.’
‘Yes, she did. But the poor creature had no friends apart from Simon Whelplay. You have people who will guard you.’ I saw anxiety in her eyes and smiled reassuringly. ‘Come, there is the gate. I have a key.’
We went through, and again I stood looking over the white expanse of the marsh, the river in the distance and the little knoll with the ruined buildings halfway between.
‘I nearly fell in the first time I came out here,’ I observed. ‘Are you sure there is a safe way? I don’t see how you can descry landmarks when everything is covered in snow.’
She pointed. ‘See those banks of tall reeds? It’s a question of finding the right ones, and keeping them at the right distance from you. It’s not all marsh, there are firmer patches, and the patterns of the reeds are their signposts.’ She stepped from the path and tested the ground. ‘There will be a frozen crust in places; you have to take care not to step through.’
‘I know. That is what I did last time.’ I hesitated on the bank and smiled nervously. ‘You have the life of a king’s commissioner in your hands.’
‘I will take care, sir.’ She walked back and forth along the path a few times, judging where we should cross and then, bidding me walk exactly in her footprints, stepped down onto the marsh.
SHE LED THE WAY slowly and steadily, pausing often to take bearings. I admit my heart pounded at first; I looked back, conscious of our growing distance from the monastery wall, the impossibility of help if one fell in. But Alice seemed confident. Sometimes when I stepped in her tracks the ground was firm, at others oily black water seeped in to fill the depressions. Our progress seemed slow and I was surprised when, looking up, I saw we were almost at the knoll, the ruins of tumbled stone only fifty yards away. Alice stopped.
‘We need to go up on the knoll, then another path leads down to the river. It is more dangerous on that side, though.’
‘Well, let us get to the knoll at least.’
A few moments later we stepped up onto firm ground. The knoll was only a few feet above the level of the bog, but from there I had a clear view both back to the monastery and down to the river, still and grey. The sea was visible in the distance and a cutting breeze gave the air a salty tang.
‘So smugglers would take their contraband this way?’
‘Yes, sir. A few years ago the revenue men from Rye chased some smugglers out there, but they lost their way. Two men went down in seconds, vanished without trace.’ I followed her gaze out over the white expanse and shivered, then looked around the knoll. It was smaller than I had expected, the ruined buildings little more than heaps of stone. One, though roofless, was more complete than the rest and I saw the remains of a fire, a bare patch in the snow covered with ashes.
‘People have been here very recently,’ I said, turning over the ashes. I poked around the site with my staff, half hoping to find the relic or a chest of gold hidden away, but there was nothing. Alice stood watching me silently.
I went back to her and stood looking around. ‘The first monks must have had a harsh life. I wonder why they came here; for security perhaps.’
‘They say the marsh has risen gradually as the river mouth has silted up. Perhaps it wasn’t marsh then, just a point near the river.’ She did not sound much interested.
‘This scene would make an arresting painting. I paint, you know, when I have time.’
‘I have only seen the paintings on the glass in the church. The colours are pretty, but the figures always seem unreal somehow.’
I nodded. ‘That’s because they’re not in proportion and there’s no sense of distance, perspective. But painters now try to show things as they are, to show reality.’
‘Do they, sir?’ Her voice was still cool, distant. I cleared the snow from a patch of ancient wall and sat down.
‘Alice, I would like to talk with you. About Master Mark.’
Her look at me was bleak.
‘I know he has formed an attachment to you, and I believe it is an honourable one.’
At once she became animated. ‘Then why, sir, do you forbid him to see me?’
‘Mark’s father is the steward of my father’s farmlands. Not that my father is rich, but I have been lucky to make my way, through the law, into the service of Lord Cromwell himself.’ I thought to impress her, but her expression did not change.
‘My father gave his word to Mark’s that I would try to advance the boy in London. I have done that; not alone, his own good mind and fair manner have played their part.’ I coughed delicately. ‘Unfortunately there was some trouble. He had to leave his post—’
‘I know about the lady-in-waiting, sir. He has told me all.’
‘Oh. Has he? Then don’t you see, Alice, he has a last chance with this mission to return to favour. If he takes it he could advance himself further, have a secure and wealthy future, but he will have to find a wife of rank. Alice, you are a fine girl. If you were a London merchant’s daughter, it would be another matter. Why, if that were so, you might find me as a suitor as well as Mark.’ I had not meant to say that, but it came in a sudden rush of feeling. She frowned, her face uncomprehending. Had she not realized? I took a deep breath. ‘In any event, if Mark is to advance, he cannot go wooing a servant. It is hard, but it is how society works.’
‘Then society is wicked,’ she said with sudden cold anger. ‘I have thought so for a long time.’
I stood up. ‘It is the world God has made for us, for weal or woe we must live in it. Would you hold Mark back, prevent his advancement? If you encourage him, that is what will happen.’
‘I would do nothing to hinder him,’ she said hotly. ‘I would do nothing against his wishes.’
