I continued on my way, debating with myself how best to deal with the situation. Should I simply carry on as though unaware of her presence? Or should I turn and confront her? But how would she respond to my challenge? And what did Martin Trollope hope to gain by having a woman follow me? She could do me no harm… I cursed myself for a slow-witted fool. Matilda Ford did not need to harm me. As soon as she saw where I was going, she would return hot-foot to the Crossed Hands inn and Lady Anne would at once be spirited away. The only thing I could do was to give her the slip.
But how? The towers of Baynard Castle were already looming ahead of me. If I didn’t act quickly, Matilda would guess my destination and return at once to inform Martin Trollope… A woman in a striped hood loomed out of the shadows, and a hand caressed my shoulder.
‘Looking for someone, my pretty ducks?’
I have been called many names in my time, some apt and well-deserved, others less so. But ‘pretty ducks’ is, perhaps, the least fitting of them all to describe my bulk and height. Nevertheless, the woman was a godsend. (And after all, if God used the Magdalene for his purposes, why not other whores? I asked myself.) I slipped one arm around her waist and was pleasantly surprised to find that she smelled quite clean.
‘Where … Where do you — er — work?’
She laughed at that and jerked her head in the direction of a narrow alley. ‘Old Mother Bindloss’s, in Pudding Street. Come on. It’s just along ‘ere.’
Resisting the temptation to see if Matilda Ford was watching, I allowed myself to be led into the alley. The stench of putrefaction met my nostrils, and I noticed that the drain running down the middle of the street was full to overflowing, a dead cat and several dead rats among the rotting food and human excrement. London streets in general are not very clean, but this was particularly noisome. My companion stopped half way along at one of the houses and rapped on the door.
A grid in the top of the door was opened and a voice inquired: ‘Who is it?’
‘Susan,’ the girl answered in a sibilant whisper. ‘I’ve got a customer.’
I could no longer resist looking back along the street, and was just in time to note Matilda Ford disappearing quickly round the corner. She had evidently been watching to see where I went. I trusted that she was now satisfied and had not divined my real intentions.
The door was opened and I stepped inside, prompted by a push from Susan. A guttering candle illuminated a narrow passageway and a flight of stairs, on which were seated a number of girls in various states of undress.
‘Hell’s teeth!‘ one of them exclaimed, craning her neck eagerly over the heads of the others. ‘Where did you find him? Hey, sweetheart! When you’ve finished with Susan, I’m willin’! I’m sure a big boy like you has more than one fuck in ‘im!’
There was a ragged cheer from the other women and, to my horror, I found myself blushing. Fortunately, it was too dark for them to see. I turned to my companion.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, fumbling in the purse at my belt and producing a silver penny, ‘but I don’t want your… your services.’ Susan stared at me, uncomprehending. ‘Look,’ I went on quickly, pressing the coin into her hand, ‘I’m willing to pay for your time and trouble. But the truth is, I only came in here to shake off the woman who was following me.’ I added lamely: ‘I’m afraid I can’t explain more than that.’
‘Your wife, is it?’ asked the girl who had spoken first. ‘And you’re sloping off to meet another woman?’
There was a sympathetic murmur from the others. Even Susan, who had been looking deeply affronted, smiled and patted my shoulder.
‘ ‘Ere you are, sweet’eart, you keep your money. And if your ladylove don’t want you after all, come back ‘ere and we’ll entertain you.’
There were cries of agreement all round as I opened the door and slipped once more into the street. Thanking my unwitting saviour with a blushing kiss on the cheek, I made my way back again towards the river. I did not hear her close the door behind me and suspected that she was watching my progress, regretting having let me go so easily. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that I was right. Susan was still standing in the open doorway…
It was at that moment, while my attention was distracted, that I felt, rather than saw, the sudden flurry of movement ahead of me. I jerked my head round only just in time to ward off the blow. Matilda Ford, arm raised, had emerged from one of the doorways, where she had been hiding, and was coming at me with a knife.
Instinctively, I grasped my stick in both hands and managed, but only just, to parry the blow. She was momentarily thrown off balance, but recovered quickly and came at me again, as agile as a cat. The upraised blade of the long, sharp knife, which I had seen her using to skin rabbits in the Crossed Hands kitchen, glittered evilly in the darkness of the alley. Again, I parried its downward thrust, but in trying to side-step and avoid her next onslaught, I slipped on a piece of offal and went sprawling to the ground. Frantically, I struggled to regain my feet, but she was too swift for me, and out of the corner of my eye I saw her moving in for the kill. The hood had fallen back from her face and I could see it plainly, the lips drawn back from the broken teeth, the eyes glittering balefully, the nostrils flared, as though scenting blood. I had never before come across so evil a woman. And it looked as though it would be my first and last encounter. With a grunt of desperation, I rolled to one side, trying to avoid the knife.
I had no real hope of doing so. Almost in a dream, I watched the flash of its downward arc … Nothing happened. After what seemed an eternity, but was in fact only a few brief seconds, I opened my eyes; eyes which, like most people, I had shut in the face of certain death. I was suddenly conscious of a babel of female voices; shouts and imprecations, oaths and swear words which I had never heard before in my life. As I scrambled to my feet, I saw Matilda Ford struggling in the clutches of a group of whores, led by Susan, who, by dint of biting her wrist, had forced Matilda to drop the knife. As I stooped to retrieve it, there was the sound of rending cloth, and, a moment later the noise of running feet told me that my would-be murderess had escaped, leaving only her torn cloak behind.
‘Let her go!’ I said quickly. ‘And thank you all for saving my life.’
‘Cor!’ one of the girls exclaimed, her naked breasts heaving with exertion. ‘What a virago! Whatever made you marry her?’
I had temporarily forgotten my claim that I was being followed by my wife, but seized thankfully on the explanation. I must get to Baynard’s Castle as swiftly now as possible. I had no wish to institute a hue and cry.
‘Oh, you know how it is,’ I shrugged. ‘People change. And I dare say I’ve given her cause to be bitter. I must be on my way now. My — er — my mistress will be wondering what’s become of me. Thank you all again.’
I was sped on my way amid a chorus of ribald comments, the most innocuous of which was: ‘Give ‘er one for me!’ At the entrance to the alley, I paused to look carefully left and right, making sure that there was no sign of Matilda Ford, before turning to give my rescuers a farewell wave. Then, somewhat shaken, but still purposeful, I began walking rapidly in the direction of Baynard’s Castle.
The sentries on the gate refused to let me pass. They were agreed that both my lord of Gloucester and Duchess Cicely were within, but it was more than their jobs were worth to admit a stranger so near to curfew. This was the time of day the Duke relaxed and entertained his guests. It was also the hour, when staying with his mother, which he devoted to his children, Lady Katherine and the little Lord John.