neighbour and that when she came back, she had a queer feeling that someone had been in the house—that objects had been moved. Dawson’s pedlar’s stock, which he kept in boxes in his room, looked stirred up, she said, though Dawson himself was a tidy man. But she also said that nothing had been stolen and the jury dismissed it as all her fancy.”
“It would be rather a coincidence,” I said, “if someone really had entered that house on the night that Dawson died, but had no connection with his death.”
“Exactly,” said Cecil, “and I distrust coincidences. The jury, of course, knew nothing of Dawson’s secret activities. It seems to me that someone wanted to be rid of him, and that they searched his room for any record he had made—of discoveries at Lockhill, perhaps.”
There was another pause, then, from the neck of his gown, Cecil pulled out what seemed to be a pendant of some kind, and lifted it over his head. He handed it across the table to me. “Look at this.”
It was a silver chain, from which hung a silver coin, a groat, with a hole drilled through it to take the chain. The date on the coin was 1546, near the end of the reign of King Henry. I turned it over in my hand, puzzled.
“It was given to me in a handful of change years ago,” Cecil said. “I kept it to remind me of what needs to be done to make England truly prosperous. You yourself, Ursula, know what it is to be hard up, but your money would have gone further if it had been good money. Look at that groat closely. Can you see that it’s discoloured?”
I examined it. He was quite right. I had seen many such coins before though, and there was nothing very strange about this one. I looked at him questioningly.
“It’s a genuine coin of the realm,” Cecil said, “but it contains less than half the silver that it should. King Henry despoiled both gold and silver coins because he had spent too freely from his treasury. Since then, his son Edward and his daughter Mary have reigned in turn, but although they issued better coins than he did, they left much of the bad money in circulation. Elizabeth, advised by me, intends to have all the bad money removed before the end of this year. We need Elizabeth for more than just holding off a Catholic revival. We need her to make England solvent again. To protect her, Ursula, I am even willing to use you, a young woman who should not be engaged in this kindof work, to help me hunt down anyone who could be a menace to her.
“You know the Masons, and you and Ann Mason apparently liked each other. Like Dr. Ignatius Wilkins, Leonard Mason is hard up. He is not employing any new servants just now, at least, not manservants, but there is a chance of getting a woman in there. Ann is concerned about her daughters. She has a new baby and cannot give the girls the attention they need. Their tutor, Dr. Crichton, is quite unable to instruct them in embroidery or dancing . . .”
“I’ve seen Dr. Crichton,” I said. “I got the impression he was quite unable to instruct anyone in anything!”
“Really?” said Cecil. “No wonder you seem sorry for Ann Mason. Well, my wife will tell you the rest.”
“We didn’t wish to brief you until we had prepared the ground,” Lady Mildred said, “but this has now been done. As it happens, one of the Queen’s Maids of Honour is a cousin of Ann Mason’s, and they correspond occasionally. As part of William’s enquiry into the Masons’ affairs, many of those letters have been read. We have learned much about the household. I had a casual talk with Bess, and then wrote to Mistress Mason, saying that I had heard from Bess that she was concerned about her daughters’ education, and reminding her of your existence. I didn’t claim close acquaintance with you. If something is going on at Lockhill that ought not to be, they will not want close friends of the Cecils on the premises. I pretended that all my knowledge of you came from Bess, and from the
“It would be rather a coincidence,” I said, “if someone really had entered that house on the night that Dawson died, but had no connection with his death.”
“Exactly,” said Cecil, “and I distrust coincidences. The jury, of course, knew nothing of Dawson’s secret activities. It seems to me that someone wanted to be rid of him, and that they searched his room for any record he had made—of discoveries at Lockhill, perhaps.”
There was another pause, then, from the neck of his gown, Cecil pulled out what seemed to be a pendant of some kind, and lifted it over his head. He handed it across the table to me. “Look at this.”
It was a silver chain, from which hung a silver coin, a groat, with a hole drilled through it to take the chain. The date on the coin was 1546, near the end of the reign of King Henry. I turned it over in my hand, puzzled.
“It was given to me in a handful of change years ago,” Cecil said. “I kept it to remind me of what needs to be done to make England truly prosperous. You yourself, Ursula, know what it is to be hard up, but your money would have gone further if it had been good money. Look at that groat closely. Can you see that it’s discoloured?”
I examined it. He was quite right. I had seen many such coins before though, and there was nothing very strange about this one. I looked at him questioningly.
“It’s a genuine coin of the realm,” Cecil said, “but it contains less than half the silver that it should. King Henry despoiled both gold and silver coins because he had spent too freely from his treasury. Since then, his son Edward and his daughter Mary have reigned in turn, but although they issued better coins than he did, they left much of the bad money in circulation. Elizabeth, advised by me, intends to have all the bad money removed before the end of this year. We need Elizabeth for more than just holding off a Catholic revival. We need her to make England solvent again. To protect her, Ursula, I am even willing to use you, a young woman who should not be engaged in this kindof work, to help me hunt down anyone who could be a menace to her.
“You know the Masons, and you and Ann Mason apparently liked each other. Like Dr. Ignatius Wilkins, Leonard Mason is hard up. He is not employing any new servants just now, at least, not manservants, but there is a chance of getting a woman in there. Ann is concerned about her daughters. She has a new baby and cannot give the girls the attention they need. Their tutor, Dr. Crichton, is quite unable to instruct them in embroidery or dancing . . .”
“I’ve seen Dr. Crichton,” I said. “I got the impression he was quite unable to instruct anyone in anything!”
“Really?” said Cecil. “No wonder you seem sorry for Ann Mason. Well, my wife will tell you the rest.”
“We didn’t wish to brief you until we had prepared the ground,” Lady Mildred said, “but this has now been done. As it happens, one of the Queen’s Maids of Honour is a cousin of Ann Mason’s, and they correspond occasionally. As part of William’s enquiry into the Masons’ affairs, many of those letters have been read. We have learned much about the household. I had a casual talk with Bess, and then wrote to Mistress Mason, saying that I had heard from Bess that she was concerned about her daughters’ education, and reminding her of your existence. I didn’t claim close acquaintance with you. If something is going on at Lockhill that ought not to be, they will not want close friends of the Cecils on the premises. I pretended that all my knowledge of you came from Bess, and from the
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