‘But he may wish for something that would hinder him.’
‘It is for him to say. Though, if we are not to speak, he can say nothing.’
‘Would you spoil his chances? Really?’
She studied me closely, so closely I felt uneasy as I never had in my life under a woman’s look. At length she gave a heavy sigh. ‘Sometimes it seems all those I love are to be taken from me. But perhaps that is a servant’s lot,’ she added bitterly.
‘Mark said you had a swain, a woodsman who died in an accident.’
‘If he had not I would be secure in Scarnsea, for landlords do nothing but cut down woods these days. Instead I am in this place.’ Tears appeared in the corners of her eyes and angrily she wiped them aside. I would fain have held her to me and comforted her, but I knew it was not my arms she wanted.
‘I am sorry. It is in the world’s nature that often we lose those we love. Alice, it may be the monastery has little future now. What if I were to try and find a post for you in the town, through Justice Copynger? I may be seeing him tomorrow. You should not be here, where these terrible things are happening.’
She wiped her eyes and gave me a strange look, full of feeling. ‘Yes, I have learned here t
he depths of violence in mankind. It is a frightening thing.’ I see that look before me now as I write, and shiver at the memory of what was to come.
‘Let me help you away from it.’
‘Perhaps, sir, though it will be hard to pay that man respect.’
‘I understand. But, I must say again, it is the way of the world.’
‘I am afraid here now. Even Mark is fearful.’
‘Yes. And so am I.’
‘Sir, Brother Guy said some other things were found in the pond as well as the girl’s body. May I ask what they were?’
‘Only a robe, which seems not to hold the clue I hoped for, and a sword. I am having the pond drained to see what else may be there.’
‘A sword?’
‘Yes. I believe the one that killed Commissioner Singleton. It had a maker’s mark that should make it possible to trace, but I would need to go to London to follow that up.’
‘Don’t go, sir, please,’ she said with sudden feeling. ‘Don’t leave us. Sir, I beg forgiveness if I have been impertinent with you, but please do not go. It is only your presence here that ensures my protection.’
‘I think you exaggerate my powers,’ I said gloomily. ‘I could not save Simon Whelplay. But I do not see how I could get there in this snow without taking a week upon the road, and I do not have that amount of time.’
Her face filled with relief. I ventured to lean over and pat her arm. ‘It touches me that you have such faith in me.’
She withdrew her arm, but smiled. ‘Perhaps you have too little faith in yourself, sir. Perhaps in other circumstances, without Mark—’ She left the sentence unfinished, lowering her head demurely. I confess my heart was thudding. We stood on the knoll in silence for a moment.
‘I think we should go back now,’ I said, ‘rather than try to reach the river. I am expecting a message from the Justice. And, Alice, I will do something for you, I promise. And – thank you for your words.’
‘And you for your help.’ She smiled quickly, then turned and led the way back down to the bog. The return journey was easier; we had only to step in the footprints made earlier. Following behind her, I gazed at the back of her neck, and once I nearly reached out and touched it. I reflected that it was not just monks who made fools of themselves and could easily turn into hypocrites.
An awkwardness had descended on me, and we said little on the way back. But at least it felt a warmer silence than on the way out. At the infirmary hall Alice left me, saying she had duties to attend to. Brother Guy was dressing the fat monk’s leg. He looked up.
‘You have returned? You look cold.’
‘I am. Alice was very helpful, I am grateful for her assistance.’
‘How is your sleep?’
‘Much improved, thanks to your good potion. Have you seen Mark?’
‘I passed him a few moments ago. He went into your room. Take the potion a few more days,’ he called after me as I left the hall, trying to decide whether to tell Mark of my talk with Alice. I reached our room and opened the door.
‘Mark, I have been out—’ I broke off, staring round. The room was empty. And then came a voice, from the empty air it seemed.
‘Sir! Help me!’
Chapter Twenty-four
‘HELP!’
There was an edge of panic in Mark’s muffled voice, which to my confused mind seemed to issue from empty space. Then I saw the cupboard had been pulled out a little. Peering behind, I saw a door in the panelled wall. With difficulty, I dragged the cupboard out.
‘Mark! Are you in there?’
‘I’m shut in! Open it, sir! Quick, he may come back!’
I twisted the handle, which was old and rusty. There was a click and the door opened, letting out a draught of dank air. Mark shot from the darkness, dusty and dishevelled. I stared into the blackness a moment, then back at him.
‘God’s flesh, what has happened? Who may come back?’
He took deep whooping breaths. ‘I closed the door behind me when I went in, then found it couldn’t be opened from inside. I was trapped. There’s a spyhole there; someone was spying on us earlier. I saw you come through it and called out.’
‘Tell me what happened, from the beginning.’ At least, I thought, he had been shocked out of his sulk. He sat down on the bed.
‘After you left, I spoke to Prior Mortimus about clearing the pond. They are draining it now.’
‘Yes, I saw that.’
