WE PARTED COMPANY at the Walbrook. Barak went off to send a message to Cromwell, saying to my dismay that he would call to collect me in an hour at Lady Honor’s. We should stay together, he said, if Toky was about. I could think of no objection, though that meant I could not go to Guy’s. Barak rode off and I went on to Blue Lion Street.
At the House of Glass a couple of servants were washing the windows with vinegar. Informed that Lady Honor was at home, I passed Genesis to a stable boy and was ushered through the house to the inner courtyard. A servant was watering the plants set in pots round the walls. Lady Honor sat on a bench watching him. She wore a blue dress and her blonde hair was uncovered today, tied in a bun with a silk ribbon. She smiled in welcome.
‘Matthew. This is an unexpected visit.’
I bowed. ‘I apologize for coming unannounced. But—’
‘Official business?’
‘I fear so.’
She took a deep breath. ‘Come then, sit with me. Edward, that will do for now. Finish the watering this evening.’ The man bowed and left us. Lady Honor looked over her courtyard. ‘I fear my little bushes are dying in the heat. See there, I have been trying to grow pomegranates, but my foolish servants know nothing about the care of plants, they water them at the wrong times, too much or too little.’
‘Everything is dying in this fierce weather. The crops will be bad.’
‘Will they?’ she asked indifferently. ‘But you have not come to talk of planting, I think.’
‘No. Lady Honor, I have a confession.’ I cursed my awkwardness. I should not be apologizing for questioning her, it was my duty. ‘I know about the Duke of Norfolk’s pursuit of you,’ I said bluntly. ‘I needed to follow up the question you left me with on the river bank. I spoke to Marchamount.’
I half-expected anger but she only turned away and stared ahead for a moment. When she turned back to me her face wore a tired smile. ‘After we spoke on the river I feared you would report me to Cromwell and I should be in trouble. Did you ask Marchamount first to save me from the earl’s rough ways?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘You are gentle with me, more than I deserve. I felt that if the duke’s insulting demands were forced out of me by Cromwell, my honour would be less besmirched. A foolish notion, perhaps.’
‘I am sorry I could not save you from my knowing.’
‘At least you will not gossip like most would.’ She looked at me seriously. ‘Will you? It is a tasty morsel, I realize.’
‘You know I think too much of you for that, Lady Honor.’
She laid a hand on mine for a second, then lifted it, although I had the odd sensation it was still there. ‘You are a natural gentleman.’ She sighed. ‘I have sent Henry back to the country. He could never make his way at court. So I have been able to reject the crude advances of that old brute with a clear conscience.’
‘I did not realize you disliked the duke so.’
‘He is unfit for the position he occupies. He may be the senior peer of the realm, but his lineage is not old, you know.’ She smiled. ‘Unlike the Vaughans.’
I took a deep breath. ‘Lady Honor, I must ask - for the last time, I promise - is there anything you have not told me that could be of any possible relevance, however remote, to my search for the Gristwoods’ murderers?’
She looked at me impatiently. ‘Matthew, I swore that already on the Bible. If you recall, I made oath the duke had put no pressure on me about Greek Fire. And I swore true. He has never mentioned it to me and Marchamount did so only to warn me against you. As I have said, I wish my foolish curiosity had never led me to look at those papers.’
I looked into her eyes. ‘I felt when Marchamount spoke about the duke and you this morning he was still keeping something back.’
She smiled again. ‘If he did, it is nothing to do with me, I swear. Shall I fetch the Bible again?’
I shook my head. ‘No. That is not necessary. Forgive me.’
She looked at me indulgently. ‘By Our Lady, you are a courteous inquisitor.’
‘Marchamount would not agree.’
‘That puffed-up creature.’ She looked over her wilting plants again. ‘He is a rogue despite his smoothness and he would do anything to advance himself.’ She gave a shudder. ‘I told you I am thinking of escaping to the country, to my Lincolnshire estates. I have had enough of the City, of Marchamount and the duke and everyone.’ She smiled quickly. ‘Almost everyone.’
‘I would miss you. Though I have also been thinking of taking a quiet house in the country.’
She looked at me in surprise. ‘Would not the country bore you?’ ‘I come from Lichfield - my father has the freehold of a farm there. Though he is old now, even his steward is not getting any younger. The farm is hard for them to manage.’ I smiled sadly. ‘But I have never been fitted to be a farmer, nor wanted to be one.’