The Midwife's Tale (15 page)

“Hannah! Tell Martha I will see her now.”

Chapter 11

Martha entered the parlor and looked at me nervously. I saw no point in drawing things out. “Martha, I am going to keep you on as my servant.” As soon as the words passed from my lips, she looked up in relief, and I knew I had made the right decision. She wiped away nascent tears and struggled to speak.

“Thank you, my lady,” she said once she had gained control of herself. “I know that this is not an easy choice, and that you must harbor some doubts. I will not disappoint you.”

“I know you won’t,” I said. “But there is still one problem we must address.”

“My brother.”

“Yes. Do you think he knows where you are living now?”

“I don’t know. I made sure I wasn’t followed when I left the market, but that’s no guarantee. Even if he doesn’t know where you live, he’s sure to make enquiries. He’s a resourceful rogue.”

“We have to plan as if he knows you are here and is intent on doing us both harm. You know him best—what do you think he will do?”

“There is no chance we’ve seen the last of him. He knows of your wealth, so his first priority will be to rob you. If he kills me in the process, that would be all the better.” She took the prospect of being murdered by her own brother with more aplomb than I would have. “The house is busy enough that he won’t bother waiting until it is empty to burgle it. He will either try to break in at night, as we did with Mr. Holdsworth, or…” She paused, putting herself in her brother’s place. “No. He will bide his time to see what happens with the siege. If the city is taken, he will use the chaos and lawlessness to rob you in broad daylight. I imagine he’d have little trouble finding a few accomplices—he probably already has. They could break in, ransack the house, kill everyone they find, and then disappear. It would just be a particularly bloody episode from the pillaging of the town. He will break in on his own only if the rebels abandon the siege. He’s a violent man in the heat of battle, but when he is planning a robbery he can be patient.”

I considered this. If she was right, the soldiers who had repelled the rebel assault also delayed Tom’s attack on my house. “Of course, knowing what Tom is likely to do is only half the battle,” I said. “We have to figure out how to protect ourselves.” I thought for a moment. “I assume that if Tom is captured, he will tell the Justices about your history together?”

“The truth would be bad enough, but by the time he finished his story, I’d be hanged three times over.”

“Then we’ll have to be discreet,” I said. “I know men in the trained bands who could be of help.” I felt sure that with the cost of food so high, Sergeant Smith and a few of his men would be happy to earn a few shillings by guarding my house. I quickly wrote a letter explaining my situation and dispatched Hannah to deliver it.

Not long after, a stone-faced bailiff appeared at my door with the summons I’d been expecting ever since my visit to the Castle. “Lady Hodgson, the Lord Mayor requires your presence immediately,” he said as he handed me the letter. “I will accompany you.”

My heart sank at his announcement, for I’d hoped to spend the afternoon searching Stephen Cooper’s study. I considered protesting, but I knew the Lord Mayor would not accept any excuses. I called Martha and told her where I would be going. “Hannah will be home shortly, and I shouldn’t be long.” I glanced at the bailiff, hoping to confirm that my visit would be a short one, but his face remained impassive.

I followed the bailiff across the Ouse into Micklegate, where the Lord Mayor kept his residence. I noted with a smile that while he and Edward were miles apart in their political outlook, they lived just a stone’s throw from each other. When we approached the Lord Mayor’s home, the two guards in front snapped to attention. The bailiff did not bother knocking as he led me in. Perhaps half a dozen men sat in the Lord Mayor’s parlor, waiting, I imagined, to petition the Lord Mayor for some favor or another. The bailiff did not even pause but led me straight through to the rear of the house, where the Lord Mayor conducted business.

“Wait here,” he said, then knocked on a heavy door and slipped inside. A few seconds later, he emerged and held the door open for me. “The Lord Mayor will see you.” I took a deep breath to steady myself and entered.

The first thing I noticed was the outsized portrait of King Charles hanging above the Lord Mayor’s desk. It sent an unambiguous message that the Lord Mayor was the King’s man and no one else’s. The Lord Mayor himself sat directly beneath the portrait behind a large desk piled high with papers. Ruling a city such as York was no easy task in peacetime—I could only imagine how difficult the siege had made the job. He stood when I entered, and I could tell by his aspect that my finding that Esther was with child had infuriated him to no end. He was a tall man and took full advantage of his height by crossing the room to look down at me.

