Page 128 of The King's Man
The table in the parlour had been set for two. Thamsine sank into a chair as Roger intoned a quick grace.
‘Where are the children?’ she asked.
‘They are with my mother in Colchester.’
‘Bring them home, Roger.’
‘Do you think that is wise?’
‘They should be with their mother. She needs them and they her.’
He nodded. ‘I will send for them in the morning and you, Thamsine, will you return to London?’
She shook her head and looked down at the frayed cuff of her old gown. She had almost forgotten that she was a wealthy woman and the wife of the heir to Viscount Midhurst. She was not going to be afraid anymore.
‘No, I shall stay here. I am tired of wearing rags and living my life in shadows, Roger. I am not going to run or hide anymore. Tomorrow you are to find the best lawyer my money can buy for my husband, and I shall find a tailor.’
Chapter 43
Kit woke to the sound of the key turning in the lock. He sat up too fast, his right hand striking the wall behind him and his barely healed ribs pulling painfully. He subsided with a curse against the wall as a lantern shone in his eyes.
‘Is this him?’ he heard the turnkey ask.
‘This is him. Leave us.’
‘Thurloe!’ Kit recognised the voice. ‘Pleased with your work?’
Thurloe set the lantern down on the table. ‘For what it’s worth, Lovell, this was not my doing. One of your comrades suggested you may be found at The Ship Inn, and an enterprising young officer decided to see if, by any chance, you were foolish enough still to be in residence. The first I knew of it was when your wife arrived at my door.’
‘A few hours, Thurloe, and I would have been gone. Fate is a fickle mistress,’ Kit said bitterly.
‘It is,’ Thurloe agreed.
‘Have you come to get me out of here?’ Kit asked, without hope.
‘There is nothing I can do,’ Thurloe replied. ‘Justice must now take its course.’
‘Justice?’ Kit spat the word. ‘You and I both know there’s no justice here!’
‘There will be a trial. We are constituting a special court to deal with the traitors.’
‘Not so much a case of justice being done, but of being seen to be done?’ Kit snarled. ‘Just as it was for King Charles?’
‘It’s not as if any of you are innocent of the charges. I’ve seen the evidence. To a man, you are all quite guilty.’
Kit coughed and groaned, pressing his injured hand to his chest.
‘Do you need a doctor? I will send my personal physician to see to you.’ Thurloe’s concern appeared genuine.
‘Don’t bother,’ Kit snorted contemptuously. ‘If I am seen to have your personal attention it will arouse greater suspicion, will it not?’
‘Probably,’ Thurloe conceded, ‘but I want you to know that I wish there could have been some other way.’
‘You have a conscience, Thurloe? How touching. So I am to be tried?’
‘Yes. There is too much evidence against you. Your friends dig a deeper hole for you by the day.’
Kit looked away.
