Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd [461]
And so Edward blushed with pleasure when the great man smiled warmly at him and said:
“Master Shockley, I have heard of you: the one man in Salisbury who is ready to defend it when war comes.”
One of the guests had told Edward that the earl was a student of heraldry. But when, thinking to please him, Edward mentioned that he admired the fine new coat of arms of his friends the Forests, he was puzzled when Pembroke burst out into laughter. He did not discover why.
But the day had been a delightful interlude.
Or was that all it was?
It seemed to Edward Shockley, as he and Giles Forest rode back to Salisbury together that the young man was going more slowly than necessary. He appeared reluctant to let Shockley go. Dusk was falling.
And suddenly it occurred to him that there was another possible reason for young Forest’s invitation to him that day: it kept him away from his own house.
He looked at the young man thoughtfully. Could he really be intriguing with his father in such a way – while Thomas Forest spent time with his wife? With a Forest, he decided, anything was possible. Bidding Giles an abrupt farewell, be cantered away towards the town, before the surprised young man could stop him.
It was dark when he reached the street. He paused at the corner. The street was empty. And then, as he walked, the door of his house opened, and a single figure – he was sure it was the same he had seen before – slipped out of the shadows and entered.
He dismounted and stole forward. The house seemed quiet. Softly he moved through the little archway beside it that led to a courtyard behind. There was a back staircase. He mounted carefully and a few moments later he was on the upper floor of his house. Whatever his wife and Forest were doing, he would soon know.
There was a light in the bed chamber. He moved to the door.
But to his surprise it was empty. He thought now that he would hear muffled voices in the hall below, and was about to descend the stairs when he noticed that in the chamber his wife’s chest was open. Curious, he crept across the room and looked in it.
It was half empty. The bags of money she kept there had all gone. But as he gazed down in surprise, something else caught his eye. It was a letter, left carelessly in the empty space where the money had been.
At first he could not believe it; yet as he looked at the small scrap of paper there could be no possible doubt.
He did not know what it was that he thought it might be; but certainly not this.
At first, as he gazed at it he felt horror. Then, naturally, rage. For a moment he felt fear as well. What if some other hand than his had found the letter?
Rest assured, your gifts are well received. And when she, the heretic, who now sits on the throne is removed, and the true faith restored, the good faith, lady, of you and your brother shall have its reward, just as now you are storing up treasures in heaven.
As to the royal Jezebel, we may hope ere long to hear good news concerning her.
Now he understood. Treason. The Jesuits have got at her, he thought. At his wife and his brother.
He felt himself grow cold. His wife had betrayed him. Worse even than that, she was clearly aiding with money the Catholic supporters of Spain – the very people who would wreck everything he believed in.
He thought of her quiet, submissive ways, of the years they had spent, he supposed, contentedly together. He remembered his own, long, deception of her. Now it was she who had lied.
He had almost forgotten the visitor. Quietly now, still holding the letter, he moved back to the head of the stairs.
They were standing by the door now: a tall, elderly man, of similar build but otherwise not in the least like Forest. He was wrapping himself round