‘Mistress Blessop turns up, ain’t no need to tell me what to do,’ objected Casper. ‘Looking after that maggoty little turd – that’s one thing. Looking after our Tybbs, well, that’s quite another.’
‘But it’s strange,’ mumbled Ralph, ‘considering what you said, Mister Cobham. You found that bastard Throckmorton dead as a squashed flea and some beggar woman claiming as how our Tybbs clubbed the bugger and done him in, and then run off not an hour previous. So, why didn’t she come straight here?’
Elizabeth sniffed into Ralph’s sleeve, which she was clutching. ‘You’re all bloody stupid,’ she proclaimed. ‘Gone to the big house, hasn’t she! That’s where she calls home – not here.’
Andrew frowned. ‘But Crosby’s is far closer, and this is where she’d expect to find me.’
‘You could be anywhere.’ Elizabeth shook her head. ‘Here – there – gone tomorrow – back yesterday. You’ve never been a predictable bugger, after all. And being scared, and maybe hurt – killed a man, which ain’t nice, ’specially the first time – and maybe got his blood on her – so, she’d make for the place she feels safest. Not here amongst all them fancy lords and you maybe gone out. At Portsoken, she’s herself. We women have sensibilities.’
Andrew was silent a moment. ‘I’ve a long walk to Baynard’s and must deliver these papers to the duke before he takes to his bed,’ he said, turning thoughtfully towards the door. ‘But you may be right, Elizabeth. Afterwards I’ll go straight to the old house. Casper, I’ve changed my mind. Once the sun’s up, head for Portsoken with Ralph.’
‘And this snotty little worm, too?’ demanded Casper. ‘Or does I chuck him in the river? Go fishin’ maybe, and use the bugger as bait?’
Harry looked down at his knees, sniffed and patiently picked his nose. ‘He can’t be left here,’ Andrew nodded. ‘Take him with you.’
‘Come back and sleep first,’ Ralph advised. ‘Tybbs’ll be safe with Felicia if she’s gone there.’
‘But if she is not there,’ Andrew said, ‘then she is lost somewhere, and possibly in danger. I will not sleep until I have her safe.’
Chapter Seventy-One
The Duke of Gloucester, Lord Protector and Defender of the Realm, was not in bed. The incriminating papers were spread out on the writing table in front of him, one heavily beringed hand holding them flat. His grace looked up. ‘Well, Mister Cobham,’ he said, his voice unusually harsh, ‘it seems the man I once called friend has indeed plotted my overthrow and death. First to kidnap my nephew from the Tower, then to settle himself as the power behind the throne with Woodville cooperation, to the inevitable ruination of the realm. The proof you have brought me this time is beyond value.’
‘Incontrovertible proof for once,’ Andrew nodded. ‘It is rare to find a traitor who dares openly put his seal to his intentions.’
‘Dorset no doubt insisted on something more tangible than simple word of mouth,’ said the duke. ‘Every man on this list is risking his life, and would demand reassurance that each of his companions shared the same risk. Traitors always most fear the treachery of their allies.’
‘And I still hold the witness, your grace, should you wish to question him again,’ Andrew said.
The duke frowned. ‘Keep the child safe in case he is needed in the future.’ He was silent for some time, his eyes lowered once again to the papers spread on his writing table. Andrew did not interrupt. Finally Gloucester spoke again, this time softly, as though to himself. ‘And so we have it,’ he murmured. ‘My brother’s death may never be avenged and justice never done, for how he died remains unknown. The wretch Throckmorton bought arsenic into the country and sold it to Marrott, who may have used it but for what purpose I cannot now be sure. I suspect Earl Rivers of planning to increase Woodville power through conspiracy and murder, but I cannot prove it. I suspect Dorset’s compliance, but cannot prove that either. Although I doubt it, it is conceivable, Cobham, that you have been misled and misdirected. I will not accuse without surety nor act without conviction.’ He paused, sighing. ‘But this Hastings’ betrayal can be proved, and I hold that proof now. That it is him of all those I thought friends, saddens me. But ambition does not make friends, it seems. I thank you, Mister Cobham. You have done remarkably well though I do not enjoy your gifts.’
Andrew bowed. ‘And the new Baron Throckmorton lies dead, by an unknown hand.’
The duke said, ‘You know my insistence on law and justice by now I hope, Mister Cobham.’
Andrew smiled. ‘I can assure your grace I did not kill the man. And there is no further heir to the Throckmorton title, I believe, but there will soon be others who buy smuggled poisons from La Serenissima. Yet the business that now concerns me, your grace, is that of my companion. I have discovered the manner of her abduction, and eventually she will be another witness to the matter in hand. But she is no longer where she was taken. I continue to search for her.’
‘Then I will not keep you any longer this night,’ said the duke. ‘If you need assistance, Cobham, you shall have it.’
Andrew sighed. ‘I thank you, your grace, but I believe I am close to finding her. Indeed, it seems she may have rescued herself.’
‘A strong woman then, Mister Cobham.’
‘Most assuredly, my lord. And yet I thought her weak, when I first met her.’ Andrew looked up and smiled. ‘I have discovered it is sometimes remarkably pleasant to be proved wrong.’
‘I have never found it so,’ the duke replied. ‘The character of the Lord Hastings is a case in point. May I know your companion’s name, sir?’
Andrew bowed again. ‘Mistress Tyballis Blessop, your grace.’
‘Not Mistress Cobham yet?’ The duke smiled. ‘In the meantime, you have my authority to call on troopers, constables or my physician should you have need. In the meantime, the conspiracy ends here. On the morrow I shall have the traitors arrested, and Hastings must pay with his life before this treachery causes the death of many more. The ecclesiastics cannot be so summarily dealt with, and unfortunately Dorset remains free. He will run, of course, as Marrott already has. But there will be no uprising, no captured prince from the Tower, and no disruption within the city. I believe I have some small reputation for resolving insurrections with the minimum of bloodshed and suffering. This will be no exception. I trust you find your friend quickly, sir, and then I shall count this matter finally closed.’
Andrew stepped back, about to take his leave. He said only, ‘And may I inquire, your grace, as to the other relevant business, not yet resolved?’
‘Are you asking me whether I intend accepting England’s crown?’ The duke nodded. ‘An impetuous question, my friend, but under the circumstances, not unacceptable. First the validity of Bishop Stillington’s testimony must be verified. There are others in that lady’s family to be approached and the lords must take their time with such a momentous decision. And in the end, should the choice finally rest with me, well Mister Cobham, I believe I shall accept.’
Persistently wary and increasingly tired, Tyballis headed east, keeping to the shadows, the walls and the back lanes. She scurried across the gardens of St Bartholomew’s Priory, unseen amongst the shrubbery. The moon, little more than a sickle, was shrouded and the darkness hid her. Fore Street, following the outskirts of the great city wall, was wide and open but no one walked that late, and this was outside the jurisdiction of the Watch. Tyballis hurried across the turgid gurgle of the Walbrook and stared ahead at the grounds of the Bethlehem Hospital stretching before her. Unpaved lanes led over fields and long strips of well-tended allotment. She could hear the Bedlam dogs barking continuously from their kennels and hoped they were safely locked. Then, clutching Throckmorton’s sword to her side, she crossed the green as a sharp frosty wind whistled down from the moors. With a sudden stab of longing, Tyballis wondered if Andrew’s mother, just a short walk beyond the main courtyard, was curled snug in her cottage, dreaming of entertaining the queen on the morrow. Tyballis could almost smell the marchpane and shook her head, without the heart to laugh at herself.