Page 35 of The King's Man
It had been snowing and the snow lay in drifts against the grey walls. Thamsine shivered as the cold wind off the river bit through her inadequate clothes as she waited for the heavy gate to be opened. Barkstead took her by the arm and thrust her out onto the bridge across the foetid moat.
‘If you’ve any sense in your head, young woman, you won’t be back again,’ he said.
As the gates closed behind her, Thamsine set down her bundle and stretched out her arms, taking a deep breath. Much as she had hated it, freedom was now as precious to her as her own life had been. As she began to walk through the narrow streets, she contemplated the strange twist of fate.
I am merely a music teacher,she told herself,with a penchant for gossip. That’s all I am. Not a spy, not an agent.She felt the comforting weight of the coins in her purse and smiled. Maybe there were worse things in life to be than an agent for John Thurloe, at least for the moment.
Chapter 9
Nothing could have prepared Thamsine for the insufferable boredom of imprisonment. She had counted every stone in the walls of her cell and spent the long hours lying on her cot composing melodies in her head. Her dwindling supply of coin did not run to the luxury of pen and paper.
She was deeply absorbed in a reworking of a familiar piece for the lute when her door opened with a thud.
‘You’ve visitors,’ the turnkey said with a suitable amount of surprise in his voice.
Thamsine rose to her feet and smoothed her rumpled skirts. She could think of no one who would be visiting her other than that awful man, Thurloe, and she had no wish to see him again.
‘Well, well, Lady Muck, this is quite a comedown, ain’t it?’
The shock of seeing Nan Marsh caused Thamsine to take two steps backward. She tripped over the stool and fell back onto the narrow, flea-infested cot.
Nan stood at the door, looking around her with a faintly bemused air. ‘So this is the Tower of London? I thought they’d throw you in a dungeon. You done all right for yourself.’
Thamsine buried her head in her hands. ‘Nan, what are you doing here?’
‘I thought a pleasant stroll in the Tower of London – what a stupid question!’
‘Hello, Thamsine.’ May’s head appeared around the door.
Thamsine stared at them both in disbelief, as Nan set a basket down on the table with a thump and began unpacking it.
‘May and I reckons you might need a few things: clean linen, stockings, cloak, petticoat and bodice. Comb. Candle, tinder, flagon of wine and one of me pies, some bread and cheese and most importantly … ’ There was a jangle of coins as a purse landed on the bed beside Thamsine. ‘That’s your earnings from t’other night. Jem was right peeved when those soldiers took you away. Thought you was a nice little earner.’
Thamsine stared at the girls. Nothing in their short acquaintance had given any indication of friendship.
‘You didn’t have to do this,’ she said.
Nan’s lip curled. ‘Nah, ye’re right. No one made us do it but after all the bother you caused us, we had a bit of an investment in you.’
‘Did you really hurl a brickbat at the Lord Protector?’ May asked
Thamsine nodded.
‘Why d’ya go and do a stupid thing like that?’ Nan demanded.
Thamsine looked from one twin to the other.
‘I needed a diversion,’ she said. ‘I didn’t stop to think what I was really doing.’
‘A diversion? What from?’ Nan looked incredulous. ‘Come on, Thamsine. I reckons you owe us your story.’
Thamsine shrugged. There seemed little point in keeping her silence.
‘I ran away from a man,’ she said. ‘A man who wanted to marry me.’
‘Well that’s not such a bad thing, in’t it? I wish there was someone who wanted to marry me,’ May said.
‘Not like this man. He is violent and vicious and his motives for wanting to marry me have nothing to do with love and everything to do with money.’
