and Simon and an uncracked jordan to go under the bed, but that could wait.
Barnabus had lit the rushlights and the fire and was just unpacking the second chest they had brought when Carey walked in and stopped. His face lit up.
“Barnabus, this is splendid. Thank God I can trust at least one of my men.”
Barnabus snorted and elaborately examined a shoulder seam that seemed on the point of parting. Carey got the message.
“How can I thank you?” he asked warily.
“You can pay me my back wages, sir.”
“God’s blood, Barnabus, you know what…”
“I know the third chest is heavy, sir,” said Barnabus. “And I know you had an argument with my Lord Hunsdon before you left London.”
“Aren’t you afraid your savings might be stolen in this nest of thieves?”
“If I had any, I might be, sir. But there’s a goldsmith in the town will give me a good rate on it and I know what you plan for tomorrow so if I might make so bold and strike while the iron’s hot, as it were, I’d rather have what I’m owed now than wait another year…”
Carey winced. “I still owe the tailors…”
“…far more money than you can pay, sir,” said Barnabus, putting down the cramoisie doublet and picking up the new black velvet one. “However they’re in London and…”
“…and you’re here and can make my life miserable.”
“Yes sir,” said Barnabus blandly. “That’s about the size of it.”
Carey made a face, took his sword off, leaned it against the wall and went to the third chest. He opened it, scattered shirts and hose until it was empty, and then released the false bottom. Barnabus stared at the money with the blood draining from his face.
“Jesus Christ,” he said.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Thirty-eight pounds, ten shillings and fourpence, including the money I lent you last month,” Barnabus answered mechanically, still hypnotised by the gold and silver in front of him.
Carey counted the cash out, and handed it over.
“Wh…where did you get it all from, sir?”
“I robbed a goldsmith on Cheapside.”
Although he was fully capable of it, if necessary, Barnabus didn’t find this funny. “Lord Hunsdon…”
“My father gave me some but the Queen gave me the rest and if I lose it, she’ll put me in the Tower. It’s a loan, anyway,” said Carey sadly, ‘and it took an hour of flattery to stop her charging me interest. So for God’s sake, keep your mouth shut, Barnabus. If somebody robs me before I can use it and I go into the Tower, you’re going into Little Ease and staying there.”
“Never, sir,” said Barnabus, recovering a bit now Carey had put the false bottom back in the chest. “I’d be in Scotland, you know that.”
Carey said “Ha!”, went back to the desk and sat down. “They’d rob you blind and send you back naked, that’s what I know. Now then, my lord Scrope will be here in a little while when he’s had supper with some of the arrangements for the old Lord’s funeral which he wants me to organise. Any chance of a bite…”
As luck would have it, Simon came in at that moment with part of a raised pie, mutton collops, good bread from Scrope’s kitchen and some cheese Lady Scrope herself had made, according to Goodwife Biltock, and some raspberry fool.
Scrope arrived just as Carey was finishing, which was unfortunate because he polished off the fool that Barnabus had had his eye on, leaving him and Simon with the choice of what was left of the pie and bread or a trip into the Keep’s hall for whatever Scrope’s servants were eating. Scrope sent Simon out for wine, so Barnabus told him to eat in the hall and himself quietly finished what was left of his master’s meal. Then he went into the corner where he kept his own chest, found an old shirt and began tying up each coin separately into a band to put round his waist until he could get to the goldsmith’s the next day. Proximity to so much money was making him as nervous as a cat at a
Barnabus had lit the rushlights and the fire and was just unpacking the second chest they had brought when Carey walked in and stopped. His face lit up.
“Barnabus, this is splendid. Thank God I can trust at least one of my men.”
Barnabus snorted and elaborately examined a shoulder seam that seemed on the point of parting. Carey got the message.
“How can I thank you?” he asked warily.
“You can pay me my back wages, sir.”
“God’s blood, Barnabus, you know what…”
“I know the third chest is heavy, sir,” said Barnabus. “And I know you had an argument with my Lord Hunsdon before you left London.”
“Aren’t you afraid your savings might be stolen in this nest of thieves?”
“If I had any, I might be, sir. But there’s a goldsmith in the town will give me a good rate on it and I know what you plan for tomorrow so if I might make so bold and strike while the iron’s hot, as it were, I’d rather have what I’m owed now than wait another year…”
Carey winced. “I still owe the tailors…”
“…far more money than you can pay, sir,” said Barnabus, putting down the cramoisie doublet and picking up the new black velvet one. “However they’re in London and…”
“…and you’re here and can make my life miserable.”
“Yes sir,” said Barnabus blandly. “That’s about the size of it.”
Carey made a face, took his sword off, leaned it against the wall and went to the third chest. He opened it, scattered shirts and hose until it was empty, and then released the false bottom. Barnabus stared at the money with the blood draining from his face.
“Jesus Christ,” he said.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Thirty-eight pounds, ten shillings and fourpence, including the money I lent you last month,” Barnabus answered mechanically, still hypnotised by the gold and silver in front of him.
Carey counted the cash out, and handed it over.
“Wh…where did you get it all from, sir?”
“I robbed a goldsmith on Cheapside.”
Although he was fully capable of it, if necessary, Barnabus didn’t find this funny. “Lord Hunsdon…”
“My father gave me some but the Queen gave me the rest and if I lose it, she’ll put me in the Tower. It’s a loan, anyway,” said Carey sadly, ‘and it took an hour of flattery to stop her charging me interest. So for God’s sake, keep your mouth shut, Barnabus. If somebody robs me before I can use it and I go into the Tower, you’re going into Little Ease and staying there.”
“Never, sir,” said Barnabus, recovering a bit now Carey had put the false bottom back in the chest. “I’d be in Scotland, you know that.”
Carey said “Ha!”, went back to the desk and sat down. “They’d rob you blind and send you back naked, that’s what I know. Now then, my lord Scrope will be here in a little while when he’s had supper with some of the arrangements for the old Lord’s funeral which he wants me to organise. Any chance of a bite…”
As luck would have it, Simon came in at that moment with part of a raised pie, mutton collops, good bread from Scrope’s kitchen and some cheese Lady Scrope herself had made, according to Goodwife Biltock, and some raspberry fool.
Scrope arrived just as Carey was finishing, which was unfortunate because he polished off the fool that Barnabus had had his eye on, leaving him and Simon with the choice of what was left of the pie and bread or a trip into the Keep’s hall for whatever Scrope’s servants were eating. Scrope sent Simon out for wine, so Barnabus told him to eat in the hall and himself quietly finished what was left of his master’s meal. Then he went into the corner where he kept his own chest, found an old shirt and began tying up each coin separately into a band to put round his waist until he could get to the goldsmith’s the next day. Proximity to so much money was making him as nervous as a cat at a
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