‘The Magister is suffering from a pain in his back,’ Josse informed her.
‘Then he must have my chair.’ She got up and held out her hand to John Dee. With a graceful bow, he accepted her offer.
She went to stand beside Josse. ‘Is all well?’ she asked softly; he looked — different, somehow, and she was concerned for him.
‘Aye,’ he replied. Then he told her all that had happened since he left her.
When he had finished she said, ‘So we were wrong all along, and Galbertius Sidonius was not the Lombard.’
‘No,’ Josse said.
Then — she could not prevent herself — she said, ‘May I see the Eye?’
He opened his right hand and held it out to her.
She took it in her left hand. Immediately she felt as if some tiny creature were tickling her palm. It was not an unpleasant sensation but, nevertheless, she was wary. She handed the stone back to Josse.
Dee, watching, said, ‘Did you feel the power, my lady?’
‘I — er, I felt a sort of tingle,’ she admitted.
‘Ah.’ Dee glanced at Josse.
There was a tap on the door, and Yves came in. He, too, was shown the Eye, and Josse told him of the meeting with the man who was Galbertius Sidonius.
‘But he can’t be,’ Yves protested, just as Josse had done earlier.
‘He is,’ Josse insisted. ‘You must have misheard the servant lad, Yves, because when he muttered about Galbertius Sidonius, he wasn’t referring to his master.’
Yves was shaking his head, clearly disturbed at having what he had believed a certainty prove to be no such thing. ‘You have my sincere apologies,’ he kept saying, ‘I have misled you all.’
Helewise felt very sorry for him. ‘Perhaps,’ she said gently, ‘he and his master the Lombard had reason to know the name of Galbertius Sidonius. Perhaps they knew about the Guardians, knew that they were being pursued, and the lad, at least, was afraid. Would that tally with what you overheard?’
Yves, his brows drawn down into a scowl of fierce concentration, thought for a moment. Then: ‘Aye. He was saying something about keeping out of Galbertius’s way.’ As enlightenment dawned, he exclaimed, ‘Of course! He meant they both had to avoid the man, him and the Lombard! Oh, how foolish I have been!’
‘No, no,’ Josse protested, then, undermining his protest, ‘Well, anyway, no harm done.’
Helewise gave Yves a smile. ‘Do not upset yourself,’ she said quietly, just to him. ‘It makes no difference, in the end.’
But Yves, muttering under his breath, did not seem to be able to forgive himself so easily.
Josse was addressing John Dee, sitting regally in Helewise’s tall chair. He said, ‘Magister, why were you and the Prince looking for a man by the name of Galbertius Sidonius? Did you not realise that he was the Guardian, not the man who possessed the Eye?’
Dee gave a deep sigh. ‘The name came to me,’ he said. ‘I knew that it was important — its revelation was accompanied by certain unmistakable signs. There was the question of the man’s great age.’
‘He is not all that old,’ Josse said.
‘I realise that. I think that what I was perceiving was the vast antiquity of the Guardian tradition.’
Helewise could not contain herself any longer. She said, more abruptly that she had intended, ‘But surely you do not believe this fable, of a magical sapphire given by King Cyrus to the people of Judah! How can it possibly be true?’
As three pairs of eyes turned to her, two of them incredulous, one pair strangely knowing — almost, she thought, compassionate in their understanding — Josse said, ‘Abbess Helewise! Of course we believe it!’
In the face of that sort of conviction it was, she decided, better to withdraw. Bowing briefly, she said, ‘I see.’
Josse, still looking as if he had taken her remark as a personal affront, said rather stiffly, ‘The Magister is in pain, as I said, my lady. With your leave, I will take him to Sister Tiphaine and ask her to supply and administer some of her special rub.’
‘Of course.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Yves said hurriedly.
She returned their courteous bows as they filed out of the room, John Dee between them.
It seemed, she thought as she listened to their receding footsteps, that her remark had ruined their happy mood of fascinated enchantment.
But the tale cannot be true! she told herself. How could anybody know, after all this time, where that wretched sapphire came from, what its history was? If they chose to swallow the story without one single question, well, that was their choice.
She was quite determined she wasn’t going to.
With a slightly injured sniff — oh, dear, Josse really had seemed cross with her — she returned to her books.
20
Darkness was falling when Josse came back again.
Helewise had left her room to attend Vespers but, having no appetite, had decided not to partake of the last meal. She was sitting at her table, half-listening out for the summons to Compline and, afterwards, to bed, when she heard him approach along the cloister.
He would never, she thought, smiling, manage to surprise her there in her room.
She called out, ‘Come in, Sir Josse,’ just at the instant when his knuckles knocked on the door.
He did so. Then, without preamble, he said, ‘Abbess Helewise, I am sorry if I was impolite earlier. I have thought about what you said and, of course, you are right. I have, I believe, allowed myself to be carried away by these tales of magic and sorcery, and what small amounts I possess of sense and logic have been quite absent.’
It sounded, she thought, like a prepared speech. Then he said, ‘Phew! It’s a relief to have said all that!’ which seemed to confirm it.
She smiled, full of affection for him. ‘There is no need of an apology. John Dee is a compelling man, I agree. And you have also had a long conversation with Galbertius Sidonius who, I imagine, is something of a living legend. What a life he must have had.’
‘Aye. He seemed to be almost inhuman.’ Josse frowned as he tried to explain. ‘It was as if he was no longer any more than the job he was born to do. As if the decent parts of him had eroded away, leaving only the burning desire to carry out his purpose of guarding the Eye.’
‘I suppose such single-mindedness must have come about gradually, down through the generations,’ she mused. ‘For all we know, growing in intensity with each step from father to son. If, that is,’ she added hastily, ‘we are to give any credence to the tale.’
‘Aye.’ He sighed, and, looking at him, she saw that he seemed desperately tired.
‘Why not go to bed?’ she suggested gently. ‘You have had a demanding day.’
‘Aye, I have that.’ He rubbed his hands over his face. ‘I want to speak to Saul and Augustus, too, so I ought to head off down into the Vale. I would tell the brothers all that has happened, Abbess Helewise, with your permission?’
‘Of course.’
Josse grinned suddenly. ‘I was just thinking about when I first asked the monks and the lay brothers if they recalled anything that might help us identify that first body, the one that the little lass discovered.’
‘And?’
‘Brother Micah spoke of a figure all in black creeping about the Vale. We didn’t take him seriously, especially since he said he’d heard this saturnine figure, which, as Brother Erse pointed out, is impossible. But in fact he might have been right — Sidonius wore black, or at least very dark colours, so maybe Brother Micah did see him after all.’
‘Indeed.’ It was something she preferred not to dwell on; the thought of a professional killer stalking the innocent monks and pilgrims in the Vale was just too dreadful.
Josse came closer, leaning his weight on his hands, placed on her table. ‘My lady, I have come to ask a great favour,’ he said. ‘I fully expect you to refuse, so don’t worry if you have to.’