The others were silent. Then the Queen nodded wearily. ‘At least I know who the traitor within my own household was: the guard Leeman.’ She gave me a sad little smile. ‘You were wrong, Matthew, to suspect Jane Fool and the Lady Mary.’
‘I know, your majesty. But it was my duty to interview all the possible suspects.’
She nodded again.
‘Where do we go now?’ Cranmer asked.
I turned to Cecil. ‘First, as I said, we cannot discount the possibility that one of the missing three men took the books, as part of a quarrel over strategy. If so, they may try to smuggle them out of the country. What sort of watch have you been able to put at the docks?’
‘I have arranged discreetly at the customs house for outgoing cargoes to be searched thoroughly. Of course, the customs officials’ main effort goes into searching goods coming into the country, particularly for forbidden literature. Books hidden in bales of cloth, tied in oilskin inside casks of wine—’
‘And if they find them?’ I cut in.
‘They are to be delivered to me.’ Cecil touched one of the moles on his face. ‘Lord Parr has graciously allowed me much gold to grease those wheels.’
The Queen said, ‘But what if the books go from Bristol, or Ipswich, or even on a small boat launched secretly from a creek?’
‘Then there is nothing we can do,’ Lord Parr answered flatly. He turned to me. ‘I can see a radical group sending Anne Askew’s writings abroad for Bale or someone like him to print and smuggle back to England. But the Lamentation? Surely it is obvious, with even a little thought, that printing and distributing it would do nothing but harm the Queen.’
‘I have dealt with the outer fringes of fanaticism before,’ I said. ‘These people may have actively sought to recruit people in places where secret information could be had, precisely so it could be publicized. They may even realize that harm could come to her majesty, but not care if they had it in their heads that their actions could stir people to revolt.’
Again there was a silence in the room. I continued quietly, ‘We still have two leads which have not been followed to the end, both crucial. Two people. Who is Stice, the man with the torn ear, and who is he working for? And who in God’s name is Gurone Bertano?’
‘Bertano’s name is quite unknown,’ Cranmer replied. ‘Though, as you know, there is something, some initiative, going on involving only the religious traditionalists close to the King. Whether this man could be involved I have no idea. But it could be that Greening’s group somehow got hold of a third secret, this man’s name and purpose. But from whom?’
‘The name certainly terrified Elias.’
‘We dare not question too openly, my Lord Archbishop,’ Lord Parr said. ‘If this Bertano is involved in some secret machinations of the conservatives, and I come out with the name, they will demand to know where we heard it.’
Cecil said, ‘The other man, the one with the torn ear. We know from the page that he works for someone at court, someone who was seeking information against the Queen, and who was involved in the first attempt on Greening.’
‘If only he could be found, he might be the key to the whole conspiracy,’ I said.
Lord Parr began pacing up and down, his body tensed with frustration. ‘All the great men of the realm have large households, and spies.’
Cecil said, ‘I still find it odd that Myldmore was not arrested directly after it was discovered he had spoken of Anne Askew’s torture.’
The Queen spoke up, her voice strained. ‘From what you told my uncle, Matthew, I understand Sir Anthony Knevet was unhappy about the illegality of that poor woman’s torture, and said he would report it to the King?’
‘Yes, your majesty.’
She took a deep breath. ‘I remember dining with the King one evening, about three weeks ago. We were interrupted by a messenger telling him Sir Anthony begged to see him urgently, on a confidential matter. The King was angry, said he wanted to dine in peace, but the messenger insisted it was important. I left the room and Sir Anthony was shown in – the King was not fit to walk at all that night.’ She took another calming breath. ‘They were together some time and then he left and his majesty called me back. He said nothing about the meeting but he seemed – disturbed, a little upset.’
Lord Parr said, ‘The dates certainly tally. And what else could Knevet have wished to discuss so urgently?’