The Merry Devils

*

Nell was pleased to see him again. Of all her regular clients, Ralph Willoughby was the most generous and the most likeable. His departures were sometimes abrupt but they usually enjoyed themselves together. When Nell came into the taproom of the Bull and Butcher that night, she saw Willoughby through the thick fog. Drink in hand and dressed with his customary extravagance, he was singing a bawdy ballad to his companions. Seeing her amble over to him, he put an arm around her and welcomed her with a warm kiss.

'Nell, my heart's delight!' he said effusively.

Away with that talk, you traitor,' she teased. I have been lying in a cold bed since you left me, sir. I have not seen hide nor hair of you for five or six nights.'

'That is all changed, Nell.'

'I think you have another sweetheart.'

"Oh, I do! She is called The Witch of Oxford and she has kept me groaning with pleasure at night. I have been bent over her until now but her hold on me is at an end. She went off to Banbury today so I am a free man again. That is why I came post haste to you, Nell.'

'Will you stay the night?' she coaxed.

'No.'

'You scurvy rogue! Am I not good enough for you any longer?'

'Shall I tell you why I will not stay the night?'

'Go back to your witch of Oxford!'

'But you may like my reason,' he said, 'I will not stay the night because I intend to stay the whole week.'

Nell let out a roar of approval and flung herself at him.

*

Bedlam was vibrating with noise. The public came to see the lunatics at play and egged them on to wilder antics. There was trouble in a private cell from an old man who tried to hang himself. Another patient attempted to escape and had to be restrained. It was a day when Rooksley was under immense pressure and he did not welcome casual visitors.

I am sorry but I may not speak with you now,' he told them.

'Stay awhile, sir,' said the younger of the two men.

'Bedlam has gone mad and I must doctor its madness.

'That is my interest," said the older man.

Nicholas Bracewell had brought Grace Napier and Doctor John Mordrake with him to the hospital. Her love for David Jordan had been proved beyond a doubt. No matter how sad or wretched his condition, she wished to dedicate herself to his care. While she was excited at the prospect of a reunion, therefore, she was also fearful. To be locked away in Bedlam would turn a sane man into a lunatic. She wondered what state her beloved would now be in.

'We have come to see Master David Jordan,' said Nicholas.

'Who, sir?' Rooksley was uncooperative.

'You heard the name.'

'I hear it but I do not recognise it,' said the keeper. 'We have nobody of that name here, sir, and I am acquainted with them all. I can tell you their date of birth, the colour of their hair and eyes, what food they eat each day and at what time of the morning they are like to pass water. I know everything in Bedlam, sir, but I do know a Master Jordan.'

Grace Napier looked crushed but Nicholas did not give up.

'He must be here,' he insisted. 'Lord Westfield would not let a nephew of his rot away in a county asylum. This is the only place to which he would commit the young man.' He indicated the others. 'You do not know what distinguished company you ate in, sir. This is Mistress Napier, who is affianced to Master Jordan, and beside her is Doctor John Mordrake, sometime astrologer to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.'

Rooksley was impressed. Mordrake's name was known to everyone.

'Come, sir,' said Nicholas briskly. 'You are busy, we can see. Do but have someone conduct us to Master Jordan and we will trouble you no longer. Do I have to go back to Lord Westfield himself to get a written permission from him?'

The head keeper pondered. The clamour of madness intensified. Nicholas helped him to reach a decision by slipping some coins into his hand. Rooksley pocketed them and nodded.

'That will buy you five minutes with him.'

He went off for a moment and Grace turned to thank Nicholas.

'You are wonderful, sir. I thought of Bedlam and sent my brother here to enquire but he did not get past the door. They told him the lies that we have just heard.'

'Nobody should be in this place,' said Mordrake, looking around with scholarly disgust. 'The insane need special care.'

Rooksley returned with Kirk and handed the keeper a bunch of keys. Kirk led the visitors down a long corridor then swung right. Grace Napier was increasingly tense and Nicholas understood how difficult this moment might be for her. The man whom she loved had parted from her in prime health. What she would now see would be a grotesque shell of that same person.

Kirk was interested that his friend had visitors.

'Have you come from Parkbrook House?' he asked.

'Indirectly, sir.'

'David is a good young man. We have no trouble from him.

'What state is he in, sir?' asked Mordrake.

'His brain is addled and he has the sleeping sickness.'

'Ah yes,' sighed the old man. 'That often follows if a violent blow damages the mind. Memory will go and the patient will lapse back into childhood.

'Who committed him, sir?' asked Nicholas. 'Do you know that?'

'His physician, master. I have seen the records. One Francis Jordan pays the charges to keep him here but he was delivered to Bedlam by another hand.'

'What was the name?'

'Joseph Glanville.'

Nicholas reacted with interest but his companions did not even hear the keeper. They were peering eagerly through the grille of the door outside which Kirk stopped. Inside the chamber, sitting motionless with his back to them, was the young man in the now ragged white shirt and dark breeches. He was staring up at the window and humming quietly to himself.'

As the door was unlocked, Grace Napier could hardly contain her emotions. A long and painful journey had at last come to an end. She had found the man she loved.

Kirk had to hold her back as she tried to lunge in.

'Do not touch him,' he warned. 'Stay by me.'

He let them step into the room then spoke to the patient.

'Hello, my friend.'

The young man stirred as if waking from a deep sleep.

'You have visitors.'

He looked at the wall ahead of him in search of them.

The tension was now agonising. Grace was biting her lip and shaking so much that she seemed to be on the verge of collapse. Nicholas supported her with one hand but kept his attention on the young man, anxious to meet the person who had indirectly caused such trouble for Westfield's Men. Mordrake was there in his professional capacity as a physician to see if the patient was beyond hope or if there was some way that he could recover his wits.

'Come, sir,' said Kirk. 'Welcome your friends.'

'David,' whispered Grace. 'It's me.'

Mention of his name made the young man turn round. His face became a childlike beam when he saw Grace Napier but her expression changed at once. Pain and disappointment overwhelmed her.