“Lady Bridget,” he said through clenched teeth. “How good of you to come.” I knew better than to reply. He returned to his desk and picked up a sheet of paper with my handwriting on it. “You say that Esther Cooper is with child?”

“That is what my examination revealed,” I said with as much authority as I could muster.

A voice from behind startled me so badly that I had to suppress a scream. “You have no idea if she is pregnant or not. You know as much about Esther Cooper’s condition as a virgin knows about fucking.”

I spun around to see who had spoken, for I’d not noticed anyone when I entered the room. A small, wiry man hovered behind me, his black eyes boring into mine. He wore a brightly colored silk doublet cut in the Italian style, and a jagged scar ran from his forehead across his left eye and down his cheek. The scar caused his eye to droop in a most unnerving fashion, giving him a look of perpetual sadness.

“This is Lorenzo Bacca,” said the Lord Mayor. “He came to York with the Marquess of Newcastle, and before that he was with His Majesty. He helps me with … delicate matters.” Bacca smiled at the Lord Mayor’s words, but there was no mirth in it, and his eyes remained hard as stones. “I do not need to tell you how disappointed I was with your letter. I shall have to speak to your brother about this.” I felt my stomach sink. I had not thought that my allegiance to Esther would affect Edward. What trouble had I begun?

“I know a bit about women’s bodies,” Bacca said with a leer at mine. “I saw Mrs. Cooper’s before her trial. She is a beautiful woman, but in no way is she with child. Why would you lie about that?”

“That was no lawful trial,” I said to the Lord Mayor, doing my best to ignore the Italian. “There was no judge, no real jury, no evidence. You did not even allow her to appear in her own defense!”

“Lawful trial?” the Lord Mayor shouted, his eyes blazing. “Who are you to judge what is lawful? Your own brother had no such scruples when Parliament took up arms against their
lawful
sovereign. The city is surrounded by rebels and foreigners, who very nearly breached its walls, and you are concerned about the trial of a murderess?
I
will decide what is lawful, and I will see justice done on every rebel I can find. The lawyers can take their laws to the devil for all I care. Your friend rose up against her husband, and I’ll be damned before I let a woman such as you keep her from her fate.”

“And
I’ll
be damned before I let any man render judgment on the secrets of women,” I growled. “I say she is with child, and until I say otherwise you will not have your execution.”

The Lord Mayor’s chest heaved as he struggled to regain control of himself. “You will change your judgment on Esther Cooper’s condition. If you fail to do so, I will do everything in my power to destroy you and those you love. I will have the Church take your license. I will destroy your brother’s business and drive him from politics. I may even ask Lorenzo to play a role in humbling you.” The Italian smiled at the prospect, and I felt my skin crawl.

“Why don’t I accompany Lady Hodgson back to her house?” Bacca said. “Evening is close, and I should feel very sad if anything were to happen to such a beautiful woman. It also would be good if we got to know each other before she makes such an important decision.”

The Lord Mayor nodded and looked at me. “You have two days, Lady Hodgson. With or without your cooperation, I will see Esther Cooper burned. The question you must answer is whether you wish to be destroyed along with her. You may go.”

I turned and left the office, with the Italian close behind. One of the Lord Mayor’s servants opened the front door and saw us onto the street. As soon as we stepped out the door, I tried to escape Bacca, but before I’d taken more than a few steps he grasped my wrist and wrapped my arm around his, as if we were simply strolling together through the city. “Not so fast, my lady, I am far from done with you. I shall see you home. Do not worry; I know exactly where you live.” I tried to pull my arm free, but his thin frame belied remarkable strength, and he held me fast. “I want to make sure that you understand the trouble you have caused, and how important it is that you find a solution as soon as possible.”

“I stand by my opinion,” I said. “You cannot execute Esther if there is even a chance that she is with child.”

“Surely you do not believe that this is about your friend, do you? I am told that for a woman you are surprisingly well versed in politics. The Lord Mayor is simply trying to maintain order. If he is to keep the rebels outside the city walls, surely he cannot suffer a rebel to live inside them.”

