Sacrilege gb-3

by Stephanie Merritt

  Harry waved me to one of the two high-backed chairs by the empty hearth. Against the far wall stood an ancient wooden buffet and under the small window a table was covered with books and papers, more books piled high on the floor to either side. Through the leaded glass, sunlight still painted the façade of the cathedral gold, though the room was all sunk in shade and I blinked as my eyes adjusted. The old man’s shock of hair and bright eyes stood out against the gloom as he settled himself into the chair opposite me with difficulty, narrating the business with little grunts and huffs of discomfort as he tried to ease his stiff leg into position. When he seemed satisfied, he peered closer, reading my face, and nodded as if to seal his silent judgement.

  “So Walsingham has sent you to see if I am still up to the job?”

  “Not at all-that is, I …” I faltered and saw a smile hovering at the corners of his mouth. He had wrong-footed me with the bluntness of his question, not only because it had not occurred to me that he might regard my presence in this light but also because the servant Samuel had entered the room at the same moment and could not have avoided overhearing. Flustered, I glanced up at him as he set a pitcher down on the buffet and poured two cups of beer, smiling to himself.

  Harry Robinson barked out a dry laugh.

  “Don’t mind Samuel-he knows all my business, and he knows who you are,” he said. “Who else would carry my correspondence to London? There’s no talk hidden from him in this house. I’d trust him with my life.”

  Samuel shot me a fleeting glance, ripe with self-satisfaction. I felt I would not trust him to hold my coat, but I nodded politely.

  “Doctor Robinson, my visit here has nothing to do with your own work, which I am certain-”

  “Don’t condescend to me, son. And call me Harry.” He shifted his weight laboriously from one side of the chair to the other, rubbing his stiff leg. “If Her Majesty’s principal secretary is sending men from London to look into the murder of a provincial magistrate, it is only because he believes there is some matter here of wider significance to the realm, and that I cannot be relied upon to discover it without help. Not so?”

  “It is more that-”

  “But I question where he has this intelligence,” he continued, regardless. “I had mentioned the unfortunate death of Sir Edward Kingsley in my most recent letter-I thought it of interest because he associated with those among the cathedral chapter strongly suspected of disloyalty to the English church-but that letter cannot have reached London yet, can it, Samuel?”

  “No, sir,” Samuel replied, handing each of us a cup with his eyes demurely lowered. He retreated as far as the window, where he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, apparently surveying the cathedral close. I wished he would leave the room, but he clearly felt entitled to eavesdrop on the conversation and Harry seemed content to behave as if his servant were merely a part of the furnishings.

  “So whose suspicions brought you here, Doctor Giordano Bruno, I ask myself?” Harry leaned forward on his stick and fixed me with those stern eyes. I cleared my throat, glanced at Samuel’s unmoving back, and pulled my chair a little closer.

  “I have a personal interest, you might say.” I hesitated, before lowering my voice even further. “I knew his wife.”

  Harry took a moment to absorb this, then he sat back and nodded. He seemed pleased by this idea.

  “Well, well. So she escaped to London, did she? Canny of her-the gossipmongers here had her on a boat to France. We are not far from the Kentish ports, you see, and there is a good deal of trade with Europe. Easy for a fugitive to get out.”

  “And secret priests to get in, so I hear,” I said.

  “Very true. They apprehended a pair of them last month at Dover.” He tilted his head to one side, studying me. “So you are here for the wife’s sake? Gallant of you, Doctor Bruno. You are probably the only person in this entire county who cares to find out whether she is innocent. If she’s caught, she’ll burn, and I doubt it would spoil the crowd’s enjoyment a jot if she hadn’t done it. They like a crime of passion, especially where there’s a spirited young woman involved. If she’s gone to London, she had better stay well hidden. Of course, I never thought it was her.”

  “Why not?”

  He rubbed his chin.

  “I saw the corpse when they found him. Not the work of a woman. Apart from the gore, a woman wouldn’t have the strength to wield a weapon like that. Besides, if a wife wanted to kill her husband, as plenty do, surely she’d look for an opportunity closer to home? Poison his supper or some such? That’s a woman’s way.” He shook his head.

