‘How times change, Sir John.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Lady Purity,’ Athelstan asked, ‘otherwise known as Mistress Quicksilver — that was her reputation?’
‘I am as certain of it as I am sitting here.’
‘Then, Sir John, I want you to seek an urgent interview with Lord Walter, I mean now. The woman calling herself Eleanor Remiet must also be present.’
‘The abbot’s private life is not within our writ, Friar.’
‘He certainly needs to be warned about the Upright Men.’
‘Undoubtedly.’
‘And his doxy, his leman, needs to be counselled on the evils of blackmail.’ Athelstan grinned at the surprise on the coroner’s face.
‘Please,’ Athelstan squeezed Cranston’s hand, ‘let me collect my thoughts. All will be revealed.’
The coroner rose and strode off, clapping his hands against the cold. Athelstan went into the abbey church. He lit a candle before the lady altar and stared up at the subtle carving of the Virgin and Child, an excellent copy of the famous Walsingham Statue. Athelstan earnestly prayed three Aves for wisdom then left. By the time he reached the abbot’s lodgings, Mistress Eleanor, haughty face all flushed, was being ushered in to join Lord Walter sitting disconsolate by the hearth, three white downy feathers on his lap. He greeted them dolefully, motioning to the other chairs. Athelstan and Cranston sat down, both expressing their deep regrets on the death of Leda. Abbot Walter, face still tear-streaked, nodded as he stroked the feathers. Mistress Eleanor just sat to the abbot’s left, impatiently tapping the arm of her chair.
‘You asked me to come here,’ she blurted out. ‘Why, what is the matter?’
‘It’s a long time,’ Athelstan replied quietly, ‘since Sir John saw you, Lady Purity, also known as Mistress Quicksilver.’ Athelstan’s words were greeted with a stunned silence. The friar gazed at the woman. She must be past her fiftieth summer but he could see that once, when her skin was smooth, her cheeks full and soft, her lips ripe and red, she must have been a truly remarkable-looking woman.
‘I don’t know what. .’ Abbot Walter ceased his crying, the white feathers floating down to the floor.
‘I do.’ Cranston grinned. ‘You were a monk here, yes, Abbot Walter? Prior then abbot? In your earlier days you hired an artist to execute a wall fresco celebrating the vindication of the chaste Susannah and you asked your leman, your mistress to be the image. I recognized that face eventually.’ He turned to the woman. ‘Lady Purity, when you entered the Inns of Court with this or that great noble, I worshipped you from afar. Despite the passage of the years I still glimpse what I once revered.’
The woman forced a smile, fluttering her eyelids at the flattery.
‘Now, Lord Walter,’ Athelstan declared, stilling the abbot’s protests, ‘we are not concerned about your private life. My Lord of Gaunt and the Archbishop of Canterbury might be but that is a matter for them. Nor am I concerned that Isabella may be your daughter not your niece, a love child, yes? Conceived late, my Lady, raised by you and supported by Lord Walter with help from the revenues of this abbey? I advise you not to challenge that. As I’ve said, your private life is your own. However,’ Athelstan added, ‘cozening blackmail is another.’
‘How dare you!’
‘Oh, Mistress, I dare and will dare again.’
Eleanor made to rise.
‘The anchorite!’ Athelstan exclaimed. The woman promptly sat down. From her fleeting expression Athelstan knew he’d hit his mark.
‘What is this?’ Abbot Walter pleaded.
