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Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Book
  3. About the Author
  4. Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims
  5. Dedication
  6. Though the Lancastrian Claim comes from Edward III’s THIRD son, it relies on a) possession and b) that the crown can not pass through a woman – Philippa Mormer – so must fall to the next male in line. The Yorkist Claim relies on their descent from Edward III’s SECOND son, and says it can pass through Philippa. The Tudor Claim ignores the fact of passing through a woman – Lady Margaret Beaufort – or that John, Earl of Somerset, was born illegimate.
  7. Factions in the Wars of the Roses
  8. Prologue
  9. PART ONE
  10. 1
  11. 2
  12. 3
  13. 4
  14. PART TWO
  15. 5
  16. 6
  17. 7
  18. 8
  19. 9
  20. 10
  21. 11
  22. 12
  23. 13
  24. PART THREE
  25. 14
  26. 15
  27. 16
  28. 17
  29. 18
  30. 19
  31. PART FOUR
  32. 20
  33. 21
  34. 22
  35. 23
  36. PART FIVE
  37. 24
  38. 25
  39. 26
  40. 27
  41. 28
  42. 29
  43. 30
  44. 31
  45. PART SIX
  46. 32
  47. 33
  48. PART SEVEN
  49. 34
  50. 35
  51. 36
  52. 37
  53. 38
  54. 39
  55. Acknowledgements

It does not bother Thomas that the pardoner has suggested the opposite only a moment earlier.

‘No,’ he says. ‘I cannot. I am a canon of the Order of Gilbert of Sempringham. I shall seek justice with the Prior of All. I shall put my faith in the Lord for as St Paul tells the Romans: Do not take revenge, but leave room for God’s wrath. It is His to avenge. He will repay.’

The pardoner raises his eyebrows slightly.

‘Yes, yes,’ he says. ‘I am sure you are right to do so.’

There is a pause. Thomas feels foolish quoting the Bible to a man so learned, but the pardoner does not seem to mind.

After a pause the pardoner asks, ‘Tell me: how did you hope to get to Canterbury?’

Thomas hesitates.

‘I had not thought that far,’ he admits.

The pardoner’s eyes stray to Thomas’s feet.

‘The best way to Canterbury from here would be by ship,’ he says. ‘From Boston. You might pay a ship’s master to take you to Sandwich, on the Kent coast. Were he on his way to Calais, I mean. It is not so great a diversion.’

‘We have no money,’ Thomas says.

‘Listen to me, Brother Thomas,’ the pardoner is saying. ‘I have paid for bells to be rung in the cathedral at Lincoln, and I have offered up prayers to St Nicholas for the success of my venture, but what if I now pay for you to get to Canterbury? If I provide you with clothes and shoes? If I pay for your food?’

‘Why ever would you do such a thing?’

The pardoner says nothing for a moment. It is as if he is framing his argument.

‘We are all three pilgrims,’ he says at length, ‘in our way. Pilgrims help one another. They help one another to help themselves, so yes, helping you helps me. Do you see?’

Thomas can think of nothing to say. The reality of walking any distance with no shoes or clothes or money has suddenly become fearsome.

‘I would thank you for your offer, sir, with all my heart.’

The pardoner nods as if this is happily agreed. He sits back. Thomas has another, final draught of ale. The hem of his cassock lets slip tendrils of steam in the warmth of the fire and his feet are chilblained and sore, but the ale is now so soothing he hardly cares.

‘But you know,’ the pardoner goes, his eye ranging over Katherine’s sleeping form, ‘if you are being sought by the friars, it might be as well to disguise yourselves. They will be after a man and a woman. I wonder if we might find some clothes for you and Sister Katherine here that disguise first your calling, and then her womanhood. She is a skinny thing, with not a curve in sight. I feel sure she might pass as a boy.’

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