Chapter Thirty-three

IT WAS LATE MORNING by the time we arrived home. I opened the front door quietly, hoping we might get upstairs without Joan seeing our sorry condition, but paused at the sight of a note in Godfrey's large round hand on the table. I broke the seal.

'Bealknap's back!' I said. 'He's in his chambers. Thank God, I feared he might be-' I did not finish the sentence.

'Let's get a message to Leman then,' Barak said, 'and go to Lincoln's Inn.'

Just then Joan appeared from the kitchen, alerted by our voices. Her eyes widened at the state we were in.

'Sir, what's happened now?' There was a slight quaver in her voice. 'When you didn't come back last night I was worried.'

'There's been a bad fire over at Queenhithe,' I said gently. 'We were caught up in it, but we're all right. I'm sorry, Joan, there have been many turmoils this week.'

'You look worn out, sir. What happened to your hair, Master Barak?'

'It got singed. I look monstrous, hey?' He gave her his most charming smile. 'What I need is someone to cut the other side, so I don't frighten the children.'

'I could have a try.'

'You are a pearl among women, Mistress Woode.'

While Joan fetched some scissors and took Barak up to his room, I scribbled a note to Leman and gave it to a wide-eyed Simon to take to Cheapside. Then I went up. I shut my bedroom door and leaned on it wearily. Guy's words about the nature of my mission returned to me. I had been too tired, too frightened for myself and the others involved, to think much further than uncovering the conspirators. But what if I were to succeed? What if the time came when the Greek Fire formula was in my hands? What would I do then? I remembered poor Bathsheba's words. A plot against Lord Cromwell. Just what had Michael and his brother planned that had been interrupted by their deaths? I shook my head. For now there was nothing to do but go on, beard Bealknap in his den now I had the chance. It was the fifth of June, I realized, only five days left.

AT LINCOLN'S INN I left Barak and Leman in my rooms, then crossed the courtyard to Marchamount's chambers to enquire after him. Distasteful though the prospect was, I had to talk to him about Lady Honor once I had seen Bealknap. His clerk, though, said he was out at Hertford, appearing in a case before the circuit judge, and would not be back until the morrow. I cursed inwardly. At least on my mission for Cromwell three years before I had had all the parties secure in a monastery enclosure. I told the clerk I would return on the morrow also, and went back to where Leman and Barak waited, watching Skelly laboriously copying out the application for the Chancery writ for Bealknap's case. Leman, who seemed more confident today, asked if Bealknap was in his rooms.

'So the message said. I shall just check with my colleague,' I replied.

Leman smiled, a grim smile that anticipated revenge.

I knocked at Godfrey's door and went in. He was standing looking from the window, a troubled expression on his thin face. He gave me a watery smile.

'Come to see Brother Bealknap, Matthew? I saw him go to his chambers earlier.'

'Good. Are you all right, Godfrey?'

He fingered the hem of his robe. 'I have had a letter from the secretary. It seems the Duke of Norfolk is not satisfied with my fine. He wants a public apology in hall.'

I sighed. 'Well, Godfrey, you did break all the rules of courtesy-'

'You know it is not about that!' he snapped out, his eyes flashing. 'However it is worded, it will be taken as an apology for my religious beliefs.'

'Godfrey,' I said seriously, 'for Jesu's sake, make your apology and live to fight another day. If you refuse you'll be debarred, and a marked man.'

'Perhaps it would be worth it,' he said quietly. 'It could become a legal cause célèbre, like the Hunne case.'

'Hunne was murdered for defying the Church by thugs employed by the papists.'

'It was a noble way to die.' A strange smile played round the corners of Godfrey's mouth. 'Is there any better way?'

I shuddered involuntarily. There it was again, that strange urge some had to be martyred, to exult in the righteousness of their suffering. I stared at him. He gave a little laugh.

'That's a strange look, Matthew.'

On the spur of the moment, I said, 'Godfrey, may I put a case to you?'

'Of course.'

'What if that God gave you a miraculous power, a thunderbolt that could fell all your enemies at once, whole armies. All you needed to do was raise your hand.'

He laughed. 'That is a far-fetched case, Matthew. There have been no such miracles since Our Lord's time on earth.'

'But just say you were given such a gift.'

He shook his head piously. 'I would not be worthy.'

'But say you had it,' I persisted. 'Something that, if used, would inevitably kill thousands, many of them innocent. Would you use it?'

'Yes, I would. I would place it at the service of King Henry to confound his enemies at home and abroad. Does not the Old Testament tell us that often many must die if God's cause is to be served? Remember Sodom and Gomorrah.'

'They were destroyed in fire and thunder.' I closed my eyes a moment, then looked at him. 'You won't apologize, will you?'

He smiled gently, that fierce holy light in his eyes again. 'No, Matthew, I will not.'

WE MOUNTED THE NARROW stairs to Bealknap's rooms. The padlock had been taken away. I gave a peremptory knock on the door. Bealknap himself opened it. He had left off his robe and his doublet too in the hot weather, and was wearing only his white linen shirt. Coarse yellow hairs protruded above the collar. With his lawyer's regalia off, he looked more like the rogue he was.

'Brother,' I said, 'I have been trying to find you. Where have you been?'

He frowned. 'On business.' He eyed Barak's shorn head in surprise. 'Who's this?' Then he caught sight of Leman and his eyes widened. The stallholder gave him an evil grin. Bealknap tried to slam the door in our faces, but Barak was too quick for him, jamming his foot in the door and putting his shoulder to it. Bealknap staggered back, while Barak winced and rubbed his arm. 'God's death, I'd forgotten the burn.'

We stepped in. Bealknap's chamber was as untidy as ever, the chest prominent in its corner. The door to his living quarters was open. Bealknap stood in the middle of the room, his face red with outrage.

'How dare you!' he shouted. 'How dare you burst in here?' He pointed a long finger at Leman. 'Why have you brought that rogue, Shardlake? He has a grudge against me, he will tell any lies-'

Barak spoke up. 'You won't remember me, master, I was just a boy, but my stepfather used to be one of your witnesses in the bishop's court. Edward Stevens. Strange people, witnesses. Sometimes they'll appear out of the blue and swear to the honesty of a man they couldn't possibly have met.'

In all the time I had known this pestilential lawyer I had never seen him lose his composure, but now he stood with clenched fists, taking deep breaths. 'This is all lies,' he blustered angrily. 'I don't know what game you're playing, Shardlake-'

'No game.'

Bealknap's lips parted, showing long yellow teeth. 'If you're trying to pressure me into giving way on my properties, it won't work. I'll have you disbarred.'

'It's not that,' I said contemptuously.

'Your clutch-fistedness has caught up with you, Master Bealknap,' Leman said with pleasure. 'Only a tiny piece of gold from yonder chest to pay me what you owed would have saved you this.'

'Master Leman has prepared a statement,' I said. I took a copy from my robe and held it out to Bealknap. He clutched it and read, frowning. Yet as I watched him I sensed that something was wrong. He should have been terrified, facing the ruin of his career, yet he seemed only enraged. He lowered the statement.