‘Agnes Rednal. The anchorite believes he is haunted by the ghost of a wicked woman he hanged. Now that poor man has all sorts of imaginings. You, Mistress, learnt his story from Abbot Walter. You are hungry for gold and silver. After all, your daughter Isabella needs a rich endowment if she is to gain a wealthy suitor. The anchorite has a box crammed with gold and silver. Well,’ Athelstan lifted his hands, ‘you know all this. Deny it and I’ll ask Sir John to arrest you, abbey or not, whilst I search your chamber for a box of face paints, a wig of wild hair, as well as the black Benedictine robe you wear when you flit like a bat through these supposed holy precincts after darkness has fallen.’ Athelstan glanced quizzically at her. ‘According to the anchorite, these apparitions of the real Agnes Rednal only began recently. Of course they did. They coincide with your arrival here for the festive season.’ Athelstan gestured at the abbot now drained of all pomposity. ‘I cannot prove your guilt in all this but you, Mistress, stand charged. You could be arrested. While you lodge in Newgate, Sir John will conduct a most thorough investigation into your real origins. You dreaded this moment, didn’t you? You’re sharp-witted, Mistress. Your relationship with Abbot Walter is very secretive. Your face being taken as an image for that painting so many years ago would, I am sure, have been protected by all kinds of subterfuge. Now, Sir John acts the bluff officer of the Crown but he has a most prodigious memory. .’
‘True, true,’ Cranston whispered.
‘You must have become very alarmed when he began to stare so closely at you.’ Athelstan spread his hand. ‘You hoped it might be something passing until you realized we’d be staying here for some time. That’s why you warned me to leave.’
The woman swallowed hard and just stared back.
‘Did you also try to terrify me with a quarrel from a crossbow?’
‘Never!’ Eleanor now looked genuinely frightened. Abbot Walter gave a strangled cry.
‘Of course His Grace the Regent will get to know.’ Athelstan continued: ‘In time he would undoubtedly inform your superiors, Abbot Walter, not to mention the Archbishop of Canterbury.’
The abbot looked pale enough to faint. He cleared his throat and tried to speak.
‘Don’t, Walter.’ The woman leaned across and patted his hand, ‘What is the use? The truth always emerges, especially when you don’t want it to. Yes, Brother Athelstan, Sir John, I was Lady Purity in my early days, a great beauty, a courtesan sans pareil. I feasted on delicacies; I was clothed in silk and satin. Men fought for my favours but my heart was always given to Walter Chobham, Sub-Prior of the Benedictines at St Fulcher’s. Yes, I’m depicted as Susannah in that painting but those were my green and salad days. Age withers us. The years stale. Your body fails — mine certainly did. I was ravaged by the pestilence. An even greater surprise occurred in my last years, just before my courses stopped: I became pregnant with Isabella. Both pregnancy and delivery were difficult and by then all real traces of my beauty were gone. Walter has stayed faithful to me, especially now Isabella has come of age. Yes, I am desperate for her, for me. If Abbot Walter dies what will happen to us?’ She took a deep breath. ‘True, Walter told me the anchorite’s tale. I heard of his wealth stored in that coffer,’ she stroked the side of her face, ‘so I became Agnes Rednal.’ She smiled icily at Athelstan. ‘I assure you, Brother, it was desperation not greed which prompted it, nothing but a game to secure his wealth.’
‘A cruel game, Mistress, one that ends now, yes?’
‘Of course. And what else?’
‘Nothing, Mistress.’
‘As for you,’ Cranston gestured at the abbot, ‘I urge you to be most prudent; the Upright Men have sent you a warning.’
‘What can I do?’
‘Be vigilant. As for my part,’ Cranston added, ‘well, leave that to me.’
‘The Wyvern Company will be of use,’ Abbot Walter added desperately.
‘True,’ Cranston agreed, ‘but that brings me to my last question. Is there anything you haven’t told us about the murders here?’
‘Sir John, Brother Athelstan, I swear I know nothing. Yes, I have failed, I have sinned. I am locked in my own deep worries about Isabella and Eleanor. All I can say is that I fervently regret allowing Brother Richer to come here. Why? I cannot say. Only after his arrival did Sir Robert Kilverby change.’ The abbot picked up the fallen feathers. ‘Perhaps,’ he mumbled, ‘perhaps it’s time I resigned my post.’ He put his face in his hands and began to sob.