‘Are you married, then?’ asked Bartholomew politely.
Abigny shook his head. ‘But I am betrothed, and will be wed this summer.’
‘Then you should not stay away from her too long,’ said Bartholomew, not without rancour. ‘Or you may find that she has grown tired of waiting and has abandoned you for a fishmonger.’
Abigny shot the physician a rueful smile. ‘I was sorry when Philippa told me she had broken her trust with you. Believe me, I would rather have a scholar for a brother than a fish merchant. At least my home would not smell of eels.’
‘You live with them?’ asked Bartholomew, surprised.
Abigny’s smile was bitter. ‘You should have warned me to pay more attention to my studies, Matt. When I came to seek employment in London, I found my knowledge lacking. I had no choice but to throw myself on the mercy of my brother-in-law.’
‘I thought your parents left you a fortune.’
‘A fortune does not last long in the hands of a man with fickle friends and a fondness for women. I squandered my inheritance, and when I was eventually obliged to find work I discovered I had forgotten – or had never learned – my lessons here. Walter bought me a post, as part of his wooing of Philippa, but it is not a very good one.’
‘I see,’ said Bartholomew, a little disconcerted by Abigny’s blunt confidences.
‘I doubt it,’ said Abigny. ‘I go to the law courts every day and file records no one will ever want again. Then I go home to Turke’s house for my bed and my meat, and spend my evenings watching him turn my sister into a bore.’
‘Is she happy?’ asked Bartholomew, glancing to where Philippa was listening to Clippesby’s ramblings with an expression that combined disbelief and unease. He supposed someone should rescue her, for he knew that conversations with Clippesby could be daunting to those unused to them.
‘In general. Walter is not a dashing physician with black curls and a merry laugh, but he is enormously wealthy, and well placed to wrangle token employment for indolent brothers.’
Bartholomew felt Abigny should either earn himself the kind of high-paying post that he obviously thought he needed or marry his fiancée before she saw what she was letting herself in for. Seeing a man wallow in such self-pity was not pleasant, and he was half inclined to suggest Abigny should pull himself together.
‘Why are you here?’ he asked instead, good manners prevailing. ‘If you dislike being with Walter and Philippa in their home, their absence should have given you some freedom.’
‘It was tempting, believe me. But Philippa represents much that is good in my life, and if she wants to make a pilgrimage to Walsingham in the depths of winter, then it is my duty to travel with her and ensure she comes to no harm.’ He gave a sudden grin, and for a moment Bartholomew glimpsed the rakish scholar he had once known. ‘Remember my skill with the sword, Matt? I was in the thick of many a brawl with the town’s apprentices.’
Bartholomew smiled back. ‘Do not chance your arm now. Since Michael has become Senior Proctor fines for fighting are quickly imposed and zealously enforced.’
‘I can imagine,’ said Abigny, laughing softly. ‘Who would have thought that fat, sly monk would have inveigled himself into such a position of power? He has done well for himself.’
‘I give up!’ Edith came up to them, her face dark with anger. ‘I have been trying to keep the peace between them since the first evening they met, when Walter was condescending about Oswald’s trade. But if they want to squabble in front of Master Langelee, then I can do no more to keep them apart.’
Abigny vacated the stool, and gave her hand a squeeze as he helped her to sit on it. ‘You have managed admirably so far. Walter is an argumentative man, and that you have kept him and Oswald from each other’s throats for four days is nothing short of a miracle.’
‘If Oswald does not like Walter, why did you invite him to stay in the first place?’ asked Bartholomew practically.
Edith sighed impatiently at her brother’s inability to see that there were complex social waters to be navigated when invitations were issued. ‘Because we knew Philippa – and Giles – from your betrothal. When we met by chance on the High Street and Walter asked us to recommend a decent tavern, I had no choice but to offer him the use of my own home.’
‘I tried to save you,’ said Abigny. ‘I suggested you would have no room because of various relatives who were staying. It would have been easy to agree, and to direct us to the Brazen George.’
Edith smiled. ‘It was good of you to try to get us off the hook. But manners dictate that Walter, Philippa and you should stay with us. However, I wish I had known then that Oswald and Walter would argue constantly. Walter is a difficult man.’
‘We will be on our way tomorrow,’ said Abigny comfortingly. ‘And I will make sure it is at first light – before Walter is awake enough for squabbling.’
‘Thank you,’ said Edith sincerely. She looked up, as more people began to force their way into the already crowded room.
‘Jugglers,’ said Abigny in surprise, as he saw the newcomers. He began to back away. ‘You must excuse me. I dislike this kind of thing.’ He left the chamber with an abruptness that verged on the rude.
Edith watched him go with raised eyebrows. ‘How odd! I thought he enjoyed professional entertainers. He was always a young man ready for singing and dancing.’
‘He is no longer a young man,’ Bartholomew pointed out, leaning against the wall as he watched the entertainers Langelee had hired elbow their way through the throng. Agatha apparently needed more time for the boar to cook, and was searching for ways to keep minds off growling stomachs. The jugglers’ progress towards the Master was unmannerly, and Turke’s face turned an angry red when one jostled him hard enough to make him spill his wine. The juggler regarded Turke challengingly, as though daring him to make a scene, then sneered disdainfully when the fishmonger looked away and began mopping at the stain on his gipon.
Langelee nodded to them to begin their performance, and a hush fell over the room as they lined up. They were a shabby pack of individuals, whose costumes had seen better days and whose faces were heavily painted. There were two men and two women, all wearing red tunics, grubby yellow leggings and scarlet and gold chequered hats. Clippesby’s assessment had been accurate: the two men and one woman could juggle after a fashion, but the performance of the other female, who stood apart and played the whistle with one hand and a drum with the other, was jerky and irregular, as though she could concentrate on a rhythm or on producing the correct notes, but not on both at the same time.
Her eccentric tunes did nothing to help her colleagues. They missed their cues, and the floor was soon littered with fallen missiles. Abandoning juggling, they turned to tumbling, which consisted of cartwheels that threatened to do serious injury to their spectators, and the kind of forward rolls that even Michael could have managed. Everyone was relieved when Agatha arrived, flour dusting her powerful forearms and boar fat splattered across her apron.
‘Tell the Master the meat is done, and that folk should come and get it while it is hot,’ she whispered to Bartholomew.
‘Good,’ said Bartholomew. ‘It is not safe here with all these flailing legs and arms. I do not want to be setting broken limbs for the rest of the day.’
‘I do not like them,’ said Agatha, gazing belligerently at the hapless jugglers. ‘I have never seen such a paltry display of tumbling.’
‘They do leave a bit to be desired,’ agreed Edith. ‘I am surprised Master Langelee hired them. They are called the Chepe Waits, and were the very last troupe to be offered employment in the town this year. Michaelhouse has done a great kindness by taking them in; the weather is so foul at the moment that anyone without a roof will surely perish before dawn.’
‘Let us hope we have a roof to wake up to,’ said Agatha grimly. ‘And that this uncivilised brood has not stolen it from over our heads. I told the Master that I did not want them in my College, but he said it was too late, because he has already paid them. I suppose he chose them because they are inexpensive.’