‘No,’ affirmed Wegges. ‘I love my wife too much to need the one and guard my purse too carefully to fall victim to the other. My folly was of another kind.’
‘Tell me what it is and it will go no further than here.’
‘It already has, Nick. Others were there when it happened.’
‘Members of the company?’
‘Owen Elias, for one. And Frank Quilter. They witnessed my misfortune.’
‘Misfortune?’
‘That’s what it was, alas. The first time I went there, I won handsomely and that encouraged me to go back, only to lose all that I had gained and more besides.’
Nicholas understood. ‘So you have been gambling. Dice or cards?’
‘Cards. I had such a run of luck.’
‘It always ends, Hugh. Where did the game take place?’
‘Why, here at the Queen’s Head.’
‘But our landlord hates gambling. He says that it attracts the wrong custom. In any case, he does not have a licence to turn this inn into a gaming house. Nor would he ever seek one from the Groom-Porter’s office.’
‘It may have been so with our old landlord,’ said Wegges, ‘but our new one is more tolerant. He’s rented a room to one Philomen Lavery, who sits behind a table and plays cards all night. I am not the only one to lose to him.’
‘No,’ said Nicholas, thinking of Nathan Curtis, ‘and my worry is that you’ll not be the last. How many more will come in search of their wages ahead of time? I’ll not hand out money so that it can be thrown away at the card table again.’
‘I swear that I’ll not go near the fellow again, Nick.’
‘How do I know that?’
Wegges put a hand to his chest. ‘I give you my word of honour.’
‘Then I’ll hold you to it. Think of your family.’
‘I did,’ said Wegges. ‘I sought to improve their lot by winning some money.’
‘We are all prey to such temptation, Hugh, but it must be resisted. Did it not occur to you that, if this Philomen Lavery plays cards every night, he might be a more skilful practitioner than you? Such men make their living by deceiving gulls.’
Wegges was dejected. ‘I own that I’m one of them. The more I lost, the more I played on in the hope of regaining those losses. It was a madness that drove me on. I’ve no excuse and you’ve every right to turn me away.’ He gave a hopeless shrug. ‘But I do need that money or I shall have to borrow elsewhere.’
‘There’s no call for that,’ said Nicholas. ‘If you were led astray at the card table, do not add to your woes by seeking out a moneylender. They charge such high rates of interest that you’ll require an eternity to pay them off. You shall have your wages.’
‘A thousand thanks!’ Wegges embraced him. ‘My pain is eased. I knew that I could count on you, Nick.’
‘Try to remember that your wife and family count on you.’
‘That thought is ever in my mind.’
‘As for this card player, I’ll mention him to Adam Crowmere. If there’s cozenage taking place under his roof, our new landlord will not be pleased. He’ll want this Philomen Lavery to ply his trade elsewhere.’
‘Oh, I think not.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘It was Adam Crowmere who first enticed me into the game.’
Edmund Hoode did not know whether to be pleased or alarmed when his landlady showed in his latest visitor. Margery Firethorn seemed to fill the room, less with her physical presence than with her voice and personality. As soon as she saw the playwright, sitting up in bed with a glazed look in his eye, she swooped on him to embrace him warmly and to place a kiss on each of his pallid cheeks. Fond as he was of her, and grateful when anyone came to enquire after his health, Hoode was also rather frightened. Against her gushing affection, he was quite defenceless. He also feared her abrasive honesty.
‘You are no Edmund Hoode,’ she accused, standing back to appraise him. ‘You are mere shadow of the man I know and love. Why do you dare to counterfeit him?’
‘It is me, Margery,’ he said, faintly. ‘I do assure you of that.’
She looked closer. ‘Heavens! I do believe it is my Edmund.’ She shook her head in disbelief. ‘You have shrunk to this?’
‘For my sins.’
‘What sins?’ she snorted. ‘I’ve never met a less sinful man than you. I’ve always held that you are too good for this world. If virtue brought any reward, you would be the healthiest man in London.’
‘I feel as if I am the sickest.’
‘Looks do not lie. When we buried him last month, my uncle was in far better condition than you. It is almost as if you are wasting away before my eyes. Yet Lawrence told me you were improving.’
‘Slowly,’ said Hoode. ‘Very slowly.’
‘Too slow for my liking. Are you in any kind of pain?’
‘No, Margery.’
‘Can you pass water? Empty your bowels?’
‘From time to time.’
She felt his forehead. ‘There’s no fever,’ she pronounced. ‘That is good but your head is as cold as stone, Edmund, and you lack any colour. Are you able to sleep?’
‘I can do little else,’ he wailed. ‘That’s what vexes me. I am as weak as a kitten.’
‘Kittens are playful. You have no spark of life in you.’
‘Doctor Zander is sure that I will recover in time.’
‘Lawrence tells me that the doctor does not even know what is wrong with you.’
‘He cannot put a name to the malady, it is true,’ admitted Hoode, ‘but he brought a colleague with him yesterday, a Doctor Rime, older and more learned. He has seen the disease before and commended a herbal remedy. I started on it this morning.’
‘It has made no visible difference,’ she observed.
‘I feel better, Margery, that’s the main thing. The fog has cleared slightly.’
‘Fog? What are you talking about? The sun is shining brightly today.’
‘Not inside my head,’ he explained. ‘My mind has been shrouded in mist for days. I could neither reason nor remember. I feared I would sink into idiocy.’
‘Perish the thought! Your imagination is your greatest asset.’
‘Until today, that imagination had deserted me, Margery.’
‘No wonder you were afraid,’ she said, perching on the edge of the bed and taking his hand between her palms. ‘You poor thing! It must have been an agony for you. What can I do to comfort you, Edmund? Shall I fetch food or water?’
‘Neither, neither. Your presence is a comfort in itself.’
Hoode had finally come round to the view that she was, after all, welcome. Margery Firethorn was a formidable woman when roused and he had always taken great care not to provoke her scorn or anger. As a result, they had become firm friends. In one sense, her forthrightness was a blessing. She was a clear mirror in which he could view himself. Others, out of sympathy, pretended to notice signs of progress that were not really there. Through Margery’s keen eyes, he saw himself as he really was.
For her part, compassion was now oozing out of Margery. She gazed down at him as if he were one of her own children, fighting a mysterious illness and needing a mother’s love and support. Hoode felt cared for and reassured.
‘Is your landlady looking after you?’ she asked.
‘Very well. She and her daughter have been angels of mercy.’
‘They’ll answer to me if they let you down, Edmund.’
‘It’s I who have let them down,’ he confessed, sadly. ‘All that my rent buys me is the use of this lodging yet they have treated me like one of the family. Their tenderness has been a solace to me. I said as much to Adele when she brought my breakfast.’
‘Adele? Is that the daughter?’
‘Yes.’
‘I think she would be a solace to any man,’ said Margery with a grin. ‘I begin to see why Lawrence has been such a regular caller here. He comes to feast his eyes on her as well as to see you. Adele is a girl of rare beauty. If she does not make your heart lift up, then you are truly stricken.’
‘Oh, I know, I know!’
‘Apart from my husband, who else has been to see you?’