“Do you mean Esther Cooper, or Stephen?” I asked suddenly. “In my investigation I have heard things about Stephen that certainly would have drawn the Lord Mayor’s ire, that he conspired with the rebels.”

Bacca smiled broadly at me, and I felt the hair on my neck stand on end, for he looked like nothing so much as a wolf about to feast on a lamb. “That is funny. I have heard such rumors as well. I do enjoy the irony of a rebel against the King being struck down by his own wife. I think we can both agree that the Lord works in strange and wondrous ways. It is even possible that Mrs. Cooper helped save the city by killing her husband just before the rebels launched their attack. You might suggest that Mrs. Cooper beg the Lord Mayor for clemency on those grounds.” He laughed softly, as if the thought of clemency for a murderess amused him.

“I cannot help wondering if the Lord Mayor might have seen fit to execute Mr. Cooper without the trouble of an arrest and trial,” I said. “He has little enough respect for the law. And I imagine he would be able to find an assassin without too much trouble.”

Bacca abruptly stopped walking and began to laugh. “Oh, Lady Hodgson, I believe you are trying to flatter me,” he said, wiping a tear from the corner of his scarred eye. “I do not lament the death of such a man as Stephen Cooper, and I salute the skill of whoever did kill him. But I assure you I played no role in his death.” With astonishing speed, Bacca pushed me into an alley, drew his dagger, and held it to my throat. He leaned in as if he intended to kiss me. I recoiled from the sour smell of red wine on his breath. “If I had decided to kill Mr. Cooper, I would not have gone to the trouble of poisoning him. It would have been far easier to cut his throat while he slept. Or approach him on the street and find this spot, here, between his ribs.” He dropped the knife from my throat, and I felt its tip in my left side.

“Let go of me,” I breathed. “The Lord Mayor shall hear of this.”

Bacca laughed again and stepped back. The knife had vanished from his hand as quickly as it had appeared. We stepped out of the alley and resumed our journey. “Tell me, Lady Hodgson,” he said playfully as we walked, “if you became … unavailable to serve as Mrs. Cooper’s midwife, what do you suppose would happen?” He continued without waiting for a response. “I imagine the Lord Mayor would find her a new midwife who would be more agreeable than you have been. It is just a thought you might want to keep in mind. The Lord Mayor becomes quite irate when his will is thwarted. I can only imagine how angry he will be if a woman prevents Mrs. Cooper’s execution. Who knows what he will do?

“Ah, I see we have come to your street,” he continued. “I’m sure you will be safe from here. Think about the Lord Mayor’s demands, but do not take too long. I think you should heed him.” With that, Bacca sauntered back the way we had come, his brightly colored silks shimmering in the evening sun.

Once he was gone, I felt the tension run out of my body, and only then did I realize how frightened I’d been. I stepped into a nearby doorway and leaned against the wall in hope of regaining my strength. My hands shook and I could hear my heart thundering in my ears. I told myself that he would not have hurt me—not on the street in the middle of the city, certainly not before the Lord Mayor’s ultimatum had passed. But I also knew that the danger I faced was very real, and unless I acceded to the Lord Mayor’s demands, it would continue to grow. Though I knew Bacca had gone back to the Lord Mayor—no doubt to describe his threats in detail—I peered into the street before leaving my shelter. I saw no sign of Bacca in the crowd, so I hurried the last few steps to my door and slipped inside, locking the door behind me.

When Martha heard me enter, she came to meet me. “My God, my lady, you look as if you’ve the ague! What has happened?”

“It’s no fever,” I said, trying to calm her fears. “Get me some small beer to cool me. I’ll tell you in the parlor.” Once Martha returned, I settled myself on the sofa and described my visit to the Lord Mayor and Lorenzo Bacca’s threats on the way home.

“Why is that son of a whore so eager to see Mrs. Cooper to the stake?”

I shook my head. “At first I thought it was simply that he believes she killed Stephen and wants to see justice done. He has no patience for rebels, and in his mind she’s no different than the Parliament-men—the quicker she’s executed the better.”

“But now you’re not so sure?”

“We still have no explanation for Stephen’s mysterious visitors. If Esther is right, and Stephen
was
in league with the rebels, the Lord Mayor would have liked nothing more than to see him hanged for treason.”