The Chapel of Bones by Michael Jecks

Author:Michael Jecks [Jecks, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: blt, _rt_yes, General, _MARKED, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781472219794
Google: t3d4AgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2014-02-26T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

‘So on the night your husband died,’ Baldwin said, ‘did you know he intended to go to the Cathedral?’

Mabilla closed her eyes a moment. ‘I did. I told him he should confess his sins, God help me.’

‘Why? What were they?’ Baldwin pressed her sharply.

She opened her eyes with resignation. ‘He had participated in a murder many years ago. Have you heard of the death of Walter de Lecchelade?’

Simon looked at Baldwin with bemusement. ‘Not me.’

Baldwin was peering at the floor with narrowed eyes. ‘I believe I have! It was before your birth, probably, Simon. Wasn’t it because of the murder that the Bishop was granted the right to build a wall about the Cathedral? I recall someone telling me of the tale when I was a lad.’

‘A body of men set upon de Lecchelade, who was the Chaunter, after Matins one morning. Twenty of them. He was killed, and the men escaped. Later it was learned that the Dean of the time was responsible, and he was put in gaol. Well, the Dean wasn’t alone. He hired men to do his work for him, and my Henry was one of those men.’

‘I see,’ Baldwin said. ‘And the crime has been weighing heavily on his soul?’

‘Yes. He wanted to confess. Particularly since … one of the men who was injured that night is now a friar called Nicholas. He was terribly wounded in defence of his master, Chaunter de Lecchelade.’

‘So Henry’s guilt was that he had conspired to help the Chaunter to be killed? Not that he had himself killed the Chaunter?’

Mabilla lifted her chin proudly. ‘My Henry was no murderer. I don’t think he could have struck a blow like that, even had he so wished. Perhaps he conspired, as you say, but he wouldn’t have been able to kill a man in cold blood. He did tell me that many of his friends were involved. Maybe it was one of those events where people can be persuaded to join in against their better natures.’

‘These others with him – do you know who they were? I should like to speak with them.’

‘Henry always spoke of three companions in his past. There was William, whom I have already mentioned, then Joel, who is a joiner up in the High Street. You can’t miss his workshop. It’s a large place, with a good wooden sign over the door showing a carving of a carpenter with his adze in his hand.’

‘Who was the third?’

She frowned. ‘There was another man who was a close friend of Henry’s before the Chaunter’s death. I think Henry called him Tom.’

‘Do you know where he lives?’

‘I got the impression that he was dead, or that he had left the city. I have certainly never met a friend of Henry’s called Tom in all the years I’ve known him.’

‘We could ask at the Cathedral,’ Simon said. He held his finger at another point on the ledger. ‘Mistress Mabilla, there is an interesting entry here. It shows money being

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