  “Who do you think killed him, then?”

  “Ah, Doctor Bruno, I have not the evidence even to hazard a guess. That is your task, is it not? I will help you as much as I can with information on our late magistrate and his associates, but you will need to tread carefully. The friends of Sir Edward Kingsley have powerful interests in this town and they may not appreciate a stranger poking too closely into their business. Foreigners are not much liked here, I’m sorry to say, for all that this city had its greatest prosperity from visitors.”

  I watched him for a moment as I took a drink of small beer, grateful for the sensation of liquid in my dusty throat.

  “You mentioned Sir Edward was involved with papists?”

  Harry laughed again, an abrupt bark.

  “Papists. You make it all sound so black and white. Walsingham said in his letter you once professed the Roman faith yourself.”

  I bowed my head in acknowledgement. “I was in the Order of Saint Dominic.”

  “And why?” He pointed a finger at me.

  “Why did I enter a monastery?” I looked at him, surprised; it was rare that anyone asked me this. “Simple-my family was not rich. It was the only way for me to study.”

  “Precisely.” He sat back. “So you understand that what we call faith may spring from many motives, not all of them purely pious. Particularly in Canterbury.” He paused to take a draught from his cup. “There are many in this city whose loyalty to the English church is only skin-deep, and not even that, sometimes-a few of them within the chapter itself. But if they are nostalgic for the old religion, it is less from love of Rome than from attachment to their own Saint Thomas and the glory he brought.”

  “So I understand. The queen’s father tried to wipe out the saint’s cult completely,” I mused, remembering suddenly a Book of Hours I had seen in Oxford, the prayer to Saint Thomas, and the accompanying illumination scraped from the parchment with a stone.

  “Folly,” Harry pronounced, shaking his head. “They say that before the Dissolution there were more chapels, chantries, and altars in this land dedicated to Thomas Becket than any other saint in history. You can’t erase that from people’s minds, especially not in his home town, not even by smashing the shrine. You just drive it into the shadows.”

  “Not even by destroying the body?”

  He regarded me shrewdly and smiled.

  “You’ve heard the legend of Becket’s bones, then?”

  “Is it true?”

  “Quite probably.” He emptied his cup, bent awkwardly to set it on the floor, and leaned forward, one hand on his stick. “Yes, I’d say it’s very likely the body they pulverised and scattered to the wind was not old Thomas. Those priory monks were no fools, and they knew the destruction was coming. But in a sense the literal truth of it doesn’t matter, you see? If enough people in Canterbury believed that Saint Thomas was still among them, it might put fire in their bellies.”

  “And do they believe it?”

  He made a noncommittal gesture with his head.

  “Everyone knows the legend. I daresay many of them believe it in an abstract sense. What they really need, though, is a sign. That would rouse them.”

  “A miracle, you mean?”

  “The cult of Thomas began with a miracle-here, in this cathedral, less than a week after he was murdered-and it could be revived by one too. Imagine the effect among so
many disaffected souls. Like throwing a tinderbox into a pile of dry kindling. And Kent is a dangerous place to risk an uprising, as Walsingham knows all too well. Last time Kentish men rebelled they marched on London, captured the Tower, and beheaded the Archbishop of Canterbury and the royal treasurer.”

  “Really?” I stared at him, wide-eyed. “I had not heard-when was this?”

  Harry laughed.

  “Two hundred years ago. But Kentish men are still made of the same stuff. And the coast here is so convenient for any forces coming out of France-it’s not a place they want to risk a popular rebellion against the Crown. The queen needs to keep Canterbury loyal.”

  He fell silent and stared into the fireplace while my thoughts scrambled to catch up.

  “Do you believe in miracles?” I asked, after a few moments.

  He looked up from his reflections, his eyes bright.

