Page 57 of The King’s Man (Guardians of the Crown #2)
T he cold grey walls of the Tower of London loomed above the foetid moat. Trying hard to control her trembling hands, Thamsine raised her head and tightened her grip on the bundle she carried. This time she would be admitted, of that she was certain.
She demanded to see Barkstead. The guards looked her up and down and, as she had anticipated, she was admitted to his presence without argument.
Barkstead rose to his feet and bowed. Beneath her black velvet mask, Thamsine smiled.
His demeanour to a lady of rank bore a startling contrast to his treatment of Mistress Granville, the failed assassin of the Lord Protector.
‘I’m here to see my husband.’ She made it a demand, not a question.
‘And you are?’
‘Mistress Lovell. My husband is Captain Christopher Lovell.’
Barkstead’s mouth opened and his eyes narrowed. ‘Do I know you, Mistress Lovell?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Thamsine replied.
‘Your husband … ’
‘My husband was brought here seven days ago. Is he being well treated?’
‘I … ’ Barkstead shuffled some papers.
Thamsine laid a purse on the table. The clink made Barkstead’s eyes widen. ‘I want my husband placed in good accommodation with decent food,’ she said. ‘Treat him well and I will see you well rewarded.’
Barkstead blinked, ducking his head like a goose. ‘Of course, Mistress Lovell. I will personally ensure his every need is catered to.’
‘Good. Now I wish to see him.’
‘What is in the bundle?’ Barkstead indicated the bundle she carried. ‘It’s just I need to know … ’ he added, almost apologetically.
‘Clean clothes,’ she said, ‘A few books, nothing more. See for yourself.’
Barkstead cast a cursory glance at the contents and summoned a turnkey.
‘Mistress Lovell, it has been a pleasure. I shall make arrangements for your husband at once … ’
Thamsine bestowed a smile on him. ‘Thank you, Colonel. I hope on my next visit I will find everything to my satisfaction.’
As she had expected, Kit had been cast into one of the gloomy cells similar to the one she had occupied. Not the worst accommodation in the Tower, but far from comfortable. The heavy door swung open and Thamsine stepped through it, blinking as she allowed her eyes to grow accustomed to the gloom.
‘Thamsine?’ Kit, who had been lying on his back on the cot, pulled himself up, staring at her. ‘My God, Thamsine, I wouldn’t have recognised you.’
Thamsine undid her cloak, removed her hat and mask and smiled.
‘Neither did Barkstead,’ she said. ‘Amazing what a transformation a decent wardrobe can make.’
‘Not just good clothes, Tham,’ Kit said. ‘You look different.’
‘I’ve decided to take control of my life, Kit. I’m not leaving my future in the hands of stupid men like Roger Knott, nor will I allow myself to be terrorised by Ambrose Morton anymore. I am Thamsine Lovell, wife of the future Viscount Midhurst.’
Kit rose to his feet and took two steps towards her. He took her hand, looking her up and down.
‘I think this new Thamsine will take some getting used to.’
‘This new Thamsine is a creature of your invention, Kit.’ She slid her arms around his neck, looking into his unshaven face. ‘Now, are you going to kiss your wife?’
He bent his head and obliged. Thamsine laid her head on his shoulder and he kissed her hair.
‘Oh Thamsine, I’m so sorry!’ he murmured.
‘For what?’
‘For this mess, for marrying you, for … everything.’
‘Don’t be a fool, Kit.’ Thamsine broke away from him. ‘It’s all arranged. I have a lawyer. Roger says he is the best … ’
‘Save your money, Tham.’
‘Kit?’
‘No lawyer in the world can save me. My colleagues have dug the grave for me.’
‘No!’ Thamsine protested. ‘You’re not just going to go to the gallows without a fight.’
Kit raised his good hand. ‘Hear me out. I’ve seen Thurloe, and on his advice I’ve admitted my involvement in everything. I could hardly deny it. My comrades have betrayed me as surely as I did them.’
‘What will Thurloe do?’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t know but I have to trust him, Thamsine. He’s my only hope.’
