London’s streets were always crowded, especially around Paul’s Churchyard. There Rosamond, Rob, and Lady Appleton might have lost sight of Walter Williams had his tall black hat not added to his unusual height and given them something to look for. They were only a few yards behind him when he passed through Ludgate.
Impatient, Rosamond scurried ahead, attempting to shorten the distance between them. Her mind seethed with unanswered questions. Why hold Throckmorton at Randolph’s house? Why not take him to Seething Lane or direct to the Tower? And why was Lina also being held there, assuming she was there in truth? They had only Tommaso’s word for that. She had expected him, or Leveson, to appear before Williams did. Why had the chief minion not stayed to supervise Throckmorton’s interrogation?
Preoccupied with such thoughts and intent upon keeping Williams in sight, Rosamond took little note of her surroundings until she was almost run over by a boy with a hoop. They had already entered Fleet Street. Was Williams going to the French embassy? She had that answer when he passed the entrance to Salisbury Court without so much as a glance in that direction and continued on past Whitefriars. Beyond Temple Gate lay the Strand, that great, wide highway that connected London to Westminster.
‘He’s stopping.’ Rob hauled his wife into the recessed doorway of a shop. Lady Appleton turned aside to pretend interest in the meat pies offered by a street vendor.
Rosamond peered around her husband’s shoulder and was in time to see Williams enter a tavern. The painted sign showed the head of a bull. Above the door were branches and leaves, indicating that wine as well as beer was sold at the Bull’s Head. ‘Should we go in after him?’
‘I think you must,’ Lady Appleton said. ‘Otherwise he may slip out by a back way while you watch the front.’
Rosamond’s head snapped around. ‘We must? Where will you be?’
‘I have had a little idea. I will meet you at Willow House anon.’ Before Rosamond could ask what she intended to do, Lady Appleton was walking briskly westward along the Strand.
‘Trust her,’ Rob advised, and escorted Rosamond into the tavern.
The interior of the Bull’s Head smelled of sweat, spilled beer and spices. Rosamond detected cinnamon, resin, gentian and juniper, all of which could be used to flavor spiced beer. Although the room they entered was poorly lit, she had no difficulty spotting Walter Williams. He was seated on a bench drawn up to one of the trestle tables, deep in conversation with a man she had never seen before.
‘One of his spies, I warrant,’ Rob murmured. ‘No doubt they had arranged to meet here at this hour. That explains why Williams left Randolph’s house. He was obliged to keep the appointment. He’d not want to risk missing a report from one of his intelligencers.’
‘One of Walsingham’s intelligencers,’ Rosamond corrected him.
‘Williams must be a handler, one who collects information and passes it on.’
‘But does he?’ She had her doubts about how much Walsingham was being told. Was Williams taking advantage of the spy master’s illness to advance himself? She’d not put it past him.
Ignoring a group of men engaged in dicing and an old woman asleep in the chimney corner, Rosamond and Rob seated themselves at one of the other tables. Rosamond sensed that her husband did not like exposing her to a place like this but their surroundings did not alarm her in the least. She had her knives in boot and cloak and Rob was similarly armed. Besides, it seemed unlikely anyone would attack them inside the tavern.
A lad in a blue coat appeared to recite the offerings. It was a surprisingly long list. There was beer – strong, small, or spiced – as well as cider and a variety of wines that even included clary, a drink made by mixing clarified honey, pepper and ginger with the fruit of the grape.
‘We’ve Rhenish, Gascon, and Malmsey,’ the boy boasted, ‘and beer that is as clear in color as wine from Alsace.’
They ordered Malmsey and were served in plain glass beakers of generous size. These were nearly empty by the time the man reporting to Williams took his leave.
Rosamond moved quickly, leaving her own table to slide in beside Williams on his bench, cutting off his escape. Following her lead, Rob settled himself on the freshly vacated stool opposite.
‘Well met, Master Williams,’ Rosamond said. ‘We have much to discuss with you.’
‘I have no time for idle chatter.’ When Williams tried to rise, Rob clamped one hand over his forearm to keep him in place.
Rosamond shifted closer and let Williams feel the tip of the knife she’d extracted from the sheath inside her boot. It pricked him just above the waist and was hidden from sight by the thick planks of the tabletop. The other patrons of the Bull’s Head had no suspicion that anything was amiss.
Red in the face, Williams glared at them but made no further attempt to leave. His Adam’s apple worked furiously when he swallowed. Like most bullies, the man was a coward at heart.
‘What do you want?’
‘Answers. Tell us what we want to know and you’ll come to no harm.’
For a beat, Rosamond feared he would call her bluff. His ice-blue eyes bored into her, testing her resolve, but he blinked first. ‘If I tell you what you want to know, you will be in my debt.’
‘No,’ Rob said before Rosamond could speak. ‘We are not here to negotiate. You have imprisoned two people dear to us. We want them back. You will explain why you took Lina Walkenden and Andrew Needham from Blackfriars and then you will return with us to Thomas Randolph’s house and authorize their release.’
The sneer on Williams’s face vanished when he realized how much they already knew. Rosamond gave him another little jab with her knife to reinforce her sincerity.
‘We have no interest in the man you just arrested,’ Rob added.
‘Did you mean to turn Lina in for the reward?’ Rosamond asked.
That surprised a laugh out of their captive. ‘Just the opposite.’ The temptation to boast of his own cleverness overcame his usual disinclination to share information. ‘You know how we work. On occasion, bribery is more effective than threats. I offered Lina Walkenden a way out of her … difficulties. In return for a small favor, I will arrange a pardon for her.’
‘But she is not guilty of anything.’
‘It scarce matters if she killed Hugo Hackett or not, and it is your own fault that I was obliged to involve your friend.’
Rosamond felt her eyes widen. ‘So you were the one who tried to have me arrested for dressing as a man!’
She was aware of Rob’s questioning look but he did not interrupt.
‘I was.’ Williams preened a little.
‘You failed,’ she reminded him. ‘And how galling it must have been when I stumbled upon the very information you had sent Tommaso Sassetti to Salisbury Court to discover.’
Williams glowered but said nothing.
‘Spies seeking to thwart treasonous plots are of little importance to us compared to the well-being of our friends,’ Rob said. ‘It is time to undo what you have done. Together, we three will return to St Peter’s Hill. Once there, you will order the release of Lina Walkenden and Andrew Needham. In their company, we will leave you to deal as you wish with the traitor you arrested this morning.’
Although his annoyance was palpable, Williams gave a curt nod of agreement. Rob released his arm. Rosamond slid out of the intelligencer’s way to allow him to stand.
She should have felt triumphant. Instead a deep sense of unease came over her. Williams had given in too easily.