  “Do I believe that Our Lord can perform wonders to show His might to men, if He chooses? Yes, of course. But He chooses very rarely, in my view. If you ask, do I believe that a four-hundred-year-old shard of rotting skull can heal the sick, then I would have to say no.” He shifted position again, rubbing at his leg. “When I was six years old, in 1528, there was a terrible outbreak of the sweating sickness in England. My parents and my five brothers and sisters all died; I did not even take ill. Was that a miracle?”

  He fixed me with a questioning look; I made a noncommittal gesture.

  “My relatives certainly thought so-they gave me up to the Church straightaway, and here I have dutifully remained, to the age of sixty-two years, because I was told so often as a child how God had spared me to serve Him. But who really knows?”

  I caught the weight of sadness in his voice and wondered how often in his life as a young churchman he had stopped to wonder at the different paths he might have taken, only to be trapped by the obligation to this great miracle of his survival, God’s terrible mercy. That could have been me, I thought, with a lurch of relief, if I had not taken the opportunity to flee the religious life: white-haired and slowly suffocating in the monastery of San Domenico Maggiore, rueing the life I might have lived if I had only dared to try. I wanted to reach out and touch his crooked hand, so brittle with its swollen joints, to show that I understood, but I suspected this might alarm him. The English do not like to be touched, I have learned; they seem to regard it as a prelude to assault.

  “One need not be a doctor of physic to observe that some are better able to resist sickness than others,” I said softly.

  “True. But one might be considered impious for failing to acknowledge the hand of God in such an occurrence.”

  “In Paris, I once saw a man at a fair make a wooden dove fly over the heads of the crowd, and that was accounted a miracle by all who witnessed it. To those of us who knew better, it was an ingenious employment of optical illusion and mechanical expertise.”

  Harry raised one gnarled finger, as if to make a point.

  “But there you have it, Bruno. If it looks like a miracle, most are content to believe it is so.”

  I was about to answer, but the closeness of the room and the weariness of days in the saddle conspired to make me suddenly dizzy and I almost fell, silver lights swimming before my eyes, clutching at the seat of the chair for fear I should faint. Harry peered at me, concerned.

  “Are you unwell?”

  “Forgive me.” My voice sounded very far away. “Could we open a window?”

  He frowned.

  “Too hot? I suppose it is hot in here. Samuel never complains and I don’t notice-it’s a curious thing about age, one is always cold. Come-we will take a walk around the close and you can see where this monstrous deed occurred.” He straightened the stick, took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and with an almighty effort began to rouse himself to his feet. I extended a hand to him, though I still felt unsteady myself, but he brushed it away impatiently.

  “Not on my deathbed yet, son. While I can stand on my own two feet, leave me to it. I call it independence. Samuel calls it stubbornness. What time is it, Samuel?”

  The servant, who had remained motionless gazing out of the window and doubtless taking in every word, now turned back to the room.

  “About half past three, I think, sir.”

  “Then we have time. I’ll want a shave before Evensong, if you could have the necessaries ready when I return.”

  “You don’t wish me to accompany you, sir?” Samuel turned dubious eyes on me, as if the prospect of allowing his master out alone with me would be a dereliction of duty.

  “I’m sure you have things to attend to here,” Harry said. “We shall probably manage a turn around the close. I dare say Doctor Bruno will pick me up if I fall over.”

  “If you’ll let me,” I said, and when I saw the twinkle in his eye, I knew that, despite his gruff manner, he was warming to me. Samuel looked at me with a face like storm clouds.

  “My doublet, Samuel,” Harry said, waving a hand. “Here, hold this, will you?” He handed me the stick and planted his legs wide to balance himself while he tucked his shirt into his breeches. “Wouldn’t want to run into the dean, looking like a vagrant,” he muttered, with a brief smile. “You never know who’s about in this place. That reminds me-” he looked up. “Your story, while you’re here. The reason for your visit-what do we tell people? They’re an overly curious lot, especially the dean and chapter.”

  “I’m a Doctor of Divinity from the University of Padua, exiled to escape religious persecution and lately studying in Oxford, where I heard much praise for the cathedral of Canterbury and wanted to take this opportunity to see it for myself.”

