16 The Traitor's Tale by Frazer Margaret

Author:Frazer, Margaret [Frazer, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: __Fixed, _BIG_FIXUP, Britain, Convent, England, Fiction, good quality scan, Great Britain, Henry VI; 1422-1461, Historical, History, Medieval, Mystery & Detective, Nuns, Traditional British, Women Sleuth
ISBN: 0425213706
Google: -U5XxN6JaUQC
Amazon: B000X1FCZE
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2007-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

That was as much as she wanted to know. Come to it, she did not want to know even that much, and she said in an even, steady voice, “What did you do with this letter my lord of Suffolk meant Lady Alice to have?”

Slowly, as if counting each word as he said it, Burgate half-whispered, “When it was done and closed and sealed and he gave it to me, I wrapped it in oil-cloth and sealed it with my own seal. Then I wrapped it into a package of two new-made shirts and a pair of hose and tied it so it was just a bundle. There was a boy at the inn there in Ipswich. He’d been saying he wanted to go to London. To find his fortune and all that nonsense.” Burgate momentarily showed the pride of a man who had “found his fortune” in a far more sensible way, forgetting it had brought him to here. “I gave him money to help him on his way in return for him delivering the bundle to my cousin John Smythe in Sible Hedingham. Sire John. He’s priest there, very safely out of the way of everything. I told the boy Sire John would pay him for the bundle and gave him a letter asking John to do so. In the bundle I enclosed another letter telling John that the sealed packet had to be safely and secretly kept. Not what it was. I never told him that. Only that he had to keep it for me until I came for it or … or he heard I was dead. Then he should take it himself to her grace, my lady of Suffolk. It was the best I could think of,” he apologized. “There wasn’t much time to think of anything. We were to sail in the morning and I didn’t want the letter on me. It was the best I could do. The thing was … the letter was … it’s …” He sank suddenly onto the edge of the bed again and hid his race in his hands. “Blessed St. Peter ad Vincula, I’m going to die here. I’m going to die here. Because of that … that …”

Frevisse moved quickly forward, laid hand on his shoulder, said strongly, “It’s no longer your burden. You’re rid of it. Someone besides you knows of it now. It’s not yours to bear anymore. All you need do is hold silent and wait for Lady Alice to have you out of here.”

Burgate uncovered his face, grabbed her by her hands. “A week,” he pleaded. “A week, you said.”

“A week,” she repeated, with silent prayer that Alice would move that quickly and he would last that long.

She made to step back from him and he loosed her, let her go, wrung his hands together in his lap and began to rock slowly back and forth where he sat. “A week,” he said.

“A week,” Frevisse said again, in retreat now, back across

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.