16 - The Three Kings of Cologne by Kate Sedley

husband? Just another man who’d try to cage me!” So, by the time I returned home, Isabella had been missing for over six weeks.’
    ‘What were you told?’
    Again, Emilia Virgoe gave that slight shrug of her shoulders.
    ‘Master Linkinhorne said that Isabella had run away. That she had been seen on the day she vanished with a man near Westbury village; that she had obviously eloped with him and that no doubt they would hear from her in due course when she needed their assistance. I asked what they had done to try to trace her, and I have to confess that it struck me as very little. But I could tell how bitter they were and how angry. I did suggest, as I told you, that some harm might have come to the girl, but the idea was dismissed, and indeed, knowing her reputation, I did not believe in it myself.’
    I frowned. ‘She seems to have been remarkably successful in keeping the identities of three men a secret from almost everyone. Most young women like to boast of their conquests.’
    ‘Isabella was not like most girls. She was extremely secretive. One might say excessively so. I suppose I could agree with you that her parents had made her like that.’
    ‘Did you ever have the impression that she was afraid of them? Of her father, anyway?’
    Emilia Virgoe laughed. ‘Never!’ She was emphatic. ‘Where the love and the need to be loved is all on one side and not on the other, it is the person without affection, or even the desire for it, who holds the whip-hand. Surely you can see that. I have always believed that love can inflict more damage than hatred ever can.’
    I shifted uncomfortably. ‘You’re a cynical woman, Mistress.’
    ‘A philosophy too close to your own, perhaps?’ When I didn’t answer, she smiled wisely and nodded towards my beaker. ‘You haven’t finished your wine.’
    I gave her a shamefaced grin. ‘To tell the truth, it’s too strong for me.’ I pushed my stool back from the table. ‘Well, thank you for your time. I won’t disturb you any further.’
    She looked apologetic. ‘I’m afraid I haven’t been of much use to you, young man, in your quest for the truth. It’s obvious, of course, that one of those three men – the one she was seen with that day – murdered Isabella. But until you can discover who they were, I don’t give much for your chances of ever finding the poor girl’s killer. And after twenty years …’ Emilia broke off, shrugging.
    ‘I have been told that one of them was a goldsmith and gave her the jewellery she was still wearing when her body was uncovered.’
    The nurse raised her eyebrows.
    ‘Then you have already found out more than I know,’ she acknowledged, not, I thought, altogether pleased.
    I called to Hercules, who opened one bleary eye a slit before closing it again. While I was busy rousing him and fastening the leather belt around his neck, Emilia Virgoe seemed to be lost in thoughts of her own. As I straightened up, she said, ‘What you were saying, about girls liking to boast of their conquests, has made me remember Isabella’s maid, Jane … Jane …’ She wrinkled her nose in an effort of memory. ‘Jane Honeychurch! That was it! An ugly, mousy little thing about Isabella’s own age. Very quiet. Frightened of her own shadow. I don’t know where she came from. Bristol, I think. Yes … Master Linkinhorne brought her home with him about a year before Isabella disappeared, and I believe I’m right in saying that it was after one of his trips to the city. What happened to her in later years, I really don’t know. In fact, I’d completely forgotten her until this minute. But I suppose it’s possible that Isabella could have confided in her. Mistress and maid, what could be more natural?’
    I nodded. ‘Highly probable! Indeed, almost certain, I should say. And you have no idea at all where this young woman might be now?’
    Emilia shook her head. ‘But there’s one thing I can tell you. Jane Honeychurch won’t be a young woman