A Play of Heresy by Margaret Frazer

Author:Margaret Frazer [Frazer, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, Medieval Britain, Fiction
ISBN: 0425243478
Google: OvSwuQAACAAJ
Amazon: 0425243478
Goodreads: 11184094
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

A few days followed that were as near to ordinary as Joliffe was used to anymore. He worked twice with the young devils for Hell’s harrowing. He firmed his lines as the Prophet and Ane into his mind. He strolled out once to see how Tisbe and Ramus were doing where they were pastured outside of Coventry. He spent time with Basset and the others, helping with their cart and gear, Basset having decreed that this while off the road was the perfect time to give a good tending to everything, from greasing the wheels and checking all the underpinnings and harness to laying out every one of their playing properties, to mend those that needed it and dispose of such as were past decent use. Basset set Joliffe and Gil on quest to find and buy what could be used in place of the latter, a quest which diverted Joliffe and Gil for most of a day and gave Joliffe chance to be in places around Coventry for which he might otherwise have lacked excuse. Not that he learned aught of notable use. Kydwa’s murder was widely talked of, but he heard nothing new. Never any mention that Lollards were part of it or—come to that—anything about Lollards at all, beyond once an overheard mutter between other men at a tavern that old Master Kydwa had had no luck at all these past years, what with his wife and all. Then the talk had sheered away to the weather in a way that made Joliffe think it was not to the weather the men were going but away from old Master Kydwa’s Lollard wife.

It was as they left that tavern Gil asked, “Hear anything of interest this time?” in a widely innocent voice.

Joliffe was both abashed and diverted at being caught out. “Um. Not really.”

“Is it something particular you’re hoping to hear?” Which was as close as Gil had ever come to asking about what the players somewhat knew he did when he was not with them.

Because Gil and the others had been so behindhand in ever questioning him, Joliffe answered more directly than he might have otherwise. “I don’t know what I’m hoping to hear. I just listen to everything and see if anything fits with something else.”

“Is it about this Kydwa’s murder? The servant that did it?”

“Kydwa’s family and close friends swear the servant never did it, would never have done it.”

“You’ve somehow overheard them, too?” Gil mocked.

Joliffe poked him in the arm. “One of them is in Will Sendell’s play with me.” Two of them if Dick was counted, but he seemed to have naught to say about Kydwa’s death, now Joliffe came to think of it. “I don’t have to ‘overhear’ anything. I get told.”

Gil nodded, either satisfied with that or sensible enough to let it go, and Joliffe tried to be more circumspect with his listening thereafter. He found himself wishing he could hear what other than tavern-folk were saying, women most particularly,

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