That Sunday set a pattern for Clarenceux and Thomas for the next two weeks. Clarenceux rode every day to Cecil House to see Awdrey and his daughters. Awdrey looked tired and worried, and he felt dispirited, as if he was failing her. Thomas and Clarenceux mucked out the horses themselves and exercised them in a new direction each day. Several times they searched the house for a secret entrance but did not find one; eventually they gave up looking. They ate at a different tavern every dinnertime. They also met with Greystoke each day, under the pretext of Clarenceux wanting to practice his swordsmanship. On both Thursdays all three men attended Girolamo’s swordsmanship school at the Belle Savage—although Thomas simply watched.
Clarenceux noted the comings and goings of the men at Greystoke’s house, asking him about each of the men living there with him: who they were, what their backgrounds were, why they had sought employment with Walsingham. Every time Greystoke replied with confidence and assurance, mocking him for being so suspicious. Which only made Clarenceux more so.
He looked forward to the riding most, when no one knew where he was. Each night when the time came to go home, he felt as if he were forcing himself back into a vice, and that Lady Percy was giving it an extra turn. He had to be there, to play the victim, so his enemies would come to him. The place that had once been a home now seemed oppressive—the most dangerous place he could be.
He knew he was being watched—and not just by Greystoke. Thomas knew it too. Occasionally something would appear slightly out of place. In his study Clarenceux positioned documents so that the corner of a charter would be just tucked under the edge of a book, or his horn ruler would be left with its lower edge on the seventh line from the bottom of a page. From this he knew that what he was reading was also being checked, in case he was using a book-based code. This was doubly worrying: whoever was looking at his papers could read—it was therefore very unlikely to be a woman being manipulated by Lady Percy but someone with an education. Whoever it was, he or she was not entering by way of the rear window. Clarenceux wedged small pieces of dried bread in between the shutters—crumbs that would fall out if the windows were opened. They remained in place.
For the three women in the house two doors to the east of Clarenceux’s, the situation was as taut. Joan Hellier informed Maurice Buckman that only Clarenceux and Thomas were now living in the house. Buckman instructed Joan and the other women to listen to all conversations and to take every opportunity to enter the house when Clarenceux and Thomas were away. They used the knowledge that he would exercise his horses for at least an hour every day to time their maneuvers. They too felt trapped. Spying on Clarenceux and Thomas meant an agonizing and tense period for one of the women each day. She had to lie still in the front attic, above the hall, for a whole day, until one of the other women gave the all-clear signal. This task was shared by Helen Oudry and Joan Hellier. Sarah Cowie was the only one of the three who could read, so it fell to her to check Clarenceux’s study. One of the few compensations was the chance to refill their wine and beer flasks and flagons from the barrels in Clarenceux’s buttery whenever they crept into the house.
Over the two weeks, the women learned little. But what they did hear was of great importance. They knew where Awdrey was. They discovered when the house would be empty and where Clarenceux went with Thomas. They found out just how much Clarenceux did not trust John Greystoke. Most importantly, they heard Clarenceux himself telling Thomas in a low voice that the document was in Oxfordshire. And this was the message they took back to Father Buckman.