‘All right,’ he agreed reluctantly. He and Llewellyn walked back to the tavern. Leacon and I continued down Oyster Street. Leacon said quietly, ‘Saddler was on the Scottish campaign last year, he told me about all the plate and cloth he took from Edinburgh. But he is right, soldiers have always seen spoil as the legitimate fruit of war, waited for the cry of “Havoc!” Men like Saddler though – nothing they see affects them, they have hearts like stones. Thank God I only have one or two like that under my command, like Sulyard, who insulted you. When Saddler talked about those villagers running across the fields – ’ He broke off.
‘It reminded you of the woman by the roadside in France with the dead baby?’
His blue eyes had that staring look again. ‘The strange thing is I didn’t think much of it at the time. I saw so many things. But afterwards she and that dead baby would suddenly jump into my mind’s eye. Let us change the subject,’ he said wearily. ‘It does me no good to dwell on it.’
‘What do you know of Master West? Thank you for finding him so quickly, by the way.’
‘We in the army are making it our business to find out about the ships’ officers; we may be serving under them.’ He looked at me seriously. ‘What is this about, Matthew?’
I hesitated. ‘A private matter. Legal.’
‘Well, I am told West is an experienced officer, stern but fair with those under him. When the French come he will have the hardest test of his life before him.’ Leacon looked at me. ‘Is this a question affecting his abilities as an officer? If it is, I should know.’
‘No, George, it is not.’
Leacon nodded, relieved.
WE HAD RETURNED to the open area in front of the Square Tower. We walked on to a gatehouse giving entrance to the walled Godshouse. A cart full of crates of cackling geese was going in, watched by soldiers with halberds who stood guard. Leacon walked across to them.
‘Is the meeting of ships’ officers still going on?’ he asked one.
‘Yes, sir. They’ve been in a while.’
‘This gentleman has a message for one of the officers.’
The guard looked at my lawyer’s robe. ‘Is it urgent, sir?’
‘We can wait till they are finished.’
The man nodded. ‘They’re meeting in the great chamber.’
We passed into the enclosure. Inside was a wide yard, dominated by a large Norman church surrounded by a jumble of tall buildings. At the rear of the complex what had once been a garden was now full of animals in pens – pigs, cows and sheep.
‘I’ll go across to the great chamber,’ Leacon said. ‘Leave a message that someone wants to speak to Master West after the meeting. See, there are some benches by the garden, I’ll tell the clerk you’ll wait there.’
He walked away to the largest building, and I went over to some stone benches set in the shade of the wall. I guessed they had been built for patients and visitors to rest on and look at the garden. It was not a restful place now. The cartload of geese was being unloaded, the geese hissing and cackling as they were carried into a penned-off area. Nearby some large wicker baskets had been piled up. The brightly coloured heads of fighting cocks, brought no doubt for the soldiers’ entertainment, stared out angrily.
A few minutes later Leacon marched back across the yard. He sat down beside me, took off his helmet with relief, and ran a hand through his blond curls. ‘I’ve got those damned lice,’ he said. ‘This hair comes off today. Well, I’ve left the message. ‘Look for Master West when they come out. I am told he is a tall grey-bearded man.’
‘Grey-bearded already? He can’t be much past forty.’
‘He may be greyer yet before this is done.’
‘What do you think will happen?’ I asked quietly.
‘It could be bad, Matthew. You’ve seen the fleet?’
‘Ay. I never saw such a sight, even at York. Those great ships. We saw a huge galley rowing in earlier. The Galley Subtle, Hugh Curteys called it.’
‘The boy who shot so well? He was remarkable. Yes, I heard the Galley Subtle was coming in. Much good it will do against the twenty-two Lord Lisle has reported the French have. Equipped with powerful cannon and rowed by slaves experienced in Mediterranean fighting. If they get in close, they could sink our big ships before they can fire on them. Our galleasses are clumsy in comparison. And the French have over two hundred warships; even if our ships get close enough to grapple with theirs we are greatly outnumbered. There was word today of our company going on the Great Harry, but nothing is certain. In some ways that would be good, for it is one of the few of our ships which is taller than the French ones. If our archers are up in the castles we would be able to fire down on their decks. Though if they have netting we would have to shoot through that.’
‘I saw what looked like netting on top of the Mary Rose aftercastle as we arrived.’
‘All the big warships have netting secured across the tops of their decks to stop boarders. If the ships grappled together, and French soldiers tried to clamber onto our decks, they would be caught on top of the netting. There will be pikemen positioned below the netting to stab up at them before they can cut through it with their knives.’ He looked at me. ‘It will be hard and brutal fighting if the warships do grapple.’