A Conspiracy of Violence by Susanna Gregory Read Free Book Online Page B

saved the day, but
they
were the ones he was trying to shoot.’
    ‘I doubt it,’ said the boatman, inspecting the stricken craft as they passed. ‘The passengers are Sir John Robinson and his
     daughter Fanny. Bennet would never risk harming Fanny.’
    ‘But he does not feel as benevolent towards her father,’argued Leybourn. ‘He might well want to put a ball in Robinson’s heart.’
    The names meant nothing to Chaloner. ‘Who are they?’
    ‘Robinson is Lord Mayor of London,’ replied the boatman, regarding him askance. ‘Every decent soul knows that. He is a powerful
     and wealthy merchant, with fingers in every pie worth eating.’
    ‘Robinson is also Lieutenant of the Tower,’ added Leybourn helpfully. ‘Bennet wanted to marry his daughter, but his offer
     was declined in no uncertain terms.’
    ‘Bennet is a chamberlain,’ said Chaloner, surprised. ‘Yet he set his sights on the Lord Mayor’s daughter? I would have thought
     he was aiming somewhat above his station.’
    The boatman nodded, relishing an opportunity to give his opinion. ‘So it was no surprise when he was turned down.’
    ‘No surprise to most folk,’ corrected Leybourn. ‘It came as a great shock to Bennet himself, however. Rumour has it that he
     dressed himself in his finest clothes and arrived bearing a bribe of forty silver spoons. Apparently, he was stunned when
     Robinson told him to leave.’
    ‘I heard it was Fanny who told him where to go,’ said the boatman, laughing. ‘Robinson took a fancy to the spoons, and was
     seriously considering the offer.’
    Leybourn waved a hand to indicate detail was unimportant. ‘It is common knowledge that Bennet had decided to wed Fanny, so
     it was deeply mortifying for him to be publicly rejected.’
    ‘Why did he think he had a chance?’ pressed Chaloner.He had guessed, from Bennet’s clothes and demeanour, that he considered himself something special, and his attitude to Kelyng
     had verged on the insolent. But even with delusions of grandeur, it was still a massive leap from hired servant to the son-in-law
     of an influential merchant.
    ‘Ambition and an inflated notion of his own worth,’ replied Leybourn. ‘And he was rejected for two reasons. First, because
     he is just what he appears: a bully in fancy clothes. And second, he is in the pay of Kelyng, and no one wants anything to
     do with
him
.’
    ‘Why not?’ asked Chaloner.
    ‘Because he is a fanatic, and thus a man without reason. Although he is said to be fond of cats.’
    ‘It was men with violent opinions who got the last king beheaded,’ stated the boatman, giving voice to an inflexible view
     of his own, ‘
and
who got that traitor Cromwell on the throne—’
    ‘Cromwell was never king,’ said Chaloner pedantically. ‘The crown was offered, but he refused.’
    ‘Only because he knew he could never keep it,’ said Leybourn acidly. ‘I suspect he was sorely tempted by the thought of King
     Oliver.’
    ‘Did you see him dug up?’ asked the boatman conversationally, as he rowed. ‘When I learned he was going to be prised from
     his tomb, I went to watch. I saw his corpse plucked out and taken to Tyburn for hanging.’
    ‘I was busy,’ said Leybourn distastefully. ‘But Kelyng was there, laughing his delight. Inflicting justice on Roundheads –
     dead or alive – is the sort of thing he enjoys very much.’
    Chaloner winced. He was not particularly squeamish, but very little would have induced him to witness sucha spectacle. To him, the Royalists’ treatment of Cromwell’s body had smacked of a spoiled child stamping its foot because
     it had been deprived of its revenge, and he recalled the revulsion of the Dutch when the story had reached Holland. He did
     not know how Englishmen dared accuse Netherlanders of debauched and grotesque behaviour when they hacked up old corpses to
     provide the public with an afternoon of entertainment. He could not imagine what a black day it must have been for