Page 147 of The King's Man
He rose to face her, his shoulders bowed. He cringed from her like a whipped dog.
‘What do you mean… the future?’
‘If it were my choice,’ she said, ‘I would pray to God I never saw you again. However, you are the father of my sister’s children and I must consider them. My dearest wish is that they will never have to suffer what I have endured. I have therefore decided that I shall settle upon them a comfortable amount to allow them to live independently should they so choose.’
‘A dowry?’
‘Not a dowry. It shall be a condition of my gift that it shall remain the property of the girls and not devolve upon any future husbands they might have.’
Roger looked up, life sparking into his dead eyes. ‘But that is unheard of.’
‘It is the condition of my gift,’ she said and named the amount.
Roger looked down at his hands again. ‘They don’t deserve such generosity.’
‘They are my only blood kin, Roger. When are you planning to return to London?’
‘Do you want me to go?’
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘Of course. You owe me nothing, yet I have one last thing to ask of you. Can I leave the girls here?’
Thamsine stared at him. What was he asking her? He was the children’s father and they should be with him.
‘Their place is with you,’ she said.
Roger drew a deep breath. ‘I have been a poor husband and a worse father. I do not deserve them. This will be my punishment.’
‘Let me think about it,’ Thamsine said and left the room.
In her own bedchamber, Thamsine stood by the window contemplating the peaceful countryside that had remained relatively untouched by the recent wars. Her father had been clever in his support of the King, never allowing his loyalty to his monarch to undermine his loyalty to his family.
She wrapped her arms around herself. She would never remarry and would have no family of her own. When Kit had first been taken from her, she had prayed that she was with child but it was not to be, and she had cried when her body betrayed her. Having the girls with her would be some comfort and ease the loneliness of a life of long widowhood.
She had nothing left of Kit except a battered copy of Francis Bacon that she kept under her pillow and the contents of an old chest, still at The Ship Inn. Her lips tightened. The time had come to collect up the remnants of Kit’s life.
And what of Kit’s family still alive at Eveleigh Priory; his grandfather, his stepmother, and his sister? Did they know of his death? She thought she would like to meet them and learn a little more of his life before she had known him and the boy he had sold his soul to try and save. Hopefully, even now, Daniel Lovell was on a ship returning from exile to the people who loved him.
That would have to wait. She didn’t have the strength to face his family just yet, but she would retrieve his belongings from London.
She crossed to the desk and penned a short note to Jem Marsh.
Chapter 54
Kit balanced the sword in his left hand, studying his opponent’s eyes as they circled each other. His opponent thrust and he parried, throwing his opponent off balance. As he moved in for the kill, Jem dropped his sword and backed up against the wall of the inn courtyard, his large face florid and sweating. He pushed the point of Kit’s sword away from his throat.
‘That’s it, Lovell. No more. Seems to me it don’t make much difference if it isn’t your sword hand, you’re still damned good with a sword.’
‘You’re getting old and slow, Jem.’ Kit sheathed the sword and thumped the man’s substantial belly. ‘And fat.’
He doubled over coughing. The cough seemed to be a legacy of being hanged. His voice had returned but in a different form, lower and with a crackling edge to it. It would take a little getting used to.
A new voice, a new persona. Thurloe had been right in a number of ways. Kit Lovell, adventurer, gambler and spy, had died at the end of the noose. However, he still had no clear idea who had emerged from the shadows of the gallows.
Nan Marsh appeared at the door and stood there, her hands on her hips.
‘If you two have finished playing sword games,’ she said, ‘I’ve something that might be of interest to you.’
