A Crowning Mercy by Bernard Cornwell Page B

the wall of London ended at Baynard's Castle, beyond which was the old Blackfriar's Theatre. Sir George decided innocence was his best defence against the Earl. 'Toby? He's at Gray's Inn, you know that. I think he should know something of the law, John, enough to steer well clear of it later. Mind you, I think he's bored. Yes, very bored. It makes him boisterous, but I was boisterous once.' He looked at his son-in-law. 'Young men should be boisterous, John.'
    The Earl of Fleet frowned. He had never been boisterous. 'You will forgive me, Sir George, but it is not that he is boisterous.' Water splashed on his coat and he ineffectually flapped at the black cloth. 'I fear you will not be happy, father-in-law.' The Earl was obviously distressed at being the bearer of bad news.
    Sir George spoke gently. 'I'm rather in suspense at this moment.'
    'Quite so, quite so.' Fleet nodded vigorously, then took the plunge. 'Your son, Sir George, is actively striving for our enemies. He pretends otherwise, but it is so.' The Earl spoke ponderously, poking his finger into his knee as if to emphasise his words. 'If his activities reach the ear of the competent authorities then he will be arrested, tried, and doubtless imprisoned.'
    'Yes.' Sir George still spoke softly. He looked away from' his companion at the crowd waiting for boats at the Temple Stairs. Sir George knew of Toby's activities, because his son had told him of them, but how on earth had the Earl of Fleet discovered them? 'I hope you're sure of this, John.'
    'Quite sure.' The Earl of Fleet was genuinely upset at being the bearer of bad news. 'It is, I fear, quite certain.'
    'You'd better tell me, then.'
    The Earl began at the beginning, as Sir George feared he would, and he pedantically described Toby's activities. It was all, Sir George knew, correct. Toby had become embroiled in a Royalist conspiracy, a conspiracy that Sir George knew was doomed to failure. There were rich merchants in London who were not supporters of Parliament, but whose businesses prevented them from leaving the city. Some had sent word to the King in Oxford that, if he were to ask it, men might flock to his standard raised in the centre of London. They planned a rebellion against the rebels, an uprising in the heart of London, and Sir George knew that Toby had been charged with discovering their exact strength and ascertaining how many men would follow the Royalist merchants.
    Sir George knew because Toby had told him. There was a great deal of respect and love between father and son, and though Sir George did not wholeheartedly approve of Toby's clandestine activity, he could not find it within his uncertain loyalties to forbid it.
    The Earl of Fleet turned his round, serious face to Sir George. 'One of the men Toby spoke to has a secretary, a man strong in the Lord, and the secretary reported it to the minister of his congregation. The minister, knowing of my relationship with you, laid the matter before me. And now I have come to you.'
    'And I thank you for that.' Sir George was sincere. 'It's put you in an awkward position, John.'
    The boat was turning south round the great bend. To their left was the empty untidiness of Lambeth Marsh, to their right the rich houses of the Strand. The Earl lowered his voice. 'I must act soon, Sir George, I must.'
    'Of course you must.' Sir George knew that his son-in-law, an honest man, would be forced to go to the proper authorities within a few days. 'How long, John?'
    The Earl did not reply at once. The boat had gone to the Surrey bank where the current was weaker, but now the watermen were beginning the wide turn that would bring them smoothly downstream to the Privy Stairs at Whitehall. The Earl frowned at his damp coat. 'I must report this by next Lord's Day.'
    Six days till Sunday. 'Thank you, John.' Six days to remove Toby from London, to send him to safety at Lazen Castle. The thought made Sir George smile. His wife, the formidable Lady Margaret Lazender, would