Doctor Who_ The Roundheads - Mark Gatiss [35]
Jamie cleared his throat, aware that any answers he might give could have – historical repercussions. ‘You must look to your own... conscience, Oliver Cromwell. And seek the counsel of the Lord.’
The Doctor smiled and whispered, ‘Very good.’
Cromwell did not react for a moment, then his ruddy face broke into a broad smile. ‘Good. Good!’ he said happily. ‘I would talk more with this remarkable pair, John. Let them be given quarter here until I need to consult them again.’
He rose and bowed to the Doctor and Jamie, then clamped his hand over his backside, grunting with the pain from his boil.
Muttering to himself, he stomped out of the chamber.
Thurloe clicked his fingers and a young secretary came running inside. With a suspicious glance at the time travellers, he whispered in the secretary’s ear and then turned to the Doctor and Jamie.
‘Very well, then. You shall be quartered here until the general decides to see you again. I hope we can make you comfortable.’ He gave a short, incredulous laugh and strode out, his cloak trailing behind him.
Jamie stuck out his tongue at Thurloe’s back and noticed that the secretary was already leading the Doctor away. He raced after them into a long, dark, panelled corridor which led into another much smaller apartment.
As the secretary opened the door, the Doctor moved to let him pass and there was a minor collision.
The Doctor apologised profusely but the secretary told him to think nothing of it. He ushered them inside.
The room was plainly and functionally furnished with two beds, a dresser, and a long mirror on a stand.
The secretary bowed and exited. As soon as they were alone, Jamie jumped on to the bed and lay down, sighing with contentment. The Doctor made straight for the door and tried the heavy iron handle.
He turned to Jamie and frowned. ‘It’s locked.’
Richard Cromwell was making his way down the corridor the Doctor and Jamie had just passed through. He gazed absently at the paintings that hung from the panelled walls, though they held no interest for him. The battle of this, the siege of that. It was all so tiresome. He couldn’t understand what his father saw in it.
He yawned. Perhaps he would go outside and see the snow. Yes, that would be splendid. A walk in the gardens and then dinner.
Suddenly happy, Richard walked on. As he passed the door to the Doctor and Jamie’s room, he pulled up sharply.
There was something lying on the floor, a smooth, rectangular shape with a picture on it. It looked like a book, but Richard had never seen such a book before.
He bent down on one knee and gingerly picked up Every Boy’s Book of the English Civil Wars.
CHAPTER 4
The small man with the huge brown eyes ate the last of his breakfast and pushed the china plate away from him. He dabbed at the comers of his mouth with a richly brocaded handkerchief, wiping away the traces of the plain and not very pleasant meal.
Water would be good now, he thought. Perhaps he should call for some.
He lifted his hand and then, with a small, sad cluck in his throat, dropped it heavily to his lap. How easy it was to forget.
There were no servants around him now. No one to anticipate his every whim. No one to execute his orders.
Execute.
The word seemed to ring around his mind like the echo of a sharp knife against a flint wheel. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
King Charles was not used to such treatment. From birth, he had been pampered and indulged, both by his father, the slovenly James, and his elder brother, Prince Henry. Then, after Henry’s unexpected death, the beloved and wonderful Duke of Buckingham had taken the underdeveloped, rather sombre Charles and groomed him for the throne.
Thus it was he who had taken on the burden of ruling the kingdom, as fairly, he judged, as his father or any monarch before him.
For many years his had seemed a perfect state. His marriage to the Queen, Henrietta Maria, was, after a difficult start, solid and loving. He had wonderful children and perhaps the most elegant and sophisticated court in Europe. The country was prosperous