A Plague of Sinners by Paul Lawrence Read Free Book Online

forward and shoved him away. ‘Enough!’
    I looked down and saw a big red circle.
    Conroy lowered his weapon, sheathed it, then pulled hard at the front of his coat. ‘Do not come back,’ he said, hoarse. ‘You are not welcome.’ With that he turned on one heel and marched back to the church.
    ‘I suppose I spoke harsh to him too?’ I said to Dowling. The cut upon my chest was three inches wide.
    Dowling watched Conroy retreat, anxiety scored into his craggy face. ‘Who told you Wharton had a lunatic brother?’
    Many were afraid of lunatics, believing lunacy to be the mark of the Devil.
    ‘It matters not,’ I said as I watched Conroy disappear. ‘Since it is evidently true.’

Chapter Four
    OF MARRIAGE
    The Lord of the seventh in the ascendant, the party desired loves best: The Lord of the ascendant in the seventh, the querent loves best.
    My father (now dead) sent me to Cambridge to learn theology. I took happily to drink instead, also gambling and benevolent women. Time not dedicated to one or other I spent in the company of John Ray, a phytologist with whom I used to walk the morning fields in search of new plants. A pleasant way to clear the head. So it was next morning I treated the wound on my chest with mine own preparation of powdered middle fleabane while studiously avoiding Jane. She bustled about the hallway and my front room, stacking my belongings in small piles ready for transportation.
    ‘I told you to return in good haste,’ Jane growled, unable to resist sniffing at the wound as I dressed it. She was a passionate advocate of Sir Kenelm Digby’s sympathetic powder, the main ingredient of which purported to be moss harvested from dead men’s skulls. She viewed thered flesh with furrowed brow, afore running a finger across my damp forehead. ‘You are feverish,’ she declared triumphantly.
    ‘It will pass,’ I assured her.
    She disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a wet towel. ‘A pleasant ride through the countryside can but help.’ She slapped it across my forehead and stood back with folded arms. ‘What time do you wish to leave?’
    I placed a piece of linen across the wound and reached for my shirt. ‘Not for a little while.’
    ‘This afternoon?’
    I edged towards the door, where waited my jacket. ‘Perhaps next week.’
    She breathed hard through her nose, eyes shining green against the red of her hair and the pink of her face.
    I held up my hands afront of my chest. ‘Lord Arlington summoned us to the Vintners’ Hall. He ordered us to investigate a murder.’
    She stamped her foot so hard, the floor shook. ‘What nonsense! There are men slain every night. They fall over as they walk! You said we could leave.’ She jabbed a finger at my wound. I knocked her hand aside.
    ‘We will,’ I assured her. ‘It shouldn’t take us long to find the man who did it.’
    ‘You and the dunderhead butcher?’ she snorted.
    ‘
You
might leave today,’ I suggested. ‘And I will follow.’
    ‘Hah!’ She stabbed again at my chest. ‘You would have me travel alone?’ She thrust her freckled face in front of mine, so close I could have kissed her, had I wished to have my lips bitten off. ‘Do you not care?’
    ‘I do care,’ I protested. ‘Few take as good care of theirservants as I do. Most people who leave, leave their servants behind to manage their property.’
    She placed her hands upon her wondrous hips and bared her teeth. I opened the door and ran down the street afore she thought to bar the way, not stopping until I reached Knightrider Street.
    I gathered my jacket about my shoulders and bid my heart stop beating, striding slowly. The sun shone high already and sweat poured down the ridge of my back. I wondered again how I permitted her such latitude. Perhaps because I trusted her judgement. Part of my own being raged as violent as she, that to stay here was madness. Yet I could not pass up the opportunity to impress Arlington. I thought of this wine merchant he