John Shakespeare 07 - Holy Spy by Rory Clements

Author:Rory Clements [Clements, Rory]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2015-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

‘I cannot say. No, I will not say.’

‘Why did you leave Oswald Redd?’

‘I had to. He was seizing upon my misfortune to lock me away.’

‘What of his brother?’

‘Osric? What has he to do with this?’

‘When Redd told me you had disappeared without trace from the farm, I confess I looked at his brother with suspicion.’

‘Osric is harmless. I made his meals and we passed no more than two words a day. He talks to his sheep more than ever he would talk with me. Had I stayed, that would have been my life, for ever. Oswald had plans to make a farm wife of me.’

It was a familiar story. ‘Just as I had plans to make an intelligencer’s wife of you,’ said Shakespeare ruefully.

She had her hands to her head again. For a moment, he thought she was sobbing. Kat Whetstone weep? Was such a thing possible?

‘Kat,’ Shakespeare spoke gently. ‘Can you tell me who would benefit from the death of Nicholas Giltspur? Tell me everything you know about his family and associates. I have been to Giltspur House and I cannot but wonder whether the secret we are seeking abides there.’

She raised her tear-stained face. ‘What do you wish to know?’

‘Tell me about Arthur and his grandmother. And the steward, Sorbus. What about your maidservant, Abigail? And perhaps you need to tell me more about your late husband. You told me you loved him. But you also said that you would not have married him had he been poor.’

‘That is true. I would not have married him, but I would have loved him and shared his bed.’

‘What of Severin Tort? You placed a great deal of trust in him.’ A sudden thought struck him. ‘It is Mr Tort who is now hiding you, is it not?’

She shook her head, refusing to acknowledge the question. ‘Nick was a hard-working, God-fearing man,’ she continued. ‘An honest man, too, and I can think of no one who would have wished him harm – least of all me. But in the days before his death something was worrying him. When I asked him what was amiss, he just smiled and said that all would be well. Once he said he was worried because a ship was overdue, another time he said he had a difficult transaction to negotiate. I did not believe either explanation, but what could I say? All I knew was that he wasn’t sleeping.’

‘And his nephew, Arthur? He seems a charming fellow. That is all I discovered – that and his fondness for tennis.’

‘He is a privileged young man who enjoys his wealth. And when he is not at court playing sets with the nobility, you will see him at the gaming houses. He attracts women like jam attracts wasps.’

Another thought struck Shakespeare. ‘Did he ever display affection for you? You are more his age than your husband’s.’

She leant back across the bed and sighed with exhaustion. ‘You know, John, I am not sure. I usually know when I catch a man’s eye.

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