‘You can’t leave now, don’t be ridiculous,’ said a woman’s voice, sharp and peevish.
‘No one will care. I have better things to do. I can’t sit through another hour of this nonsense.’ A man’s voice; gravelly, tired. I recognised it at once as the Duke of Guise.
‘You can and you will. Montpensier will notice. You can’t afford to offend him at this stage. We need him too much.’
A mighty sigh from Guise. ‘I have said it before – if he will not support the League through the prompting of his conscience, I fail to see why he should be moved to do so by my attending a few dinners and watching Italians pretending to fornicate.’
‘Because that’s how he is.’ She sounded obstinate, as if they were retreading an old argument. ‘You have to flatter him on his terms. It would be a great triumph for us to win him away from the King. But he is a bon viveur at heart and he fears that puts him at odds with the League. He does not want to see France governed by joyless clerics.’
‘He prefers to see power in the hands of heretics and libertines?’
‘Those are his words, Brother, not mine. You must help me allay his fears by proving you know how to be good company, both now and in any future office you may hold.’
I could not see Guise’s expression, but I heard the snort he made in response. I knelt and tried to squint through a gap in the shutters. A sliver of a gap offered me an occasional glimpse of the Duke’s tall figure crossing in front of the window.
‘An hour more, then. After that I must attend to other business. The money is downstairs with my bodyservants – how much do you want?’
‘Paget says three thousand écus will do it.’
Another murmur of discontent from Guise. ‘That is more than I expected.’
‘You will recover it from the Spanish when you pass the material on.’
‘They will want to be sure it is a worthwhile investment. As do I, for that matter. We don’t even know what’s in those papers. You should not have agreed such a sum in advance without consulting me.’
‘If I had not, he would have taken the intelligence direct to Mendoza and we would know nothing of it. We cannot afford to be excluded from any developments at this stage. And Paget has assured me he would not dare cheat us. He is too indebted.’ She gave a dismissive little laugh. A long pause elapsed.
‘You should not encourage Paget,’ Guise said, eventually, in a reproving tone. ‘It is imprudent, in your situation.’
‘He is useful. He is another who needs to be flattered.’
‘Yes, but you go too far. He has hopes of you – and not without cause, from what I observe. Even you, with your fabled chastity, must see it.’
‘You are mistaken. Charles hopes only to see a Catholic sovereign on the thrones of France and England, and in that common cause we support one another. In any case—’ her tone sharpened – ‘it is not my liaisons threatening to bring trouble on our heads at the present time.’
‘Keep your voice down. The girl is dead. She can bring no trouble on anyone now.’
‘I wish I had your assurance, Brother.’ I heard brisk footsteps across the room. ‘You still have no idea who else she confided in, admit it. Not the first time you have placed your trust unwisely in a woman.’
‘The court is saying she died by her own hand. As long as it suits them to say that, we are safe.’
‘You are deluded,’ the Duchess said. ‘Well, you had better get rid of the husband, now. You have probably told him more than was good for him, if I know you.’
‘He knows nothing. He lost his wits long ago. Leave him – he is near death already. He will oblige you soon of his own accord.’
‘Yes, but all the time he is rotting away in the Conciergerie he is costing you money.’
‘Hardly. It’s not as if they’re keeping him in luxury.’
‘But you pay the gaoler for his silence, do you not? Well, then. Why waste that money? The world thinks Saint-Fermin has been dead these thirteen years.’ A pause. ‘Send the order tonight. I don’t know why you’re being squeamish about this – it’s not as if you baulk at death when it suits you.’
‘I will do it tomorrow. Other matters demand my attention tonight.’
‘Oh, other matters. Some doxy from the Tuileries, is it? I don’t know why you don’t run the other way when you see those Medici whores coming. You make their job child’s play.’
‘Perhaps that’s what I want them to think.’
‘Ha. If only I could believe that. You are not as shrewd as you would like people to think, Brother.’
‘Nor you as chaste,’ Guise said, with a soft laugh. ‘All the talk at court is of how you murdered de Chartres over a lovers’ quarrel.’
The Duchess clicked her tongue.
‘God, have these people nothing better to do? Give me the name of everyone you heard say so and I will see them whipped for slander, whatever their rank.’
‘That would only serve to confirm the rumours, dear Sister.’
‘Then we should make haste to have the heretic Bruno arrested and charged with his murder. That would solve two problems with one stroke.’
‘I have told you to leave that in my hands,’ Guise said, his tone severe again. ‘I have other uses for him yet. By God, this room is freezing – have you left the window open?’
I had only a moment; quickly I climbed over the parapet at the side of the balcony and clung on to the outside, crouching low, hanging perhaps
