'She does indeed, madam, unless fresh evidence can be brought. Evidence, for example, of what lies at the bottom of yonder well in the garden.'
'Our well?' she asked quietly. 'Whatever can you mean, sir?' Her composure was remarkable.
'The bodies of the animals your grandson Ralph tortured and killed for sport are there. Including Elizabeth's cat that Sabine and Avice brought to him. And a tortured child, a little beggar boy. Whom Needler must have seen, but which you said nothing of at the inquest.' I looked from one to the other of them. They were silent, their faces expressionless.
'The boy had things done to him that would make a hangman sick,' Barak added.
The old woman laughed then, a shrill cackle. 'Are they mad, David? Are they frothing at the mouth, plucking straws from their hair?'
I spoke evenly. 'It must have been hard, these last weeks, for your granddaughters to keep such a secret.'
'Elizabeth is my granddaughter too,' the old woman said.
'Sir Edwin's children are all you have ever cared for. Them and their advancement.'
She was silent for a long moment. Then her lips set hard. 'I see you have learned much.' She sighed. 'It seems I must tell you all. David, I would like a glass of wine. Master Shardlake, you and your assistant will have one?'
I did not answer, surprised by the speed of her capitulation. I looked at the steward.
His face was tense, anxious.
'Get some wine, David,' the old woman said quietly.
Needler went over to the buffet, then turned to his mistress. 'The family had the last of it yesterday, madam. Shall I fetch another bottle from the cellar?'
'Ay, do that. I will be safe enough, I think.'
'Quite safe,' I replied grimly. Needler left the room. The old woman worked her hands in her lap, playing with her gnarled, beringed fingers. 'Elizabeth has spoken, then?'
'Reluctantly, yes. To us and to your son Joseph.'
She pursed her lips again. 'My family has come far,' she said quietly. 'If Edwin had been like Joseph we would all still be country clods, working at that dreary farm. But Edwin has brought us advancement, wealth, the chance for his children to mix with the highest in London. It has been a great consolation to me in my blindness. Now that Ralph is gone our hopes rest on good marriages for Sabine and Avice. It is all we have left.'
'Are they safe for a young man to marry? After what they have done?'
She shrugged. 'They only need a strong lusty fellow to take them in hand.'
Needler returned with a bottle of red wine and three silver goblets on a tray. He laid it on a table and gave a goblet to the old woman, then passed the others to Barak and me. His face was expressionless as he returned to his place behind his mistress's chair. Why were they both so calm? I wondered. I took a sip of the wine. It was sweet and sickly. Barak took a large draught.
'The truth, then,' Goodwife Wentworth said decisively.
'Yes, madam, the truth. If not here, then in court tomorrow morning.'
'Elizabeth will speak for herself?'
'Whether she does or not I shall bring forward the evidence I have. This is your chance to tell me the truth, madam. Perhaps-' I paused, taking another sip – 'something may be done.'
'Where is Joseph?' she asked.
'At his lodgings.'
She nodded then paused, gathering her thoughts. 'David saw it all,' she said. 'From this window. He was cleaning the tapestries; it is a task I trust only to him.' She hesitated a moment, as though listening for something, then continued.
'Elizabeth was in the garden alone that afternoon, sulking as usual. She would have done better to stand up for herself, the way she used to cower in corners like a pissing woman only encouraged the children to be cruel. And children are cruel, are they not? As a hunchback you will know that.'
'Yes they are. Which is why adults must correct them. And they were three against one, were they not?'
'Elizabeth was almost an adult. A great girl of eighteen afraid of a twelve-year-old boy.' She gave a snort of contempt. 'The day Ralph died he had gone down to the garden, to Elizabeth. He sat on the edge of the well and spoke to her. You could not hear what he said, could you, David, through the window?'
'No, madam.' He looked at us and shrugged. 'He was probably tormenting her, perhaps talking about that cat of hers he killed. She just sat under the tree and took it as usual, her head bowed.'
The old woman nodded. 'If she'd any courage she would have got up and boxed his ears.'
'The favoured son?' I said. 'Sir Edwin would not have been pleased.'
Goodwife Wentworth inclined her head. 'Perhaps not.'
'Did you know your grandson had killed a little boy, madam?' I asked. The steward laid a warning hand on her arm, but she shrugged it off.
'We heard the boy had disappeared. I wondered. I knew the things Ralph did and I was waiting for a chance to speak to him about it – I feared he was placing himself in danger. My son Edwin knows nothing,' she added. 'He believed Ralph could do no wrong and I thought it better he kept that belief. He has enough to worry about with his business.'
'You did not fear Ralph was growing into a monster?' I coughed. My throat was suddenly dry.
She shrugged. 'If Ralph did not grow out of his cruelties he would have learned to conceal them. People do.' She sighed. 'You go on, David, this is tiring me. Tell them what happened next.'
The steward looked at us intently. 'After a while Sabine and Avice came outside and sat with Ralph on the edge of the well. They joined in baiting Elizabeth, I think. But then Ralph said something to Sabine. Something she did not like.'
The steward reddened.
'He referred perhaps to her feelings for you?' I asked.
The old woman raised a hand. 'It's all right, David. Sabine developed a girlish fancy for David. He did not encourage her: he is loyal, he has served my son and me for ten years. He would do anything for us. Tell them what you saw next, David. From the window.'
'Sabine grabbed at Ralph. He twisted away from her, fell backwards and then he was gone. Down the well.'
Goodwife Wentworth sighed. 'Sabine says she did not mean to throw him in, she only lashed out in anger. I think at law that would be manslaughter, eh lawyer? Not murder?'
'It would be for the jury to decide on the facts.'
'Either way Sabine might hang, for all her status. We could try for a king's pardon, but that would bankrupt us. Of course, if Elizabeth had not been there Sabine and Avice could have said Ralph merely slipped, but Elizabeth saw everything. And she has no love for us.' She spread her hands and smiled. 'You see, that was our problem.'
'So she had to be silenced. By being accused.' My voice came out as a croak and speaking hurt my dry throat. I wondered whether I was sickening for something.
'When I saw Ralph go down the well,' Needler went on, 'I ran downstairs to the garden. Sabine and Avice were screaming, howling. I looked down the well. I could just make out Ralph's body.'
'Poor boy,' the old woman whispered.
'Elizabeth just sat there under the tree, gawping. Then, not knowing I had been looking from the window, Sabine pointed at Elizabeth and said, 'She's killed Ralph. She put him in the well! We saw her!' Elizabeth just sat there, like a stone, saying nothing. Then Avice joined in, pointing at Elizabeth, accusing her.'
Goodwife Wentworth nodded. 'Then I came down, I had heard the screaming. I found Sabine and Avice howling that Elizabeth had killed Ralph. Elizabeth would not answer when I spoke to her. I thought at first that was what had really happened, I ordered Edwin fetched and he had the constable take Elizabeth away. It was only afterwards that David told me the truth. I questioned the girls and they admitted all. They knew about the beggar boy; they have been very frightened, Master Shardlake, but they know how to control themselves as young ladies should. They will make fine gentlewomen one day.'
'They'll make devilish monsters, like their brother,' Barak said.
The old woman ignored him. 'We waited a day, two days, to see if Elizabeth would tell her story, but she kept her silence. Joseph came and told us she was refusing to plead. So we decided, if Elizabeth was prepared to go to her death, let her.' She spoke calmly, as though of a business arrangement.
