‘Possibly.’
‘You do not sound convinced, Master Cleaton.’
‘I’m a lawyer and the only thing that convinces me is the weight of evidence. Yet what is your evidence here?’ he asked. ‘The word of a frightened girl with a grudge against Bridewell. Yes,’ he continued before Nicholas could object, ‘I accept that she has good reason to bear a grudge but put yourself in the position of the other women in the case. Dorothea refused to join in the merriment but my guess is that those harlots were only too ready to eat, drink and oblige the gentlemen. They are locked in a workhouse, remember. What would they prefer to do, Nicholas? Make ticking for feather beds or do the work that they know best by lying on those feather beds?’
Nicholas was forced to agree. When he called at the lawyer’s office to report on his conversations with the two men, he hoped that Cleaton would feel that definite progress had been made. All that Nicholas had actually done, however, was to satisfy himself that Dorothea’s descriptions of Beechcroft and Olgrave were accurate ones. It was one thing to jolt the former by asking if Hywel Rees might have swum back to Wales, but finding hard evidence that he was involved in the murder was quite another. Nicholas was frustrated. Slapping his thighs, he rose from his chair
‘They are corrupt men,’ he argued. ‘Others who used Bridewell for their own purposes were either dismissed or imprisoned. Can it not be so for them?’
‘Only if they are found out,’ said Cleaton. ‘In the past, wayward treasurers were caught when the account books were inspected. Beechcroft and Olgrave are too clever to be snared that way. Their accounts will be above reproach.’
‘Is there no way to get into Bridewell to verify the facts?’
‘Not without a warrant, Nicholas, and who would give us that?’
‘Dorothea has given me my warrant.’
‘I admire the sentiment, but deplore its lack of legality. Bridewell is a fortress. Inside that, Beechcroft and Olgrave are beyond our reach.’
‘Then we must lure them out.’
‘I think they’ll be more wary of Nicholas Bracewell in the future,’ said Cleaton. ‘Especially since you used the same trick as my clerk to extract information. The two men will have realised by now that you played false with them.’
‘To good purpose.’
‘Granted. But it will mean they’ll not be fooled again.’
‘Then I’ll have to work another way.’
‘If only I knew how, Nicholas. The problem with being a lawyer is that I am shackled by the law. I can only envisage legal ways of achieving my ends.’
‘Was it legal to ask your clerk to obtain addresses the way that he did?’
‘More or less,’ said Cleaton, happily. ‘We did not break the law so much as bend it slightly. In a sense, my clerk spoke the truth. Joseph Beechcroft and Ralph Olgrave were mentioned in a will. It was the unwritten testament of Hywel Rees, who bequeathed the pair of them his hatred.’
‘Then I’m the executor who must enforce the terms of that will.’
‘How do you propose to do that?’
‘By taking advice from Master Olgrave.’
‘What kind of advice?’
‘I’ll explain that in a moment,’ said Nicholas. ‘First, I must ask a favour of you.’
‘Is it within the bounds of the law?’
‘It could not be more so, Master Cleaton. It will appeal to a legal mind.’
Michael Grammaticus read the play with growing excitement. He was seated at the table in Hoode’s lodging so that he could turn over the sheets of parchment more easily. The author of A Way to Content All Women sat opposite him, observing his reactions and disappointed that no laughter came from his visitor. Grammaticus came to the last page and read it through with the same grim concentration.
‘Oh!’ he sighed, looking up. ‘It has come to a premature end.’
‘Did you like the play, Michael?’
‘I loved every word of it. You have written a small masterpiece.’
‘There was not even a hint of a smile in your face.’
‘Inwardly, I promise you, I was all mirth. The wit and humour flow so smoothly from your pen, Edmund. There is no sense of effort.’
‘There was when I tried to read the play myself,’ said Hoode. ‘I got up early and forced myself to do it, but I dozed off before the end of the first act.’
‘No spectator would ever do so. Every speech has a sparkle to it.’ Grammaticus shook his head. ‘I’m not sure that I can emulate that.’
‘I’ve told you Nick’s suggestion. Write two more scenes to complete Act Four, then we can judge how well you disguise yourself as Edmund Hoode.’
‘The next scene, as I take it, shows Vernon’s proposal to Maria?’
‘I think that’s what I intended.’
‘Then the act must surely end with the discovery of Will Lucifer in Rosalind’s bedchamber on the eve of her marriage to Timothy Gull.’ He tapped the parchment. ‘That’s the logical development of the comedy because it brings yet another round of misunderstandings. Is it not so, Edmund?’
Hoode scratched his head. ‘As far as I can recall.’
‘Think more upon it, if you will,’ said Grammaticus. ‘I’ll need all the help that you can give me. I’ll be an apt pupil, be assured of that.’ There was a knock on the front door. ‘You have another visitor, I think. I’ll leave you alone with him while I go to the market to buy you some more fruit. Doctor Zander insists that you eat it.’
‘You are too kind to me, Michael.’
‘I could never repay what you’ve done for me.’
He got up from the table and looked down covetously at the play again. Knuckles tapped softly on the door then Nicholas Bracewell came into the room. He exchanged warm greetings with the two playwrights. Grammaticus then excused himself and went on his way. Nicholas ran a careful eye over Hoode.
‘You look better than you have for weeks,’ he said.
‘I feel that the worst is over, Nick,’
‘That’s good to hear. We may not need Michael’s help with your new comedy, after all. You’ll soon be able to finish it yourself.’
‘Oh, I doubt that,’ said Hoode. ‘My mind is like a morass. When Michael talked just now of the characters in A Way to Content All Women, I could barely recall who they were. It was almost as if the play were not mine.’
‘It is, Edmund, and will always remain so.’
‘Michael has agreed to write the two scenes, as you advised. But he insists on doing so at his lodging, even though I’ll not let the play out of my sight. He says that he can only work at his own desk.’
‘You need to be at his elbow, to guide his pen in the right direction.’
‘That’s what I’d hoped to do,’ said Hoode. ‘I even offered to take the play to his lodging, if someone could be found to carry me there, but he’d not hear of it.’
‘Why was that?’
‘Michael is a very private person. His imagination only flowers when he’s alone.’
‘Where does he lodge?’
‘Somewhere in Cornhill, I believe.’
‘Not far away from here, then,’ said Nicholas. ‘We could easily transport you there with the play in your hand.’ A memory nudged him. ‘When I offered to go with Michael to fetch his copy of The Siege of Troy, he refused to let me go with him. Now, he keeps you away from his lodging. Is he ashamed of where he lives?’
‘That can hardly be so. There must be another reason.’
‘A mistress with whom he lives?’
Hoode laughed. ‘I think that we can absolve him of that sin, Nick.’
‘He’s shown great care for you, Edmund, and that earns him my admiration. He never fails to call. Who else has been here this morning?’ asked Nicholas. ‘I daresay that Owen was the first. What of Lawrence?’
‘He came and went in a towering rage, Nick. Your name was taken in vain.’
‘Was it?’
‘Lawrence said that you should have been there when the discovery was made.’
‘What discovery?’
‘Our wardrobe has been raided and our finest costumes stolen.’
Nicholas was shocked. ‘But they are locked securely in a room.’