A Mortal Bane(138)

“Did Lord Winchester tell you what was in the pouch?” she asked. “I am so curious. We have talked about it so often. Were our guesses right?”

“Yes, in fact, they were, at least about the bull naming the bishop as legate. There was also a letter to the king. Of course, we do not know what it said, but since it is just a letter, the bishop and Lord William assumed it must be a confirmation of Stephen’s right to be king. If the pope had changed that decision, he would surely have sent one of his cardinals to Stephen to explain what he had done and why.”

“And did they decide to send the pouch to the king?” Magdalene asked eagerly, not because she cared, but to disguise her relief at having the contents described to her; now she would not need to fear mentioning what was in the pouch when she was not supposed to know. “I know William wanted the king to give Lord Winchester the bull to show his good will,” she added. “He hopes to effect a reconciliation between the brothers.”

[page]“Well, he did not succeed in that. I was there by accident—I will tell you about that later—but Lord William and the bishop finally agreed to divide the spoils. Winchester kept the bull and Lord William took the letter and the remainder of the contents—letters of introduction and credit and some money—to the king.”

Dulcie brought the soup tureen in just then. Ella got up to bring bowls from the shelf, and when she set them down, Magdalene began to ladle out the soup. Ella slapped the bowl down in front of Bell so hard that the soup splashed. Magdalene protested, and Ella said he did not deserve to be cosseted after leaving them exposed. It did not matter that no harm had come of it, she insisted. That was luck. Safety should not be left to luck. Magdalene bit her lip, hearing her own words come back at her. She had worked hard to train Ella into self-protective patterns and did not dare scold her for them now.

Bell seemed to understand, because he apologized between spooning up mouthfuls of soup. “I did take the key,” he admitted. “And I forgot all about it. I will put it back on its hook as soon as I finish eating. I should have done that last night, but I thought I would come back with Magdalene. I could not because the bishop had work for me, and it is not yet done.”

“Then you did not find the goldsmith?” Magdalene asked.

Bell sighed. “No. I was all over London this morning visiting craftmasters whose names begin with S. The Guildmaster gave me a list, but none of them knew anything about the chalice, candlesticks, and patens that have been copied. We even had the journeymen in and asked if any had done them as a side job—they were copies, after all—but no one seemed to be guilty or troubled. And Jacob the Alderman swears that the molds were destroyed after the candlesticks were cast. His reputation is too good to doubt his word, and frankly, I believed the others, too. None of their marks were anything like those on the copies.”

“They would not be if the journeyman was lying about having done the work,” Magdalene said.

“True, but I doubt they were lying. A metalsmith cannot simply rent a room and do his work there. The hearths and forges and tools for metalworking are not easily come by, so a journeyman who wants to do work on his own must do it in his master’s shop. Again, metalsmithing is not quiet work, not something a man could do on the sly while his fellow apprentices and journeymen sleep.”

“True enough, but I never thought the letter referred to a man’s name. A master’s mark is his name. It is placed so a work can be identified and those who like that work can order pieces from the same master. I put a mark into my embroideries; several mercers know it and can order work from me. You were right that it might signify a journeyman working under his master’s mark, but it might mean something else, too. Most goldsmiths have their shops in London. What if a man established a place near enough for Londoners to buy from but where rents were much cheaper? Might such a man not put an S on his sign to signify Southwark?”