The cursitor, a pompous young man, swaggered in. ‘Sir John, a message from the under sheriff.’ He looked around him. ‘It concerns Master Vechey.’

‘Yes!’ Cranston said. ‘You may speak here.’

‘He was seen in a tavern down near the riverside. The landlord of the Golden Keys said a man who fitted Vechey’s description was there drinking late at night. He left with a young, red-haired whore whom he had never seen before.’

‘Is that all?’ Cranston asked.

‘Yes, Sir John.’

Cranston dismissed the cursitor. Athelstan felt the mood of the company in the hall lift.

‘See!’ Dame Ermengilde cried exultantly. ‘Vechey was seen with one of his whores. Master Buckingham must be right. Brampton may still have killed my son, and Vechey’s death be totally unconnected with this.’

Athelstan could see Cranston was not pleased by the news.

‘Nevertheless,’ he snapped, ‘I have other questions. Lady Isabella and Sir Richard, I must ask you to stay. The others, I would prefer to leave.’

Dame Ermengilde was about to protest. Her son stretched across the table and touched her gently on the wrist, his eyes pleading with her. She rose, threw one withering look at Cranston and followed the others out. Sir John watched them go.

‘Lady Isabella,’ he said softly, ‘have you ever been to Nightshade House in Piper Alley near Whitefriars?’

‘Never!’

‘And you have no knowledge of an apothecary called Simon Foreman?’

‘I have heard of him but never met him.’

Athelstan saw the fear in Lady Isabella’s eyes. Her face lost its golden hue, becoming pale and haggard.

‘Sir Richard?’

‘No!’ As he leaned forward, he clapped his hand to his side, where his sword should have been. ‘You come into this house!’ he hissed. ‘You insult both me and Lady Isabella, hinting we go amongst rogues and vagabonds. Don’t be clever, Cranston! My brother was murdered by poison. I resent the inference in your questions that one of us visited that apothecary and secured the poison to carry the murder out.’

‘Yet this afternoon,’ Cranston said conversationally, ‘both Brother Athelstan and myself went to that apothecary’s shop. He claims he sold poison to a woman fitting your description, Lady Isabella. She was dressed in a black cloak lined with white fur, had chestnut hair, was of your height and colouring.’

‘I have never been to Whitefriars! I have never visited an apothecary’s shop!’

‘You do have a black cloak lined with white fur?’

‘Yes, like hundreds of women in the city!’

‘Have you ever met Foreman?’

‘I don’t know. I could have done. My husband had many strange friends. Anyway, why should I kill him?’ Lady Isabella cried, half rising from the chair. ‘He was a good man. He gave me everything a woman could desire.’

‘Lady Isabella,’ Cranston said smoothly, ‘it is well known that your husband had strange tastes and foibles. Did you love him?’