The Westminster Poisoner: Chaloner's Fourth Exploit in Restoration London (Thomas Chaloner Book 4) by Gregory Susanna

Author:Gregory, Susanna [Gregory, Susanna]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9780748124558
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2010-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chaloner understood exactly why the Earl was keen to have a guardian when they entered the newly refurbished Tennis Court. Word had spread that His Majesty had challenged Buckingham, and all the Court sycophants were in attendance. They included a large number of people who disliked the Earl, and when he stepped into the spectators’ gallery, everyone stopped what they were doing to glare. The response was so unanimous that Chaloner half-expected the ball to freeze in mid-flight, too. His hand went to the hilt of his sword, and he glanced around apprehensively, alert for trouble.

‘Do not fret, Thomas,’ whispered the Earl, patting his arm. ‘I am used to icy atmospheres. It is when these stares turn to more naked hostility that I shall be worried.’

Chaloner thought the hostility was more than naked enough for him, and wondered why the Earl put himself through it, especially as it did not look as though the King cared whether he was there or not. Indeed, he had been distracted by the abrupt silence, and was scowling.

Buckingham, sulky and petulant because he was losing, mimicked the Earl’s waddling gait, and the tense hush among the spectators was shattered by a burst of spiteful laughter. The King’s frown deepened, but he made no attempt to defend his Lord Chancellor. He retrieved the ball and hit it, catching the Duke off-guard and forcing him to scramble.

The Earl sat on a bench, but the people nearby immediately moved away, leaving him isolated. Chaloner was acutely uncomfortable: so many enemies had crowded into the place that there would be little he could do, should they decide to attack en masse. He reminded himself that this was London, and that courtiers did not rush in shrieking mobs to murder their ministers. But then he remembered what had happened to the old king, and the bloody executions that had followed the new one’s coronation, and was not so sure.

‘I do not understand this game at all,’ declared the Earl, when Chaloner came to stand behind him; at least the spy could make sure that no one stabbed him in the back. ‘Do you?’

‘Yes.’

The Earl swivelled around to give him a look. ‘And do you care to explain it to me, or shall we just leave it that you know the rules and I do not?’

‘Brodrick, Chiffinch and Jermyn are plotting something. They keep looking at you.’

‘And you do not wish to be distracted by chatting to me about sport. Very well. However, bear in mind that my cousin will not harm me, although I cannot say I approve of the company he keeps. Do you think Jermyn is the Lord of Misrule? Filling my office with women of ill repute is exactly the kind of low trick I would expect from that foul-minded villain.’

Chaloner did not reply. He watched the trio leave the gallery, and appear a few minutes later on the court itself. Brodrick had donned a suit designed to make him look like a chicken, and he strutted on to the playing field amid a chorus of laughter.

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