  He considered my rehearsed biography and grunted.

  “They will accept that readily enough, I should think. And how do you and I know each other?”

  “A letter of introduction from our mutual friend, Sir Philip Sidney.”

  Harry smiled at this.

  “Ah, little Philip. He was about four years old when I last saw him. Turned out well, I hear. His mother was a great beauty in her day, you know.” His gaze drifted to the window, as though he was seeing faces from years long past. Samuel came in with a plain black doublet of light wool and helped his master into it. “Well, then.” Harry gestured to the door. “What name do you travel under here? I had better get used to it in case I am obliged to introduce you to anyone.”

  “Filippo Savolino.”

  “Savolino. Huh.” He repeated it twice more, as if to accustomise himself to the feel of it.

  “It is unlikely that anyone in Canterbury would know my reputation, but-”

  “We do read books here, you know. We’re not entirely cut off from learned society.”

  “No, I didn’t mean to imply-”

  “There’s quite a trade in books from the Continent, too, being so near the ports. Legal and otherwise. Including plenty from your country.” He regarded me thoughtfully. “Padua, eh? I have never travelled beyond England, though as a young man I dreamed of doing so. I would have liked to see Italy for myself. A country of wild beauty, I am told.”

  “I think no man can say he has seen beauty until he has watched the sun set over the Bay of Naples, with the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in the background.”

  “A volcano. I can hardly imagine a volcano,” he said, with simple longing.

  “Perhaps you may see it one day.”

  He slapped his bad thigh and barked out another laugh. “With this leg? No-while you are here, you must describe it to me and I shall be able to picture it. I do not think these eyes will ever look on the Bay of Naples.”

  “Nor will mine again,” I said, and the weight of this struck me as I spoke the words, so that I heard my voice catch at the end.

  We looked at each other, the moment ripe with regret. Harry shook his head briskly, as if to rid himself of sentiment.

  “Come then, Savolino, we have work to do.”

  Air, real air, with the faintest hint of a breeze carrying the indignant
cries of seagulls; I was so grateful that I stood still on the garden path, head spinning as I gulped down great lungfuls like a man who has narrowly escaped drowning. Harry shuffled ahead of me into the cathedral close and motioned to his right; when I had recovered and my blood felt as if it were pumping once more, I followed him. Samuel stood in the doorway watching us with an inscrutable expression in his eyes. I could not help noticing that Harry’s limp became less pronounced and his pace speeded up a little once we had rounded the corner and were out of his servant’s sight.

  “Have you ever been married, Bruno?” he asked.

  “No,” I said, surprised by the question. Shielding my eyes, I looked up to our left; sideways on, the cathedral had the appearance of a vast warship, ribbed with buttresses, its high windows so many gunports.

  “Nor I,” he said. “When I entered the clergy, churchmen didn’t marry, and once it became acceptable, I had missed the boat. Instead I have Samuel-all the fussing and nagging of a wife, with none of the benefits.” He gave a deep, rasping laugh.

  “He doesn’t like me, I’m afraid.”

  “Don’t mind him, he doesn’t like anyone. He has a suspicious cast of mind and he’s jealous as a wife, too-likes to feel that I’m dependent on him. Can’t bear to share my attention. This way.”

  The path passed through a gate by a block of stables and continued around the east end of the cathedral. Cut timber and logs were piled against its wall behind a makeshift fence, covered by oilskin cloths. To our right, a wooded area of thick oak trees in full leaf cast long shadows over the grass beneath, stretching back as far as the precinct walls, a relic from the priory that had stood on the site before the Dissolution, I supposed. Here the heat of the day had begun to subside; I loosened my collar and breathed deeply. The leaves stirred as the breeze lifted, sending light flickering through the foliage. The place seemed so at peace with itself, it was hard to believe it could be the setting for bloody murder. Perhaps Thomas Becket had once thought the same, I reflected.

  Harry paused and craned his head back to look at the sky. “What a fine day. God’s bones, I should leave the house more often. I’m sure it would do wonders for my constitution.”