“I would tend to agree,” Isaac said, “and not just because of the murders at Whitehall. Charles is well known for breaking oaths.”

“He is?” Tom said, disappointed.

“Indeed. He’s a generous ruler, as you’ve all discovered, but a slippery one, when he wishes to be. Many a time he’s made a promise, then broken it when it was not to his advantage. Which does, unfortunately, make it difficult to decide who this current enemy is. Have you found any more clues?”

“Well…” I looked at the others. “When Simon was attacked, he thought he heard the assassin say something.”

“What was it?”

“ ‘For the convent.’ ”

Isaac looked at me over his spectacles, amused. “No doubt Simon misheard. But that would mean the true curse was something close. Convent… con… vent…”

“Covent, maybe?” Sally said.

“Like Covent Garden?” I said. “That’s just north of the palace.”

“The market?” Tom said. “Our enemies aren’t nuns—they’re fruits?”

Isaac smiled. “Also unlikely. But this may be the right track. Convent… Covent… oh.”

He sat up, eyes alight.

“Yes,” he said. “I know what this riddle means.”

CHAPTER 24

“WHAT IS IT?” I SAID.

Isaac sipped his coffee. “What do you know of the Civil Wars? Before His Majesty was sent into exile, I mean.”

“Just what I learned in Cripplegate.” For Master Benedict, the Civil Wars fell under the realm of politics, so he’d ignored them in my education. “Oliver Cromwell led the troops of Parliament to overthrow the previous king, Charles I. Our current king, Charles II, went to Scotland after his father was executed. Cromwell then came for him, Parliament’s troops won, and His Majesty had to flee into exile for good.”

“A fair summary,” Isaac said, “if lacking in certain details. The key points you miss concern our current king.

“Charles was in France when his father was executed. England, then, under the control of Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth, abolished the monarchy. But our king is king of England and Scotland, and the Scots were not willing to give up the throne. In fact, they were quite angry that Cromwell had executed Charles I, as he was their king, too, and they’d been assured of his safety.

“So the Scots suggested that Charles II rule from the north. However, they refused to let him into the country unless he signed an oath.

“The wars, you see, had become religious. The English were ruled by Puritans under Cromwell, while the Scots were Presbyterian. And the Puritans did much to try and stamp out every faith but their own.

“Scotland wanted not only to defend its own religion, but to spread it to England. So the Scots forced Charles II to sign a treaty accepting a document that promised to spread Presbyterianism, and stamp out other religions. The document was named the Solemn League and Covenant.”

I sat up. “Covenant. That’s what Simon heard. Not ‘for the convent.’ For the Covenant.”

“But this treaty was signed, what, fifteen years ago?” Sally said. “Why are they coming for His Majesty now?”