The Tudor Secret - C. W. Gortner [101]
“I had no reason to doubt.” Barnaby spread his big hands. “Cecil wanted me to watch over the king and report anything unusual. He didn’t know the duke would dismiss me from service. I kept watch all the same, though, especially after I discovered Northumberland had also dismissed all of Edward’s physicians.”
I found it suddenly difficult to draw breath.
Barnaby went on, his voice edging with suspicion. “You’re acting like you don’t know any of this. But you work for Cecil. When you helped Her Grace, it was by his orders. That’s what Peregrine told me. It’s why I agreed to help you.”
I made myself move from the window. I felt cold, numb. “Half-truths and omissions,” I breathed, “that’s how he functions.” I looked up. “He knew everything, all the time.”
Barnaby stared. “Who?”
“Cecil. He knew everything that was happening to Edward.”
“He knew what the Dudleys were doing?”
“I think so.” Implacable fury rose in me. “Without Edward to protect him, Cecil stood alone. If the duke succeeded in his own plots, he wouldn’t survive. He knew too much, and Northumberland had grown too powerful. Even if a lone assassin could do the deed, there were still the duke’s sons and his wife to contend with. That’s why Cecil had to do more than just bring down Northumberland. He had to destroy the entire Dudley family.”
I drew a shuddering breath. “I just never saw it. I never would have, had we not spoken tonight, though it was staring me in the face from the moment he asked me to spy for him.”
Barnaby stood. “But if Cecil was going to destroy the Dudleys, why didn’t he warn Her Grace away? All he had to do was tell her Edward was dying. Why risk her life?”
“I don’t know.” I retrieved my shirt from the floor. “But I intend to find out.”
“I wish he were here!” He hit his fist into his palm. “I’d make him explain it, the snake.”
I met his gaze, shook my head. “We’ve been cruelly used, my friend. None more so than you, whose devotion to your king became fodder for Cecil’s game.” I took a moment. “I have one more question. Did you tell Cecil about the herbalist?”
He averted his eyes. “Yes. It seemed odd. Why would Northumberland dismiss the royal doctors only to bring in some herb witch? When Sidney saw Lady Dudley in Edward’s room one evening, giving the herbalist orders, I recalled Cecil saying he feared the duke might hasten Edward to his death. What better way than poison? It seemed right to tell him.”
My heart felt as if a giant hand gripped it in a vise. I made myself draw a steadying breath, put on my jerkin and boots, and took up my battered cap.
“Where are you going?” asked Barnaby, as I fastened my bag’s straps and shouldered it.
“To ask the queen for leave. If she grants it, I’ve business in London.” I looked at him. “Promise me you’ll look after Peregrine. I don’t want him to think I’ve abandoned him, but I can’t bring him with me. I can’t risk them finding out what he means to me.”
“By them, you mean Cecil.”
“Among others.”
“Let me come with you. I’ve a score of my own to settle with him.”
I clasped his stolid hand. “I’d like nothing better. But you’ll be helping me more if you keep Peregrine safe and support the queen. She may not share your faith, but it could be that with men like you at her side she can learn to rule with temperance.”
We embraced as friends. Then I drew back and slipped away.
* * *
I had Cinnabar saddled by the time her summons came. Rising from my crouch in the shadows to follow Rochester, I made certain my expression conveyed only dutiful concern. My sudden bid for departure was bound to incite her suspicion.
She waited in the hall, her thinning hair in a net at her nape. Without her headdress, she looked tiny. The rosary hung at her waist, its scarlet stones muted against the array of rings on her fingers. She seemed in all other respects impervious to vanity, and I found her fondness for jewelry inexplicably disturbing.
“Rochester tells me you wish to leave,” she said, before I had righted from my genuflection. “Why? Are our accommodations not to your liking?”