Unafraid, Lord Burghley settled himself comfortably at his desk and said to the anxious secretary, “I am not to be disturbed, Master Morgan.” The secretary bowed out, and Cecil turned to his three visitors. He eyed them dispassionately, then spoke. “My lord Burke, I distinctly remember forbidding you London.”
“I’ve come to bring my wife and child home, m’lord. You have had Lady Burke here almost six months and I’ve not yet been informed of the charges against her.”
“She is under suspicion, my lord.”
“For six months? And of what?”
“Piracy,” was the cool reply.
“What! You’re mad, man!”
“Niall, Niall!” Robbie spoke. “Cecil, my friend, be reasonable. Lady Burke is a beautiful woman who, I’ve no doubt, has stolen many hearts. But ships? I think not. Proof?”
Cecil frowned and Robbie almost shouted with glee. They still had no proof! “I will be frank with you, Cecil. I thought piracy was your suspicion, because of the O’Malley ships. Poor Niall refuses to see the logic of it.”
“And you do?” said Cecil.
“Indeed I do. The O’Malley of Innisfana has access to ships and a knowledge of shipping lanes and schedules. Add to that her isolated coastal castle, and you have all the ingredients for piracy—except, of course, one important one.”
“What is missing, Sir Robert?” Cecil was fascinated.
“Motive, my lord,” said Robbie. “Where is Lady Burke’s motive? She is already one of the wealthiest women in England, possibly the wealthiest, and she is not greedy for more riches. Everyone knows her to be generous and charitable. She is not a seeker of thrills. So why would she risk her son’s inheritance and her own position, by breaking the Queen’s law? Above all things, my dear Cecil, Skye is a good mother.
“No … there are no grounds for your suspicions, nor justification for holding her. None besides Bess Tudor’s jealous spite, and you know it, Cecil.”
Cecil looked both annoyed and uncomfortable. “The piracies ceased with Lady Burke’s arrest,” he said.
Niall’s look was as black as a storm cloud, but Robert Small put a steadying hand on him. “The piracies stopped over a year ago, more than six months before you arrested Lady Burke.”
“TheSanta Maria Madre de Cristoswas taken off Ireland late last spring!”
“But not by Lady Burke,” replied Robbie, “for she was but newly married and on her honeymoon. The Spaniard was taken by Barbary pirates, and we have the proof. Cecil, this giant who’s accompanied Lord Burke and me is Adam de Marisco, the lord of Lundy Island.” Cecil began to look interested. “Well over a month ago de Marisco found a ghost ship floating off his island. Naturally he claimed it for salvage.”
“Oh, naturally,” murmured Cecil.
Robbie ignored the sarcasm and continued with his story. “When de Marisco opened the hold of the ship and saw the treasure within, he realized the implications at once. He went immediately to Lord Burke, and Niall sent for me. The ship’s log is in Arabic, of which I have some small knowledge. There is an entry made early last summer that coincides with the date of the piracy of theSanta Maria. The entry reads: ‘Took a cursed Spaniard today.’ This was obviously the ship that captured theSanta Maria’s cargo. It was on its way to the New World to go a-pirating, which it did. There are entries disclosing a transfer of cargo between the Moor’s ship, which is called theGazelle, and another Barbary ship.
“The bulk of King Philip’s goods were being sold in the markets of Algiers before word even reached London that the treasure was gone. We found only some of King Philip’s treasure cargo aboard theGazelle, as well as cargo from other ships. These were among the stores. I am sure the manifest that the Spanish ambassador gave you lists these items.” He pulled a velvet bag from his doublet and, opening it, poured a stream of unset green emeralds upon Cecil’s desk.
The chancellor gaped openmouthed at the flashing blue-green fire that lay blazing before him. For a moment the silence was thick, then Cecil found his voice. “Where is the crew of this ship, my lord de Marisco? You can hardly expect me to believe this fairy tale of an empty ship floating conveniently off your island.”
“The crew of theGazelleare still aboard her—in various stagesof decomposition, my lord,” replied Adam. “I would have buried the poor bastards, but Robbie said you’d not believe us unless you saw them, and I can see that he was right.” He shook his huge head, disappointed in human nature.
“Where is this ship?” William Cecil croaked.
De Marisco smiled broadly, a wicked smile, his teeth blinding white against his wind-bronzed skin and black beard. Cecil had not noted until now that the giant wore a gold earring. His black hair was shaggy, and his smoky blue eyes mocked in a way that made the Queen’s chancellor lower his gaze.
“TheGazellelies under tow by Robbie’sMermaidin the Pool, m’lord. You are free to remove the cargo and to inspect the bodies before we sink her. The log didn’t disclose what killed her crew, and anyhow, she’ll be considered a bad-luck ship now. She’s best off at the bottom of the sea with her men.”
Cecil was incredulous. “D’you mean there’s a ship of dead men in the Pool? Christ’s bones! They might be carrying the plague! Are you mad?”
“They didn’t die of plague,” stated Robbie calmly. “More likely a passing sickness brought aboard by some shipwreck victims they rescued.”
“But a ship of rotting bodies? Here in London?”
“You were ready to disbelieve me without the bodies, Cecil. I’ve brought the log along too. You may be able to find someone here in London who can speak Arabic, and read it, and thus corroborate our story.”
Cecil looked sourly at the three men, determined to find someone who could read Arabic. Still, he knew that if Robert Small seemed this confident he must be sure of his story. But Cecil was suspicious. There was something just too convenient about the tale.
