The Counterfeit Crank by Edward Marston Page B

first to you.’ He stroked his beard and struck a pose. ‘Did I incur Anne’s displeasure?’
    ‘How could you do that?’ asked Nicholas.
    ‘By making you read five acts of a drama. You must have been a dull companion for her last night. Margery will not stomach my presence if I dare to study a play while I’m abed.’ He gave a bountiful smile. ‘Beg Anne’s forgiveness for me.’
    ‘None is needed. Work of her own kept her occupied.’
    ‘I wish that it were always so with my wife,’ said Firethorn enviously.
    They were in the tiring house, and other members of the company were starting to come in. Nicholas had no real worries about the performance.
Vincentio’s Revenge
was a blood-soaked tragedy that never failed to work on stage, and the troupe always acted it with surpassing confidence. Now that Owen Elias seemed to have recovered his customary vitality, everything pointed toward another success. It was Firethorn who voiced a slight concern.
    ‘I took the liberty of inspecting your account book today, Nick’ he said.
    ‘You’ve every right to do so.’
    ‘I have to keep a wary eye on the company’s purse.’
    ‘Then you’ll want to know why two of the hired men were given their wages in advance,’ said Nicholas, anticipating his question. ‘I know that it is something on which you frown, but there were pressing needs in both cases.’
    ‘A house burnt down? A death in the family?’
    ‘Thankfully, nothing of that degree.’
    ‘Then the wages should not have been paid,’ argued Firethorn, ‘for those are the only reasons that would soften my heart. You establish a foolish precedent here, Nick.’
    ‘I acted in the best interests of the company.’
    ‘Did you?’
    ‘Would you rather that Nathan Curtis and Hugh Wegges were imprisoned for debt?’ asked Nicholas. ‘For that is what their creditors threatened them with. Where would we find such a willing carpenter and such a reliable tireman again?’
    ‘They would be a loss to us, I grant you.’
    ‘Then hear my tale.’
    As quickly and succinctly as he could, Nicholas told him about their bad luck at the card table set up by Philomen Lavery. He also mentioned that Owen Elias’s win the previous night had led indirectly to his sluggishness that morning. Firethorn began to roll his eyes and gnash his teeth. He looked like Vincentio on the point of getting his revenge.
    ‘A pox on this card table!’ he declared. ‘Why did you not tell me of this before?’
    ‘I thought the landlord might have mentioned it to you.’
    ‘I wish he had, for I’d have forbidden most of the company from going anywhere near it. Some of the sharers may have money to lose – though I am certainly not one of them – but hired men cannot afford to hazard all on such low wages.’
    ‘I think that Nathan and Hugh both understand that now.’
    ‘So must the others. I’ll speak to them all later and issue a warning. As for Owen,’ he said, looking vengefully around the room but unable to see the Welshman, ‘I wondered why he was half asleep today. He should set an example to the others, not throw his money away at a card table.’
    ‘But he made a profit there. That was his downfall.’
    Firethorn was quivering with anger. ‘If he turns up like that again,’ he said, ‘
I’ll
be his downfall. Death and damnation! We are beset by enough problems as it is. Has he forgotten what’s happened to Edmund, one of the pillars of this company? Take him away and Westfield’s Men begin to totter. Owen must help to support us.’
    ‘He knows that, and he has called on Edmund every day.’
    ‘Well, I hope that he did not turn up in that state, or Edmund, kind-hearted man that he is, would have climbed out of bed and put Owen into it instead. When he arrived this morning, that Welsh satyr might have clambered out of his grave.’
    ‘Owen is duly repentant.’
    ‘Let him rest his wagging pizzle for a while and we’d need no repentance.’
    ‘He accepts that,’