I looked at Giles. ‘They made him Dean?’

‘To keep an eye on the Archbishop of York. You are right, Matthew, even mere scholars must keep watch these days.’

I turned back to the window. The figure of a woman had caught my eye, half-running down the narrow street towards the house, skirts lifted above her ankles and blonde hair flying out behind her. It was Tamasin.

Chapter Twenty-four

THERE WAS A LOUD KNOCK at the front door, and a moment later Madge ushered Tamasin into the room. The girl was flushed and anxious-looking, and gave us the briefest of curtsies. ‘Sir,’ she said. ‘I have come from the King’s Manor. The guard on the gate said you had gone into the city and I guessed you might be here. We are ordered to return there now. Is Jack here?’

I nodded. Madge went to summon him. Giles smiled and looked admiringly at her clothes, her green dress and her blonde hair beneath her French hood. ‘By heaven,’ he said. ‘They employ pretty messengers at the court these days.’

‘I fear we must leave without looking at the petitions,’ I said.

‘Well, they are simple enough and we have seen them already. Come to the castle at nine and we can take an hour then.’ He looked at me curiously. ‘Is something amiss? Does Maleverer require you?’

‘I was half expecting a summons,’ I said evasively.

Giles nodded, then went back to studying Tamasin with frank appreciation; she coloured a little.

‘And where are you from, mistress?’ he asked.

‘London, sir.’

‘Like Master Barak.’

Barak appeared in the doorway. He gave Tamasin an anxious look.

‘Well,’ Giles said. ‘I will see you both tomorrow morning.’

I apologized again for our hasty departure, and we left the house.

‘WHAT’S HAPPENED?’ Barak asked as Tamasin led a rapid pace down the street.

‘It is as I thought would happen,’ she replied a little breathlessly. ‘I was in my room and Lady Rochford herself came in, looking grim as an ogre. She told me to fetch you, Jack. We are to meet her in one of the pavilions. I ran almost all the way.’

‘Looks like you were both right,’ Barak told me. ‘She wants to talk to us, not kill us.’

I took a deep breath. ‘We shall see.’

Tamasin looked at me earnestly. ‘The summons was for me and Jack alone.’

‘I want to see what she says for myself,’ I said firmly. ‘And perhaps she will be less bullying with a lawyer present.’

‘You do not know Lady Rochford, sir,’ Tamasin answered uncertainly.

We walked rapidly to King’s Manor and headed for the pavilions, which had stood guarded but empty over the weekend. ‘ ’Tis the nearer one,’ Tamasin said, leading the way across to the fantastic structure. The towers on either side of the entrance arch, which seemed so like brick till you came right up and saw the grain of wood through the paint, had guards posted in front of them. They crossed their pikes to bar our way. I glanced at Tamasin, who nodded.

‘We are due to meet Lady Rochford here,’ I told one of them.

The guard looked us over. ‘Her ladyship said a young man and woman only.’

‘The instructions have changed.’

As the guard looked me over I was uncomfortably aware that I was carrying a dagger, against all the rules. But he nodded, deciding I was not dangerous. ‘Second door on the left,’ he said. He and his colleague raised their weapons and we passed through. I felt suddenly afraid. What if Lady Rochford was behind everything, and had associates ready to kill us? But that was ridiculous; the soldiers had seen us come in and knew she was here, how could she ever escape discovery?

Beyond the arch a whole inner courtyard had been laid in marble, which the walls had also been painted to resemble. All smelled sweetly of new-cut wood. A number of doorways led off, each with its own guard. I whispered to Tamasin, ‘Won’t the guards think it odd, Lady Rochford meeting us in here?’

‘Lady Rochford’s oddity is well known. And they will see no harm in it – the pavilions will stand empty till the Scotch King comes. Their concern is to prevent servants entering to steal the tapestries and furnishings.’

We walked on to the door the guard had indicated, passing one that stood open, leading into a reception room decorated with brilliant tapestries. I glimpsed a buffet laden with gold plate, servants strewing scented rushes on the floor. Two great chairs of state with purple cushions had been set there. So this was where the kings would meet.

The guard at the next door opened it as we approached. We entered a chamber that was smaller than the one we had seen, unfurnished but with a magnificent series of tapestries showing the life of John the Baptist on the walls. stood at the far end. She wore a bright red dress, low-cut to show her upper bosom, which like her face and neck was white with ceruse; her dark brown hair was drawn back tightly under a French hood lined with pearls. She had composed her features into a Lady Rochford haughty frown, which intensified as she looked at me.

‘Why have you brought this lawyer?’ Her rich voice rose. ‘God’s death, Mistress Reedbourne, if you try to set a lawyer on me I shall set something far worse on you.’

I bowed, then looked her in the eye. I was intimidated, but I must not show it. ‘My name is Matthew Shardlake, my lady. I am the employer of Master Barak here. He and Mistress Reedbourne sought my protection, after their encounter last night.’

Lady Rochford stepped forward to Tamasin. I feared she might strike her. ‘Who else have you told?’ she hissed. ‘Who else?’ And I saw that she, too, was sorely frightened.

‘No one, my lady,’ Tamasin answered in a small voice.

Lady Rochford looked at me again, uncertainly, then turned to Barak. ‘That’s an odd name you have,’ she said. ‘Are you English?’

‘Through and through, my lady.’

Lady Rochford turned her stare back to Tamasin: she would concentrate her fire on her, I thought, a junior servant in her direct power. ‘And just what did you and this rude lump of a clerk see, or think you saw, last night?’

Tamasin answered clearly, though a tremble underlay her voice. ‘Master Culpeper outside the kitchen door, the Queen in the doorway, and you behind, my lady. The Queen seemed to be taking leave of Master Culpeper.’

Lady Rochford gave a forced, hollow laugh. ‘Stupid children! Master Culpeper had called late to see me, it was I that took leave of him. The Queen heard us and came down to see. Culpeper is always playing jests on me, he is a naughty fellow.’

It was such palpable nonsense that Tamasin did not reply.

‘It was innocent,’ Lady Rochford went on. Her voice rose. ‘All innocent. Anyone who says differently will face the King’s wrath, I warn you.’

I spoke up. ‘If the King heard his Queen was seen in a doorway with the sauciest rake in the court, I think he would be wrathful indeed. However innocent, that meeting must have broken every rule of conduct there is.’

Lady Rochford’s white bosom heaved, her eyes flashing. ‘You are the crookback the King jested over at Fulford. What is this, lawyer – do you seek revenge on your monarch because he mocked your bent back?’

‘No, my lady. I seek only to protect these young people.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Lawyers ever speak with coloured doubleness. Is it money you want, to buy your silence and theirs?’

‘No, my lady. Only their safety. And mine.’

She frowned angrily. ‘What do you mean? Why should any of you be unsafe?’

‘People who learn naughty secrets by mistake often are. I work with Sir William Maleverer in connection with certain matters of security here, so I know that well.’

Lady Rochford’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Maleverer’s name. She made herself smile. ‘There is no secret, sir,’ she said in a tone of forced lightness. ‘None. The Queen merely enjoys the company of the friends of her young days. It has been hard for her, this Progress, all the formal receptions, the endless journeys along the miry ways, hard for a young girl. The King would not mind her meeting old friends, but people will ever gossip, so she meets them in secret sometimes. Were that to be known it would be an – embarrassment.’