Doctor Who_ The Roundheads - Mark Gatiss [7]
‘A grim day for it, eh?’
Pride looked straight ahead, his mouth set into a thin, determined line.
‘If the sun were to shine as summer, this day would be grim enough, My Lord.’
His shaky voice betrayed his emotion and he cleared his throat rapidly in an effort to hide it. ‘Never did I think to find myself in such a position.’
He fixed Grey with his milky eyes. ‘Do you have the list?’
Grey nodded and passed him two sheets of rolled parchment. Pride scanned the names that had been carefully inscribed on them. Snowflakes fell and began to seep into the paper, blurring the names until they seemed written in black blood.
Sighing, Grey wrung his gloved hands. ‘To face down a tyrant king is one thing,’ he lamented. ‘But now to vilify the very men who helped in his defeat...’
He trailed off miserably.
Pride rolled up the parchment and tapped Grey on the shoulder.
‘We must be resolute, My Lord. This discredited Parliament must go. It must be purged. Else all our labours, all our... sacrifices, have been in vain.’
Grey’s head snapped up as three men approached. One was very plainly dressed, wearing a black jerkin, breeches and stockings beneath a brown cloak; the others were rather more splendidly attired, their long, curly hair falling on to lacy collars, the sleeves of their richly coloured coats slashed to reveal the shirts beneath. Both wore large hats with gorgeous, ostrich-feather plumes projecting from the brim, although the heavy snow had rather dampened the effect.
‘Look sharp, Colonel,’ announced Grey curtly. ‘Here comes the first of ’em.’
One of the men, stroking his chestnut-coloured beard with one hand and holding his other hand on his hip, approached, his jaw dropping open as he caught sight of the soldiers, three ranks deep.
Pride held up his hand before the astonished man’s face.
‘By your leave, sir, return to your home. You shall not pass today.’
The man turned to his colleagues as if seeking confirmation that he had heard right.
‘Do you know to whom you speak, sir?’ he managed at last. ‘We are Parliament’s elected representatives. On whose authority do you deny us access?’
Pride pulled himself up to his full, imposing height. ‘In the name of God and the Army, sir, You have forfeited your right to represent the people of England.’
‘Forfeited our right!’ spluttered the newcomer. ‘This is an outrage!’
Grey stepped forward out of the shadow of St Stephen.
‘No doubt,’ he muttered in a quiet, dangerous whisper. ‘But you will do as the colonel says.’
The second of the men cocked an eyebrow. ‘Grey? Is that you? ‘Sblood! What goes on here?’
Grey’s noble face twisted into a sneer. ‘Would you insult us with your feigned ignorance?’ he spat. ‘We have waged a war against Charles Stuart, King of England. A war that has cost us dear. Yet now you would make a dishonourable peace with this wicked man. How can you claim to represent-the people?’
With a snarl, he grabbed the parchment from Pride’s hand, found the members’ names, and scored them out with a thick piece of charcoal. Then he turned back, his blue eyes glittering with rage. ‘Get ye gone!’
The Doctor managed to find an orange-seller sheltering under the entrance to the World Turn’d Upside Down and bought four rather splendid specimens from her. After some time spent fiddling with the extraordinary amount of junk inside his capacious pockets, he finally found a fat leather purse of coins which appeared to be of the correct period. The orange-seller thanked him and tapped the brim of her snow-covered hat before scuttling away.
The Doctor tossed an orange to each of his companions in turn and dug his thumb into the thick peel of his own.
‘It’s a bit complicated, I’ll admit,’ he said, squeezing the soft flesh of the fruit and jamming a segment into his mouth.
‘Didn’t you study this period of your history at school? I seem to remember Susan was very keen on it.’
Jamie looked up from contemplating his orange. ‘Who’s Susan?’
But the Doctor did not seem to have heard him.
Ben bit into his orange and juice sprayed out all over his hands and