“Martin, hold him while I have a look about,” he said without looking back.
Other servants trailed him as he went from room to room searching for his quarry; none made the mistake of attempting to stop him.
When he entered the largest bedchamber on the second floor and found it empty, he cursed in frustration. “Damnation, where is that overripe snipe!”
He turned to find a maid with a saucy look about her leaning in the doorway. She slanted a look toward the huge wooden-framed bed and pointed at the floor. Jamie nodded his thanks and motioned for her to leave. Dropping to one knee, he reached under the bed and hauled the alderman out by his tunic.
“God’s blood, you are a sorry excuse for a man,” Jamie said as he held the alderman against the bedpost. “Tell me who was involved in the scheme to destroy Lady Linnet’s grandfather.”
“That was ten years ago,” the alderman said, his eyes darting about the room. “You cannot expect me to recall it.”
“I can and I do.” Jamie lifted the man off his feet. “If you want to live, you will tell me what you know. I want names.”
“You would not dare harm me. I am an alderman!” Jamie slammed him against the bedpost. “I am a desperate man, Alderman, and I’ve killed better men than you. Pray, do not test my patience further.”
Good God, the man was wetting himself! Jamie dropped him and took a step back in disgust.
“It was Brokely, the mayor’s father-in-law, who was behind it all,” the alderman said in a high voice. “The rest of us played small parts or turned a blind eye—and profited very little.”
“Did Mayor Coventry know of this?” Jamie demanded. The alderman shook his head. “Coventry was not mayor then, of course. But he would not have countenanced it, if he had known. No one knew his father-in-law was behind it, save for me, Mychell, and Leggett.”
“But you led others to believe the mayor had been party to it, did you not?”
When the alderman was slow to answer, Jamie pulled his dagger and touched the point to the man’s throat.
“Aye, we did,” the alderman squeaked.
“And when Lady Linnet came asking questions, you spread the word that there would be trouble if the truth came out.”
“And it would cause great trouble, indeed,” the alderman said, raising his eyebrows. “The King’s Council will take any excuse to remove the restrictions on foreign merchants, and that would destroy us.”
“Where can I find the mayor’s father-in-law?” “Brokely retired to his estate a few miles outside the city several years ago. He is in poor health and travels little.”
“All the same, he visited Mychell’s house recently, did he not?”
The alderman’s eyes shifted from side to side. “I would not know about that…”
“Do not leave your house tonight,” Jamie said, jabbing his finger into the man’s chest. “And for God’s sake, wash yourself before I come back for you.”
Jamie sent Master Woodley to wait at Linnet’s house and left Martin to watch the alderman’s house.
“If he leaves, I want to know where he goes,” he ordered. “But do not follow him inside any buildings. You are to stay out of trouble, stay out of sight, and keep your distance. Do you hear me?”
Martin nodded.
Jamie rode at a full gallop for Brokely’s estate, cursing himself for not helping Linnet get to the bottom of the plot earlier. She could squeeze their purses, but some men only did as they ought with a blade at their throat.
It was growing dusk when he finally reached Brokely’s enormous manor house on a quiet stretch of the Thames. Since a house this size would have a great many servants and guards, he could not push his way through the front door as he had at the alderman’s. Instead, he tied his horse and worked his way to the house through the shrubs and tall reeds along the riverbank. The wind still held the bite of winter, but there was a hint of spring behind it.
The growing darkness put him on edge, and a sense of urgency nipped at his heels. Soon—he must find her soon.
Here in the heart of England, defenses were minimal and guards lax. On his second try, Jamie found an unlocked door and slipped inside. He had learned from his uncle Stephen that if you acted as though you had a right to be in a place, no one was likely to question you.
Jamie passed some men talking among themselves as they put their tools away for the day. They barely spared him a glance as he crossed the yard and entered the house from the back.
’Twas a different matter when he burst through the doors to the hall. Every servant turned to stare as he stood at the entrance, his sword in his hand. An old man sat alone wrapped in a blanket next to the hearth.
“Brokely, your son-in-law sent me,” Jamie said, deciding to get the information he needed through subterfuge this time. “I suggest you send the servants away while we talk.”
