The Ely Testament by Philip Gooden
Author:Philip Gooden [Philip Gooden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd
Published: 2011-09-30T16:00:00+00:00
Summer, 1645
Anne had to tell someone. It was a secret, of course, but she could not keep it absolutely to herself. It was like a burden too heavy to be carried by one person. She contemplated talking about it with James, the old steward, but in the end it was her sister Mary that she turned to. She described the man who had escaped from a battle and was sheltering in the willow cabin; she mentioned his fine clothes beneath the cloak, his injured hand, his plan to make his way towards the coast.
Mary thought for a time, then asked Anne to spell out the name that the man had given himself. Loyer.
She found a piece of paper and wrote down the stranger’s name in large capital letters. The supposedly French name that he had, rather too deliberately, spelled out for Anne’s benefit. L-O-Y-E-R. Mary gazed at the letters, and Anne watched her sister as she puzzled over them. Mary enjoyed words, liked to find different ways of saying the same thing. After a short time, Mary nodded to herself, satisfied. Satisfied but also, to judge by her expression, alarmed.
‘The letters, rearranged, spell out Le Roy,’ she said.
Anne shook her head. She was fearful of what might come next.
‘It is French. You remember those French terms which Mr Martin has taught us?’
‘Some of them.’
‘It means “the king”.’
‘The king,’ repeated Anne.
‘Yes. The . . . the person you say is hiding out on the edge of our land – the person the soldiers were hunting for – it is our king.’
‘King Charles?’
‘Yes. Does he look like the king?’
‘I do not know what the king looks like. Why would he be by himself?’
Anne, who had half identified the fugitive, now wanted to find reasons why she was wrong. Mary, who hadn’t yet seen the man, was sure her sister was right.
‘He might be alone – if he’s escaping,’ said Mary.
‘Come and see,’ said Anne.
The sisters made their way back to the willow shelter. After a moment the man emerged again. This time he was wearing a wide-brimmed hat that kept his features half hidden.
‘I told you not to return,’ he said.
‘This is my sister,’ said Anne.
Mary made a clumsy curtsey. Then she said, ‘How do I know you are who we believe you are?’
The man looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he fumbled beneath the lacy collar at his neck and drew out a locket on a silver chain. The locket was the size of a crown-piece but three times as thick, too large for a picture or a strand of hair. Using his bandaged hand, the man picked awkwardly at the clasp on the locket. He undid it, to reveal a fragment of glass nestling inside. But it was no glass. He held it up to the sun, so that it caught the light and at once flashed with a rainbow of colours.
Mary opened her mouth to speak. But she got no further. There was a sudden flurry of movement from the area of ground above the willow hut and nearer to the house.
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