Read Online The Devil's Apprentice by Edward Marston - Free Book Online

pretty place?’
    ‘Silvermere is much larger and more interesting.’
    ‘That’s not what I asked.’
    ‘Holly Lodge is a nice enough house,’ conceded Davy. ‘But I’ve left there now.’
    ‘You have indeed,’ said Elias. ‘You live in Old Street, Shoreditch, at the tender mercy of Lawrence Firethorn.’ He gave a short laugh. ‘That house might well be called Holly Lodge as well for you’ll prick yourself if you step out of place. Margery Firethorn is the soul of kindness but she has a tongue as sharp as any holly bush.’
    ‘Only for those who misbehave,’ said Nicholas.
    Elias laughed again. ‘Such as her husband.’
    ‘That’s between the two of them,’ rebuked Nicholas. ‘It’s no business of ours. Davy will be well looked after in Shoreditch. It will be a true home for him.’
    The apprentice said nothing but Nicholas sensed his approval. They were in open country now and maintaining a comfortable speed. Hedges and trees were still rimed with frost. Early morning sun made the fields glisten. The breeze was stiff but it was largely at their backs. Apart from the occasional cart going into market, they saw nobody. A bleak and empty horizon stretched out in front of them. It was like riding into a wilderness.
    ‘Have you ever met Sir Michael Greenleaf?’ asked Nicholas, turning to Davy.
    ‘A number of times.’
    ‘What sort of man is he?’
    ‘A good one,’ said the boy. ‘I like Sir Michael though many think him peculiar.’
    ‘Peculiar?’
    ‘Yes, Master Bracewell.’
    ‘In what way?’
    The boy searched in vain for the right words and despaired of finding them.
    ‘You’ll have to judge for yourself,’ he said.
     
    Though hampered by the rutted track with its random pools of ice, they made steady progress. After hours in the saddle, they stopped at a wayside inn to rest the horses and to take refreshment. Davy Stratton had grown more talkative, seeing the chance to reap the benefit of their experience in the theatre and plying them both with questions. Theapprentice had one query that obviously worried him.
    ‘Will I only be asked to take the role of a woman?’ he said with distaste.
    ‘Yes,’ replied Elias, supping his ale. ‘Maids, maidservants, whores, nuns, queens and empresses. All aspects of the fairer sex, Davy, even down to scolds and seductresses. But there’s ample recompense for you.’
    ‘Is there, Master Elias?’
    ‘You may come to play my wife and enjoy my sweetest kiss on stage.’ He chuckled as the boy’s face registered disgust. ‘It could be worse, lad. You might have to suffer an embrace from Barnaby Gill. You’d soon come back to your husband after that.’
    ‘Don’t mislead him, Owen,’ chided Nicholas. ‘You’ll not take any roles of significance for a long while, Davy. They fall to Dick Honeydew and the others, trained, as they all are, in presenting themselves in female guise. During our stay at Silvermere, you may not even get on stage at all or, if you do, the likelihood is that you’ll be no more than a page or a humble servant.’
    ‘Man or woman?’
    ‘Neither. You’d play what you are – a young boy.’
    Davy looked relieved. Nicholas decided that he felt embarrassed at the idea of donning female attire at Silvermere in front of his father. The book holder also believed that the reason he was peppering them with questions was to ensure that he did not have to yield up any answers on his own account. It was a curious paradox. The nearer they got to Davy Stratton’s home, the less willing he was to talk about it.
    On the next stage of the journey, the boy showed his value, guiding them along a track that twisted its way aimlessly through oak woodland. When they came out into open country again, the road did not improve. Churned up by the passage of many hooves then frozen hard, it meandered through fields that shimmered in the sun as the last of the frost melted away. Barley, wheat and corn were extensively cultivated throughout the