'So smugglers would take their contraband this way?'
'Yes, sir. A few years ago the revenue men from Rye chased some smugglers out there, but they lost their way. Two men went down in seconds, vanished without trace.' I followed her gaze out over the white expanse and shivered, then looked around the knoll. It was smaller than I had expected, the ruined buildings little more than heaps of stone. One, though roofless, was more complete than the rest and I saw the remains of a fire, a bare patch in the snow covered with ashes.
'People have been here very recently,' I said, turning over the ashes. I poked around the site with my staff, half hoping to find the relic or a chest of gold hidden away, but there was nothing. Alice stood watching me silently.
I went back to her and stood looking around. 'The first monks must have had a harsh life. I wonder why they came here; for security perhaps.'
'They say the marsh has risen gradually as the river mouth has silted up. Perhaps it wasn't marsh then, just a point near the river.' She did not sound much interested.
'This scene would make an arresting painting. I paint, you know, when I have time.'
'I have only seen the paintings on the glass in the church. The colours are pretty, but the figures always seem unreal somehow.'
I nodded. 'That's because they're not in proportion and there's no sense of distance, perspective. But painters now try to show things as they are, to show reality.'
'Do they, sir?' Her voice was still cool, distant. I cleared the snow from a patch of ancient wall and sat down.
'Alice, I would like to talk with you. About Master Mark.'
Her look at me was bleak.
'I know he has formed an attachment to you, and I believe it is an honourable one.'
At once she became animated. 'Then why, sir, do you forbid him to see me?'
'Mark's father is the steward of my father's farmlands. Not that my father is rich, but I have been lucky to make my way, through the law, into the service of Lord Cromwell himself.' I thought to impress her, but her expression did not change.
'My father gave his word to Mark's that I would try to advance the boy in London. I have done that; not alone, his own good mind and fair manner have played their part.' I coughed delicately. 'Unfortunately there was some trouble. He had to leave his post—'
'I know about the lady-in-waiting, sir. He has told me all.'
'Oh. Has he? Then don't you see, Alice, he has a last chance with this mission to return to favour. If he takes it he could advance himself further, have a secure and wealthy future, but he will have to find a wife of rank. Alice, you are a fine girl. If you were a London merchant's daughter, it would be another matter. Why, if that were so, you might find me as a suitor as well as Mark.' I had not meant to say that, but it came in a sudden rush of feeling. She frowned, her face uncomprehending. Had she not realized? I took a deep breath. 'In any event, if Mark is to advance, he cannot go wooing a servant. It is hard, but it is how society works.'
'Then society is wicked,' she said with sudden cold anger. 'I have thought so for a long time.'
I stood up. 'It is the world God has made for us, for weal or woe we must live in it. Would you hold Mark back, prevent his advancement? If you encourage him, that is what will happen.'
'I would do nothing to hinder him,' she said hotly. 'I would do nothing against his wishes.'
'But he may wish for something that would hinder him.'
'It is for him to say. Though, if we are not to speak, he can say nothing.'
'Would you spoil his chances? Really?'
She studied me closely, so closely I felt uneasy as I never had in my life under a woman's look. At length she gave a heavy sigh. 'Sometimes it seems all those I love are to be taken from me. But perhaps that is a servant's lot,' she added bitterly.