The Queen's Head

Without quite knowing why, Nicholas Bracewell felt that he had just made an important discovery.

He walked away with growing excitement.

(*)Chapter Twelve

Firmness of purpose had always been Margery Firethorn's hallmark. When she committed herself to a course of action, she held to it with single-minded determination. Her husband did everything in his power to coax and soften her but his most cunning wiles yielded no fruit. He was treated with such cold disdain, then lashed with such a hot tongue, that his domestic life seemed to consist entirely of fire and ice. Margery would not relent until he confessed the truth to her and there was no way that he could bring himself to do that. Stalemate therefore prevailed at the house in Shoreditch.

'Good morning to you, my angel.'

'Be silent, sir.'

'Leave off these jests, Margery. Let us be friends.' Is that your desire?'

Nothing would please me more, my love.'

Then satisfy my wishes, Lawrence.'

'I prostrate myself before you.'

'Who is she?'

He lapsed into his usual silence and she clambered out of the four-poster to carry her bitterness through a new day. There had been a time when Martin Yeo, John Tallis and Stephen Judd had crept along at night to the bedchamber of their host, and sniggered together in the dark as they heard the rhythmical thump of the mattress within. Such nocturnal bliss was a thing of the past for the couple--and for the apprentices--and Firethorn knew that he would need an armed escort and a pack of dogs if were ever to mount his wife in her present mood. Only the thought of Lady Rosamund Varley sustained him.

Estranged from her husband, Margery dedicated her energies to running the household. She tackled her chores more eagerly, nurtured her children more lovingly, upbraided the servants more often, and kept the apprentices under even closer surveillance.

'How is that ankle now, Dick?'

'I am recovered, mistress.'

'There is no more pain?'

'Not from my foot,' said Richard Honeydew. 'But I still hurt when I think of what I missed at The Curtain.'

'It was an act of God.'

'My accident?'

'A perfect case of divine intervention, I warrant.'

'To what end, mistress?' he asked. 'Was God so displeased with my performance as Gloriana that he prevented it?'

'No, child. He wished to bring something to my attention.' . 'What was it?'

'A trifling piece of jewellery.'

They were in the garden and Margery was gathering up herbs to put into a stone pot. The autumnal sky was overcast with dark clouds weighting down the heavens. Margery took some fennel between her fingers and crushed it to sniff its aroma. She moved on in search of other herbs, speaking over her shoulder as she did so.

'Do you have anything to report to me?'

'About what, mistress?'

'Those three rascals. Have they been up to their tricks?'

'No.'

'Do not be afraid to tell me, Dick. They will not harm you.

'There is nothing to tell.'

It was true. The others now left him alone. Martin Yeo felt he had reaffirmed his position with Gloriana Triumphant, Stephen Judd had withdrawn, and John Tallis, the lantern-jawed juvenile, had neither the wit nor the bravado to act without the support or his comates. They still did not befriend Richard but the persecution had ceased.

'They are jealous of you,' said Margery.

'I have done so little compared with them.'

'You will do so much more in time,' she prophesied. 'That is what they fear. Your talent.' She turned round to face him. 'Do you have ambitions, Dick?'

'Yes, mistress.'

'What are they?'

'To be a good actor.'

'Not a great one?'

'I could never be as great as Master Firethorn,' he said with humility' not noticing the way that her expression froze at the mention of her husband. 'But I can study to be good. My other ambition is to play at court.'

'That opportunity may not be too far away, Dick.'

'Nothing could compare with that!' he announced with joyful sincerity. 'I was cheated out of my chance to play the role of Her Majesty. I could ask for no greater recompense than to act before her. That is ambition enough for anyone!'

His young face glowed with innocent hope.

*

Anne Hendrik was grateful for his company at Southwark Market. Not only was Nicholas able to carry what she bought from the stalls, his muscular presence cleared a path through the crowd and spared her the attentions of many undesirables. She was always happy to be in public with him, and felt that their friendship took on a new meaning when they engaged in simple chores together. Anne examined some fruit with a knowing eye, but her mind was on other matters.

'It is a blessing that the child was safely delivered,' she said. 'I reared that she might miscarry'

'Because of the shock of Will's death?'

'Less tragedies have altered the course of nature.'

'Not in Susan's case, thank God,' he said with a smile.

'No, mother and daughter are both well.'

Nicholas sighed. 'The pity of it is that Will Fowler never lived to see his bonny child.'

A letter had arrived from St Albans the previous day to tell them of the birth of a daughter to Susan Fowler. Since neither she nor her parents could write, the missive had been penned by the parish priest. Nicholas and Anne had been delighted to hear the news but they were puzzled by one item in the letter. Susan Fowler had thanked them for a gift of a crib.

'We sent no crib,' said Anne. 'Why did she think we did?'

'It must have been left for her to find,' he suggested. 'A secret offering with the sender unnamed. We should feel flattered that she thought of us, Anne. Susan must believe us capable of such kindness.'

'If only we had been. I will send another present for the child It has many needs, I am sure, and few enough of us to care.'

She bought some apples, pears and plums and put them in the already overflowing basket that Nicholas was holding. It was time to head back. As they turned their steps towards home, Anne Hendrik tucked herself in beside him and puzzled over something.

'Nick...'

'Yes?'

'If we did not send that gift--then who did?'

It was a problem which exercised them all the way back.

Because they had set out so early, it was still well before eight when they reached the house. Nicholas took the basket inside and helped her to unload it, then he had a frugal breakfast before going out again. His working day would be another long one.

Taking a boat across the river, he alighted on the north bank and struck off towards Gracechurch Street. There was a Performance at The Queen's Head that afternoon and they were clue to rehearse Marriage and Mischief--a seasoned comedy from their repertoire--until noon. Barnaby Gill would take the central role of a jealous husband who is driven into a demonic rage by the apparent infidelity of his wife. Stephen Judd was cast as his spouse.

In view of what he had seen them doing in the tiring-house, Nicholas felt that the drama would have extra piquancy for him. The actor and the apprentice would act out intimacies in public which would be abhorrent in private. The audience who would laugh and mock the old husband's plight would have no inkling of the poignancy that lay behind it.

Nicholas was still meditating on the layered irony of the situation when something claimed his attention with a stunning immediacy. Benjamin Creech was standing in a shop doorway near the inn, deep in conversation with a tall, hulking man.

It was Redbeard.

'Hold the villain!'

The shout burst from his lips as he broke into a run. 'Stop him!'

Alerted by the yells, Redbeard looked up to see Nicholas tearing wards him. He reacted swiftly, spinning on his heel and haring off towards Fenchurch Street in a wild panic. Shoppers were scattered, vendors knocked aside, stalls overturned, and dogs sent howling as the tall figure charged recklessly on through the press.