Much Ado About Murder by Simon Hawke Read Free Book Online Page A

be the first time that any ink was set down upon that page this night," Smythe replied, dryly. "Sod off!"
    "Sod off yourself. You are getting nowhere and you seek to blame it all on me, when in truth the fault lies entirely with you. I
can
see, you know. You sit there and stare off into the distance, as if your very gaze could penetrate the ceiling and look out upon the starry firmament, and your lips move as you mumble softly to yourself, and then you make a motion as if to set your pen to paper, but soft! You pause… your quill hovers as if in expectation, and then you set it down once more and stare off into the distance, and so it goes, with little variation, as it has gone so many nights of late, whether I have been plagued with restlessness or not."
    "You are a foul villain!"
    "And you are a prating capon."
    "Dissentious rogue!"
    "Soused goose!"
    "Carrion kite!"
    "Perfidious wretch!"
    "Churlish minion!"
    "Mincing queen!"
    "Oh, you venemous monster! I do
not
mince! 'Tis but a slight limp in my leg."
    "Limpness resides in more than just thy leg, methinks."
    "You abominable apparition! Ungrateful bounder! Thus you impugn me when I have spoken up for you and fed you and defended you—"
    "Defended me? 'Gainst whom?"
    "Well… 'gainst certain individuals who wouldst' have others think base things of you."
    "What
individuals?
What
base things?
What
others?"
    "Nay, now, let us speak no more of this. 'Twould serve no useful purpose."
    "Who speaks ill of me?" persisted Smythe. "Someone in the company?"
    "Well, now, I did not say that…"
    "Not in the company? Then who… surely not Elizabeth!"
    "Nay, not Elizabeth. What have I to do with her or she with me? It matters not. Forget I even mentioned it."
    "But I do not even know what was mentioned!"
    "So much the better, then. Let sleeping dogs lie. 'Tis for the best."
    "Will!"
    "Nay, I have said all that I shall say. Thus let there be an end to it."
    Smythe folded his arms and gazed at him truculently. "Ah. So I see. No one has said anything, is that not so? You are but baiting me again, as is your wont."
    "Just so, Tuck. You have found me out. See, you are much too clever for me. I cannot outwit you."
    "Nay, you throw in your cards too "quickly. Someone truly said something about me, did they not?"
    "Not at all. 'Twas all in jest, I tell you. You had it right the first time. I did but bait you, as I so often do."
    "Truly?"
    "Truly."
    Smythe lay back on the bed and put his hands behind his head, frowning as he stared up at the ceiling. He gave an irritated, sidelong glance toward Shakespeare, who had turned back to the sheets of parchment spread out on his writing desk. Smythe took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He cleared his throat. He wiggled his foot back and forth. He tried hard to lie still. He clicked his teeth together. Finally, he could stand it no longer.
    "Will, honestly, tell me the truth. Who was speaking ill of me?"
    Shakespeare ignored him.
    "Will? Did you hear me?"
    There was no response.
    Shakespeare reached for his quill and held it poised over the parchment.
    "Oh, very well, then," Smythe said, irritably, as he got to his feet and reached for his boots and short woolen cloak. "Be a stubborn jade! See if I care! I can find better things to do than waste my time with your nonsense!"
    He slammed the door on his way out.
    Without looking up, Shakespeare chuckled softly to himself. "Ah, would that 'twere all so simple and predictable," he said. And then he sighed. "Now then, where was I? Act I, Scene I. Enter funeral…"
    Chapter 3
    THERE WERE STILL PEOPLE DRINKING in the tavern as Smythe came back downstairs, carrying his boots and cloak. Bobby Speed was among them, as well as George Bryan and several other members of the company, although they would not have much coin left among them to divide for drinking. Will's largesse notwithstanding, Smythe knew they would all have to make some money very soon, or else many of them would stand in danger of being thrown