The King's Evil

Chapter Fifteen

Jacob was alarmed to hear of the attack on his master and insisted on examining him for broken bones, removing Christopher's coat to feel his way over arms and ribs then gingerly testing both legs for signs of fracture. Christopher submitted unwillingly to the kindly intentions of his servant. When it was seen that he had suffered no more than severe bruising and a large bump on the head, he sent Jacob in search of the one bottle of brandy in the house. Even Jonathan Bale consented to drink a glass of it. Christopher took that as a hopeful sign. He could see that the constable was uncomfortable in strange surroundings. It was the first time he had visited Christopher's house and he compared its superior size and furnishings with his own more modest abode in Addle Hill. The first sip of brandy helped to smother his natural resentment but Christopher could still detect no sense of friendship.

'What must I do, Mr Bale?' he said wearily.

'Do, sir?'

'You stopped me from being robbed outside St Paul's and you have just saved me from a savage beating. Do you have to rescue me from drowning before you can treat me as an equal?'

'We can never be equals, Mr Redmayne.'

'Why not?'

'I think you already know.'

'Tell me.'

'Because I come from humbler stock.'

'That has nothing to do with it, man.'

'It must have, sir,' said Jonathan, glancing around the room. 'You would not deign to live in a house like mine and I could not afford to own a house like yours.' He tapped his glass. 'While you drink brandy, I have nothing stronger at home than my wife's chicken broth.'

'Then you are right,' agreed Christopher. 'Equality is out of the question. Mrs Bale's broth is infinitely better than my brandy. It brought me alive again after that fearful voyage. I raise my glass to her.'

Jonathan almost smiled. 'Then I will join you.'

'One other thing. I do not own this house, I rent it.'

'A fine place, nevertheless.'

'Only so long as I can pay my landlord.' He sipped the brandy and felt it course warmly through him. 'What made you come to Mrs Mandrake's house this evening?'

'I had a feeling that you might need me, sir.'

'And I did. But why not disclose yourself when I left the premises? You must have followed me all the way back here.'

'From a safe distance. I remembered what you said.'

'About what?'

'Staying visible, Mr Redmayne. To draw enemies out into the light.'

'I certainly did that,' said Christopher, feeling the lump on the back of his head. 'Had I not been wearing my hat, that ruffian would have cracked my skull open.'

'Why should Mr Strype want to assault you?'

'A personal matter.'

'I was a witness. A warrant can be taken out for his arrest.'

'Oh, no. This is something which must be settled between the two of us. I do not want the law getting in the way - much as I appreciated its intervention out in the street. Well,' he added thoughtfully, 'if you saw me arrive and leave, you know that I spent only a limited amount of time inside the place. Too short a stay to sample any of the fare.'

'Were you not tempted to do so?'

'I am sorry to disappoint you, Mr Bale, but I was not.

Henry will no doubt succumb joyfully but I was there to gather information.'

'What did you find out, sir?'

Christopher described his visit to the house and could not resist including a few lurid details in the hope of scandalising his companion but Jonathan's face remained expressionless. Having arrested Molly Mandrake in the past, he could not be shocked by any revelations about the house of ill repute which she kept in Lincoln's Inn Fields. His main interest was in the French merchant, Jean-Paul Charentin.

'He is the link between that house and the one in Paris.'

'There must be others, Mr Bale.'

'Did you discern any?'

'Not yet but I sense that they are there.'

'You also sensed that religion was somehow involved,' observed Jonathan drily, 'yet I heard no mention of it in your account.'

'No,' admitted Christopher. 'Mrs Mandrake did not celebrate Mass with her guests. However, when Sweet Ellen went behind the screen to disrobe, I am sure that she said grace with Christian zeal before coming out to devour me for supper.' He saw the other scowl with disapproval. 'That was uncalled for, Mr Bale. I apologise.'

'I am becoming accustomed to your levity, sir.'

'It is the reason my father never encouraged me to enter the Church. I lacked solemnity. In Henry's case, of course, there is a much more insurmountable barrier to ordination.' He swallowed the last of his brandy. 'To return to that link between the two houses. We have ignored a more obvious one.'

'Have we?'

'The Marie Louise.'

'That is the means of communication between the two.'

'I have a sneaking suspicion that we will find it is the ship which brings Monsieur Charentin to and fro. Could we get aboard, I am certain that we would find out much more of interest.'

'It is no longer anchored in the Thames.'

'But it sailed for England just before I arrived in France.'

'Yes,' replied Jonathan. 'I saw it arrive. One cargo was unloaded, another taken on board and off it went again before I could get anywhere near it. But there was talk of it coming back again soon.'

'Keep a weather eye out for it, Mr Bale.'

'I will, sir. What of you?'

'That list of yours will come back into play. Now that I have been inside the house, I have some idea of its potential uses. I do not believe that Mrs Mandrake is there solely to satisfy the appetites of lustful men. She has a darker purpose.'

'What is it?'

'I am not sure but I feel that the answer may lie in that list of names. There is a pattern there, if I could but recognise it. I knew some of those names; Henry will know them all. You act as lookout for the Marie Louise,' he suggested, 'and I will lean more heavily on my brother.'

'You may be brothers in name, sir, but the two of you are as unlike as chalk and cheese.'

'Do you mean that you could grow to like Henry?'

Jonathan smiled. 'I must return home.'

'Tell your wife to give you a hero's welcome.'

'She always does, Mr Redmayne. That is why I married her.'

'Even before you tasted her chicken broth?'

Jonathan got up and drained his glass before setting it on the table. When Christopher had seen him out, he went into the kitchen and found Jacob dozing in a chair. He touched him on the shoulder.

'Go to bed, Jacob. I am sorry that we kept you up.'

'But I had to tell you about your visitor, sir.'

'A visitor?'

'That young lady called again.'

'Miss Northcott?' he said eagerly.

'No, sir. Miss Littlejohn. She asked where you were.'

'What did you tell her?' 'That you had gone to France.'

'Did you not say that I had returned?'

Jacob grinned. 'It slipped my mind, sir.'