‘A friend of mine was at Smithfield yesterday,’ she said casually. ‘He thought that he saw your husband there. Could that have been so, Lady Slaney? Did Sir Eliard witness the public executions?’
Nicholas Bracewell had difficulty in restraining his friend. The long day’s wait had made Francis Quilter restive. When they followed Cyril Paramore to his home, he was ready to challenge the man openly. Nicholas advised against it, repeating the need to gather more evidence covertly before any accusations could be made. What he attached significance to was the presence of Sir Eliard Slaney, a visible link between the two key witnesses at the trial of Gerard Quilter. Leading the disappointed son away, Nicholas walked all the way back to his friend’s lodging with him. A most unexpected visitor awaited them. Squatting outside the door of the house with her basket beside her was Moll Comfrey. When she saw the two men approach, she leapt nimbly to her feet.
‘Master Quilter?’ she asked, looking from one to the other.
‘I am Frank Quilter,’ he said. ‘Who are you?’
‘My name is Moll Comfrey, sir, and I beg you to listen to me. It has taken the best part of a day to track you down and I could never have done it without Lightfoot.’
‘Lightfoot?’
‘A friend, sir.’
‘What would you have with me?’
‘A few words, Master Quilter.’ She looked at Nicholas. ‘In private, I hope.’
‘Say what you have to say in front of Nick,’ urged Quilter. ‘I have no secrets from him.’ Moll bit her lip and hesitated. ‘Well, girl, speak up?’
‘At least have the grace to invite her in, Frank,’ said Nicholas, weighing the visitor up. ‘My guess is that our young friend here has come to London for the fair. She has probably walked some distance to get here.’
‘That is so, sir,’ agreed Moll. ‘Seven miles or more.’
‘And you have trudged even more in pursuit of Frank, you say. It must be urgent business if you go to so much trouble.’
‘It is very urgent, sir.’ She turned to Quilter. ‘I knew your father.’
Nicholas could see that his friend was both embarrassed and alerted by the news. Moll Comfrey was not the sort of person with whom he expected his father to have been acquainted. Her trade was clearly not confined to the sale of the wares in her basket. Young women of her sort congregated at fairs and offered the delights of their body in return for payment. Quilter was reluctant to invite such a person into his lodging but the mention of his father intrigued him.
‘What do you know of him?’ he asked.
‘I know that he was wrongfully hanged at Smithfield yesterday,’ she replied.
‘How?’
‘Because he did not commit a murder, sir. Your father was too sweet and loving a man to kill anyone. I’d stake my life on that. Besides, sir, I have proof.’
‘Proof?’ echoed Nicholas.
‘Yes, sir. Lightfoot found out when the murder took place.’
‘It was at the end of July,’ said Quilter. ‘The last day of the month.’
‘That is what Lightfoot told me, sir, and that is why I know your father is innocent. I’d swear it in a court of law, so I would, sir. I’m an honest girl.’
‘I’m sure that you are,’ said Nicholas softly. ‘But why can you say so confidently that Gerard Quilter was innocent of the crime?’
‘Because he was not in London on the day of the murder.’
‘How do you know?’
She gave a wan smile. ‘He was with me, sir,’ she said. ‘For the whole day.’
Chapter Five
Anne Hendrik was so surprised and amused by what he said that she burst into laughter.
‘A bawdy basket!’ she exclaimed.
‘That is what Frank calls her. He was using thieves’ cant.’
‘And how would you describe this Moll Comfrey?’
‘As a girl who struggles to do make the best of herself,’ said Nicholas. ‘Moll is no common trull. She is too unspoiled to have been at the trade for any length of time, and too decent a girl to sell her favours unless she was in dire distress. If she is the bawdy basket that Frank takes her to be, then she has been forced into it. Necessity feeds on virtue, Anne. I take Moll Comfrey to be the prisoner of necessity.’
‘Then you take a kinder view than Frank Quilter, by the sound of it.’
‘He was too shocked to believe what she said at first.’
‘Shocked?’
‘Yes,’ said Nicholas. ‘His father was a God-fearing man, virtuous, upright and respected in the community. He had been a widower for some years but, according to Frank, he would never turn to someone like Moll Comfrey for pleasure.’
‘Is that what he did?’
‘I think not.’
‘What does the girl say?’ asked Anne.
‘Simply that she was a friend of Gerard Quilter. She refused to explain the strength or nature of that friendship, except to say that they met from time to time. Moll found him good-hearted and generous. He gave her money, it seems.’ Anne raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘No, Anne,’ he said defensively. ‘You are wrong, I am sure. Nothing of that kind occurred between them. I am certain of it. Apart from other indications, he was so much older than her.’
‘Since when has that held any man back?’
‘True.’
‘If he did not buy her favours,’ she suggested, ‘could she possibly have been his child, conceived outside the bounds of marriage?’
‘That too I considered, only to dismiss the notion when I knew a little more about her. But I could see that the same thought crossed Frank’s mind.’
‘Small wonder he was embarrassed by her arrival.’
‘He accepted the value of her testimony in the end,’ said Nicholas. ‘If her word can be trusted, she puts Gerard Quilter twenty miles away from London the day when Vincent Webbe was stabbed to death.’
‘What of this brawl the two men are alleged to have had?’
‘That must have been on the day before, Anne.’
‘Then he could not possibly have been the killer,’ she concluded. ‘Why did he not call the girl to speak up for him at the trial?’
‘I doubt if he had any idea where Moll was. She travels far and wide with her basket of wares. How could he summon her to his aid if she was several counties distant?’ he asked. ‘She came to London to see him. Moll said they had planned to meet again at Bartholomew Fair, but that will never happen now.’
Anne became serious. ‘Can the girl’s word be relied upon?’
‘I believe so.’
‘Would Frank agree with you?’
‘Moll convinced him in time.’
‘How?’
‘By talking in such detail about his father,’ explained Nicholas. ‘There can be no question that she knew him well. Master Quilter was very proud of his son. Though he disliked the notion of Frank being an actor, it did not stop his adoration of him. He talked to Moll about him in the warmest tones. In spite of his reservations, he once saw his son perform with Banbury’s Men. That was how Lightfoot tracked Frank down.’
‘Lightfoot?’
‘A tumbler who’ll perform at the fair.’
Anne smiled. ‘Bawdy baskets? Tumblers? Who else is in this story?’
‘Do not mock Lightfoot,’ he warned. ‘He is Moll’s best friend. When she heard of Gerard Quilter’s execution, it was Lightfoot who supplied the details. But for him, we might never have had this important new evidence.’
‘How did she get to Frank’s lodging?’
‘With the help of this tumbler. When Moll told him that Frank was an actor, he went to every theatre troupe in the city in search of him. Someone at the Queen’s Head said that Frank was a sharer with Westfield’s Men.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘It was as simple as that. Lightfoot found out where he lived and passed on the information to Moll Comfrey.’
‘This tumbler has great enterprise.’
‘We all have cause to be thankful to him, Anne. And to the girl.’
‘Did she come alone?’