‘He’s the spymaster, Lovell. You are expendable. Why should he help you?’
‘Whatever else he is, he’s a man of his word, Thamsine.’
‘And what exactly has he promised you, Kit?’
Kit’s silence gave her the answer she sought.
She turned away. ‘Nothing? Kit, you’ve given away your hope on a slim promise?’
His face was still. ‘I’m not scared of death, Thamsine.
I faced my own mortality every time I rode into battle, every time I ever took a wound, but now …
now … ’ He cupped her face in his good hand, his thumb caressing the curve of her cheek.
‘For the first time, I have a reason to live, and I am looking down a dark passage with no escape. They have selected four of us to try: Gerard, Vowells, Fox and me. The choice is deliberate – our fate is to act as a deterrent to those who seek to plot.’
‘And how will Thurloe help you?’
He shook his head. ‘He can save me from the noose.’
‘For what? Imprisonment? Banishment?’
‘For life, Thamsine but the late King said “While I have life I have hope”.’
‘And look what happened to him!’ Thamsine could not disguise the bitterness in her voice.
‘I will go to trial, admit my guilt, show contrition, remorse … ’
‘And maybe, just maybe … you will end up on a slave plantation in Barbados with your brother?’
He dropped his hand. The cell was not large enough for him to walk away but he took a step back.
‘I have to believe that this is the right course of action, Thamsine.’
‘I have a lawyer. He can advise you.’ Thamsine could hear the note of desperation in her voice.
‘For God’s sake, a lawyer is not going to save me! They have my confession, they have the testimony of a dozen witnesses. A lawyer will just as surely send me to my grave.’
Thamsine picked up her cloak and mask and took a deep, steadying breath.
‘If that is how you want it,’ she said in a flat voice.
‘That is how it has to be,’ he said gently. ‘Look at me, Tham.’
She raised her head and looked into his eyes. Green eyes, nice eyes .
‘Trust Thurloe,’ he said. ‘Trust me.’
‘I trusted you before and look where that got me.’ She smiled without humour. ‘It seems I have no choice.’
He smiled in return. ‘That’s better. Now, what’s in that bundle?’
‘Some clean linen.’ She looked around the cell. ‘Money buys favours. Barkstead will improve your accommodation. If he doesn’t, he will have me to answer to.’
Kit smiled. ‘I knew there was a good reason to marry a woman with money.’
‘I will also have a tailor attend you,’ she said. ‘You will need to look well for your trial. Is there a date set?’
He shook his head. ‘It will be a few weeks yet. They have to constitute a special court. They don’t dare try us in open court before a jury. Too much public sympathy.’
‘So much for justice.’ Thamsine shuddered and changed the subject. ‘How’s your hand?’
He looked down at the filthy bandage. ‘It took a couple of knocks on my way here, but it’s healing. Every day I get a little more movement back, but … ’ His voice tailed off.
Thamsine unwound the bandage and touched the crooked, still-splinted fingers. When she looked up, she saw the anguish in his eyes. He saw, as she did, that he would never use the hand again. Not for the things that mattered.
‘I brought you Francis Bacon and a couple of your other books,’ Thamsine said as she inexpertly rebound the hand with a fresh bandage, hiding the ruined fingers from sight.
She stood up and leaned her head against his shoulder and his good arm encircled her, drawing her close. His lips brushed her hair, and they stood wrapped in each other until the turnkey rapped on the door.
As they broke apart and stood looking at each other, hand in hand like children, Thamsine felt her self-control begin to crumble. She had never thought it possible to love anyone as much as she loved Kit Lovell. Their time together had been so short and yet so intense.
He lowered his head, his lips seeking out hers, his left hand meshing in her hair. They kissed as soulmates, drawing on each other’s strengths, each willing the other to survive no matter what.
Thamsine took the few steps to the door of the cell and looked back. Kit did not move.
His lips moved with the words ‘I love you.’
She smiled and nodded, mouthing ‘And I you,’ before the door closed behind her.