Mother Midnight (Hugh Corbett 22) by Paul DOHERTY

Author:Paul DOHERTY [DOHERTY, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472284754
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2021-07-21T23:00:00+00:00

PART FIVE

The said Thomas Turbeville was seized on the Saturday before the Feast of St Michael Archangel.

Corbett rose to his feet. Megotta placed the crossbow down and pulled back her hood. A lovely strong face, beautifully formed, with deep expressive eyes and a determined mouth. He took an immediate liking to her. He grinned, pulled off his gloves and extended his hand, which she clasped with both of hers.

‘Megotta, it is a pleasure to meet you. You know Manning is dead, Faldon too, both brutally murdered?’

‘I heard the same,’ she replied. ‘From a street herald.’ Her voice was surprisingly strong and sweet. ‘The street swallows are full of such news. But only for a while. Matters in the city gain pace. They say the king will go to war with Lancaster over Gaveston.’

‘That’s not news,’ Corbett declared. ‘The confrontation’s been coming for years.’ He picked up the arbalest. ‘I’ll carry this; pull up your hood, hide your head and face.’

They left Devil’s Tower and made their way through the gathering mist to the guest house. Corbett sighed with relief that no one saw them. Once inside, he made Megotta comfortable, sitting her on a stool with a cup of mulled wine from the jug placed on the top of a fiercely burning brazier. She sipped at this and nibbled at the usual daily platter of bread, ham and cheese sent from the buttery.

Corbett left and roused Ranulf. The Clerk of the Green Wax was all sleepy eyed as he slouched into Corbett’s chamber. Once the introductions were made, however, he abruptly changed. Much taken with their visitor, he became charm incarnate, asking her if she was comfortable and did she want anything more to eat? Corbett watched intently. Megotta was courteous enough, yet there was a hard watchfulness in her, as if she was deeply wary of the world of men. He had encountered the same when he had talked to women who had been abused by soldiers during his time with the royal array. He let Ranulf chatter for a while, using the time to study his visitor more closely. Eventually he intervened.

‘We have business to pursue,’ he declared. ‘I warn you, mistress, the city and the Queen of the Night pose a real danger to you, as does this place. But you know that already, don’t you? The recent attack on us. You were there, weren’t you? You helped us. You came up behind our attackers and used that crossbow, killing at least two of them. Am I correct?’

Megotta, eyes still wary, nodded her agreement.

‘So.’ He leaned forward. ‘Tell us what happened, what you know.’

In a harsh, clipped voice, she described her rescue by Manning; how she’d been sentenced to hang and he’d secured a pardon. She paused as Corbett lifted a hand.

‘Mistress, I deduced all that from his papers. He placed you here at St Sulpice, yes? How?’

‘He secured the services of a goldsmith, a leading alderman, claiming that I was a foundling, an orphan of the parish.

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