‘I came back here to fetch my overshoes. While I was putting them on I heard sounds again.’ He looked at me boldly. ‘I knew I was right.’
‘Your ears are sharper than your wits to shut yourself up like that. Go on.’
‘It always seemed to come from the cupboard. I thought to pull it out to see what lay behind and found that door. I went inside with a candle. There is a passageway and I was going to find where it led. I closed the door lest someone come in, but as I pulled it shut the draught blew out the candle and left me in darkness. I put my shoulder to the door, but it wouldn’t budge.’ He reddened. ‘It unmanned me. I hadn’t my sword. But without the candle I could see a pinpoint of light – there’s a spyhole there, cut in the panelling.’ He pointed to a tiny hole in the wall. I stood up and inspected it: from the inner side it looked like a nail hole.
‘How long were you shut up?’
‘Not long. By God’s mercy you were only a few minutes. Did you go on the marsh?’
‘Yes. There have been smugglers out there – we found a fire. I had a talk with Alice, we will speak of it later.’ I lit two candles from the fire and passed him one. ‘Well, shall we try this passage again?’
He took a deep breath. ‘Yes, sir.’
I locked the door of our room against intruders, then we squeezed behind the cupboard and opened the door. Within lay a dark, narrow corridor.
‘Brother Guy said there was a connecting passage from the infirmary to the kitchen,’ I said, remembering. ‘Closed off at the time of the Great Pestilence.’
‘This has been used much more recently.’
‘Yes.’ Within I could see a pinpoint of light where the spyhole had been cut through the wooden panelling. ‘This gives a clear view of the room. It looks recently cut.’
‘Brother Guy chose our room for us.’
‘Yes. Where anyone could spy on us, overhear us.’ I turned to the door. It had the type of latch that can be opened from the outside only. ‘Let us make safe this time.’ I pushed it almost shut, but inserted my handkerchief into the gap to prevent it closing on us.
We made our way up the passage. It was narrow, running parallel with the wall of the infirmary building. One side was formed by the wood panelling of the infirmary rooms, the other by the stone of the claustral buildings. The remnants of rusty torch brackets lined the damp walls. It was evidently long disused – it stank of damp and strange bulbous mushrooms grew in corners. After a short distance the passage took a right angle, then opened into a chamber. We stepped in and cast our light around.
We were in a prison cell, square and windowless. Ancient leg-irons were fastened to the wall, and a heap of mouldy cloth and wood in one corner indicated the remains of a bed. I cast my light over the walls. Words were scratched all over the stone. I read one deeply indented row of letters. Frater Petrus tristissimus. Anno 1339. ‘Brother Peter the most sad. I wonder what he did.’
‘There’s a way out,’ Mark said, crossing to a heavy wooden door. I bent to the keyhole. There was no light from the other side. I put my ear to the door, but could hear nothing.
Slowly I turned the handle. The door opened quietly inwards and I saw the hinges had been greased. We came out behind another cupboard, which had been pushed just far enough from the wall to let a man squeeze through. We went out and found ourselves in a stone-flagged corridor. A little way off was a door, half-open. I heard a murmur of voices, plates clinking.
‘It’s the kitchen passage,’ I breathed. ‘Back inside, quick, before someone sees us.’
I squeezed in again after Mark, and bent to close the door, coughing a little in the damp air. Suddenly a hand was clamped over my mouth, and I froze as another pressed on my hump. The candles were extinguished. Then Mark whispered in my ear.
‘Quiet, sir. Someone’s coming!’
I nodded, and he lowered his hands. I could hear nothing; he had indeed the ears of a bat. A moment later the glow of a candle appeared round the corner and a figure followed; robed and cowled, staring into the prison room from a gaunt, dark face. Brother Guy’s candle picked out our figures in the corner and he started.
‘Jesu save us, what are you doing here?’
I stepped forward. ‘We might ask you the same question, Brother. How did you get in here? We locked our door.’
‘And I unlocked it. I had a message the pond was emptied and came to call you, but there was no reply. For all I knew you’d both dropped dead, so I let myself in with my key and saw that open door.’
‘Master Poer has heard someone behind the wall several times, and this morning he found the door. We have been spied on, Brother Guy. You gave us a room with a hidden passage behind. Why? And why did you not tell me there was an open way from the infirmary to the kitchens?’ My voice was harsh. I had begun to see Brother Guy as something like a friend in that place. I cursed myself for allowing myself to become close to a man who, when all was said and done, was still a suspect.
His face set. The candlelight flickered strangely over his long nose and narrow dark features. ‘I had forgotten that door was in your room. Sir, this passage hasn’t been in use for nearly two hundred years.’
‘It was used this morning! And you gave us the one room where a spyhole could be cut in the wall!’
‘It is not the only room,’ he said calmly. His gaze was level, the candle held in a steady hand. ‘Did you not see? This passage runs behind the panelling of the infirmary wall, behind all the rooms on that corridor.’
‘But there is a spyhole only behind ours. Are visitors normally put in our room?’