hung heavy and menacing in the air, as though the Tower walls themselves did not want to bear witness. For one moment, Elizabeth wished passionately that she had not come so that she might not have to go forward from this claim. But she was not given to long regrets.
It was not as though the name was a surprise—she and Dominic had both guessed that would be Robert’s claim—but Rochford had been the bedrock of England’s government for almost ten years. Did she seriously consider him capable of treason?
Except it wasn’t precisely treason, for Robert’s accusations were that Rochford had worked to bring down Norfolk and Northumberland,not the king himself. She didn’t think that would make much difference to William. It wasn’t Rochford’s actions her brother would deplore, but his lies.
Behind Elizabeth, Walsingham’s steady voice commented, “That’s merely a name, sir. Anyone can accuse—where is your proof?”
Robert looked miserable, and dead serious. “I worked for him, for years. I’m the one who planted the Penitent’s Confession at Framlingham after Minuette told me precisely where she would be looking for it. Why do you think Rochford asked you to send someone after her? He knew you would send me. And before that, I wrote coded letters to a woman in your mother’s household, using her to stir up old rumours and give Rochford a plausible pretext to move against Norfolk.”
“A woman,” Elizabeth repeated flatly. “You mean Alyce de Clare.”
“Yes.”
“The same Alyce de Clare whom you kept in your home for a month, getting her with child before sending her back to court to spy on my mother.”
If he lied to her now, it would be over. Like her brother, Elizabeth could abide almost anything but lies.
Robert didn’t flinch. “Yes.”
“Did you kill her?” For Alyce had broken her neck falling—or being pushed—down a staircase. It was her death that had begun the unraveling of the original Norfolk conspiracy three years ago.
Robert didn’t flinch at the question, nor did he hesitate. “No. We argued that night, it’s true. Alyce told me she had made arrangements to see William and confess her part in it all—she was unhappy about her last assignment.”
Elizabeth remembered that last assignment—a vile broadside depicting Anne Boleyn calling upon Satan for the power to seduce Henry, meant to be planted for salacious viewing at court.
“I had surmised that much,” Elizabeth said sharply. “How did she end up at the bottom of the staircase with a broken neck?”
“It was an accident. I swear it, Elizabeth. She’d told me of the child, was angry at my response, and I pushed her away … God knows I did not mean to hurt her. Certainly not to kill her.”
She could never be absolutely certain, but Elizabeth felt how much she wanted to believe him. For now, that was not her primary concern. “All this proves to me is that you were working to blacken my brother’s name as a pretext to crush a nonexistent Catholic rebellion. I already knew that. But that might as well have been at your father’s direction as my uncle’s. More likely, in fact, for why would my uncle entrust any of this to you?”
“Because he knows what I want and promised to help me obtain it. A divorce—clean and final.” Robert did not add:
And a chance to marry you
. He did not have to say it.
She would not follow the path of that motivation just now, for she needed to be clear-headed. “As Walsingham said, Robert, where is the evidence that any of this is true?”
“At Kenilworth. My …” He cleared his throat uneasily. “Amy has in her keeping a chest with a false bottom. Even if she could figure out how to open it, I doubt it would mean much to her—she doesn’t read Latin. There are notes and dates and, most important, two messages with Rochford’s seal. In themselves they might not be damning, but Dominic knows how to read ciphers, and in conjunction with everything else I think
It was not as though the name was a surprise—she and Dominic had both guessed that would be Robert’s claim—but Rochford had been the bedrock of England’s government for almost ten years. Did she seriously consider him capable of treason?
Except it wasn’t precisely treason, for Robert’s accusations were that Rochford had worked to bring down Norfolk and Northumberland,not the king himself. She didn’t think that would make much difference to William. It wasn’t Rochford’s actions her brother would deplore, but his lies.
Behind Elizabeth, Walsingham’s steady voice commented, “That’s merely a name, sir. Anyone can accuse—where is your proof?”
Robert looked miserable, and dead serious. “I worked for him, for years. I’m the one who planted the Penitent’s Confession at Framlingham after Minuette told me precisely where she would be looking for it. Why do you think Rochford asked you to send someone after her? He knew you would send me. And before that, I wrote coded letters to a woman in your mother’s household, using her to stir up old rumours and give Rochford a plausible pretext to move against Norfolk.”
“A woman,” Elizabeth repeated flatly. “You mean Alyce de Clare.”
“Yes.”
“The same Alyce de Clare whom you kept in your home for a month, getting her with child before sending her back to court to spy on my mother.”
If he lied to her now, it would be over. Like her brother, Elizabeth could abide almost anything but lies.
Robert didn’t flinch. “Yes.”
“Did you kill her?” For Alyce had broken her neck falling—or being pushed—down a staircase. It was her death that had begun the unraveling of the original Norfolk conspiracy three years ago.
Robert didn’t flinch at the question, nor did he hesitate. “No. We argued that night, it’s true. Alyce told me she had made arrangements to see William and confess her part in it all—she was unhappy about her last assignment.”
Elizabeth remembered that last assignment—a vile broadside depicting Anne Boleyn calling upon Satan for the power to seduce Henry, meant to be planted for salacious viewing at court.
“I had surmised that much,” Elizabeth said sharply. “How did she end up at the bottom of the staircase with a broken neck?”
“It was an accident. I swear it, Elizabeth. She’d told me of the child, was angry at my response, and I pushed her away … God knows I did not mean to hurt her. Certainly not to kill her.”
She could never be absolutely certain, but Elizabeth felt how much she wanted to believe him. For now, that was not her primary concern. “All this proves to me is that you were working to blacken my brother’s name as a pretext to crush a nonexistent Catholic rebellion. I already knew that. But that might as well have been at your father’s direction as my uncle’s. More likely, in fact, for why would my uncle entrust any of this to you?”
“Because he knows what I want and promised to help me obtain it. A divorce—clean and final.” Robert did not add:
And a chance to marry you
. He did not have to say it.
She would not follow the path of that motivation just now, for she needed to be clear-headed. “As Walsingham said, Robert, where is the evidence that any of this is true?”
“At Kenilworth. My …” He cleared his throat uneasily. “Amy has in her keeping a chest with a false bottom. Even if she could figure out how to open it, I doubt it would mean much to her—she doesn’t read Latin. There are notes and dates and, most important, two messages with Rochford’s seal. In themselves they might not be damning, but Dominic knows how to read ciphers, and in conjunction with everything else I think
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