‘We have been talking all day!’ he exclaimed, jumping to his feet in horror. ‘There was so much I was going to do, not least of which was making sure Tetford has seen to my ceremonial alb. And then there is the small matter of the murder Gynewell told me to investigate. He will wonder what sort of man he is going to install, if he learns I have been debating Blood Relics instead.’
Spayne smiled. ‘You are a scholar, so he should expect you to be diverted by intellectual pursuits.’ He surged forward suddenly, grabbing the monk’s arm and easing him away from the brace near the hearth. ‘Mind the pillar, Brother. The house is quite safe as long as it is in place, but the carpenter says the roof might collapse if we move it. I would not like it jostled accidentally.’
‘I had no idea it was so dangerous,’ said Michael, edging away in alarm.
‘Well, you do now,’ said Ursula unpleasantly. ‘Flaxfleete may be dead, but his legacy lives on.’
Spayne shot her an admonishing glance. ‘There is no need for bitterness. Besides, the carpenter said the roof will be perfectly all right as long as his post is here. Of course, the additional weight of all this snow is not helping, but the rafters cannot be mended until the weather clears, and … I should not burden you with my problems.’
‘And I have a killer to catch,’ said Michael, moving towards the exit.
‘Flaxfleete’s?’ asked Ursula. ‘Good. You can prove I had nothing to do with it.’
‘The feud between Guild and Commonalty is no game of my choosing,’ said Spayne, as he opened the door for them. A blast of cold air whipped in, so he closed it again while he finished what he wanted to say. ‘Kelby has never liked me, but my election as mayor made matters far worse.’
‘He resents Will’s success in the wool business,’ added Ursula. ‘But he does not have the financial vision to make a similar fortune himself.’
‘It is a pity your dispute has drawn the entire city into a maelstrom of conflict,’ said Michael.
‘The rift is years older than me and Kelby,’ said Spayne, startled by the disapprobation in the comment. ‘I only took sides when he started to seduce cathedral officials with free wine. It upset the balance between the two factions, so I threw in my lot with Miller, to make them equal again.’
Michael was unconvinced. ‘I have met Miller, and I would not like him holding sway in any town I was obliged to live in.’
‘He may be vulgar, but he spends a lot of money on his Market, all of it to benefit unemployed weavers. And he built six houses in Newport, which he rents at low cost to those without work. The Guild’s only “charity” is buying wine for debauched Vicars Choral to guzzle.’
‘Kelby knows we occupy the moral high ground,’ elaborated Ursula, ‘which makes him hate us even more. Did we tell you how he gloated when Matilde left? He is shallow and mean, and no gentleman would have said the things he did. Personally, I cannot imagine why Matilde rejected Will: he is the richest man in Lincoln, he is handsome, and he has been elected mayor on several occasions – legally elected, not like when Kelby tried to falsify votes and have himself declared the winner.’
‘Ursula, please!’ cried her brother, embarrassed. ‘You make it sound as though Matilde made a mistake, and we both know she did not. She did not love me, so she was wise to decline my offer.’
‘I understand you stayed with the Black Monks on the night when the Guild celebrated Flaxfleete’s acquittal,’ said Michael, changing the subject.
Spayne smiled. ‘I do not mind keeping company with the Benedictines on occasion. It is good to sleep on a hard bed and listen to the bells calling God’s servants to their nocturnal prayers. Do you not agree, Brother?’
‘Of course,’ said Michael, who never encumbered himself with uncomfortable mattresses if there was a way to avoid them, and did not often keep the night offices, either. ‘Did you know Flaxfleete was poisoned?’
‘Was he?’ asked Spayne, while Ursula pursed her lips and glared, as if daring Michael to accuse her again. ‘Poor man. He was always in Kelby’s shadow, but he was not a bad fellow.’
Ursula was contemptuous. ‘His fire cost you a fortune in burned wool.’
‘Enough, Ursula,’ said Spayne tiredly. ‘He is dead, and we should let him rest in peace – and perhaps some of this feud will die with him. God knows I am weary of it. I wish you luck in uncovering his killer, Brother.’
‘Actually, I am not looking into Flaxfleete’s death, but Aylmer’s,’ said Michael. ‘He was to have been the Vicar Choral of our friend, Thomas Suttone.’
‘I heard Aylmer had secured the favour of the Suttone clan,’ said Spayne, stroking his beard. ‘We were all very impressed to learn he had inveigled such noble patronage, but we were astonished, too. He was a member of my Commonalty, but I cannot say he was someone I trusted.’
‘We have been told he was a thief,’ said Michael baldly.
