back.’ He pondered. ‘I cannot think why you are so keen to rescue that dimwit – he will cost the College a fortune in bribes when he takes his final examinations. What a pity Harling was involved in all this – he offered to see the boy through his disputations and thus save Michaelhouse a veritable treasure trove.’
Bartholomew did not reply and Michael let the matter drop. They waited until a soldier came to say that enough time had passed to allow Tulyet to spring his trap, and then left the castle to walk down the hill. A chill wind blew from the north, catching some dirt and swirling it around in an eddy. Bartholomew shivered, partly from the cold, but mostly from apprehension for what they were about to do.
‘Someone is following us again,’ whispered Cynric. ‘I can hear him.’
Bartholomew felt his stomach lurch. At every step, he anticipated the searing pain of a crossbow bolt between his shoulder blades, or an attack from the shadows at the side of the road. He glanced around nervously.
‘As long as the outlaws consider there is a chance that we will lead them to what we want, they will not harm us,’ said Michael, noting his friend’s unease.
‘They tried to harm you,’ Bartholomew said, referring to Michael’s encounter with the knifeman.
‘That was before the business with Harling,’ Michael whispered back. ‘They have obviously reconsidered, and realise we are more useful alive than dead as long as Dame Pelagia is at large.’
‘Well that is comforting,’ muttered Bartholomew. He glanced at the fat monk striding at his side. ‘You seem calm. Are you not afraid?’
‘Terrified,’ came the answer. ‘But we are nearing the end of all this, Matt. In a short while, it will all be over. My grandmother, Deynman and Matilde will be safe.’
‘I hope you are right,’ said Bartholomew unconvinced.
They reached the point where the High Street forked off from Bridge Street, and stopped. Cynric went on ahead and beckoned them forward, raising his hand to caution silence. Bartholomew glanced behind him, and hoped those following them would fall for their elaborate performance. He and Michael eased in and out of the shadows, allowing Cynric to decide the balance between making their precautions appear convincing, and yet ensuring the men following them did not lose them. Eventually, they reached Matilde’s house, and Bartholomew knocked softly on the door, glancing around furtively. Soft yellow light was visible through the shutters on the upper window, and Bartholomew realised with a shock that Matilde might be entertaining one of her customers. He backed away, reluctant to see who it might be.
‘Who is there?’ came Matilde’s voice through the closed door. ‘What do you want?’
Bartholomew’s voice stuck in his throat. Michael shot him a look of exasperation.
‘It is Brother Michael,’ he called softly. ‘And your friend, Matthew.’
The door opened a crack to verify he was telling the truth, and then he and Bartholomew were ushered inside. Cynric was nowhere to be seen. Matilde was wearing a nightshift of soft, white linen, and her long hair flowed loose down her back. Her feet were bare, and she held a candle that shed a flickering light around the neat little room.
‘What is the matter?’ she asked, looking from Michael to Bartholomew and sensing their agitation. ‘Have you come for Dame Pelagia? She is upstairs.’
‘The Sheriff’s soldiers are outside,’ said Michael, pushing past her quickly and closing the door behind them. ‘And we were followed here by men we believe to be the outlaws he has been hunting.’
‘You mean you have deliberately led them to my house?’ asked Matilde, grasping the situation quickly. ‘Into an ambush where they will be caught?’
‘They have Deynman,’ Bartholomew blurted out. ‘This seemed the best way to get him back.’
Matilde regarded him with eyes that were dark in the dim candlelight. ‘I see. So what do you want to do? Are we supposed to pretend to sneak away or remain here and wait for them to come?’
‘We wait,’ said Michael. He looked Matilde’s slender form up and down with blatant admiration. ‘You should find something warmer to wear, my child.’
Matilde’s face creased into merriment. ‘Thank you for your concern, Brother,’ she said with mock demureness. She slipped away up the stairs, leaving Michael and Bartholomew alone.
‘Please do not flirt with her, Michael,’ said Bartholomew primly. ‘It is unbecoming behaviour for a monk.’
‘You do it, then,’ said Michael, unabashed by the reminder of his vows of chastity. ‘That is what she really wants.’
Bartholomew shook his head in exasperation and went to peer through a slit in the window shutter. The street outside seemed to be deserted. Bartholomew felt his heart begin to thump hard against his ribs. What if Tulyet and his men had misunderstood their description of the location of Matilde’s house and were somewhere else? What if Tulyet’s party had themselves been ambushed as they left the castle by the sally-port? What if the outlaws did not come for Dame Pelagia at all, but shot fire arrows to burn the house down and kill them as they emerged choking into the street? He felt an unpleasant clamminess at the small of his back, and was aware that his hands were shaking.
‘I will watch here,’ said Michael. ‘Go and see that Dame Pelagia is awake.’
‘She is your grandmother,’ said Bartholomew, reluctant to mount the stairs to Matilde’s bedchamber. ‘You go.’
‘She is a nun,’ said Michael, imitating the prim voice Bartholomew had used to him. ‘But you are a physician. She will not mind you seeing her in a state of undress.’
‘But Matilde might,’ said Bartholomew.
Michael regarded him in disbelief. ‘She is a prostitute, Matt! That is what they do! Hurry up. These outlaws might be here at any moment and we might have to flee.’
Bartholomew climbed the flight of wooden stairs, coughing noisily to let them know he was coming.
‘Is Dame Pelagia dressed?’ he asked, entering the bedchamber and fixing his eyes steadily on the floor.
‘We both are, Matt,’ said Matilde. She looked at him with mischief glittering in her eyes. ‘For a physician, you are very coy. You may look up. There is nothing here that might embarrass you.’
Bartholomew saw that Matilde had exchanged the nightshift for a long woollen dress and her feet were no longer bare. She had also bundled her luxuriant hair into a cap and was helping Dame Pelagia to put her shoes on.
‘You have taken your time in coming to me,’ said Dame Pelagia, somewhat reprovingly. ‘I was beginning to think I might have to go to the Sheriff and the Bishop myself with the information I have gathered. I would have done, in fact, had I not been afraid that independent action might endanger Matilde, or that it might have interfered with some secret plan of Michael’s.’
‘And the Lord knows he has plenty of those,’ muttered Bartholomew.
‘Have you two fallen out?’ asked Matilde, regarding him with concern.
‘We had a misunderstanding over this information about the smugglers Dame Pelagia has,’ replied Bartholomew shortly.
‘I suppose he told you he had passed it to the Sheriff when he had not,’ said Dame Pelagia, fixing her bright green eyes on him astutely. She gave the physician a sudden grin, revealing sharp brown teeth. ‘I suspected Michael had some plot in action when he did not return immediately with Sheriff Tulyet as he said he would. This smuggling is such a sensitive business and involves such cunning people, that I simply assumed Michael needed time to spring a trap before the Sheriff was made aware of the identities of those involved. The secular law can be very crude, you know.’
‘Michael told me he gave Dick Tulyet some other names – ones discovered by my sister from a student she was helping,’ said Bartholomew, still not certain that Michael had been completely honest.
‘That was clever of him,’ said Dame Pelagia admiringly. ‘In that way he could provide the Sheriff with enough information to keep him happy, but did not need to visit me to reveal my whereabouts to anyone watching him.’
‘But you had plenty of time to talk on that long journey from Denny,’ Matilde pointed out. ‘Did you tell him nothing then?’
‘Of course not!’ said Dame Pelagia. ‘First of all, poor Michael needed all his breath for walking – he is not fit and spry like me – and second, it would have been extremely foolish to discuss such matters on the open road. Who knows who might have overheard?’
