Heartstone (Matthew Shardlake #5)(81)

‘I applaud your honourable nature, Master Hugh,’ I said quietly. ‘But war is a matter of blood and death.’

‘Do you think I do not know that?’ he answered scornfully.

There was silence for a moment. Then Dyrick asked, ‘Are there any more questions?’

I repeated my formula. ‘Not for now.’ Hugh rose, bowed, and walked from the room. Dyrick looked at me triumphantly. Hugh had not accused Michael, but neither had he accused the Hobbeys of anything, anything at all.



AFTERWARDS I invited Barak to my room to talk. ‘Well,’ he began, ‘so much for our main witness.’

I paced up and down, frowning. ‘I don’t understand it. Hobbey and Fulstowe were practised, but Hugh—’

‘It was almost as though he did not care.’

‘Yet he did not endorse what Hobbey said about Michael. Neither that Michael behaved improperly when he was a boy, nor that he said he loved him this spring.’

‘He said nothing against the Hobbeys. You can see he thinks David a fool, but who could think otherwise?’

‘Why does he care nothing for his estates?’

Barak looked at me seriously. ‘Maybe he just never got over his parents and sister dying.’

‘After all this time? And if he despises David, why spend so much time with him?’

‘There is no one else his age here. We don’t choose our families, nor our adopted ones.’

‘There is more to it than that,’ I insisted. ‘He bit down hard on his feelings when I mentioned Michael.’

‘Maybe he is trying to protect his memory. For Mistress Calfhill’s sake.’

‘He barely knew her.’ I looked at him. ‘I swear he is hiding something. They all are. It is just a feeling, but a powerful one.’

Barak nodded slowly. ‘I feel it too. But if Hugh will make no complaint, there is nothing to be done.’

‘I must think. Let us go for a walk after dinner. I’ll come to your room.’

‘Meantime I suppose I’ll have Feaveryear arguing every dot and comma of the deposition again.’

Barak left for his quarters, and I lay down to rest. Yet my mind was too agitated for me to settle. After a while I decided to go and see if dinner was ready. A little way up the corridor a door stood open. It was dark within, the shutters must be drawn. I heard quiet voices, Nicholas and Abigail.

‘He will be gone soon,’ Nicholas was saying in impatient tones.

‘I can’t stand the sight of his bent back.’ Abigail sounded utterly weary. ‘And that snarling cur Dyrick is loathsome. And I still don’t want to have the hunt.’

‘Wife, I cannot stand this isolation any longer,’ Hobbey replied angrily. ‘I tell you, it is safe.’

‘We are never safe.’

I started as a little face appeared at the bottom of the doorway. Lamkin came out and waddled towards me, tail wagging. I stepped quickly back into my room, quietly closing the door on the dog. I stood there, thinking hard.



ALTHOUGH the birds taken by the boys were served in more rich sauces from the Hobbey kitchen, dinner was a miserable meal. Abigail was last to arrive, pale and obviously still in pain from her headache. As she entered, Fulstowe, positioned behind Hobbey’s chair again, bowed. Dyrick and I stood and Hobbey half-rose, but neither Hugh nor David troubled to rise for her. It was an insult to the mistress of the house, but Abigail seemed hardly to notice. She had taken no trouble over her appearance today, her long grey-blonde hair drooping from the back of her hood. She said nothing during the meal, picking at her food and wincing at the clatter of plates. Hobbey engaged Dyrick in talk about the conversion of the nunnery. He tried to draw David into the discussion, but the boy seemed to have no interest in the house. I saw Hobbey look at him both lovingly and sorrowfully. Hugh sat opposite me. I took the opportunity to lean forward and speak quietly. ‘I am sorry if my enquiries stirred sad memories, Master Hugh. Unfortunately asking difficult questions is a lawyer’s lot.’

‘I understand, Master Shardlake,’ he said sadly. He hesitated, then added, ‘I promised to let you see my copy of Toxophilus. I will have a servant fetch it to your room. I would welcome another view on it.’

‘Thank you. That is kind.’

I saw David had been listening to us, caught a strange look on his heavy features. He met my eye and said loudly, ‘Where were you and your servant coming back from earlier, Master Shardlake? Was it the village?’

‘Yes.’

Hobbey gave me a sharp look.

‘Did you see any of those jumped-up serfs?’ David asked with a laugh.

‘We just went for a walk.’

Ursula, the old servant, was reaching forward just then to pick up an empty dish. David leaned back and his shoulder caught her arm, making her drop the dish on the table with a clatter. Abigail wailed at the noise and put her hands to her ears. ‘Will you be careful?’ she screeched. ‘You foolish booby!’

‘Abigail,’ Nicholas said warningly. A smile of cruel amusement crossed Fulstowe’s face, instantly suppressed. Abigail glared at her husband, then rose from the table and left the room.

‘I am sorry,’ Nicholas said quietly. ‘My wife is unwell.’

I looked at the boys. Hugh’s face was expressionless again. David looked crushed.