‘How soon can you finish your business in Amsterdam?’ Andrew asked before we parted. ‘I am to get these men back to England as quickly as possible, but the ship was commandeered for your use, so it will only leave when you are ready.’
‘I do not know.’ I shook my head. ‘Come to the inn in three days’ time and I may know my plans better then.’
At the Prins Willem I was greeted like a member of the family, plied with an enormous meal I could not finish, and showed into my old room. The inn keeper’s daughter even brought me a bucket of hot water without my asking for it.
The next morning I sought Niels Penders when his early morning duties were over and asked if I might speak to him. We sat down together in the small parlour in the back premises used by the family.
‘I am searching for a man, half English and half Dutch,’ I began, ‘who stayed here a few weeks ago. His name is Mark Weber. He was in regular touch with his friends in England until about three weeks ago. Since then there has been no word and his friends are worried. I wondered whether you could tell me when he left here and whether you know where I can find him now.’
‘Mark Weber?’ He nodded. ‘Aye, there was a man of that name who stayed with us. He arrived soon after you left, Dokter. About Christmas time. He was here in Amsterdam for several months, then he went away until . . .’ He scratched his head. ‘It would be . . .’ He went to the door and called out, ‘Marta! Me’heer Weber, when was it that he came back?’
I could not hear her answer, but he returned and sat down again. ‘Marta says it was six weeks ago. She has a better memory for such things than I have. Ja, it would have been about six weeks ago.’
‘And then?’ I prompted.
‘One evening I saw him talking with Me’heer Parker, the cloth merchant. You spoke of him when you were here. Did he have business with Me’heer Parker?’
‘He might have had,’ I said cautiously.
‘They went out together, quite late. The next morning Me’heer Weber returned, collected his belongings, paid his bill and left.’
‘How long ago was that?’
He ran his fingers through his hair, which was growing thin on top. ‘That would have been about three-four weeks ago.’ He looked at me anxiously. ‘And your friends have not heard from him since?’
I shook my head. ‘They have not. He did not tell you where he was going?’
‘Nee. He was very polite, thanked us, and wished us farewell. That was all.’
Ever since my first visit I had liked and trusted this family, so I said, ‘Mijnheer Penders, what do you know about Cornelius Parker?’
At my question, he looked uncomfortable and for several minutes he did not speak, but filled the time getting up and opening a hanging cupboard, from which he drew out two small glasses and a bottle of the curious thick yellowish liqueur they drink in these parts. When he had set the glasses down on the table between us and resumed his seat, he raised his glass to me, and sipped the liqueur thoughtfully. I took a small sip. I had not liked the stuff when I had tasted it before, but did not wish to offend him.
‘Me’heer Cornelius Parker has a bad reputation,’ he began slowly. ‘I tell you this in confidence, Dokter?’
‘Of course.’ I nodded, and took another sip.
‘Much of it is probably rumour, idle gossip. I cannot vouch for the truth of it, but he is said to smuggle arms to the Spanish. A traitor to the States General, Dokter. Yet nothing has been proved against him, nothing has been done to stop him.’ He put down his glass and began to drum on the table with his fingers. ‘When such a thing happens, as you know, money has probably changed hands.’
‘A bribe?’ I said. ‘Corruption? More treachery?’
He shrugged. ‘It may not even be treachery. Perhaps simple greed, a lust for money. We live in dangerous and treacherous times, Dokter. Even the leaders of the various provinces do not agree on what path to take to the future. Some are so weary of war they would make peace with Spain and Parma at any cost. Too many lives lost, you understand. They think it would be better to live under the heel of Spain than in a state of perpetual war.’
‘Spain will bring the Inquisition,’ I said. ‘Believe me, I have seen it in Portugal. You Dutch Protestants will be seen as heretics and suffer at the hands of the Inquisition.’
‘I know that very well. But there are others who persuade themselves that it will not happen here. Such men, if they also have a greed for gold, might wink their eyes at illegal trading by Cornelius Parker.’
‘Do you think Mark Weber went with Parker? He would see Parker as the enemy, and report back to England. I cannot understand what has happened.’
‘Nor I.’
He held up the bottle, but I shook my head. I had not managed to finish the first glass. There was little else he could tell me, but he promised to make discreet enquiries, to try to discover whether Parker was still in Amsterdam and whether anyone knew the whereabouts of Mark Weber.
When he was called to the inn parlour by a group of farmers demanding beer, I looked around for somewhere to dispose of the remains of my drink. There was a blue and white glazed pot containing some sort of fern standing on a corner cabinet. Glancing guiltily toward the door, I tipped the viscous liquid on to the earth as the base of the plant, where it lay like some noxious slime, reluctant to soak away. Marta was sure to notice it as soon as she came into the room. Feeling not a little foolish, I drew my dagger and scraped up the soil until the stain was covered, then patted it down with my hand. Leaving my empty glass on the table, I slipped out, nodding to Niels and heading for the street door.
I had learned that Lord Willoughby was now living in the house where I had attended Leicester half a year before, so I made my way there quickly with the packet of despatches from Sir Francis. Amsterdam in early summer looked very different from the frost-bound town of last winter. The Hollanders have a great love of flowers and there were tubs and pots everywhere, on windowsills, beside front doors, even on the barges lined up along the canals. Many of the houses fronted directly on the street, with a double V of steps leading to their front doors, while small windows at street level let light into basement kitchens. By many of these front doors overflowing pots of cranesbills and heartsease and love-in-a-mist adorned every step. Some houses even had cunning shelves fitted outside their windows holding more flowers. I saw several singing birds in cages hung from hooks beside upper windows.
Yet all this cheerful abundance was not reflected in the faces of the people I passed in the street. They wore the same haunted look as the people of London. The spectre of war was even closer here than in England, though the Hollanders might reflect that if Philip’s mind was bent on the conquest of England, they might be spared for a while yet.
At Willoughby’s quarters I was shown into a cupboard-like room and told to wait, while a condescending liveried servant carried away my packet of despatches to His Lordship. I was reluctant to hand them over to any but Willoughby himself, but I was given no choice. After I had kicked my heels for over an hour by the ornate mantel clock I had seen in the hallway, whose chimes reached even through the door, the servant returned.
‘You are to call here in one week’s time to carry my lord’s report back to Sir Francis,’ he said, looking down his long nose which seemed to quiver with contempt at any person under the rank of lord.
Once, I might have given him a sharp answer, that I was commanded by Sir Francis and not his master, but two years in Walsingham’s service had taught me discretion in holding my tongue – most of the time, at least. I merely nodded and left, cursing my loss of time.
Out in the street, I turned in the direction of Ettore Añez’s house. It was well past dinnertime and my stomach ached, but I was anxious to learn whether he could help me in the matter of finding Mark Weber. He was as welcoming as before, and if he was surprised at seeing me again only six months after my previous visit to Amsterdam, he did not show it. Moreover, he must have detected something in my looks that told him I had not dined, for he summoned cold meats and bread to be brought, and himself carried a bowl of early apricots over to the table placed between us.