Amphelisa nodded slowly. ‘We think so, although she must have negotiated a very canny deal with an apothecary to explain all the handsome clothes she has acquired recently. She has not worn the same outfit twice in days …’
‘So who killed her?’ demanded Tulyet. ‘A member of staff? You have already said that these oils represent a vital source of income, so her thievery will impact on everyone here.’
‘None of us hurt her,’ said Tangmer firmly. ‘She was family. Besides, we knew she was light-fingered when she married Eudo, but she made him happy, so we overlooked it.’
‘Then have you had any visitors today?’ asked Tulyet.
‘No – we thought it best to dissuade them,’ replied the Warden. ‘For obvious reasons.’
‘Then how do you explain her murder, if you are innocent and no one else came in?’
‘A townsman or a scholar must have climbed over the wall,’ said Tangmer helplessly. ‘Like they did when the Girard family died. We try to be vigilant, but our Spital is huge, and it is not difficult to sneak in undetected. You know this, Sheriff – you did it yourself, to prove that our defences are less stalwart than we believed.’
‘So you had a mysterious invader,’ said Tulyet flatly. ‘How convenient!’
Before he could ask more, Leger made an urgent sound. He was standing near the screen, and had been peering through it into the nave below.
‘Someone is down there,’ he whispered tightly. ‘Eavesdropping.’
Tulyet was down the stairs in a flash, and Bartholomew ran to the screen just in time to see him lay hold of someone by the scruff of his neck.
‘Hah!’ exclaimed Leger triumphantly. ‘It is that French priest. I said those bastards were still in the area, but I was wrong. The truth is that they never left!’
It did not take long to determine that Leger was right. The old men, women and children – but not the Jacques, who were conspicuous by their absence – were huddled in the guesthouse recently vacated by the nuns. They looked frightened and exhausted, and Bartholomew’s heart went out to them. Before any questions could be asked, there was a commotion outside the gate. Tulyet told Leger to make sure the Spital was not about to be invaded.
‘What if it is?’ shrugged Leger insolently. ‘Or would you have me defend French scum from loyal Englishmen?’
‘I would have you defend a charitable foundation from a mindless mob,’ retorted Tulyet sharply. ‘This is a hospital, built to shelter people in need, and the King will not want it in flames. Now go and restore the peace – and not a word about what you have seen here, or you will answer to me. Is that clear?’
With ill grace, Leger stamped away. Once he had gone, the peregrini relaxed a little, and one or two of the smaller children even began to play. The Sheriff had been wise to dispense with Leger’s menacing presence before starting to question them.
‘Where are the Jacques?’ he began.
‘We do not know,’ replied Julien tiredly. ‘They left during the night. I did my best to find them and persuade them to come back, but to no avail. Sir Leger saw me in a churchyard, and I was lucky to escape from him.’
‘Their flight is a bitter blow,’ said the weaver – Madame Vipond – worriedly. ‘Who will protect us now? Even Delacroix has gone, despite the rhubarb decoction I slipped into his ale to make sure he stayed put.’
Julien gaped at her. ‘So he was right to claim he was poisoned?’
‘It was not poison,’ she sniffed. ‘It was a tonic. He just happened to swallow rather a lot of it. Goda got it for me, although it cost me the last of my savings. Do not look at me like that, Father – I did what I thought was best for the rest of us.’
Julien turned back to Tulyet. ‘Well, all I hope is that they have the sense to get as far away from here as possible. I am beginning to realise that we should have done the same.’
‘So why did you stay?’ asked Tulyet, making it clear that he wished they had not.
‘Because Michael moved the nuns, and suddenly there was an empty guesthouse available,’ explained Julien. ‘It seemed as if God was telling us to hide here for a while longer – to make proper plans, rather than just traipsing off and hoping for the best.’
Bartholomew looked at the children’s bewildered faces, and the dull resignation in the eyes of the adults, and was filled with compassion. Could he take them to Michaelhouse? Unfortunately, word was sure to leak out if he did, and then there would be a massacre for certain – of his colleagues as well as the refugees. He wracked his brain for another solution, but nothing came to mind.
‘We could not bring ourselves to oust them,’ said Amphelisa. ‘So we agreed to tell people that they had gone to London instead. After all, who would ever know the truth?’
‘Everyone you invited here to search the place,’ replied Bartholomew, shocked by the reckless audacity of the plan. ‘You said you hoped they would see it is a good place, and would bring their lunatics here.’
‘The offer was for folk to look around our hall, not the guesthouse,’ argued Amphelisa pedantically. ‘No one would have seen the peregrini.’
‘If you had declared one building off-limits, even the most dull-witted visitor would have smelled a rat,’ said Tulyet, disgusted. ‘Your decision was irresponsible, especially as Delacroix and Julien were seen after they were supposed to have left. I appreciate your motives, Amphelisa, but this was a foolish thing to have done. Now none of you are safe.’
‘Dick is right,’ said Michael. ‘You must leave today. All of you – staff and peregrini.’
‘And go where?’ asked Madame Vipond helplessly. ‘The open road, where we will be easy prey for anyone? Another town or village, where we will be persecuted as we were in Winchelsea? At least here we have food and a roof over our heads.’
‘Not food,’ put in Tangmer. ‘I have no money to buy more, and nor do you.’
‘You mentioned the castle,’ said Bartholomew to Tulyet. ‘They would be safe there, under your protection.’
‘That was before Goda was murdered,’ said Tulyet. ‘Once it becomes known that a local lass was stabbed in a place where Frenchmen were staying … well, you do not need me to tell you what conclusions will be drawn. None of us can guarantee their safety now, and the only thing these peregrini can do is get as far away as possible.’
‘Goda,’ said Michael, looking around at the fugitives. ‘Do you know who killed her?’
‘She brought us bread at dawn,’ replied Julien. ‘But since then, we have been huddled in here, trying to keep the children quiet. The windows are either nailed shut or they open on to the road rather than the Spital, which means we have no idea what is happening in the Tangmers’ domain.’
‘We had better pack,’ said Madame Vipond exhaustedly to the others. ‘And trust that God will protect us, given that people will not.’
‘We cannot send them off to fend for themselves,’ protested Bartholomew to Michael and Tulyet. ‘It would be inhuman. We must find another way.’
Michael pondered for a moment. ‘The conloquium will finish the day after tomorrow, and nuns will disperse in all directions to go home. Most are good women, and many hail from very remote convents. Let me see if one will accept some travelling companions.’
‘Two days is too long,’ argued Tulyet. ‘We cannot trust Leger to keep his mouth shut for ever, and these folk will die for certain if they are discovered here.’
‘Then we will just have to protect them,’ said Bartholomew doggedly. ‘Detail more soldiers to stand guard.’
‘I cannot spare men to mind the Spital when I am struggling to prevent my town from going up in flames,’ said Tulyet irritably.